The Materiality of Magic

The Internationales Kolleg Morphomata of the Universität zu Köln will be hosting a symposium on 'The Materiality of Magic'. Ancient magic has been a focus of great interest since the early 1990s. Although much has been written on the concept of magic itself, its origins, its various genres, formulas, etc., there has thus far been little attention to the fact that magical knowledge became enshrined in certain types of material, such as lead, stone, gems and papyrus - material that sometimes was used for specific kinds of magic.

It is the aim of this conference to take the material as the point of departure for a discussion of various types of magic. The centre of the discussion is antiquity, but we have also included discussions of preceding and subsequent eras in order to supplement, compare, and contrast the classical material.

Participants and preliminary subjects/titles

Wednesday Evening, 23 May:

Prof. Dr. Richard Gordon (Erfurt), Magic and Materiality: where do we stand now?

Thursday, 24 May:

9.30-10.15: Dr. Andrea Zeeb-Lanz (Konservatorin, Gebietsreferentin, Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Direktion Landesarchäologie, Außenstelle Speyer): Magic in prehistory
10.15-11.00: Dr. Laura Feldt (Copenhagen): Magic in Mesopotamia
11.00 – 11.30: Coffee Break
11.30-12.15: Dr. Jacco Dieleman (UCLA): Magic in Roman Egypt
12.15-13.00: Prof.dr. Chris Faraone (Chicago): Voodoo Dolls in Antiquity
13.00 – 14.30: Lunch
14.30-15.15: Prof.dr. Veronique Dasen (Fribourg): Magical Amulets in Antiquity
15.15-16.00: Dr. Jaime Curbera (Berlin): Defixiones
16.00-16.30: Tea Break
16.30-1715: Dr. Árpád M. Nagy (Budapest): Magical Gems
17.15-18.00: Prof.dr. Jan N. Bremmer (Munich/Groningen): From Books with Magic to Magical Books
19.30: Dinner

Friday, 25 May:

9.30-10.15: Prof.dr. Shaul Shaked (Jerusalem): Incantation Bowls in Late Antiquity
10.15-11.00: Prof.dr. Andrew Reynolds (UC London), Magic in Anglo-Saxon England
11.00-11.30: Coffee Break
11.30-12.15: Dr. Tanja Klemm (Basel): The Magic of Corals in the Renaissance
12.15-13.00: Dr. Peter Forshaw (Amsterdam): Amulets, Seals and Talismans in Early Modern Europe

13.00 – 14.30: Lunch
14.30-15.15: Prof.dr. Heike Behrend (Cologne): Fotomagie
15.15-16.00: Prof.dr. Owen Davies (Hertfordshire): The Materiality of Magic Today
16.00-16.30: Tea Break
16.30-18.00: excursion to the Papyrological Institute with its magical papyri.
19.30: Dinner

Address: Internationales Kolleg Morphomata
Universität zu Köln
Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln
Germany
telephone: +49 221 470-1426
fax: +49 221 470-1296