Women’s Religious Communities and their Artefacts: Reframing Criteria and Epistemic Boundaries

5–8 July 2027, Leeds

International Medieval Congress

Deadline: 14 September 2026

Sponsor:* *LITLEAD. The Role of Women Religious and their Artefacts in Shaping Liturgical Leadership in the Iberian World, ca. 1300–1700. Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation & Universities (MICIU/AEI)

Overview & Aims

This call invites papers that *rethink how liturgical artefacts from communities of women religious* *are classified, described, and interpreted across disciplines, regions, and media*.

In recent decades, these communities have become a vibrant field of scholarly inquiry, they and their artefacts have been studied through cross-disciplinary approaches. Yet, binary divisions, categories and biases continue to shape the study of women religious, their material culture and religious history more broadly. In addition, despite the so-called *global turn*, epistemic borders still position certain territories, communities, and artefacts at the margins of research and outside major international databases.

*LITLEAD* seeks to challenge some of these binaries—particularly the gendered division of liturgical authority—through an interdisciplinary analysis of artefacts created by and for communities of Christian women religious in the Iberian world (c. 1300–1700). A central obstacle to this endeavour is the absence of comprehensive, standardised catalogues of artefacts from women’s communities, and of uniform criteria that would enable global comparative studies.

These sessions aim to confront this gap by:

1. Rethinking current standards by exposing gendered, regional, and
epistemic biases in the classification and study of artefacts from
communities of women religious.

2. *Developing globally applicable criteria* through dialogue with scholars and GLAM professionals working on women religious’ artefacts across regions, periods, and media, enabling comparative approaches.

Call for Contributions

We invite proposals for *20-minute papers in English* that offer focused case studies, comparative perspectives, or methodological reflections on liturgical artefacts from communities of women religious from Christian traditions as well as other religious contexts.

We invite contributions that:

- *Critically examine* existing approaches and disciplinary assumptions.

- *Test new methodological frameworks* and criteria to expand the
field’s epistemic boundaries.

- *Address communities at the margins* of current scholarship and
propose agendas for global comparative study.

Scholars from art history, history, musicology, liturgical studies,
codicology, gender studies, digital humanities, material culture studies*, *and professionals working in GLAM are warmly encouraged to participate.

Possible Topics

- *Authorship, agency & authority* — communal authorship versus
individual authorship; different forms of liturgical leadership within
communities expressed through artefacts.

- *Gendered frameworks and biases* — performative aspects of gender;

- intersectionality and fluid gender dynamics; artefacts have gone unnoticed, being miscatalogued, or misunderstood.

- *Materiality, media & classification* — written artefacts, textiles, reliquaries, and other media; hybrid, complex, recycled, or fragmentary artefacts; object categories versus categories of practice.

- *Practice and performativity* — liturgy, prayer, meditation, reading,
etc.; multifunctionality and shifting uses over time.

- *Beyond exceptionality and periphery* — integrating artefacts from
women’s communities into broader discussions of liturgical materiality, and global comparative studies.

- *Postcolonial perspectives* — questioning Eurocentric categories and expanding the epistemic boundaries of the field.

- *Modern mediation* — how cataloguing, conservation, and display
practices shape contemporary interpretations of liturgical artefacts from communities of women religious

Submission Guidelines

- *Paper title* & *Abstract* (250 words)

- *Short biographical note* (100–150 words)

- *IMC required information:* e-mail, affiliation, 2–4 index terms, equipment and accessibility requests, in-person or virtual participation.

- *Deadline:* *14 September 2026*

- Please send proposals to *Mercedes Pérez Vidal*:

- Sessions will be submitted to the IMC by 30 September 2026.

More information

Musicologie.org, 56 rue de la Fédération, 93100 Montreuil. 06 06 61 73 41.

ISSN 2269-9910.

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Dimanche 6 Septembre, 2026