The Congress – Papers, Wine Hours and much more

Thursday morning: My alarm-clock should ring 6:30 a.m. like every day for the time I stood in K’zoo, but I awoke 10 minutes earlier. I paused for a moment, waiting patiently for my jetlag. But it didn’t come and I finally accepted it. I took my American breakfast at 7:15 and I totally enjoyed it .

There was some time left before my first session started at 10:00 a.m., so I took the time for reading the comprehensive schedule.

The sessions

Ca. 50 sessions were running contemporaneous in each time slot. It was very hard to decide. I would advise newcomers to choose papers with topics that are not completely new for you, especially if English is not your first language. The topics are very specific and the fundamental terms of the subject should be clear. Otherwise it could become hard to understand all the trade languages. It was my first time in an English speaking country and I needed my time to get used to it. Some speakers were easier to understand than others. I think it depends on the different dialects, too. It’s also recommendable to read the corrigendum, which contains all changes and informs about canceled events. I was especially interested in papers about German Medieval Literatur and music. But the papers bestrided various fields: romance studies, science of art, musicology, gender studies, history, religious studies, political science, archaeology e.g. Really everyone interested in the medieval research can find something adequate in the schedule.

With its about 600 sessions during three and a half day (it started on Thursday morning and closed on Sunday noon) the spectrum of the congress is amazing and unique. There were papers about (English, French, German,…) medieval classics like the Arthurian literature, Chaucer’s and Hildegard’s von Bingen works, Robin Hood, Tristan, Nibelungenlied, Willehalm; papers about modern topics with medieval background for example medieval elements in virtual games (World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls IV, Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game e.g.), medievalism in J. K. Rowling’s or Tolkien’s literature, medieval stuff in films and television; papers about astronomy and alchemy; two plenary lectures; panel discussions; differnt Workshops (reading aloud Old French and Middle French, textile workshop, Survival Tips for Digital Archivists e.g.) and much more.

After every paper there was time left for questions and a discussion guided by a presider who payed attention that it not overruns its time.

Additional to the session there were other events you could attend: Two plenary lectures, film screenings, a concert, wine hours, the Exhibits Hall e.g. They arranged a shuttle service, that could bring you to all events.

The concert

On Friday evening was a concert: „Music from the Hapsburg Court of Renaissance ‘Germany’: Sixteenth-Century Music for Tenor and Viol Consort“ by „The Catacoustic Consort“. I attended this concert in the First Baptist Church, and it was amazing.

They played some compositions of Ludwig Senfl and one of Christian Janszone Hollander. The tenor (Daniel Carberg) had an impressive voice. By chance I was in a concert with Senfl-compositions some weeks ago. It was interesting to listen to different interpretations of the same motet. I was especially impressed, that the musicians (Annalisa Pappano, Wendy Gillespie, James Lambert and Mary Burke) were playing violas da gamba with strings of bowel. Those instruments put very easy out of tune and it’s hard to tune it up fast.

The Wine Hours

Very famous was the daily and very well attended wine hour from 5 to 6 p.m.

You shouldn’t miss the chance of attending it, getting wine for free and to mingle with the most different people from everywhere. And if you have lost sight of someone during the congress, I guarantee, here you will find him . Actually all receptions with open bars (that means drinks for free) were very well frequented. I will not speculate about the reasons for it .

The inofficial singing group

I joined the singing group, that evolved over the years. Everyone who likes singing could come in and have fun. Next to the room where the singing group domiciliated, was – of course – an open bar. So everyone had the courage to sing and the atmosphere was impressive and relaxed. We had very, very much fun.

The Exhibits Hall

You shall use free time to browse the Exhibits Hall with a large number of book sellers and important publishers. It needs a very long time to visit all the booths. But it’s worth the effort. You can buy all kinds of books relating to medieval topics and they have many special offers for the congress attendees.

The dance

Never fear: No medieval songs ! They played every kind of dance music. It needed hardly 10 minutes until the dance floor was crowded out.

It made a lot of fun and we stayed til the end (about 1:30 a.m). Shortly before dance was over, I met another enjoyable and nice medievalist and so we decided to go on with talking until about 3:00 a.m.

After all it was the last chance before we all started our trip home.

One clever man gave me the advice: „Never waste too much time in K’zoo with sleeping!“ I took it to heart and had a great time on the congress: I have learned a lot, met lovely people and had incredible much fun.

(By the way, the man who gave me that advice had to battle agains the tiredness during a session and… lost. He had to go out for a coffee )

After four days we unfortunately had to made our ways home. I was very impressed to meet so many other medievalists. Hardly imaginable, that there are such a lot of them. Normally you feel like an endangered species. On the way home, you could see everywhere people reading medievalistic books at the airport: their prey from the congress. A sight to behold .