IMC 2020 Canceled due to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Dear fellow medievalists,

It is with great sadness that we have decided to cancel this year’s International Medieval Congress, 6-9 July 2020, as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). This decision has not been taken lightly and has followed in-depth consultations with many colleagues across the University of Leeds and beyond.

Because it is impossible to predict what the situation will be in July in Leeds, or indeed anywhere in the world, we feel it is necessary to take this step now.

The cancellation means that every registered delegate will receive a full refund of all their registration costs - including programming and registration fees, accommodation and meals, as well as event and excursions booked through the IMC.

We aim to initiate this refund process as efficiently as possible: there is no need to get in touch with us to request a refund, even if you had cancelled previously.

Please be aware that our team is now working remotely for the foreseeable future, with significant changes to resourcing and normal ways of working. We hope you will bear with us if there are delays in processing refunds for the 1,500-plus delegates who have already registered.

We recognise that the decision to cancel will disappoint, but after weighing up all factors, guidance and possible risks, we felt this decision had to be made now in the best interests of all involved.

We know that many of you, including all of the IMC team working at the University of Leeds, and all members of the IMC Programming and Standing Committees, worked very hard to get a wonderfully diverse and academically rewarding programme together for 2020. We are very sorry that those efforts will not fully bear fruit in July.

We are exploring possibilities such as hosting a virtual meeting, with papers presented from home, or other alternative formats, but at this time there are not enough staffing resources available to guarantee this happening. We will of course be in touch once more if we manage to arrange something along these lines.

Looking further ahead, the IMC 2021 call for papers is available here with its special focus on ‘Climates’. We recommend that you resubmit any proposals that were accepted for IMC 2020. The main special thematic strand on ‘Borders’ will be moved to IMC 2022. We hope that we can build on the enormous interest in this area, and continue the discussion which had to be halted for 2020.

With best wishes for your health and wellbeing in such a difficult time,

Axel Müller
Director, International Medieval Congress