Call for Papers: Revisiting the Cloister

Revisiting the Cloister: Monastery and Convent Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Britain

London, October 6, 2020

Deadline: Feb 29, 2021

Victorian convent and monastic buildings embodied diverse theological, social, cultural and gender discourses within nineteenth-century Britain, yet these structures have received limited academic attention. On Saturday 6 October 2020 in London, The Victorian Society will host a wide-ranging symposium to explore these multi-functional sites – spaces not only of devotion, contemplation and leisure but also of artistic production, education, industry and social care – from an ecumenical perspective. Too often, scholarship in nineteenth-century religious architecture has been divided across denominational lines. ‘Revisiting the Cloister’ seeks to engage with the productive cross fertilization of aesthetic and theological ideas arising from an interlaced rather than sectarian social milieu.

This symposium invites papers that consider the patronage, design and construction of both male and female religious houses in the nineteenth century. Papers that explore themes of gender, agency, community, artistic and industrial innovation, continuity and change are particularly welcome. Proposals for 20-minute papers should be emailed to the organisers (emails below) no later than 29 February 2021.

Organised by:
Ayla Lepine (The Courtauld Institute of Art) & Kate Jordan (The Bartlett School of Architecture)
For all enquiries and submissions please contact: ayla.lepine@courtauld.ac.uk & katejordan77@gmail.com