NEW: Please download the full conference schedule.

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies of the University of Notre Dame presents an interdisciplinary, international conference on the history and literature of the Iberian empires from the High Middle Ages through the conquest of the New World.  Although many scholars have acknowledged similarities between late-medieval Iberia and its colonies in the New World, few have offered precise answers to the questions that arise from these similarities.  Featuring faculty and graduate student presenters from across Europe and North America, this conference encourages new ways of approaching the topic, based on the conviction that medievalists, early modernists, and Latin Americanists can make meaningful contributions to each other’s fields.  For more information, see the poster and conference website.

For directions to campus, see the Notre Dame Conference Center and for area accommodations at a discount rate, see the Fairfield Inn & Suites South Bend at Notre Dame. 

The conference features presentations from the following scholars:

• Cátia Antunes, Leiden University (Netherlands)
• David Arbesú, Augustana College (IL)
• Elizabeth Bearden, University of Maryland, College Park
• Sarah H. Beckjord, Boston College
• Nicholas Bomba, Princeton University
• Graciella Cruz-Taura, Florida Atlantic University
• Mark Evan Davis, Michigan State University
• Andrew Devereux, Johns Hopkins University
• Felipe Fernández-Armesto, University of Notre Dame
• Jessica Fowler, University of California, Davis
• Paul Freedman, Yale University
• E. Michael Gerli, University of Virginia
• Karen Graubart, University of Notre Dame
• Nathalie Hester, University of Oregon
• Erika R. Hosselkus, Tulane University
• Kathleen Kole, University of Notre Dame
• Jaime Lara, University of Notre Dame
  
• Sara L. Lehman, Fordham University
• Sabine MacCormack, University of Notre Dame
• Víctor Maqque, University of Notre Dame
• Ana L. Méndez-Oliver, Columbia University
• Kenneth Mills, University of Toronto
• Flávio Miranda, University of Porto (Portugal)
• Anna More, University of California, Los Angeles
• João Paulo Oliveira e Costa, New University of Lisbon
• Felipe Alberto Paredes-Canevari, University of Saskatchewan
• Pablo Pastrana-Pérez, Western Michigan University
• Lucy Pick, University of Chicago
• Filipa Ribeiro da Silva, University of Hull (United Kingdom)
• Bretton Rodriguez, University of Notre Dame
• Víctor Rodríguez-Pereira, Indiana University, Bloomington
• Rachel Schmidt, University of Calgary
• Angelica Serna, University of Michigan
• Gretchen Starr-Lebeau, University of Kentucky
• Erika Tanács, University of Chicago
• Robin Vose, St. Thomas University (Canada)
• Daniel I. Wasserman Soler, University of Virginia
• Michael Weinberg, University of California, Los Angeles

Conference Schedule 

Friday, September 17, 2010

9:00 – 10:00          Registration and Coffee Service

10:00 – 10:45        Welcome and Opening Remarks

                                  Moderator: John Moscatiello, University of Notre Dame

                                        Olivia Remie Constable, University of Notre Dame

                                        Felipe Fernández-Armesto, University of Notre Dame

10:45 – 11:00        Break

11:00 – 12:15        Plenary Panel: “New Directions and New Resources in Medieval Iberian and

                              Latin American History”

                                  Moderator: Simon Doubleday, Hofstra University

12:15 – 1:15          Lunch

1:15 – 2:30            Concurrent Panels I

                                   “Merchants, Economy, and Greed in Mediterranean and Atlantic Empires”

                                         Moderator: Olivia Remie Constable, University of Notre Dame

                                   “The Languages of Evangelization in the Old and New Worlds: Arabic, Nahuatl,

                                    and Quechua”

                                         Moderator: Michael Ryan, Purdue University

2:30 – 3:00           Break

3:00 – 4:00            Plenary Address: “The First Rival: John II of Castile and Portuguese Overseas

                              Expansion”

                                    Moderator: Anne McGinness, University of Notre Dame

                                           João Paulo Oliveira e Costa, New University of Lisbon

4:00 – 4:15            Break

4:15 – 5:30            Concurrent Panels II

                                    “Law, Governance, and Authority in Spain and the New World"

                                             Moderator: Roger L. Martinez, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

                                     “Memory and the Writing of History in Medieval Spain and the New World”

                                             Moderator: Margaret Ringe, University of Notre Dame

5:30 – 6:00            Break

An Evening in Honor of Professor Jocelyn Hillgarth

6:00 – 6:30            Special Remarks

                                    Moderator: Olivia Remie Constable, University of Notre Dame

                                           Paul Freedman, Yale University

6:30 – 6:45             Break

6:45 – 7:45             A Reception in Honor of Professor Jocelyn Hillgarth           

8:00 – 9:30             A Banquet Dinner Hosted by the Medieval Institute (Invitation Only)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

9:00 – 9:30            Registration and Coffee Service

9:30 – 10:30          Plenary Address: "Tracing God in the Early Modern Spanish World"

                                  Moderator: Max Deardorff, University of Notre Dame

                                      Kenneth Mills, University of Toronto

10:30 – 10:45       Break

10:45 – 12:30        Concurrent Panels III

                                 “The Transformation of Iberian Literature in the New World”

                                        Moderator: Encarnación Juarez-Almendros, University of Notre Dame

                                 “Bishops, Heresy, and Inquisition in Medieval Spain and the New World”

                                        Moderator: Gretchen Starr-LeBeau, University of Kentucky

12:30 – 1:30         Lunch

1:30 – 2:30           Plenary Address: “Translating Events, Glossing Experiences: European    

                             Texts and American Experiences”

                                  Moderator: Dayle Seidenspinner-Nuñez, University of Notre Dame

                                         E. Michael Gerli, University of Virginia

2:30 – 2:45           Break

2:45– 4:30            Concurrent Panels IV

                                    “The Legacy of Late Medieval Political Thought in the Spanish Atlantic Empire”

                                           Moderator: Karen Graubart, University of Notre Dame

                                    “Medieval Religious Ideas in the Old and New Worlds”

                                          Moderator: David Coleman, Eastern Kentucky University

4:30 – 5:00            Break

5:00 – 5:45            Closing Remarks

                                    Moderator: Gregory Sterling, Dean of the Graduate School

                                         Sabine MacCormack, University of Notre Dame