Fall Narratives: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

An international workshop and conference from 18 - 19 June 2014 will examine the concept of 'the Fall' across a range of disciplines and languages, extending from antiquity to contemporary times. As the 340th anniversary of John Miltons death approaches.

Workshop Programme 

Day 1 – Wednesday 18 June 2014

8.30–9.00 - Registration and coffee

9.00–9.15 - Formal welcome: Professor John Morrison, Head of the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen

9.15–10.30 - Keynote speaker: Professor Michael Stone, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

10.30–10.40 - Coffee break

10.40–12.05 - Panel 1: Greek and Roman Falls

Chair: Ralph O’Connor

• Erlend MacGillivray, University of Aberdeen ‘Fall Narratives in Greek and Roman Philosophy’
• Sam Newington, University of Aberdeen ‘The “katabasis” of Titans and Giants’
• Syrithe Pugh, University of Aberdeen 'The Politics of the Fall in Spenser’s Mutabilitie Cantos’

12.05–13.45 - Lunch

13.45–14.40  - Panel 2: Falls in Philosophy

Chair: Erlend MacGillivray

• Giovanni Gellera, University of Glasgow ‘Philosophical Fall in Reformed scholasticism’
• Martin Sticker, University of St Andrews ‘The Fall of the Common Agent: Kant on Rationalising and Corruption’

14.40–15.00 - Coffee break

15.00–15.55  - Panel 3: Milton I

Chair: Helen Lynch

• Ralph O’Connor, University of Aberdeen ‘Of Demons and Dinosaurs: Some Nineteenth–Century Theologies of Deep Time’
• Robert Segal, University of Aberdeen ‘Hell and Paradise for Milton: Physical Places and States of Mind’

15.55–16.15 – Coffee break and the Snake Cake

16.15–17.50 – Panel 4: Corporeal and Vocal Falls

Chair: Áine Larkin

• Emilyn Claid, University of Roehampton ‘CAN I LET YOU FALL?’
• Emma Cocker, Nottingham Trent University, and Clare Thornton, Independent Artist ‘The Italic I’
• Kristin Borgehed, University of Aberdeen ‘Folk Song Falls’

17.50–18.20 - Drinks Reception at the Divinity Library

18.30 - Dinner for delegates 

Day 2 Thursday 19 June 2014

8.30–9.00 – Coffee break

9.00–09.55 - Panel 5: The Upside of the Fall

Chair: Zohar Hadromi–Allouche

• Jutta Leonhardt–Balzer, University of Aberdeen ‘Fall as Ascent: The exegesis of Gen 3–4 and 6.1–4 in Gnostic tradition’
• Emily Caddick Bourne, Birkbeck, University of London ‘The concept of redemption’

9.55–10.50 - Panel 6: Cinematic Falls

Chair: Benjamin Sherlock

• Brian Murdoch, University of Stirling ‘Beyond the Blue Lagoon: Some Popular Reflections of the Fall’
• Leigh Clayton, University of Aberdeen ‘The Difficulties of Being Human: The Fall in Screwball Comedy and Film Noirs’

10.50–11.05 - Coffee break

11.05–12.00 – Panel 7: Islam

Chair: Jutta Leonhardt–Balzer

• Zohar Hadromi–Allouche, University of Aberdeen ‘The divine, Satanic, human baby: ‘Abd al–Ḥārith and other Near–Eastern newborns’
• Marianna Klar, SOAS, London ‘An Exploration of the Qur’ānic Fall of Iblīs in the Wider Context of Sūrat al–Kahf’

12.00–13.30 - Lunch

13.30–14.55 - Panel 8: Poetics

Chair: Sam Newington

• Beth Dodd, STETS ‘Thomas Traherne – Doctrine, Poetics and Affection: An Account of the Fall’
• Karl O’Hanlon, University of York ‘Poetry as a fallen form: W.B. Yeats and Geoffrey Hill’
• Ayse Temiz, Independent Scholar ‘“Each the Other’s World Entire”: Monadology and Post–Apocalyptic Nomadism’

14.55–15.05 - Coffee break

15.05–16.30 -Panel 9: Falls in French literature

Chair: Robert Segal

• Áine Larkin, University of Aberdeen ‘Stumbles and Falls in Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu’
• Steven Wilson, Queen’s University, Belfast ‘Fallen and Redeemed: Rewriting the Magdalene Myth in Nineteenth–Century French Narratives of Prostitution’
• Ben Sherlock, Independent Scholar ‘Baudelaire’s “On the Essence of Laughter” and the narrative of the Biblical Fall’

16.30–16.40 - Coffee break

16.40–18.05 - Panel 10: Milton II

Chair: Syrithe Pugh

• Helen Lynch, University of Aberdeen ‘Falling Masonry and the Redemption of Public Speech: Reading Milton through Hannah Arendt’
• Tzachi Zamir, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ‘An Anatomy of Gratitude in Paradise Lost’
• David Currell, American University of Beirut ‘Some Versions of Paradise Lost: Remembering Milton through American Pastoral’

19.00 – Conference Dinner for delegates

Speaker

Professor Michael Stone, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hosted by

School of Divinity, History and Philosophy

Venue

Divinity Library, King's College, University of Aberdeen

Contact

Should you have questions about the conference, please contact the organisers at z.hadromi-allouche@abdn.ac.uk and a.larkin@abdn.ac.uk.