The conference will explore the history of family and childhood, in conjunction with that of religion, religious conflict and the confessional state. It will focus on the experiences of children and young people in minority groups (of any religion) in different contexts throughout the early modern world from the Reformation to the Enlightenment, and their textual mediation. Comparing the strategies, experiences and perceptions of different groups, with a focus on childhood, offers a new understanding both of early modern childhood and of the social history of religion.
Proposals for 20-minute papers are welcomed. Papers might address the following or similar themes:
- Minority status, persecution and children’s religious practice
- Family and confessional identity
- Intergenerational relations
- Education and the enforcement of religious change
- Youthful religious dissidence
- Gender, education and religious minorities
- Portrayals of childhood in the literature of religious minorities
- Childhood, youth and martyrology
- The state, religion and the family
Key speakers: Professor Joel Harrington, Vanderbilt University; Professor Alec Ryrie, Durham University
Convenor: Dr Lucy Underwood, University of Warwick
Proposals should include:
- Name and affiliation (if applicable); contact details; abstract of 100 words; brief (50 words) biography of applicant
- They should be sent to Dr Lucy Underwood by 10 April 2016 (Deadline extended from 31 March) at: childhoodreligion@gmail.com