The Spring 2024 Mediterranean Seminar Workshop
Friday & Saturday, 26 & 27 April
Saint Louis University
“Mediterranean Ecologies”
The Mediterranean region represents both a human and a natural archive. Scholars now and in the past have drawn on this archive to define patterns of interaction and explain cultural or political outcomes across the Mediterranean region or connecting it to other regions. The multiplicity of forms of such interactions offers an opportunity to rethink our understanding of the relationship between human and natural processes as defining characteristics of Mediterranean history. “Mediterranean Ecologies” aims to bring together specialists from a range of humanistic, social scientific, creative, and scientific disciplines to engage with diverse practices–past and present–that connected a multitude of beings across diverse Mediterranean environments.
What do these practices teach us about how such actors understood their lived and perceived environments and what the consequences are for present-day political and ecological questions? The terms “ecologies” and “environments” are here capacious. During the workshop, we will reflect collectively and critically upon how the sea, its micro-regions, and its connected ecological units cultivated a sense of shared space and at the same time became laboratories through which awareness about natural and human phenomena, like disasters and diasporas, manifested in cultural forms and political attitudes.
Program & Papers
All papers [click on the title to download] are copyright the author and are not to be copied, distributed or cited without express written permission by same.
Click on the participant name to see their bio.
Link to the program calender here.
Download a printable program here.
This program is provisional and subject to change.
Workshop presenters will begin with a brief (10 mins max) contextualization/defense of their essay, followed by the respondents comments (5-8 mins), and an optional response by the author (5 mins max), before the floor opens for a moderated discussion.
Round-table presenters will be kept to a strict limit of 4 minutes, during which time they can summarize or elaborate on their position paper, address related themes, or engage with the other papers. Following these presentations the floor will open for a moderated discussion.
All presenters have access to a projector for PowerPoint; presenters must bring their presentation on a USB drive. In case of compatibilitity issues, please also bring your own laptop and an HDMI adapter. If you are using powerpoint kindly test your equipment during the morning coffee/registration period, or during lunch.
Friday 26 April 2024
Location: Sinquefield Stateroom, Dubourg Building 409
10:15—10:30 Coffee and Registration
10:30—11:00 Opening Remarks
• Fabien Montcher (Center for Iberian Historical Studies: Saint Louis University), Jeff Mazur (Taylor Geospatial Institute), Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies: University of Colorado Boulder), and Sharon Kinoshita (Literature: UC Santa Cruz).
11:00–12:10 Workshop Paper #1
“Changing Landscapes in Tenth- and Eleventh-Century Italy: Human Activity, Climate, and the Environment” [abstract]
• Ed Schoolman (History: University of Nevada, Reno)
Moderator: Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies: CU Boulder),
Respondent: Fred Astren (Jewish Studies, San Francisco State University)
12:10–12:25 Introductions
12:25–2:00 Lunch (for speakers and registered participants)
2:00-3:10 Workshop Paper #2
“Valparaíso and Late-Sixteenth-Century Morisco Ecologies” [abstract]
• María Lumbreras (History of Art and Architecture, UC Santa Barbara)
Moderator: Sharon Kinoshita (Literature: UC Santa Cruz)
Respondent: Claire Gilbert (Saint Louis University)
3:20–3:30 Break
3:30–4:40 Workshop Paper #3
“Saving Agrafa: an Ecological Defense of Life and Freedom in an Age of Climate Change” [abstract]
• Alyssa Mendez (Anthropology, University of Chicago)
Moderator: Claire Gilbert (History: Saint Louis University)
Respondent: Bruce O'Neill (Sociology and Anthropology: Saint Louis University)
4:40–5:00 Coffee Break
5:00–6:15 Keynote Presentation:
“Marx, Braudel, and the Climates of Historical Capitalism” [abstract]
• Jason Moore (Sociology: Binghamton University, SUNY)
Moderator: Fabien Montcher (History: Saint Louis University)
6:30–8:00 Dinner/ Reception (see below) for workshop presenters, moderators, and round-table presenters
9:00— Post-workshop meeting (see below)
Saturday 27 April 2024
Location: Sinquefield Stateroom, Dubourg Building 409
9:30–10:00 Coffee and Registration
10:00–11:15 Keynote Presentation:
“Environment and the State: A History of Slow Violence in the Ottoman Middle East” [abstract]
•Zozan Pehlivan (History: University of Minnesota)
Moderator: Claire Gilbert (History: Saint Louis University)
11:30–12:45 Round Table 1
How did Mediterranean space condition the particular connections that shaped its history?
Moderator: Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies: CU Boulder)
• Richard Ibarra (History, University of Southern California) “Mediterranean Modularity: Tents and the (Re)Creation of Familiar Environments in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean and Beyond” [abstract]
• Thomas Morin (History, Saint Louis University) “Lost at sea: Mediterranean ecologies and maritime crusaders” [abstract]
• Padraic Rohan (History, Quincy University) “From Periphery to Core? Or a Splitting of the Core? ” [abstract]
• Andrew Berns (History, University of South Carolina) “Hippocratic Ideas about Environment in Renaissance Hebrew Texts” [abstract]
• Marilynn Desmond (English and Medieval Studies, Binghamton University) “The Deep Time of the Liquid Continent: The Matter of Troy and the Premodern Mediterranean” [abstract]
• Kathryn Renton (Food Studies, University of California at Los Angeles) “Becoming Feral: connecting multi-species spaces in the Mediterranean World” [abstract]
12:45–1:45 Lunch (for speakers and registered participants)
1:45–3:00 Round Table 2
What perspectives or methodologies can we engage with to develop a new environmental and multi-species history of the Mediterranean?
Moderator: Sharon Kinoshita (Literature: UC Santa Cruz)
• Fred Astren (Jewish Studies, San Francisco State University) “Hen and Rooster in the Mediterranean Longue Durée, or How Jews Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Chicken” [abstract]
• Megan Moore (Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, University of Missouri) “Knowing beyond the body: ecocriticism, posthumanism, and the networked Mediterranean” [abstract]
• Nicole Archambeau (History, Colorado State University) “Mediterranean Honeybees on the Farm and in the Wild” [abstract]
• Natividad Planas (History, Université Clermont Auvergne) “Uninhabited Islands: Ecology, locality, and mobility” [abstract]
• Tom Barton (History, University of San Diego) “Tracking European Sugar Consumption Using Late-Medieval Municipal Sources” [abstract]
• Aaron Stamper (History, Princeton) “Premodern Communities and the Especially Sensitive Animal” [abstract]
3:15—4:30 Round Table 3
How are Mediterranean environments and exchanges represented historically in the arts, sciences, and literary genres?
Moderator: Fabien Montcher (History: Saint Louis University)
• Josh Mugler (Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) “The Subjected Sea in the Prayer of al-Shādhilī” [abstract]
• Alice Gaber (Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison) “Corrupted Ecologies. Plague and Decay in Greek Mythic Environments” [abstract]
• Nina Zhiri (Literature, UC San Diego) “The Gardens of Muhammad al-Ghazzâl” [abstract]
• Hossein Nakaei (Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh) “Ecology of cobalt blue pigment in Medieval Iran” [abstract]
• Mohamad Ballan (History: Stony Brook University) “Plague, Politics and Polemic: The Black Death in Nasrid Granada, ca. 1348-1351” [abstract]
4:30–5:00 Concluding Remarks
• Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies: University of Colorado Boulder), Sharon Kinoshita (Literature: UC Santa Cruz), Claire Gilbert (History: Saint Louis University), and Fabien Montcher (History: Saint Louis University)
5:30—6:30pm Reception
6:30—7:30pm Concert
"Adoption, Adaption, Appropriation and More: Invasive Species in Mediterranean Musical Culture" Early Music Missouri
• Jeffrey Noonan, Director of Early Music Missouri, accompanied by Dr. Samantha Arten (Music Historian and Soprano) and Patrick Rafferty (M.M. Guitar).
9:00— Post-workshop meeting (see below)
Participants:
• Diana Berruezo-Sánchez (Filologia Espanyola: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
• Nancy Bristol (Early Music Missouri)
• Kayla Dang (Theological Studies: Saint Louis University)
• Ilyas Debbah (King's Business School: King's College London)
• Edward Holt (History: Grambling State University)
• Ani Honarchian (Theological Studies: Saint Louis University)
• Courtney Knight (History: Saint Louis University)
• Evan S. McAllister (History: Saint Louis University)
• Heather Alexis Smith (Independent Scholar)
• David Olsen (History: Saint Louis University)
• Mark Gregory Pegg (History: Washington University)
• Nathan Van Aken (History: Saint Louis University)
• Ella Ward (History: Saint Louis University)
Staff and Administration
• Dru Swadener
• Teresa Harvey
Practica
Arrival:
Once you arrive at St. Louis Lambert Airport there are many options for getting to your hotel, including rideshare or the St Louis Metrolink.
Accommodation:
Conference presenters will be lodged the Element St. Louis Midtown, at 3763 Forest Park Ave, a 10-minute walk from the workshop venue.
Parking:
The Element offers daily parking, which has been included for you. If you are driving to campus, the closest Visitor Parking on campus is in the Laclede Garage, at 3602 Laclede Ave.
Meeting location: Sinquefield Stateroom, Dubourg Building 409. All conference sessions will be held on the North Campus in the Sinquefield Stateroom, located on the 4th floor (Room 409) of DuBourg Hall, 221 N. Grand Avenue. This is where you will be able to pick up your registration packet as well. If you have an opportunity, you might want to explore Getting Around SLU's St. Louis Campus for some helpful information regarding additional directions to/from St Louis' Lambert Airport, SLU's North campus (site of the conference) and area information.
Wifi:
SLU-Guest is an open network.
Lunches:
Lunches are provided free to participants.
Dinners:
• Friday: Samuel Cupples House, 3673 W Pine Blvd
• Saturday: on your own
Pius Library:
During your stay, you are welcome to peruse the resources at Pius XII Memorial Library. We ask that you use the north entrance. Upon entry, simply show your conference badge to staff at the circulation desk across the lobby from Einsteins Bros. Bagels. You will be able to consult anything in the circulating collection but will not be able to check out items. If you would like to access materials in Rare Books or the Vatican Film Library, please arrange an appointment ahead of time by contacting katie.mascari@slu.edu (Rare Books librarian) or lea.frost@slu.edu (Vatican Film Library).
Help
If you have any specific questions regarding practica and logistics, contact Dru Swadener or Teresa Harvey
Sponsors, Organization & Support:
This workshop is organized by Brian A. Catlos (University of Colorado Boulder), Claire Gilbert (Saint Louis University). Sharon Kinoshita (University of California Santa Cruz), and Fabien Montcher (Saint Louis University). It is sponsored by the Center for Iberian Historical Studies, the Taylor Geospatial Institute, College of Arts and Sciences and Office of the Vice President for Research, and the Office of the Provost at Saint Louis University, together with the Mediterranean Seminar and the CU Mediterranean Studies Group.