Call for Papers sponsored by
The International Joan of Arc Society / Société Internationale de l’étude de Jeanne d’Arc
61st International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS 2026)
May 14 to 16, 2026
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
The International Joan of Arc Society / Société Internationale de l’étude de Jeanne d’Arc is sponsoring two in-person panels and one hybrid roundtable (in-person and online) at ICMS 2026.
Note that the conference allows attendees to present on one panel and one roundtable, but not two panels or two roundtables.
Submissions are due on September 15, 2025.
Preliminary inquiries and expressions of interest are welcome. Please direct them to Tara Beth Smithson (tsmithson@saintmarys.edu) and Scott Manning (scottmanning13@gmail.com).
Panel – On the Path of Joan of Arc: Tracing Johannic Itineraries through Art, War, and Tourism
Key cities in Joan of Arc’s history often emphasize associations with the Maid as important parts of their cultural identities and contributors to their economies. Catholic and secular organizations alike propose tours for those who wish to “live” some dimension of Joan’s history by visiting the sites where she was born, fought, and died. This panel is concerned with itineraries: either those undertaken by Joan or her entourage (military routes, Isabelle Romée’s supposed pilgrimage), those recreated, (history-inspired travel plans), or those that emerge, (the itinerant afterlives of objects representing Joan, like artwork or statuary).
We invite a range of creative and scholarly approaches including but not limited to: analysis of fictionalized travel narratives featuring Joan of Arc, commentaries on Joan’s real-life travel companions, ethnographies of Johannic destinations or festive practices (e.g. re-enactments and parades), personal narratives of pilgrimages, interpretations of the “traveling theater” of Joan’s nullification proceedings or the multi-city tours of Joan impersonators à la Claude des Armoises, studies of the trajectories of Johannic tropes, texts, or objects, as well as explorations of wrong turns, chosen detours, inevitable backtracking, and travel tools like maps and schedules, designed to prevent such mishaps.
This panel seeks 15-minute presentations for an in-person format.
Please submit via the website for ICMS – Submit here
Panel – Sound, Silence, Voice, and Ventriloquism in Joan of Arc’s Life and Legacy
Joan of Arc has long been a muse to musicians, inspiring operas (Verdi, Tchaikovsky) musicals (Goodtime Charley) sung mystery plays (Claudel & Honneger), ballads (Leonard Cohen, Arcade Fire) and pop culture parodies such as the rap battle between Miley Cyrus and the Maid. Her story has also been powerfully related en muet in early silent films. This panel investigates the “sound effects” of Joan’s story, considering the roles of music, speech, silence, voices, and voiceover.
Some of the following questions may be productive: What is the relationship of the various “voices” represented in the trails? How have musicians chosen to represent Joan’s voices or visions? When is Joan as a historical person or cultural symbol ventriloquized or made to speak in ways that seem out of sync? Where are the most palpable silences in the trails? How have after-the-fact additions of sound to works such as Carl Dreyer’s silent film La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc which is often shown accompanied by a live orchestra, changed the nature or reception of the work?
This panel seeks 15-minute presentations for an in-person format.
Please submit via the website for ICMS – Submit here
Roundtable – The Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc in New Orleans
The Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc in New Orleans has grown from a fledgling parade troupe to a year-round advocate for interest in the Maid. Its yearly 600-person parade themed around Joan of Arc, kicks off the Carnival season that culminates in Mardi Gras. Throughout the year, the krewe hosts art shows, conferences, and book clubs. A recently established exchange program with the Fêtes Johanniques in Orléans, allows their respective Joans to visit each others’ parades. The Krewe received nation-wide attention when members decided to march on January 6 in 2025, five days after the domestic terrorist attack on Bourbon Street.
We are seeking scholars and participants in the Krewe’s activities who can share their experiences, the history and evolution of the group, and how the story of Joan of Arc is shared, exchanged, and repurposed for the group’s activities. We will pose questions on the logistics of the group’s activities, results, and participation by members and the local community. How does New Orleans view the group? What is the appeal of Joan of Arc in this particular context? How did the city respond after the recent terrorist attack on Bourbon Street?
This roundtable will be a hybrid (in-person and online) format.
This roundtable seeks <10 minute presentations followed by a discussion with the roundtable and audience members.
Please submit via the website for ICMS – Submit here
