Spaces and their Humans

Organizers

Pamela O’Neill, Arwen Smith

session information

This seminar will foster conversations about the idea of a human space – hall, church, estate, farm, workshop, home, assembly site – in the early medieval period. Spaces are described and defined by scholars in different ways, varying by disciplinary approach, type of source, geographical and temporal location, and we will seek to overcome those differences to find common motifs. The seminar will seek particularly to draw out connections between spaces and the humans who inhabit them – at this chronological remove, what can we know about the emotional, physical, political and spiritual aspects of the uses of spaces? How do spaces reflect the identities of their humans? In what ways do spaces in nature and built spaces differ? How are spaces constructed, both physically and mentally? Do these aspects vary across time and place?

We will invite up to 12 participants to discuss their various approaches to spaces and spaces' relationships to humans. Contributions will amplify the intersection between physical evidence (artefacts, art, archaeology) and textual evidence (literature, hagiography, law, historical writing). Invitations will be extended to scholars, particularly in the fields listed, and to practitioners in fields such as art, architecture, creative writing, and law. The seminar organisers research primarily on Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and care will be taken to include contributors working on England and Scandinavia, to encourage broad geographical and comparative approaches. Presentations with extended discussion times will be interspersed with conversations drawing together common threads and prompting discussion of emerging themes.

For more information, please get in touch with the organizers, Pamela O’Neill, pamela.oneill@sydney.edu.au, and Arwen Smith, asmi0951@uni.sydney.edu.au.