Call for Papers
“Crossing Borders” will be the theme of the 23rd biennial conference of the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England (ISSEME), which will take place in Udine, Italy, 30 June – 2 July, 2027.
The very origin of England and its early medieval history were brought about by a constant (re)negotiation of borders – physical/geographical, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious – in a continuing process of exchange, interaction, and cross-pollination with communities across the British Isles, the North Sea, the Continent, and the wider world. Borders – whether physical or metaphorical – often proved fluid spaces rather than fixed boundaries, porous gateways rather than stalwart lines of demarcation. As such, their various dimensions and forms in early English contexts continue to elicit scholarly attention, while their impact may often be felt to the present day.
ISSEME invites papers that explore the multiple dimensions of borders in early medieval England and the many ways in which borders were crossed, shifted, (re)negotiated, and (re)imagined. By focusing on the theory and practice of border-crossing rather than of boundary-making, the conference seeks to highlight the multicultural, multiethnic, and plurilingual complexity of early medieval England and its interconnectedness with broader medieval networks.
Topics to be addressed may include, but are not limited to:
- multilingualism and the interaction between Latin and vernaculars, majority languages and minority languages;
- multiculturalism and the interaction between texts and their sources;
- manuscript circulation and the transmission of texts, objects, and ideas across political and cultural boundaries;
- theory and practice of translation;
- borders between genres and media;
- borders in manuscripts;
- disciplinary boundaries;
- linguistic boundaries (e.g. clause boundaries and syntactic categories);
- borders between paganism and Christianity;
- mobility and migration;
- diplomacy and warfare;
- trade and exchange;
- pilgrimage and missionary activity;
- exile;
- political and military borders;
- seascapes as zones of connections rather than barriers;
- perceptions, descriptions, and conceptualizations of borders;
- material borders and symbolic borders;
- belonging and exclusion, identity and alterity;
- blurring boundaries between human and animal (shape-shifting), animate and inanimate, genders, different ages, statuses, orthodoxy and heterodoxy, canonical and apocryphal literature;
- boundaries between life and death, this world and the next.
Abstracts should be for 20-minute long papers and 250–400 words long.
Proposals for project reports are also welcome. Project reports should be no more than 10 minutes, and the proposals up to 250 words long.
All abstracts will be subject to blind peer review. The submission of abstract is open to all irrespective of ISSEME membership, but conference presenters and attendees will be expected to be members of ISSEME. Exceptions may be granted to local student attendees. Reduced membership fees and waivers are available. If you need assistance or have a query about membership, please get in touch with the Executive Director, Dr. Elise Louviot (elise.louviot@univ-reims.fr), to discuss your situation.
The conference will take place in a fully hybrid fashion (online and in-situ), i.e. it will be possible both to attend online and to present one’s paper online.
Please submit your abstract by 31 October 2026 by uploading it to https://udine2027.sciencesconf.org/.
Decisions regarding proposals will be announced by 17 January 2027.