Cistercians, Chronologies, and Communities: The Legacies of Constance Hoffman Berman
May 20-21, 2016
Students, friends and colleagues of Professor Constance H. Berman are invited to honor and celebrate her career at a symposium to be held on Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, 2016 in Iowa City. The theme of this symposium, “Cistercians, Chronologies, and Communities: The Legacies of Constance Hoffman Berman,” draws on a number of important threads in Constance’s work over the years.
In her books Medieval Agriculture (1986), The Cistercian Evolution (2000), and Women and Monasticism in Medieval Europe (2002), edited volumes such as Medieval Religion: New Approaches (2005), and innumerable articles and conference papers, Constance broke new ground in medieval studies. As a scholar of the women, religion, and agriculture of the Middle Ages; as a member of the pioneering generation which helped to foreground the study of medieval women on university campuses and in scholarly works; and as an inspiration for another generation of medievalists, Constance has profoundly influenced her field.
The Symposium will be held in the historic Old Capitol Senate Chambers on the University of Iowa Pentacrest. On Friday evening, Constance will present a keynote lecture which reflects on her career and on the future of the field. On Saturday, the symposium will begin at 9:00am and end at 4:00pm; it will be followed by a reception and dinner.
If you plan to attend, please register using this online form by March 31, 2016.
If you would like to present a paper at the Symposium, or propose a panel or roundtable discussion, please forward an abstract of 250-300 words to either yvonne-seale@uiowa.edu or heather-wacha@uiowa.edu by February 1, 2016.
The Symposium is co-sponsored by the Department of History, the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of Classics, the Department of English, the Department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the John C. Gerber Research Fund, the Graduate History Society, and the Iowa Forum for Graduate Medievalists.
Download a promotional flyer (.pdf) for the event here: BermanSymposium2016