What may scholars learn about early modern women by focusing on men? What may we learn about early modern society and patriarchy from its gendering practices? What are the consequences of scholarly assumptions about gender for the study of early modern society?

We will consider these issues as we explore the following topics:

Theorizing Early Modern Masculinity and Maleness
Representations of men; relationship between theories of masculinity and theories of femininity; divergence and convergence of theory and social practice.

Childhood
The material cultures of childhood; civic, legal, and domestic issues pertaining to childbirth, childhood, and parenting; impact of class, religion, and region on the social practices of childhood; contradictions among ideals, social practices, and representations of childhood in literature and art.

Violence
Gender and violence as defined by codes of conduct; competitive games and rituals that endorse violence; impact of war, street fighting, and penal disciplinary practices on men and women; men and women as both perpetrators and victims of violent acts; views of violence modulated by class, family position, and other kinds of social status.

Pedagogies
Men, women, and gender in the classroom; constructions of gender imposed by genre, art, and academic discipline; technology, gender, and teaching.

This symposium extends the work of five earlier conferences sponsored by the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies (1990, 1994, 1997, 2000, and 2003). Plenary sessions will be followed by thematically related workshops designed to encourage discussion and foster new research.

This event is an activity of the University of Maryland Foundation, Inc., and funds earned will be managed by the Foundation for the benefit of the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies.

We would like to thank the generous supporters of ATW 6: Attending to Early Modern Women--and Men.