Villanova University invites you to participate in its 37th International PMR Conference, held from October 26-28, 2012. As always, the PMR makes an OPEN CALL to scholars, institutions, and societies to propose Papers, Panels, or Sponsored Sessions in all areas and topics in late antiquity/patristics, Byzantine Studies, Medieval Studies, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, and Renaissance & Reformation Studies.
The PMR committee this year makes a special invitation to scholars from all disciplines in these fields to address our plenary theme: After Constantine: Religion, Politics, Culture, and Counterculture
October 28, 2012 is the 1700th Anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which established Constantine as the sole Emperor of the Roman Empire and established Christianity firmly within the corridors of political and cultural power. This year’s conference will look back over 1700 years to ponder the political, cultural, theological, and philosophical implications of this turning point in the history of Mediterranean cultures. More than a question of politics, the year 312 affects simply every dimension of life thereafter around the Mediterranean, and we will take the time to explore all these dimensions, whether it be questions of pagan and Christian wisdom, natural and civil law, of providence and freedom, justice and coercion, establishment or resistance. Many of the major moments and monuments from late antiquity through the Reformation and beyond can be seen in this light, from Augustine’s City of God, to the medieval papacy, to Dante’s Divine Comedy, to the Spanish ‘Reconquista’ to the Lutheran Reformation.
Deadline for submissions: June 1, 2012