This interdisciplinary colloquium will endeavor to develop some historical perspectives that are important for the current discussion of "internationalism" by exploring continuities and discontinuities between our pre-national past and our inter-national present. Some of the broader questions that lectures will address are: How are medieval and early modern (i.e., pre-national) social, political, economic, and cultural paradigms important for an adequate understanding of the "global," "international," in some respects arguably "post-national" situation in which we find ourselves today? Where and how in current social, political, or artistic developments or in current discussions about art, architecture, literature, the media, history etc. are medieval and/or early modern frames-of-reference seeming to turn up? (Or, alternately, where and how are paradigms turning up that appear to be medieval and/or early modern, but are in fact something completely different?)  To what extent might events in our pre-national past anticipate or parallel developments in our "international" present and future?
 
 

    This series is organized by a committee designated by the faculty associated with Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program faculty. The committee consists of Will Hasty (German Studies), Mary Watt (Italian Studies), David Stanley (Art History), and Florin Curta (History).  The event was made possible by the generous support of the Humanities Council, the Office of Research and Graduate Programs, the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, and the Department of History. For more information about the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program at the University of Florida, visit the MEMS webpage.