Please consider submitting contributions to the following sessions at the upcoming 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, May 11–13, 2023, in Kalamazoo, MI. Please note that the deadline for submissions is September 15, 2022.

The Center for Thomistic Studies

A total of 6 sessions will be devoted to Medieval philosophical and theological thought, especially that of Aquinas. One session in particular will be devoted to Aquinas’s Catena aurea. The sessions are sponsored by:

The Center for Thomistic Studies, c/o S.J. Jensen, Center for Thomistic Studies, University of St. Thomas (TX), 3800 Montrose, Houston, TX 77006-4696. Email: jensensj@stthom.edu. Three sessions will be devoted to any topic about the philosophy of Aquinas, his sources, or contemporary applications of his thought.

The Thomas Aquinas Society, c/o John F. Boyle, Department of Catholic Studies, 55-S, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105. Email: jfboyle@stthomas.edu. For these sessions, proposals on any topic dealing with Aquinas are welcome, with one session devoted to Catena aurea.

All papers will be delivered face-to-face; online format is unavailable.

Papers are 20 minutes in length.
Paper submissions must include a 300 word abstract, and a short description (50 words) for public view on the meeting site, should the proposal be accepted.
Deadline for submissions: 15 Sep 2022.

Papers must be submitted through the Western Michigan University website. Please go to icms.confex.com/icms/2023/cfp.cgi Once on this webpage, you must go to “Session Selection” and then click on

“Sponsored and Special Sessions of Papers.” From the drop-down menu, you must select one of the following three possibilities: “Thomas Aquinas I: The Catena aurea”; “Thomas Aquinas II-III”; or “Thomistic Philosophy I-III.” From the new drop-down, click “Begin a Submission,” and then follow instructions.

The Kalamazoo conference is the largest congress for Medieval Studies in the world.

Episcopus and The Franciscan Institute

Session Title: Mendicant Friars and the Secular Church: Controversy, Coexistence, Collaboration

Sponsorship: Co-sponsored by Episcopus and The Franciscan Institute

(Note: While the Franciscan Institute is a co-sponsor, we are keen to attract papers that address the Dominicans, or indeed the other mendicant orders.)

Contact: William H. Campbell (whc7@pitt.edu)

Modality: In person

Summary: From c. 1215 onward, the Latin church had two parallel structures for reaching the laity, the seculars and the mendicants. As the latter exploded in numbers and popularity, the two became rivals, sometimes espousing radically different agendas for reform and concepts of the nature of the church itself. From time to time, this broke into open conflict. But the two could often co-operate, as when a parish priest invited a friar to preach, or even overlap, as when a friar was elected to the episcopate. Papers are invited that address the nature of these complex relationships.

Submissions: Submit abstracts to the Confex Portal (https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call) before the hard deadline of September 15, 2022. Earlier, informal expressions of interest to the session organizer are also welcome.