Fifth International Piers Plowman Society Conference

The Fifth International Piers Plowman Society Conference webpage is live: go to http://www.piersplowmanconference2011.com for information regarding the program, plenary speakers (Derek Pearsall, A. V. C. Schmidt, Stephanie Trigg, and Nicolette Zeeman), registration/accommodation, and poster. The online payment facility and booking facility is now available as well.

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IPPS at Leeds and Kalamazoo, 2011

The IPPS will sponsor three conference sessions in 2011 (in addition to its own conference: see below), two at Kalamazoo, and one at Leeds:

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 12-15, 2011

Proposals due September 1: contact Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, Pennsylvania State University- Brandywine: kek16@psu.edu

1. "Langland's Memories"

Papers in this panel may address any subject concerning "memory" and its relation to Piers Plowman. In what ways does the poet "memorialize" earlier writings, and how do later authors appropriate Piers? How does the poem function as information technology? Does "quotation" adequately describe Langland's use of Latin or French, or his polyvocal and referential forms of engagement with past and present "sources?" Papers might also consider Piers Plowman in terms of "admonishment," especially the role of "remembering" in matters of ethical or spiritual formation. We further welcome papers that explore Langland's use of mnemotechnics or that engage with medieval allegory, theories of media archeology, or cognitive science.

2. "Person, Personification, and Personality"

This session explores the choices Langland and his contemporaries made when thinking about both characters and "character”, from allegorical personifications, like Lady Meed, to historically identifiable persons, such as Henry of Derby in Richard the Redeless. Papers in this session may consider the sources as well as the ethical and ideological implications of characterization in Ricardian literature. Participants should feel to draw from a range of literatures, including dream-vision, satire, and chronicles.

International Congress of the European Middle Ages, University of Leeds, July 11-14, 2011

Proposals due August 15: Contact Dr. Isabel Davis, Birkbeck College, University of London i.davis@bbk.ac.uk

"Wealth and Excess in Piers Plowman"

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The Fourth International Piers Plowman Conference took place May 17-19, 2007 at the University of Pennsylvania. Further information is available at http://www.english.upenn.edu/Conferences/PiersPlowman2007/

There have been three other international conferences on Langland and Piers Plowman: Cambridge, UK (1994); Asheville, North Carolina (1999); and Birmingham, UK (2003).