The International Congress on Medieval Studies has released a preview of the sessions that have been approved for the 2015 conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan. You can find the full information for each call for papers on the Congress sessions page. While there are hundreds of sessions on medieval topics, I have listed the ones that deal with Tolkien specifically and with medievalisms more generally. The deadline for submissions is in September, but many sessions are filled well before that date, so if you’re interested in submitting a proposal, the sooner the better.

First, the sessions specifically dealing with Tolkien:

• The Tolkien at Kalamazoo group, organized by Brad Eden, has had three sessions approved:
  1. Tolkien’s Beowulf
  2. Tolkien and Medieval Victorianism
  3. Tolkien as Linguist and Medievalist

• Brad is also the organizer of a readers’ theater performance of Tolkien’s Beowulf and “Sellic Spell” and  the continuing series of “Maidens of Middle-earth: Turin’s Women.”

• “Tolkien as Translator and Translated” is a special session organized by Judy Ann Ford.

• Doug Anderson is the organizer of a roundtable discussion on “Christopher Tolkien as Medieval Scholar.”

Other sessions that deal with medievalisms:

• The International Society for the Study of Medievalism will be sponsoring three sessions:
  1. Metaphysical Medievalisms
  2. Political Medievalisms
  3. Medievalism: Critical Mediations (A Roundtable)

• The Tales after Tolkien Society is organizing two sessions:
  1.  From Frodo to Fidelma: Medievalisms in Popular Genres (A Roundtable)
  2.  Martin and More: Genre Medievalisms.

• postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies is offering “Quantum Medievalisms” (A Roundtable).

• Alexandra Garner is organizing a special session: “Modernizing the Medieval for a New Generation: Medievalism in Young Adult and Children’s Literature.”

• C. S. Lewis Society, Purdue University and the Center for the Study of C. S. Lewis and Friends, Taylor University has two sessions:
  1. Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis: Sources, Influences, Revisions, Scholarship
  2. Phantom Limb: The Presence of the Problem of Pain in the Works of C. S. Lewis

• Medieval Electronic Multimedia Organization (MEMO): .
  1. Playing Medieval (A Festive Video Game Workshop and Poster Session)
  2. The Neomedieval Image (paper session)

• a special session / poetry reading, “Medieval Poetry / Modern Poets” organized by Gerard P. NeCastro.

• And finally, although this special session has nothing to do with Tolkien, I wanted to mention the workshop that will be conducted by well-known Tolkienist and astronomy professor Kristine Larsen: “A hands-on introduction to astrolabes.”