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CALL FOR PAPERS

LECTIO DOCTORAL SEMINAR “THE HUMANIST AS PHILOSOPHER AND THE PHILOSOPHER AS HUMANIST”

Leuven, 17 May 2018

Every year, LECTIO (Leuven Centre for the Study of the Transmission of Texts and Ideas in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance) awards the LECTIO Chair to a renowned scholar specialized in one of the disciplines studied by LECTIO researchers. Holder of the 2018 LECTIO Chair is prof. Jill Kraye (Warburg Institute). In addition to her public lecture on Wednesday 16 May 2018 (title: “What does Renaissance Humanism have to do with Renaissance Philosophy?” – official invitation follows), the following day (Thursday 17 May 2018), she will give a doctoral seminar on “The Humanist as Philosopher and the Philosopher as Humanist”.

Theme: The aim of this seminar is to explore the collaboration and cross-fertilization between Renaissance humanists and Renaissance philosophers. Although there was a rough division of labour between humanists and philosophers, the disciplinary borders between them were not as rigid as they have sometimes been portrayed in the past. When it came to examining the philosophical traditions which had flourished in antiquity, the boundaries between humanists and philosophers were instead fluid, fluctuating and punctuated by instances of interchange and interaction. Recent research has highlighted the humanist interests of philosophers such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio Ficino, along with the philosophical interests of humanists such as Angelo Poliziano and Ermolao Barbaro. There is, however, much more evidence to be uncovered in learned treatises, orations, philosophical commentaries, lecture notes, correspondence and the margins of manuscripts and early printed books.

On the occasion of this seminar, LECTIO invites early career researchers (PhD students and postdocs) to submit proposals on the philosophical pursuits of Renaissance humanists, the humanist pursuits of Renaissance philosophers or the collaborations between humanists and philosophers. The timespan is from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, and the geographical area encompasses all of Europe.

The selected scholars will be given the opportunity to present their research (20 minutes) and to discuss it with the chair holder and colleagues, both junior and senior. A one-page description of the proposed paper and a short CV should be submitted no later than 13 April 2017 tolectio@kuleuven.be.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAM

Wednesday 16 May 2018 | Promotiezaal – University Hall 01.46 – Naamsestraat 22 Leuven (Belgium)

17.00 Public lecture ¬(Lectio Chair) – Prof. dr. Jill Kraye (Warburg Institute)

“What does Renaissance Humanism have to do with Renaissance Philosophy?”

Thursday 17 May 2018 | Raadzaal – HIW 01.16 – Kardinaal Marcierplein 2 Leuven (Belgium)

10.00 Introduction – Prof. dr. Jan Papy (KU Leuven)

10.05 Doctoral Seminar – Prof. dr. Jill Kraye (Warburg Institute)

“The Humanist as Philosopher and the Philosopher as Humanist”

12.00 Lunch

13.00 Paper session 1 (5 papers)

15.00 Coffee break

15.30 Paper session 2 (5 papers)

17.30 Final conclusions


Scientific & organizing committee

KU Leuven : Jan Papy, Erika Gielen

Universiteit Antwerpen : Christian Laes

UGent : Alexander Roose

Scholars who want to attend the seminar without presenting a paper are also asked to register by 4 May 2018, by sending an email to lectio@kuleuven.be.

For more information , please visit our website (http://lectio.ghum.kuleuven.be/lectio/training-and-tools), or contact erika.gielen@kuleuven.be or jan.papy@kuleuven.be.

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(Photo: "Handwritten" by A. Birkan, licensed under CC BY 2.0)