Tolkien at Kalamazoo, International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), May 14-16, 2026
Hybrid (4), Virtual (3) and In-Person (S) Proposals due Sept. 1, 2025
The organizers of the sponsoring organization, Tolkien at Kalamazoo (TAK), have announced that nine sessions (paper sessions and roundtables) have been approved for the 61st ICMS Conference at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo . The conference takes place during May 14-16, 2026, but they schedule hybrid (in-person and virtual participants) and virtual (all online participants) as well as in-person events.1
Below is the TAK Call for Proposals for paper sessions and roundtable discussions which are due by Sept. 1, 2025. All proposals should be submitted through the Confex Proposal Portal.
If you have not submitted to the ICMS previously (or for a few years: things have changed!), here are links to a Quick Guide for Submitting a Paper Proposal and a Quick Guide for Submitting to a Roundtable Discussion. You can only submit one paper proposal, but you may participate in one or two roundtables.
If you have any questions, please email the organizers: Yvette Kisor (ykisor AT ramapo.edu) and Christopher Vaccaro (cvaccaro AT uvm.edu).
Tolkien at Kalamazoo CFP:
VIRTUAL: 3 sessions (2 paper session and 1 roundtable discussion)
Medieval Roots and Modern Branches: Medieval Texts and Tolkien's Work VIRTUAL.
Our session uses the metaphor of “medieval roots and modern branches” to approach analysis of the relationship between medieval poets and J. R. R. Tolkien. We articulate critical readings of medieval poems and the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, analyzing sources, analogues, and influence from a comparative point of view, alongside reception analysis of related literary and filmic texts. Sponsored by International Pearl-Poet Society / co-sponsored by Tolkien at Kalamazoo.
Stupid Sexy Sauron: Interpretations of Tolkien's Medieval Villainy VIRTUAL.
This session seeks papers that explore the various ways in which Tolkien’s villains have been interpreted, depicted, and reimagined across literature, film, television, video games, and fan culture. We invite contributions that engage with the following themes, though submissions are not limited to them: Medieval Villainy and Mythic Archetypes, especially how Tolkien’s villains fit within the medieval tradition of villainous figures. What elements of The Lord of the Rings reflect a more traditional, mythic interpretation of villainy? Other possible themes: Film and Media Adaptations, Fan Culture and Interpretations, Power and Corruption, Queering Sauron, and A Variety of Villains.
Adaptations of Tolkien: Medieval Traces in Movies, Games and Other Transmedial Texts (A Roundtable) VIRTUAL.
This roundtable explores enduring medieval influences in adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's works across various media, including films and television, table-top and video games, and other transmedial texts. Roundtable panelists will examine how Tolkien's deep engagement with medieval literature, history, and mythology continues to shape modern interpretations, from the visual aesthetics and world-building in cinematic adaptations to the narrative structures and mechanics in interactive games and other media. Through interdisciplinary perspectives, the discussion will address ways medieval motifs are preserved, altered, or reimagined in these adaptations, considering both creative intentions and audience reception. Sponsored by Tales After Tolkien Society / Co-sponsored by Tolkien at Kalamazoo.
HYBRID: FOUR SESSIONS (3 paper sessions and 1 roundtable discussion)
Queer and Feminist Medievalisms in Tolkien's Legendarium HYBRID.
This session invites scholars to give critical attention to a host of important issues (gender, language, narrativity, sex, sexuality, and transgender identity/expression) in Tolkien’s legendarium. Scholars could expressly draw connections from the medievalism of Tolkien’s work back to earlier realizations of the medieval or to the medieval period itself. All essays should situate their investigations within the theoretical discourses of feminist and queer theories but could certainly explore intersections with class, race, religion, or other topics.
Tolkien and the Old English Exodus Poem HYBRID.
Tolkien often taught the 590 line Exodus poem, found only in Oxford Bodleian Library, Junius 11 manuscript, over two semesters demonstrating the depths of the poem into which Tolkien led his students. The purpose of this session is to examine the poem and Tolkien’s work on it through a variety of possible approaches. Papers could focus on Tolkien as teacher of the poem, Tolkien as editor, Tolkien as translator, Tolkien as commentator, and Tolkien as creator of a fantasy world influenced by the Exodus poem.
The Sea, the Shore, the Sky: Medieval Thresholds in Tolkien's Legendarium HYBRID.
We invite papers that explore how Tolkien drew inspiration from medieval sources to wrestle with physical and abstract thresholds, borders, and boundaries within his legendarium. Some examples of possible topics include: the sea, land, and sky as literal and metaphorical thresholds; willing or unwilling exile; border walkers and how they reflect Tolkien’s conceptions of morality; liminal thresholds i.e., the seen and unseen worlds and the ability to move between them via magical objects; Tolkien’s attitudes towards colonialism within tales of the Elves and Númenóreans; the importance of the elements (i.e., air, water, fire, earth) within Tolkien’s legendarium; and more.
New Tolkien: Medieval Resonances (A Roundtable) HYBRID.
Although he passed away over fifty years ago, Tolkien’s work continues to be published. Expected in October 2025 is The Bovadium Fragments, featuring Tolkien’s illustrated story “The End of Bovadium,” previously unpublished. Also recently published are The Collected Poems (2024) and the expanded Letters (2023). All offer copious opportunities for explorations of medieval resonances, particularly the use of Latin in Bovadium, and the inclusion of poetry based on Old and Middle English works in The Collected Poems; especially noteworthy are sections of Tolkien’s verse translation of Beowulf, The Owl and the Nightingale, Pearl, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
IN-PERSON (1 paper session and 1 roundtable discussion)
Scribes and Scripts: Medieval Roots of Tolkien's Writing Systems IN_PERSON.
We invite scholars, researchers, and enthusiasts to delve into the fascinating connections between the medieval world and the scripts of Middle-earth. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: paleographical parallels, such as examining visual similarities and structural resonances between medieval scripts (e.g., runes, Insular script, Carolingian minuscule, Gothic script) and Tolkien's invented alphabets. Other topics include: scribal culture and practices, the materiality of writing language, evolution and script development, the role of ornamentation and illumination, medieval cryptography and secret scripts, the literary and linguistic functions of script, and Tolkien's academic writings and lectures.
One Hundred Years of Tolkien and Lewis: Fruits of a Medieval Collaboration (A Roundtable) In-PERSON.
Tolkien at Kalamazoo and C. S. Lewis and the Middle Ages propose a roundtable of 5 or 6 short papers reflecting on the literary and scholarly relationship of Lewis and Tolkien, uncovering influence and even plagiarism (!), correcting or re-situating earlier descriptions of their relationship, pointing out their resistance to one another as well as their agreements, and tracing how their relationship continues to resonate in the history of literary scholarship, in studies of mythopoeic literature, and in the history of literary influence. Sponsored by Tolkien at Kalamazoo / Co-sponsored by C.S. Lewis and the Middle Ages.
I am planning to submit two proposals: one for the paper session on (wait for it!) the use of medieval feminist scholarly approaches in Tolkien studies: “Queer and Feminist Medievalisms” for the hybrid paper session (although it may not fit the organizers’ theme!) and one on “Medieval Misogyny in Tolkien & Jackson” for the Virtual Adaptations Roundtable.
Information on the three types of modality from the online CFP:
In Person: attendees participate in sessions live on location at Western Michigan University's campus in Kalamazoo, MI. The speakers and audience of the session are all present in a physical room.
Virtual: attendees participate in virtual sessions live over Zoom. The speakers and audience of the session all join a Zoom session facilitated through the Confex meeting site.
Hybrid: attendees participate in sessions live, both in person on Western Michigan University's campus and virtually. Some speakers and audience members will be in a physical room on Western Michigan University's campus, but others may join virtually from around the world through Zoom. Speakers joining virtually will be projected onto a large screen at the front of the room in Kalamazoo.
I gather that the hybrid and virtual sessions may be recorded *if* all the presenters involved agree.
Well I am absolutely super pumped for this — thanks for putting it on our radar!