CFP: The Supernatural in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany

The GSA invites proposals for interdisciplinary panels and papers that explore the supernatural in late medieval and early modern Germany. Scholars have described Germany as the “heartland of the witch craze” that afflicted Europe in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Alpine communities in Switzerland and southern Germany experienced early witch panics in the age of the Malleus Maleficarum, helping to spawn the mass witch-hunts that followed. Some of the most virulent witchcraft prosecution in European history took place in Germany’s Prince-Bishoprics during the Wars of Religion, as mass panics claimed thousands of victims. During the early modern period, the Holy Roman Empire was also a center of learned magic, astrology, and alchemy, as princely courts attracted magical practitioners. The organizer intends to feature a series of five or six panels on the supernatural in late medieval and early modern German-speaking Europe at the 2010 GSA conference.

Possible topics and themes include, but are not limited to: folklore and popular magical practices; learned sorcery and alchemy; ghosts and apparitions; possession and the diabolical; witchcraft beliefs and witch-hunting; astrology and fortune telling; the supernatural and the state; gender and the supernatural; the supernatural and witchcraft in literature and drama; witch-hunting manuals and demonological treatises; skepticism and disenchantment.

This series of panels is organized by Jason P. Coy, College of Charleston (coyj@cofc.edu). For information on paper and panel submissions, see the GSA general call for papers posted below.

Call for Papers: GERMAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The German Studies Association (GSA) will hold its Thirty-Fourth Annual Conference in Oakland, California, October 7-10, 2010. This will be the GSA’s first conference in the San Francisco Bay Area in over twenty years.
The Program Committee cordially invites proposals on any aspect of German, Austrian, or Swiss studies, including (but not limited to) history, Germanistik, film, art history, political science, musicology, religious studies, sociology, and cultural studies. Proposals for entire sessions and for interdisciplinary presentations are strongly encouraged. Individual paper proposals and offers to serve as session moderators or commentators are also welcome. Programs of past GSA conferences may be viewed at the GSA website (www.thegsa.org).
Please see the GSA website for information about the submission process, which opens on January 5, 2010. Please note that ALL proposals must be submitted online; paper forms are not used. The deadline for proposals is February 15, 2010. Please note that presenters must be members of the German Studies Association. Information on membership is available on the GSA website (www.thegsa.org).

For more information, visit the GSA website or contact members of the 2010 Program Committee:

Program Director: George Williamson (University of Alabama), gwilliam@bama.ua.edu

Medieval, Early Modern, 18th Century: Jason Coy (College of Charleston), coyj@cofc.edu

19th Century: Jonathan Hess (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), jmhess@email.unc.edu

20th/21st-Century History: Andrew Port (Wayne State University), ar6647@wayne.edu

20th/21st-Century Literature/Cultural Studies: Agnes Mueller (University of South Carolina), agnes.mueller@sc.edu

Political Science: Louise Davidson-Schmich (University of Miami), davidson@miami.edu

Interdisciplinary: Janet Ward (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), janet.ward@unlv.edu