** Call for Papers **
In Vino Veritas:
A Symposium On Wine And The Influence Of Bacchus
>From Classical Antiquity Through The Eighteenth Century
By the time of Pliny the Elder, in vino veritas ("in wine, truth") had
already attained the status of aphorism, having made its earliest
appearance in the writings of the Greek poet Alcaeus. Beyond the
reaches of the Greco-Roman world, wine has also had a long history.
Its fortunes may be traced around the globe through the medieval and
early modern periods when trade in wine increasingly linked diverse
cultures, the social uses and symbolic associations of wine
proliferated, and Bacchus made his appearance on numerous stages, in
images, and in a wide range of other texts and contexts.
The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CEMERS) at Binghamton
University invites papers for a symposium to be held on the Binghamton
University campus, April 24–25, 2009. Papers may address any area of
scholarship concerning wine, its symbolic import, its appearance in or
impact on cultural production (from painting to poetry), and its
effects—social, political, economic, therapeutic or remedial. Papers
are also welcome on Dionysus/Bacchus, the god of wine, from classical
antiquity to the eighteenth century. We encourage submissions in a
broad range of disciplines, methodologies, and perspectives. Possible
topics include, but are not limited to:
* The production and consumption of wine
* The ritual use of wine (social, political, religious)
* The effects of wine in thought and discourse
* Wine and its associations with disease
* The medicinal use of wine
* Wine in trade and commerce
* Wine in the economy and culture of monasteries
* Wine and conviviality
* Wine in court culture
* Wine in folk culture
* Wine in myth
* Wine in prose and poetry
* Wine in song
* Wine and lust
* Wine and allegory
* Bacchus, the god of wine, as an allegorical figure
* Bacchus in text
* Bacchus in the visual arts
* Bacchus on stage
* Wine in Jewish culture
* Wine in the Islamic world
* Inebriation and the law
* Wine and archaeological study
Proposals for individual papers (20 minutes maximum) should be no more
than 500 words in length, and may be sent either as an attachment in
Microsoft Word format or as text within an e-mail message to
cemers@binghamton.edu ("Re: In Vino Veritas Conference). Those wishing
to submit a hard copy should forward it to: CEMERS [ATTN.: In Vino
Veritas Conference], Binghamton University , P.O. Box 6000 , Binghamton
, NY 13902-6000 . We also welcome proposals for integrated panels.
Panel organizers should describe the organizing principle of the panel
and send abstracts, names, and affiliations of each participant. A
panel should consist of no more than three papers, each twenty minutes
in length. Selected papers will be published in Acta, a journal of the
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
Submission Deadline: Please submit abstracts by December 15, 2008.