In the wake of the “corporeal turn” in cultural studies and the associated “sensory turn,” the role of the human body and sensory experiences has come into focus among both academic specialists and the general public in recent decades. The medieval period, with its rich material culture, is also—and particularly—being examined from an interdisciplinary perspective with regard to phenomena of sensory experience. The aim of the international conference organized by the Heidelberg Research Center “Monasteries in the High Middle Ages” is to examine these aspects specifically within the monastic and regular canonical context of the Middle Ages:

How were sensory experiences perceived, shaped, evoked, interpreted, and/or exploited in religious communities? What visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and synesthetic experiences—whether real or imagined—characterize the experience of spirituality in the monastery? To what extent were these reflected upon, interpreted, and deliberately incorporated into the practice of lived spirituality by medieval religious figures?

Program (PDF)

For more information about the project:

hadw(internal link)