Material studies has, for several decades now, been a flourishing field within the study of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. The technical study of the materiality of cultural objects draws on various disciplines, such as book history, art history, history of science, archaeology an archeometry. The latest analytical methods from the natural sciences, but also artificial intelligence are being applied in this field. This Spring School explores these technical aspects, advances and challenges but also considers the cultural uses and meanings of objects, with particular attention to the interactions between humans and objects, from the mundane to performative and ritual uses. Material studies often go hand in hand with a materialist approach to culture, which examines historical cultural representations with an eye to the underlying material and ideological interests embedded in those cultural representations. This could also include an ecocritical approach to objects, which critically investigates human interactions with the natural environment and recognises the agency of non-human matter. Participants in this Spring School will be offered a wide range of approaches to material studies. Through lectures, workshops and pitches, they will also be invited to actively engage with these approaches to materiality and material culture in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.
Organising institutions and partners
This Spring School is organised by Ghent University (Doctoral Schools), the University of Groningen, the Huizinga Institute and the Research School for Medieval Studies in cooperation with the following research groups: the Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), the Group for Early Modern Studies (UGent), the Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies (UGent), the Amsterdam Centre for Studies in Early Modernity (UvA), the Amsterdam Centre for Studies in Early Modernity (UvA), the Institute for Early Modern History (UGent-VUB) and the Onderzoeksgroep Nieuwe Tijd (KU Leuven).
Organising committee
Marrigje Paijmans (UvA), Elizabeth Merrill (UGent), Bart Ramakers (RUG), Stefan Meysman (UGent), Maïka De Keyzer (KU Leuven), Marlise Rijks (VUB/UGent), Estel van den Berg (UGent) en Kornee van der Haven (UGent).
