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Engaged medievalisms

Course taught in English and French

The summer school is co-organised by the University of Lausanne and University Grenoble Alpes

For its third year, the summer school "Engaged Medievalisms" at the University of Lausanne will be looking at how the Middle Ages were used for political purposes, cultural manifestations and social issues. The figure of Joan of Arc is an eloquent example, as the embodiment of a French symbol, she could just as easily serve the extreme right as become the muse of LGBTQ+ movements by virtue of her gender transgression. In many respects, the medieval era can serve as an ideal reference point, as it is both chronologically and culturally close to and distant from the contemporary era, making it ideal for fantastical and ideological projections. Our summer school will provide an opportunity to reflect on the various forms taken by these recycling of medieval material, and to examine the issues at stake today. 

Open to all interested students, our school will take place from June 24 to 27, 2024 on the UNIL campus; active participation in the courses will earn 3 ECTS credits. 

Several modern languages will be used in our activities; courses are adapted to English-speaking students with even a passive command of French.

You find the programme of the summer school here below

Register (deadline : 27th May 2024)

Who ?
Centre for Medieval and Post-Medieval Studies, Faculty of Arts, UNIL
Foreign Languages Training and Research Unit, UGA 

When ?
24-27.06.2024

For whom ?
Bachelor's, Master’s and PhD students

How much ?
CHF 60.-

Credits ?
3 ECTS

Language ?
French/English

Organised by Leticia Ding (Université de Lausanne), Prof. Filippo Fonio (Université Grenoble Alpes) and Prof. Agathe Sultan (Université de Lausanne), the summer school will have the pleasure to welcome the following speakers:

The school aims to bring together young researchers and bring them into dialogue with the best specialists in several disciplines: history, art history and literature of the European and world Middle Ages; philosophy, sociology and anthropology of contemporary cultures; communication and media sciences; politics and economics of entertainment; cognitive sciences. Lectures and workshops are required in French and English. This multilingualism is crucial because medieval studies were born in the 19th century on the old continent and were one of the spearheads of national universities in Germany, France and Italy, Switzerland being no exception. Their methodology is closely linked to the languages of these countries. The dialogue of epistemologies is therefore mainly driven by the dialogue of languages and cultures. Each participant will be asked to actively participate in several interdisciplinary workshops in several languages in order to raise awareness of these essential dimensions.

The second objective is reflexivity. The school stimulates participants’ reflection on the scientific and societal challenges of the training offered at the university. More specifically, it aims to support students in the development of a future scientific and/or professional project. Its target audience is MA students engaged in initial research work, whether in medieval studies and/or medieval modernities or in any other field (cultural studies, socio-anthropology, philosophy, contemporary history, etc.) where the issues addressed are relevant.

The third objective is to closely articulate theoretical reflection and practical experience. The course will alternate between lectures and debates by leading Swiss and international specialists and workshops in small groups supervised by practitioners and devoted to the discussion of methodological issues and the testing of specific tools. For example, participants will be able to discuss with writers the current reinvention of medieval literature; to experiment with reconstructions of combat techniques alongside historians and sportsmen; to design and test scenarios in the new immersive virtual reality devices developed by the Faculty of Arts of the UNIL.

Please find herunder the final program of the Summer School in English.

Final programme - Engaged medievalisms

Participants will have the opportunity to earn 3 ECTS. Along with the participation to the summer school, credits will be awarded based on :

  • Readings made as a preparation to the summer school
  • Preparing oral presentations made during the workshops
  • Writing reflexive essays (12 pages in total), formalizing some reflections about the days spent in Lausanne and explaining how your future research projets might benefit from those days.

CHF 60.- 

This amount includes : 

  • Tuition fees
  • Lunches
  • Coffee breaks
  • Welcome dinner
  • Farewell aperitif
  • Tuesday evening meal
  • Wednesday evening aperitif and screening-debate

Your application should include the application template attached here below filled accordingly :

Application template