2003

January 29, 2003

Dr. Kirstin Noreen (knoree1@lsu.edu), Art
Replicating Holiness in the Visual Culture of the Counter-Reformation: The  Icon of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

Dr. Noreen will examine the afterlife of the sixth-century icon of Santa Maria Maggiore during the period of the Counter-Reformation.  The copying and dispersion of the image served various purposes in the sixteenth century: the reproductions reinforced the popularity of the representation from Santa Maria Maggiore at a time of competition among icons in the city; the copies established political ties through diplomatic gift giving; and the replications played a significant role in the Catholic missionary program, especially under the Jesuits.  Her paper will examine how the Catholic Church used copies not only to authenticate images associated with the Early Church but also to transfer symbolically the authority of Rome to areas evangelized by Protestant reformers.  The themes of visual mimesis, authorship, originality and reception will be applied to the consideration of icons and their replication.
 

February 26

Dr. Greg Stone (stone@lsu.edu), French and French Studies
Unity and Diversity in Medieval Islamic Writing

Dr. Stone's talk will treat issues concerning tolerance for religious difference in the medieval Islamic tradition, with a special emphasis on the writings of the great Sufi intellectual Ibn Arabi.
 

March 26

Dr. Mary Sirridge, Philosophy
Dream Bodies and Dream Pains in Augustine's De Natura et Origine Anima

Dr. Sirridge will explore this eccentric late work of Augustine, which affords unexpected insight into his understanding of the complex relationship between mind and body.

April 30

Dr. Susannah Monta, English
Both these cannot be martyrs:í Interpreting Martyrdom in an Age of Warring Truths

Dr. Monta's talk focuses on the literary aspects of the martyrologies that flourished during early modern England's unprecedented religious persecutions. Under Henry VIII numerous Protestants suffered, and over two hundred eighty Protestants were burned by Mary I in the most concentrated persecution of religious dissidents in England's history. Henry VIII's government intermittently pursued Catholics as well, while in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries many English Catholics endured protracted, intense persecution. Texts celebrating those who suffered proved widely popular. With righteous fervor, these martyrologies insist that the testimony of martyrs verifies the faith for which they died. Yet the competing sets of martyrs that these works foregrounded raised unsettling questions: if both Protestants and Catholics were willing to die rather than recant their beliefs, could serenity and perseverance in the face of death no longer be considered an index of true faith? How could true martyrs be identified in an era when so many suffered so resolutely for such different causes? Dr. Monta will examine how competing representations of martyrdom affected depictions of martyrs in early modern literature.

September 24  

Dr. Maribel Dietz (maribel@lsu.edu), History
The Cult of St. Stephen the Protomartyr in the Late Antique West

Dr. Dietz will discuss the beginnings of the cult of St. Stephen the Protomartyr through an exploration of the early fifth-century discovery of his relics in Jerusalem and the impact that they had on the west, primarily Italy, Africa and Spain, during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.  She is particularly interested in the connection between this cult and female patronage, pilgrimage and relations with the Jews. This is a "work-in-progress" and  Dr. Dietz would appreciate any comments.
 

October 29

Dr. Lisi Oliver (lolive1@lsu.edu), English
Personal Injury Laws in early Medieval Europe

This talk will present research in progress for Dr. Oliver's second book, Personal Injury Laws in Early Medieval Europe. This paper will concentrate on the personal injury tariffs in the Continental barbarian laws and compare them to the same tariffs for the Legis Romanorum Barbarorum.  Dr. Oliver will address two major issues:

1. To what extent do the Germanic laws show a consistency which we might attribute to inheritance, and what does this tell us about medical knowledge and practice in the preliterate Germanic territories?
2. Where and to what extent are the native laws influenced by the Roman, and what does that tell us about the difference in medical science between the two cultures?

November 19

2004

Dr. Jan Herlinger
School of Music
"The Genesis of Marciana 3579"
September 15, Coates 155, 4:30 pm

Faye Phillips
LSU Libraries, Special Collections
"New Facsimiles in the Rare Book Collection"
October 13, Hill Library Lecture Hall, 4:30 pm

Dr. Malcolm Richardson
Dept. of English
"The Textual Awakening of the English Middle Classes, 1400-1520"
November 17, Coates 155, 4:30 pm