‘Temporalities’
Leeds IMC 2026 – Call for Papers
The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Research at the University of Winchester is pleased to sponsor The Middle Ages in Modern Games strand at the Leeds International Medieval Congress (IMC), 6 to 9 July 2026. The theme of the Congress is ‘Temporalities’.
Time is a peculiar thing in both gaming and medievalism. Games of all descriptions use and abuse the passage of time as a mechanic through pausing, taking turns, or saving and reloading. Time travel and timeloops have become increasingly prominent narrative and mechanical devices in games of recent decades, and the numerous reboots, remasterings and resurrections of long running series can create a form of nostalgic time travel around these games. The divide between ancient, medieval and modern is arbitrary and blurred, but is potent and apparent within medievalist games and medievalism more generally. The grotesque dark ages and romantic age of chivalry make frequent appearances – often within the same games – and medieval worlds which remain unchanging over centuries or millennia are not uncommon. A growing handful of medievalist games explore daily or annual cycles of time, while the end of time is popular in more apocalyptic medievalist settings. Beyond this, the use of games as tools to transport players to a medieval world has become an increasingly important pedagogical tool and commercial selling point.
This strand addresses the use and representation of temporalities, periodisation, and any themes relating to ‘time’ in the design, representation, reception and discussion of the Middle Ages in Modern Games. We invite papers and sessions (of three or four papers) addressing any aspects of the medieval period or medievalism in any forms of digital or tabletop games, but we particularly welcome contributions which engage with ‘Temporalities’ broadly defined.
Topics may include (but are not restricted to):
- Teaching Medieval Chronologies through Games
- Periodisation within Games
- Medieval Timekeeping and Calendars
- Global Chronological Perspectives
- Alternative Timelines
- Medieval Time Travellers
- Distinguishing the Medieval from the Modern
- Medievalist Memories of the Ancient World
- Medieval Lifecycles in Game Mechanics
- Mythical and Non-Historical Time in Games
We encourage submissions from medievalists or games and media scholars and professionals at any point in their career—Postgraduate Students, Early Career Researchers, Independent Scholars and members of any groups under-represented within the academy are particularly welcome. We also welcome pieces dealing with any region of the globe, and within a broad definition of ‘medieval’—including the fantasy genre.
The strand will be submitted to the International Medieval Congress at Leeds and participation will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Congress.
Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words and brief biographies as attachments in Word to midagesmodgames@gmail.com by Wednesday 17 September 2025.