Kalamazoo 2009

So, the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo has now posted their 2009 Schedule. And as usual there're a goodly number of Tolkien presentations among them. Since the entire list is so huge (over six hundred sessions), I've gone through and extracted the Tolkien events. I may not have gotten them all, but this shd represent most of this year's offerings. Some Tolkien-themed papers appear on panels that aren't themselves Tolkien-centric, so I've marked these with an asterisk (*) to help them stand out at a quick glance.

My own event is rather modest: I'm taking part in the Roundtable discussion of the new Flieger-Anderson edition of ON FAIRY-STORIES (Sat. May 9th at 1.30 pm), as one of seven panelists. But the number of well-known Tolkien scholars attending is impressive: Doug Anderson, Verlyn Flieger, Marjorie Burns, Richard West, Jared Lobdell, &c.

In case anyone out there is on the fence mulling over whether to attend this year, here's the link to the entire schedule

http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/sessions.html

And here's the mini-schedule I put together of the Tolkien Track.

Tolkien at Kalamazoo 2009

Th. 5/7, 1.30pm
Session 80
Studies in Old English Literature and the Medievalism of J. R. R. Tolkien
Sponsor: Medieval and Early Modern English Studies Association of Korea
(MEMESAK)
Organizer: Minwoo Yoon, Yonsei Univ.
Presider: Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr., Troy Univ.
Not All That the Authorities Have Said Is True: Questioning Some Notes Made by Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson on Beowulf and The Wife’s Lament
Sung-Il Lee, Yonsei Univ.
The Presentation of Female Characters in Beowulf
Dong-Il Lee, Hankuk Univ. of Foreign Studies
* Loss and Lateness in The Lord of the Rings
Minwoo Yoon

Th. 5/7, 1.30pm
Session 109
Medievalisms at War I
Sponsor: Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Society for the Study of Popular Culture
and the Middle Ages
Presider: Carl James Grindley, Hostos Community College, CUNY
Richard the Lionheart in Films and Television about the Third Crusade
Lorraine Kochanske Stock, Univ. of Houston
Contextualizing King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942): The Matter of Britain as World War II Propaganda
Michael A. Torregrossa
* “A Sport and an End”: Militarism in Tolkien’s and Jackson’s Versions of The Lord of the Rings
Mary R. Brown, Univ. of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Patterns of Violence, Decay, and Redemption in Filmic Beowulfs and Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s Cidade de Deus (2002)
Aaron Mercier, Ohio State Univ.

Fr. 5/8, 3.30pm
Session 375
Teaching Tolkien (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce
Presider: Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College
A roundtable discussion with Leslie A. Donovan, Univ. of New Mexico; Keith W. Jensen, William Rainey Harper College; Christopher T. Vaccaro, Univ. of Vermont; Sharin Schroeder, Univ. of Minnesota–Twin Cities; James I. McNelis, III, Wilmington College Ohio; Paul D. Nygard, St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley; and Deidre Dawson, Michigan State Univ.

Fr. 5/8, Evening Session (7:00 p.m.)
Session 375
Gaming Neomedievally (A Festive Workshop and Poster Session)
Sponsor: Medieval Electronic Multimedia Organization (MEMO)
Organizer: Carol L. Robinson, Kent State Univ.–Trumbull
Presider: Carol L. Robinson
Gothic Elements in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PlayStation 3
Morgan Ankrom, Kent State Univ.
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Guilds, Community, and Spectacle Samples
Kevin A. Moberly, St. Cloud State Univ., and Brent Addison Moberly, Indiana Univ.–Bloomington
Quest for Glory: Becoming the Knight Errant
Shaina Edmondson, Univ. of Texas–Arlington
Arthurian Apocalypse: Dark Age of Camelot
Lauryn S. Mayer, Washington and Jefferson College
Music and Culture(s) across Time: Samples in Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
Karen M. Cook, Duke Univ.
Virtually Medieval: World of Warcraft Reconsiders the Middle Ages
N. M. Heckel, Univ. of Rochester
* Neo-Tolkien Neomedieval Gaming
Pamela Clements, Siena College
The Neomedieval Hero: Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (for the PlayStation 3)
Brad Philips, Kent State Univ.


Fr. 5/8, Evening Session (7:30 p.m.)
Tolkien Unbound: Readers' Theater Performance
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.-Commerce
Presider: Robin Anne Reid
Songs for the Philologists
Douglas A. Anderson, Independent Scholar; Sandra Ballif Straubhaar, Univ. of Texas-Austin; Faye Ringel, United States Coast Guard Academy; Bradford Lee Eden, Univ. of California-Santa Barbara; Merlin DeTardo, Independent Scholar; Deirdre Dawson, Michigan State Univ.; Michael Wodzak, Viterbo Univ.; Jennifer Culver, Univ. of Texas-Dallas; and Amy Amendt-Raduege, Independent Scholar.
Baldor's Saga
John Wm Houghton, Hill School; Sandra Ballif Staubhaar; Faye Ringel; Bradford Lee Eden; Merlin DeTardo; Edward L. Risden, Univ. of California-Santa Barbara; Robert F. Tredray, Independent Scholar; Dean Easton, Choate Rosemary Hall School.

A cash bar will be available.


Sat. 5/9, 10a.m.
Session 400
The Children of Húrin
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce
Presider: Mary R. Bowman, Univ. of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Lack of Counsel, Not of Courage: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Critique of the Heroic Ethos in The Children of Húrin
Richard C. West, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison
Through Morgoth’s Eyes: Truth in Wartime
Faye Ringel, United States Coast Guard Academy
The Shadow of My Purpose: Gnosticism and the Strands of Fate in the Narn i hin Húrin
Brian Walter, St. Louis College of Pharmacy
Tolkien’s Women in The Children of Húrin
Victoria Wodzak, Viterbo Univ.



Sat. 5/9, 12:00 noon
Tolkien at Kalamazoo Business Meeting

Sat. 5/9, 1:30p.m.
Session 450
Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories” (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce
Presider: Douglas A. Anderson, Independent Scholar, and Verlyn Flieger, Univ. of Maryland
A roundtable discussion with Jennifer Culver, Univ. of Texas–Dallas; Deanna Delmar Evans, Bemidji State Univ.; Dimitra Fimi, Cardiff Univ.; Sandra Hordis, Arcadia Univ.; Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State Univ.; John D. Rateliff, Independent Scholar; and Ted Sherman, Middle Tennessee State Univ.

Sat. 5/9, 3:30p.m.
Session 498
In Honor of Tom Shippey: J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Next Century? (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce
Presider: John William Houghton, Hill School
A roundtable discussion with Douglas A. Anderson, Independent Scholar; Marjorie J. Burns, Portland State Univ.; Verlyn Flieger, Univ. of Maryland; Edward L. Risden, St. Norbert College; and Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College.

Sun. 5/10, 8:30p.m.
Session 552
Tolkien’s Revisions and Contradictions
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce
Presider: Bradford Lee Eden, Univ. of California–Santa Barbara
Revising Éowyn: Reading and Rereading Éowyn’s Mind
Mary Faraci, Florida Atlantic Univ.
The Words of Húrin and Morgoth: Microcosm, Macrocosm, and the Later Legendarium
Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State Univ.
Discrepancies, Divergences, and Etymological Forks in the Road
Eileen Marie Moore, Cleveland State Univ.
Who Are the Real Elves? The Noldor in The Book of Lost Tales and The Silmarillion
Janice M. Bogstad, McIntyre Library, Univ. of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Sun. 5/10, 10:30p.m.
Session 585
Tolkien’s Poetry and Song
Sponsor: Tolkien at Kalamazoo
Organizer: Robin Anne Reid, Texas A&M Univ.–Commerce
Presider: Anne Reaves, Marian College
“That was the first Hebung”: Tolkien’s Modernist Metrics in Formalist Garb
John R. Holmes, Franciscan Univ. of Steubenville
Musical References and Allusions in Tolkien’s Published Poetry
Bradford Lee Eden, Univ. of California–Santa Barbara
“He chanted a song of wizardry”: Words with Power in Middle-earth
Benjamin S. W. Barootes, McGill Univ.
Songs of Long Estrangement: The Poetry of Melancholy in The Lord of the Rings
Robert F. Tredray, Independent Scholar


Sun. 5/10, 10:30p.m.
Session 598
Beowulf as Children’s Literature II
Organizer: Bruce D. Gilchrist, Bishop’s Univ.
Presider: Marijane Osborn, Univ. of California–Davis
* The Giants of Beowulf, Tolkien, and Lewis: Meeting in the Middle
John Edward Damon, Univ. of Nebraska–Kearney
Grendel, Beowulf, and Little Johnny: Translating Ancient Evil and Good for Post-Modern Young Readers
Christopher E. Crane, United States Naval Academy
* “Beowulf: A Tale of Blood, Heat, and Ashes”: A Children’s Beowulf for the Tolkien Generation
Yvette Kisor, Ramapo College