The Royal Studies Network will hold its next conference, on the theme Resilio ergo Regno: Resilience, Continuity and Recovery at Royal Courts at the University of Catania, Department of Educational Science, Catania 24-27 June 2019. The Royal Studies Network will hold its next conference, on the theme Resilio ergo Regno: Resilience, Continuity and Recovery at Royal Courts at the University of Catania, Department of Educational Science, Catania 24-27 June 2019.
The conference aims to bring together scholars working in different disciplines with an interest in royal and court studies, we are particularly interested in receiving proposals that address the meaning of resilience in a historical royal context. The word resilience has become increasingly fashionable and salient in recent decades in several fields of academic research. The concept in fact has gone from being limited and specific in nature to being a more and widely encompassing construction. The title of our conference plays on the famous Latin proposition by Rene Descartes, ‘Cogito ergo Sum’ to become Resilio ergo Regno. The etymology of the word resilience came from Latin resilio– resist ,I resist so I rule.
Resilience here is understood both as an individual act to overcome adversity but also as a communal, social and relational interaction, which reveals itself in several social political forms. Expressions of resistance studies in the context of royal and court history that deal with various forms of public or private resilience are especially welcome to consider. Sources and written accounts deal with various form of resilience and resistance in various contexts would be another area to potentially explore. Resilience could be also be viewed as the ability to overcome the impact of change or negative events by a combination of resistance and adaptation by royal individuals, dynasties and/or courtiers. We encourage papers from all disciplines, time periods and geographical regions as long as they are related to the field of royal studies. Proposals may address one or more of the following themes but are not limited to these suggestions:
• Historical royal figures who are models for resilience
• Recovery from traumatic events (such as illness, territorial disaster or loss of territory due to defeat of battles, earthquakes, disastrous floods etc.) in the life of kings, queens and their realms
• Pivotal figures who made a positive impact in the lives of royal figures and their families and also in their kingdoms in the wake of challenging events
• Royal figures coping with grief and/or betrayal in their family or those close to them
• Exploration of how kings, queens or courtiers perceived and/or narrated tragic events or trauma through their letters, diaries and/or memoirs
We invite proposal for 20-minute presentations or for panels of 3-4 papers grouped on a theme or subject. Please email a 250 word abstract for individual papers or a 500 word abstract for a panel proposal, along with a brief CV or bio to the organizers at kq8catania@gmail.com.
The deadline for submitting the proposals is 30 December 2018.
Scientific Committee
Marcello Fantoni (Centro Studi Europa delle Corti – Kent State University)
Fabian Persson (The Society for Court Studies- Linnæus University)
Cinzia Recca (Local Organizer-University of Catania)
Zita Rohr (Macquarie University- Sydney)
Elena Woodacre (Founder Royal Studies Network- University of Winchester)
More details on the website: https://www.royalstudiesnetwork.org/current-conference-details
