Medieval Utopias: A Symposium at the University of Victoria
Febuaray 1st, 2025
HHB 110
10:00 - 2:00

Speakers
Dr. Kathryn Kerby-Fulton - UVic Affiliate, University of Notre Dame, Professor Emerita
Major field(s) of interest:
- Middle English literature and medieval Latin
- Intellectual history (Religious, political censorship, apocalyptic thought, visionary writing, women's mysticism)
- Material culture (manuscript studies, text-image relations, reading practices before print)
- Dance history and dance criticism
Hala Qasqas - UVic, Art History and Visual Studies
Major field(s) of interest:
- Islamic Art History
- Socio-urban history in Damascus
- Cultural history of coffee and coffee houses in 17th and 18th centuries
Qichen Zhong - UVic, Pacific and Asian Studies
Major Field of interest:
- Medieval Chinese Poetry and Painting
Leila K. Norako - University of Washington, English department
Major field(s) of interest:
- Late Medieval literature and culture (Middle English romance, crusades, otherness and alterity)
- Digital humanities
- Poetry and Poetics
- Race and Enthnicity
- Textual studies
Schedule
10:00 Welcome remarks
10:15 Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Hala Qaswas and Qichen Zhong
11:30 Student Presentations
12:00 Lunch
12:45 Musical Performance
1:00 Visiting speaker, Leila Norako
Registration information for 2025
*Registration for in-person is now full.
This year we will be running the conference in the style of a symposium. There is limited capacity for in-person attendance and, while there is no admission charge, we do recommend a donation of $20 or more. We will broadcast the event over Zoom for those unable to make it to campus.
Participants may receive pre-circulated readings in the weeks leading up to the symposium.
As always we will provide a coffee and snack break as well as our usual medieval fair for everyone to enjoy.
Donations are handled through Giving to UVic and our conference can be accessed
Please email events.medi@uvic.ca to confirm your attendance and your request for in person or online. We will respond to everyone.
Student work from 2022-23
We have some wonderful posters and a final report from some of our students who took Dr. Adrienne Williams Boyarin's class last term.
There will be a presentation on these during the conference, but please feel free to look at the posters and read the paper below.
Poster: "Marginalia in a Fiftheenth-Century Confessional" by Kiarra Burd
Poster: "Mistakes: The (Manuscript) world is Full of them!" by Lilian Goy
Poster and written report:"Early Modern English Wax Seals in the Brown Collection" by Eleanor Shippin