19th Annual UVM Tolkien Conference

Registration: $40.00

Saturday April 1, 2023

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Theme: The Second Age of Tolkien’s Middle-earth

Full Day Conference (Eastern Daylight Savings Time)Lafayette L207

8:00am Continental Breakfast

Session 1 8:30-9:45am

Moderator: Christopher Vaccaro (University of Vermont)

Presenters:

“Elmar, Aredhel, and Aerin: Tolkien’s Captive Women”

Clare Moore (Independent Scholar, In-person)

“The War of Sexes: Erendis and Aldarion’s Story”

Alexandra Filonenko  (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Virtual)

“Forms of Lust in Tolkien’s Middle-earth Stories”

Martina Jurickova   (Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia, Virtual)

Session 2 9:45-11am

Moderator: Nick Birns (New York University)

Presenters:

“‘Of their women we hear less’: Pride and Prejudice in the tale of ‘Aldarion and Erendis’”           

Sara Brown (Signum University, Virtual)

“The Ruin of Middle-earth: Sauron, the Second Age, and the Post-Apocalyptic Condition”

Robert Tally (Texas State University, Virtual)

“Following the Star”: Eärendil, Numenor, and the Star of Bethlehem”

Kristine Larsen (Central Connecticut State University, In-person)

Session 3 Undergraduate Voices 11am – 11:30

Moderator: Christopher Vaccaro (University of Vermont)

Presenters:

Savannah Arciaga (UVM, In-person)

Leo Parlo (UVM, In-person)

Lunch Break 11:30-12:30pm

Keynote Speaker 12:30-1:30pm

“The Silmarillion and History”

Gergely Nagy (Independent Scholar, In-person)

Session 4 Theorizing Tolkien 1:30 -2:45pm

Moderator: Kristine Larsen (Central Connecticut State University)

Presenters:
“The Second Age as Forehistory”

Nicholas Birns   (New York University, In-person)

“The Nameless Enemy: How Do You Solve a Problem Like ‘Mairon’?”

Cameron Bourquein  (Independent Scholar, Virtual)

“Second Thoughts about the Second Age: Applying Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands Theory to Tolkien's Legendarium”

Robin Anne Reid  (Independent Scholar, Virtual)

Afternoon Break 2:45 -3pm

Coffee, tea, snacks

Session 5 Deep into the Second Age 3pm – 4:15pm

Moderator: Noah Slowik (University of Vermont)

Presenters:

“Finrod the Commended, Caranthir the Slandered: A Case Study in Narrative Bias in The Silmarillion."                             

Dawn Walls-Thumma (Coventry Village School, In-person)

“Exploring the Second Age”

Jamie Williamson (University of Vermont, In-person)

““Mistaken Marriages: Mortality, Separation, and Queer Romances in Tolkien’s Second Age.”

Brendan Anderson  (Fellow of Bangor University Arthurian Center, In-person)

Future Conference Date, Themes, & Keynote Speakers

Tolkien at UVM, 2024 Conference, Saturday, April 6^th

Theme: Tolkien and Psychology

Keynote Speaker: Sara Brown (Signum University)

Tolkien at UVM, 2025 Conference, Saturday, April 5^th

Theme: Tolkien and War

Keynote speaker: John Garth (Independent Scholar

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