Call for Papers for Session: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out: Psychedelic Approaches to Medieval Objects, ICMS Kalamazoo 2026, Due by 15 Sept. 2025

Call for Papers for Session

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out: Psychedelic Approaches to Medieval Objects

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, May 14-16, 2026

Due By Monday, September 15th, 2025

Psychedelic art, an outgrowth of mid-century counterculture, features numerous motifs that may resonate with medievalists. Surreal imagery, animation, bright colors, and the cross-pollination of disparate media all conspire to evoke a hallucinogenic or heightened response in the viewer. We invite proposals for 20-minute papers considering medieval material culture through a psychedelic lens, or vice versa. A sampling of topics may include devotional objects and visionary or mystical encounters; medievalism in 1960s fashion and design; artistic representations of or, artifacts associated with, psychoactive plant and fungi cultivation; or the synesthetic/multisensory impact of objects.

Please keep in mind that this is an in-person session, which means that only people who plan to attend the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo next May (May 14 - 16, 2026) will be able to participate.

All proposals should be submitted as abstracts no longer than 300 words to the ICMS Confex site: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Session/7248

Please contact Sophie Durbin (sophiekhdurbin@gmail.com) or Clara Poteet (clara.poteet@yale.edu) with questions.