Events at The University of Manchester
  • University home
  • Events
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
  • Conferences
  • Lectures and seminars
  • Performances
  • Events for prospective students
  • Sustainability events
  • Family events
  • All Events

Cities of Strangeness, 1350-1700 conference

image
Dates:11 May 2018
Times:All day
What is it:Conferences
Organiser:School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
How much:Registration opens in February 2018
Who is it for:University staff, Adults, Current University students, General public
Speaker:Prof Matthew Dimmock , Dr Adam Hansen, Dr Anke Bernau
See travel and contact information
Add to your calendar

More information

  • Cities of Strangeness WordPress
  • Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS), The University of Manchester
  • @citiesofstrange on Twitter

Other events

  • In category "Conferences"
  • In group "(ALC) Medieval Studies"
  • In group "(ALC) English Literature"
  • By School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

strangers / estrangement / becoming-strange.

The period spanning the years 1350-1700 saw a massive expansion in urban populations, transforming social formations. Changes and developments in medieval and early modern cities were intricately tied up with trade, migration, politics, economics, shifting possibilities for social mobility, and the growth of commodity culture; the relationships of individuals and communities to, and in, the city were frequently characterised by alienation and disorder. The early meanings of ‘strange’ as foreign or alien, and also new, wondrous, and astonishing, point towards premodern cities as sites of danger, possibility, conflict, and discovery.

Cities of Strangeness, 1350-1700 is an interdisciplinary one-day conference exploring the centrality of strangeness and estrangement in literary, artistic, and cultural representations of the premodern city. To what extent is the experience of the premodern city characterised by estrangement or alienation? How did the growth and transformation of urban spaces across the late medieval and early modern period alter social identities and formations? What were the relationships between a city and its strangers? How do literature and art respond to cities in strange ways?

The programme is still to be confirmed but proposals were invited for papers that explore any of the following, or related topics, in relation to late medieval and early modern cities:

• strange bodies, strange creatures • the psychoanalysis of estrangement • race, immigration, emigration, diaspora • alienation and capitalism, class and poverty • protests and riots • gender, sex and sexuality • heterotopias and liminal spaces • uncanny, imaginary, mystical or supernatural cities • strange languages, strange speech, strange sound

You can expect papers from scholars working in literature, visual cultures, history, religious studies, urbanism, and other related areas that take a cross-period or interdisciplinary approach.

Confirmed plenary speakers: Adam Hansen (University of Northumbria), Anke Bernau (University of Manchester), and Matthew Dimmock (University of Sussex).

The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible, gender-neutral toilets and designated parking bays. Information about prayer rooms, dietary requirements, assistance dogs, hearing loops, transport and accommodation can be found on the website (citiesofstrangeness.wordpress.com/accessibility); please contact the organisers if there is anything you would like to discuss in advance.

Lunch, refreshments, and a wine reception will be provided. Registration will open in early February 2018.

The conference is kindly sponsored by artsmethods@manchester.

citiesofstrangeness.wordpress.com citiesofstrangeness@gmail.com @citiesofstrange

Price: Registration opens in February 2018

Speakers

Prof Matthew Dimmock

Role: Professor of Early Modern Studies

Organisation: University of Sussex

  • http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/157802

Dr Adam Hansen

Role: Senior Lecturer in English Literature

Organisation: Northumbria University Newcastle

  • https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/h/adam-hansen/

Dr Anke Bernau

Role: Senior Lecturer in Medieval English Literature

Organisation: The University of Manchester

Travel and Contact Information

Find event

Ground and First Floor of the Graduate School
Ellen Wilkinson Building
Manchester

Contact event

Annie Dickinson and Laura Swift

citiesofstrangeness@gmail.com

Contact us

  • +44 (0) 161 306 6000

Find us

The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK

Connect with the University

  • Facebook page for The University of Manchester
  • X (formerly Twitter) page for The University of Manchester
  • YouTube page for The University of Manchester
  • Instagram page for The University of Manchester
  • TikTok page for The University of Manchester
  • LinkedIn page for The University of Manchester

  • Privacy /
  • Copyright notice /
  • Accessibility /
  • Freedom of information /
  • Charitable status /
  • Royal Charter Number: RC000797
  • Close menu
  • Home
    • Featured events
    • Today's events
    • The Whitworth events
    • Manchester Museum events
    • Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre events
    • Martin Harris Centre events
    • The John Rylands Library events
    • Exhibitions
    • Conferences
    • Lectures and seminars
    • Performances
    • Events for prospective students
    • Sustainability events
    • Family events
    • All events