Celebrating 25th Anniversary of the Early Modern Studies Program!
The Conference of the Early Modern is an undergraduate conference hosted by the Early Modern Studies Society to celebrate the work being done by students. The Conference takes place over two days, with a keynote speaker, an alumni speaker and student panels. All are welcome.
January 24–25, 2025
Join us on Thursday, January 24 for the kickoff of the 13th annual Conference of the Early Modern! The conference is open to students, faculty, alumni and broader King’s community.
Keynote Speakers
Launching the conference on January 24 at 7 p.m. is Rebecca Kingston, University of Toronto. Professor Kingston will speak on the 17th-century author Madelaine de Scudéry, who wrote Les Femmes Illustres. Reception follows in the Wilson Common Room.
And on Saturday, January 25, at 1 p.m. AST , the Alumni Keynote speaker is Jacqueline Wylde, BA(Hons)’02, of St. Francis Xavier University. Dr. Wylde will connect her time in the EMSP at King’s to her current research into early modern English congregational singing, a subject on which she spoke last year here at King’s. Reception to follow in the Wilson Common Room.
Schedule
Friday, January 24
7 p.m. – 7:15 | Opening Remarks
7:15 – 8:45 | Keynote Lecture–Rebecca Kingston, University of Toronto
Can Exemplarity stand the Test of Time? Thinking through examples in Plutarch, Christine de Pizan and Madeleine de Scudery
8:45 – 9:30 | Closing Remarks & Reception
Saturday, January 25
10 a.m. – 10:15 | Opening Remarks
10:15 – 11:15 | Panel 1: Writing the Self
Crafting Legacies: Laura Cereta’s Invocation of Penelope in Collected Letters of a Renaissance Feminist
The Becoming of Man
The Woman Behind the Myths: A quest for the character Of Erzsébet Báthory, as revealed in her personal correspondence
11:15 – 12 p.m. | Panel 2: Exploring Ethics and Culture
Article Analysis: Where Ethics and Aesthetics Meet: Titian’s The Rape of Europa
Beyond Religious Identity: de Las Casas’ Radical Vision of Human Equality
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | BREAK
1 p.m.–2 p.m. | Alumni Lecture: Jacqueline Wylde, BA(Hons)’02, St. Francis Xavier University
Old Songs, New Voices: Hearing the Early Moderns and Ourselves
2 p.m.–3 p.m. | Panel 3: Theological Thoughts and Religious Roles
Difference in Manner, not Matter: A Theological Defense of Ann Conway’s Metaphysics
The Ring or the Veil: An analysis of the limitations imposed on women through marriage and forced confinement in the Early Modern Period
3 p.m.–4 p.m. | Panel 4: Behind Closed Doors: The Public and Private
“This mark of my shame, this seal of my sorrow”: Monstering of Queer Desire in Christabel and The Vampyre
Private Consequences for Public Conditions: Locke, Mandeville, and the Economic Relationship Between Vice and Virtue
4 p.m.–4:15 p.m. | Closing Remarks
4:15 onward | Reception
Banner illustration: Les femmes illustres, Madeleine de Scudéry, 1642/1644, Public Domain
