It is a pleasure to invite you to Middlemoot 2020! This conference is organized by the Tolkien Society of Kansas City (TSoKC) and partnered with Signum University, and will take place on Saturday, October 10th, 2020. Tolkien scholar John Garth will be our keynote speaker for the event.
This will be an online event!
Middlemoot 2020 will be TSoKC’s second Tolkien Studies conference. The moot is shared every other year with Hawkeye Community College and our friends at the Smial of Avallone, Iowa City. The conference is an opportunity for like-minded folk to share in their knowledge, understanding, and passion of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings.
In this time, when we seem surrounded by one crisis after another, and we face challenges at every turn, we need hope. We have a plethora of examples in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien as well as the restorations by his son, Christopher Tolkien, of the hope that can carry us through the darkest of times. As such, our theme is The Heart of Hope.
MiddleMoot Call For Papers
Possible topic suggestions include but are not limited to:
Light in the darkness, Galadriel’s gift of the Light of Elendil, or hope in the worst of times.
In Part Four of Morgoth’s Ring, found in the “Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth”:
“For that Arda Healed shall not be Arda Unmarred, but a third thing and a greater thing, and yet the same.” (Morgoth’s Ring, p. 318)
- The ground upon which Hope is built (the Unmarred Arda still visible in the Marred Arda).
- The Hope that sustaineth (Arda Healed greater and more fair than the original Unmarred Arda)
In Sauron Defeated, there is a rejected passage when Gandalf renames, in the language of Rohan:
- Frodo – Endurance Beyond Hope
- Sam – Hope Unquenchable
- Journeying with a friend helps maintain hope, no matter what that journey may entail
- What was Christopher Tolkien’s hope in curating, editing and bringing his father’s unseen writings and edits to light?
- Does Christopher Tolkien embody hope?
- The epitome of hope: Sam’s speech in Osgiliath (film adaptation reference)…”Because they were holding on to something….That there’s some good in this world …and it’s worth fighting for.”
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Your submissions should include:
- A brief biography, detailing your qualification or history of interest in Tolkien (50-100 words)
- Title and abstract of your presentation/paper (up to 300 word summary, for a paper of 25-30 minutes)
- Your contact information, including address, phone, and email
- Note if you need special accommodations, A/V equipment etc.
- Please be aware that, if you are selected to present, you will need a working computer in order to use conferencing software, such as GoToMeeting or Zoom, in the event that the entirety of the conference is digital (to be announced in August).
Abstracts should be sent to [email protected] and be received in Kansas City no later than September 15, 2020. An acknowledgment of receipt will be sent within 5 days of being received.
Notification of acceptance of presentations/papers will be no later than September 30, 2020.
The selection committee will be composed of various members of TSoKC.
All presenters must be pre-registered. Registration is $30. Details/FAQs are available on Facebook, Twitter, or in our monthly newsletter (sign-up for newsletter at [email protected]).
Registration
Registration will be $30. Attendees can register here.
Join us!
We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in October!
TSoKC Middlemoot Planning Committee
- Robbie Park, President and Event Coordinator
- David Means, Assistant Event Coordinator
Image: “Heart on Fire” by Ron Andrea. Used with permission of the artist.
