The Politics of Conversion: Martin Luther to Muhammad Ali

Posted on September 23, 2017 by briansandberg

The Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library hosted a major conference on The Politics of Conversion: Martin Luther to Muhammad Ali last week.

I enjoyed participating in the conference and presenting a paper on “Conversion, Confessional Politics, and Violence in the Final Stages of the French Wars of Religion, 1598-1629,” in a session along with Lee Palmer Wandel, Alejandro Cañeque, Randall Martin, and Walter Melion. The papers fit together nicely, allowing a productive discussion of related rationales, methods, and practices of conversion across early modern Europe and European empires.

Peter Marshall gave a keynote lecture on “Martin Luther and the Invention of the Reformation” to open the conference with a commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses.

Regina Schwartz presented a keynote on “Ethical Conversion: ‘I have ta’en too little care of this.'”

The conference coincided with the opening of a new exhibition on Religious Change and Print, 1450-1700 at the Newberry.

Lia Markey, Director of the Center for Renaissance Studies, and the whole team at the Newberry Library did an excellent job of organizing the conference.

Further information about the conference is available online at the Center for Renaissance Studies website at the Newberry Library.  The full program is provided on the Newberry Library website.

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, European Wars of Religion, French Wars of Religion, History of Violence, Reformation History, Religious History, Religious Politics, Religious Violence, Renaissance Art and History, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Newberry Graduate Conference

Posted on September 6, 2017 by briansandberg

The Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library has issued a call for papers for its Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Conference:

2018 Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Conference
Call for Papers

January 25 to 27, 2018

We invite abstracts for 20-minute papers from master’s or PhD students from any discipline on any medieval, Renaissance, or early modern topic in Europe, the Americas, or the Mediterranean world. The 2018 conference schedule will include workshops and presentations with rare books in addition to traditional conference sessions.
Deadline: Sunday, October 15, 2017 at midnight CDT
Eligibility: Preference is given to proposals from students at member institutions of the Center for Renaissance Studies consortium, but we welcome proposals from students of the Folger Institute consortium.

Submit a proposal using this online form.

A printable CFP is available online here.

Note: Graduate students at member institutions of the Center for Renaissance Studies consortium may be eligible to apply for travel funding to attend this conference. For more information, visit this webpage.

Posted in Conferences, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Graduate Work in History | Leave a comment

H-France Forum on A Theater of Diplomacy

Posted on July 21, 2017 by briansandberg

H-France has just published a new H-France Forum, edited by Hélène Bilis, on Ellen R. Welch’s A Theater of Diplomacy: International Relations and the Performing Arts in Early Modern France (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017).

I enjoyed participating in this H-France Forum and contributing a review essay on the book.

My review essay is available online at the H-France Forum, 12:3.

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Noble Culture and History of Elites, Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics | Leave a comment

International Research Award in Global History

Posted on July 12, 2017 by briansandberg

The Universities of Munich, Basel, and Sydney have issued a call for proposals for an International Research Award in Global History.

“The successful applicant will receive up to €10,000 towards the organization of an international symposium at the History Department of the University of Munich. Applications are accepted until September 30, 2017.”

The call for proposals reads: “Over the last two decades global history has emerged as an important sub‐discipline in the broader field of historical research, encompassing a wide range of methodological and thematic approaches, including transnational, international and world history. The International Research Award in Global History and the award symposium have been initiated jointly by some of the leading researchers in the field, in order to support innovative young researchers. The award aims to give them the intellectual freedom and the financial means to bring together scholars from all over the world to engage with a topic of their own choice and design. Our aim is to make the scholarly work of the awardee visible in the scientific community and put them in closer contact with established colleagues in their field. Beyond supporting the research and academic networks of the prize‐winning scholar, the award symposium will contribute to the field’s ability to critically reflect and intellectually replenish itself. The award also aims to reach out to an academic public beyond the sub‐discipline of global history and provide a broader stage for the pioneering research currently undertaken in the field. The purse of up to €10,000 attached to the award will be used to host an international symposium on a topic proposed by the successful applicant. In 2018, the symposium will take place at the University of Munich, Germany, in late September/early October. The awardee will be responsible for organizing the panels and inviting the speakers. Chairs and discussants will come from the initiating institutions at Basel, Munich and Sydney. Organizational support will be available.”

For the eligibility requirements and the full announcement, see the website at the University of Basel.

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Globalization, Grants and Fellowships | Leave a comment

Postdoctoral Opportunity in France

Posted on July 7, 2017 by briansandberg

A postdoctoral opportunity in genealogical studies in France for recent PhDs:

The postdoctoral fellowship is on “The child and family genealogical stories: globalisation of practices, new issues, counter-archives” (L’enfant et le récit généalogique et familial : mondialisation des pratiques, nouveaux enjeux, contre-archives) at the Université Bretagne Loire (Angers).

For more information, see: https://u-bretagneloire.fr/dossiers/postdoc/candidatures

 

 

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, French History, Grants and Fellowships, Noble Culture and History of Elites | Leave a comment

Religious History Fellowships in Florence

Posted on June 14, 2017 by briansandberg

Istituto Sangalli (Sangalli Institute) is offering postdoctoral fellowships in religious history at the Medici Archive Project in Florence.

The brief description reads:

“The Sangalli Institute for the history and religious cultures offers the opportunity of a short research stay in Florence to young fellows of any nationality (included the Italians) affiliated to foreign universities and research centers, in order to create an effective and productive dialogue between the great cultural heritage of Florence and the world of the international researchers in the humanities specialized in the history of religions and religious studies, with special attention to the interfaith dialogue and interdisciplinary approaches. For the first semester of the academic year 2017-2018, the Sangalli Institute offers 3 residential fellowships for young scholars of 1 month of duration (worth 2,000 euro each), to help covering living expenses and accommodation.”

For further information, see the call for applications at the Medici Archive Project website or see the Istituto Sangalli website.

Posted in Archival Research, Cultural History, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, European History, Grants and Fellowships, Reformation History, Religious History, Renaissance Art and History | Leave a comment

The State of Illinois is Destroying its Future

Posted on February 3, 2017 by briansandberg

Illinois high school graduates are fleeing the state in record numbers, largely due to the continuing lack of a state budget in Illinois.

State universities in Illinois will lose even more students as the Illinois high school graduates of 2017 head to Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan over the State of Illinois’s continued failure to fund state universities and MAP Grants (state financial aid) to Illinois residents.

No higher ed funding, fewer students….

ilstatehsgrads

Image credit: Chicago magazine.

My own university, Northern Illinois University has shrunk by 25 percent over the past 6 years, a trend accelerated greatly by the lack of state budget (or “Budget Impasse” as the media continues to call it) in Illinois over the past year and a half.

The State of Illinois is destroying its future.

Chicago magazine provides the latest report on the breakdown of state funding for higher education and the resulting loss of undergraduate students in Illinois.

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education, Northern Illinois University, Undergraduate Work in History | Leave a comment

Battlefield Emotions Volume

Posted on December 14, 2016 by briansandberg

Battlefield Emotions, 1500-1800: Practices, Experience, Imagination, ed. Erika Kuipers and Cornelis Van Der Haven (Palgrave Macmillan) is now in production and about to hit the bookshelves.

battlefieldemotions

My chapter on “‘His Courage Produced More Fear in His Enemies than Shame in His Soldiers’: Siege Combat and Emotional Display in the French Wars of Religion,” appears in this collective volume.

A book description is available at the Palgrave Macmillan website.

Posted in Current Research, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, Gender and Warfare, History of Violence, War and Society, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Review of War and Conflict in the Early Modern World on H-Net

Posted on December 7, 2016 by briansandberg

The first review of War and Conflict in the Early Modern World, 1500-1700 (Polity, 2016) has now been published on H-Net Reviews.

h-netreviews

I am pleased to see that Professor Frederic J. Baumgartner (Virginia Tech) has reviewed the book for the H-Diplo list on H-Net.  Professor Baumgartner is a fellow early modern French historian, who has published on early modern French bishops, the French Wars of Religion, and declarations of war. I respect his work and welcome his review of my book.

The review is available at H-Net Reviews.

Posted in Current Research, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Globalization, History of Violence, War and Society, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Greg Bereiter Feature

Posted on September 10, 2016 by briansandberg

Greg Bereiter (Ph.D. in History, Northern Illinois University) is featured in the American Historical Association’s Member Spotlight.

bereiter-greg

Greg wrote his doctoral dissertation with me on clerical militancy during the French Wars of Religion.  I was honored to work with Greg during his graduate studies at Northern Illinois University and his doctoral research in France.

Greg is currently working as Historian at the U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, DC.

Congratulations, Greg!

The AHA Member Spotlight is online at the AHA website.

 

Posted in Careers in History, Early Modern Europe, European History, European Wars of Religion, French History, French Wars of Religion, Graduate Work in History, Northern Illinois University, Religious Politics | Leave a comment