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The Joy of Close Reading in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Hope-Glidden.jpg

Time: April 27, 2018, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Location: Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library

A Conference in Memory of Hope Glidden

Keynote speaker Phillip Usher (NYU) begins the conference with "The Life of an Ode," followed by a day of dialogues across departments, as faculty present papers on the practice of close reading of historical sources and literary texts in the context of their research. This event is organized in memory of Professor Hope Glidden who taught early modern French literature at Syracuse University and passed away on Sept. 17, 2017.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM (download the poster):

9:00 Breakfast

9:20 Opening Remarks

9:30 Keynote Lecture by Philip Usher (New York University): The Life of an Ode

10:30 Coffee Break

10:45-12:15 First Panel: Reading Disappointment

  • James Watts (Religion): The Disappointments of Close Reading, with an Example from Leviticus 12
  • Jeff Carnes (LLL, Classics): Narcissus in Ovid's Metamorphoses
  • Ahmed Meguid (Religion): The Paradox of Reading Islamic Philosophy: The Discontents of Philology

1:00-2:30 Second Panel: Reading Performance

  • Amanda Winkler (Art & Music History): Singing Devils; or, the Trouble with Trapdoors: History, Performance, and Practicality in Staging the Restoration Tempest
  • Stephanie Shirilan (English and Textual Studies): Sympathetic Breathing in King Lear
  • Laurinda Dixon (Art & Music History): The Mechanics of Mirth: A Close look at laughter in the Renaissance

2:30-2:45 Coffee Break

2:45-4:15 Third Panel: Reading Power 

  • Dennis Romano (History): Popular Protest and Alternative Visions of the Venetian Polity, c.1260 to 1423
  • Fred Marquardt (History): How was Christ’s Crucifixion Relevant to Serfdom in the German Peasants’ War of 1525?
  • Brian Brege (History): Spiced Scholarship: Filippo Sassetti and the Quest for True Cinnamon

4:15- 4:30 Coffee Break

4:30-5:30 Fourth Panel: Reading the Other World

  • Samantha Herrick (History): Mystery Saints
  • Stefano Selenu (LLL, Italian): Dante's Hell and the Mediterranean
  • 5:30-5:45 Closing Remarks, reception follows

Please contact Albrecht Diem (315-443-0785) by April 15 with any requests for accessibility accommodations.

OTHER CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES:

April 13
 9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m - 21st Annual French Colloquium, honoring Hope Glidden's memory
 Peter Graham Scholarly Commons; Bird Library, Room 114
Keynote address and special tribute to Hope Glidden at 1:30 p.m. by Benjamin Peak, PhD student in French at John Hopkins University.
Download the schedule here or contact Valentin Duquet for information.

April 25
12:45 - 2 p.m. - Hillyer Room, 606 Bird Library
Timothy Kircher (Guilford College)
 Building Knowledge in the Renaissance: Humanist Constructs and Conversations
Contact Stefano Selenu for information.

Additional Supporters:

  1. Medieval and Renaissance Program
  2. Humanities Center
  3. College of Arts and Science
  4. Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
  5. Department of History

Albrecht Diem, Medieval Renaissance Program, History