Apologies for the lack of updates lately, it is submission time at Uni and I have a first year review ahead of me, so I have been writing a lot and I did not have time to write more. I did, however, make time to write a paper and go to Leeds and present it in the International Medieval Congress.
There will be plenty of posts online reporting on the papers, talks, roundtables, panels, discussions, excursions, feasts, food, drink and everything else IMC related. #IMC2016 on twitter will also be very revealing, since live tweeting was allowed and most people tweeted highlights of most talks. So I will not talk about the papers here, at least not now.
Leeds was my first conference outside my mother institution. To say that it was an initiation through fire would be an understatement, but also misleading, as it would imply difficulty, stress, hardship. The only sentiment about Leeds that I can subscribe to is: overwhelming.
I arrived the day before, as most other conference participants. Congrats to the organisers, by the way, I can’t imagine the planning it took to sort out registration packs, make sure everyone is taken care of. But they did, and they deserve praise. Special thanks to all volunteers that were there, facilitating everything silently but effectively.
So on Monday, first day of the IMC, I was there for the keynote speech and so were 2000 other medievalists. I did not know anyone, not even the people in the panel I was presenting with. I had gone through my paper at least a hundred times, I have read and re-read it to other people, I have gone through the powerpoint, saved it in 3 different locations, printed out my text, re-printed it in bigger font to make it easier to read from, I was getting stressed before the conference and I was afraid that by the time that I got there, my willpower will have abandoned me. I was wrong.
There were so many fascinating papers to listen to that I did not have time to stress. I did not even have time to think, it was too exciting! At some point – very early – I decided that what’s done is done with my paper and there are other things that I would rather do, like go listen to something that is not relevant with my PhD but it is incredibly interesting, so I went to a talk about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Assassin’s Creed. Because, why not.
Then there was the time for my paper and I presented it, it was over and then I ran to another panel because something very interesting was on again. And this is how my first World Conference Presentation happened.
The easiest thing was to walk up to someone and thank them for their paper. Or just go and tell them you follow them on twitter, it’s not creepy, or at least that’s what they told me! Everyone is there to chat and make friends, even the most important people of the discipline. If someone is not as approachable as you would like, wait until disco night. Then, all bets are off and you might find yourself dancing with your bibliography.
I will write more about Leeds in future posts because really, it was such an overwhelming experience that I don’t think I have digested it completely yet. I attended some amazing talks relevant to my own topic, and some more that were fun but totally irrelevant. I loved all of them. I also loved the increased gender discussions that took place throughout the IMC, in the papers and in the social events. A roundtable organised by the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship resulted in the #femfog hashtag trending in the UK, and in some brilliant discussions about harassment, micro-agressions, gender discrimination and academic presence. I cannot try to convey the atmosphere in this session, both the audience and the panel was on fire!
I am leaving Leeds feeling that this was a week of my life that I will remember, my first international conference presentation but also a crash course, an incredibly fast learning process. My next proposal will be better, my next presentation will be better and my next presence in a conference will be better.
And I will certainly not be easily overwhelmed any more!
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