A little over ten years ago, in 2013, a group of postgraduate students largely based in Perth, Western Australia, came together to meet a need within the Australasian publishing market: while there were a number of high-quality postgraduate journals, none were specifically focused on the field of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. In response to this, they founded Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Intended to be accessible and community building, with a focus on the digital humanities, the journal was founded on a commitment to being open-access and prioritizing graduate students’ and early career researchers’ work. Over the last decade, Ceræ has remained committed to these tenets, while also managing to grow globally. Still based in Australia and having remained committed to highlighting the research of graduate scholars, Ceræ has developed an international reputation within Medieval and Early Modern research having published contributions from both emerging and established scholars from all over the world. The journal has sponsored panels at Australasian (ANZAMEMS) and international conferences (IMC), and the current Committee is comprised of scholars based in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, and Sweden.
During preparations last year for our tenth-anniversary issue, the Committee considered ways that we could expand our commitment to open-access research and the fostering of a global community of medieval and early modern scholars. It was apparent that many of the larger conferences in our field were shifting away from offering hybrid and virtual panels and returning to a solely in-person conference structure. Though most virtual options had been initiated out of necessity during the height of Covid-era global lockdowns, for many scholars – especially the graduate and early career researchers that Ceræ has a particular interest in supporting – these virtual options had allowed them to attend conferences, share their research, and engage in building community in ways that had previously been financially untenable. And while some conferences are still offering hybrid/virtual panels, the cost to attend them is often prohibitive for many researchers, leaving them cut off from the broader medieval and early modern community.
In response to this, and in the spirit of fostering an inclusive, accessible community, we here at Ceræ are thrilled to announce our inaugural virtual conference, which will take place over two days on 26–27 April 20241. The conference will be held entirely online, via Zoom, and all sessions will be recorded and made available on the website for a limited time after the conference has concluded to allow for continued discussion. To ensure that the conference is accessible to all scholars, regardless of financial position, there will be a nominal attendance fee of approximately $5-10 AUD (the final amount yet to be finalised by the committee). 100% of the proceeds from the conference will directly contribute to the ongoing operational costs of the journal to help us in our commitment to remain fully independent and open-access.
The conference will have the same theme as Volume 11 – Metamorphosis, Transformation, and Transmutation – and we hope that this theme will attract a number of original and thoughtful submissions. We also strongly encourage all conference presenters to submit a full version of their paper for publication within the journal (subject to the usual peer-review process).
The Conference Call for Papers will close on 29 February 2024.
Please email your submission for a 20-minute (+ 10 minutes Q&A) presentation to ceraejournal@gmail.com, including:
- a 150–200 word abstract,
- your academic affiliation and title (if any),
- a short 50-100 word biography,
- the time-zone from which you will be presenting.
Please feel free to save and share our CFP within your networks and to your social media!
[1] Presenters located west of the Atlantic Ocean should note that some sessions may be scheduled to take place in the evening of 25 April, local time. Further details will be announced with the publication of the programme in mid-late March 2024.
Featured image: Green Lion devouring the Sun, 18th c., Rosarium Philosophorum, illustration 18, GB 247 MS Ferguson 210.