CERÆ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies invites submissions for a themed issue on the topic of "Metamorphosis, Transformation, and Transmutation." 

Shifting – or transforming – between states of being is a feature of human and animal societies as well as of the wider living world and the cosmos. This act of shifting is experienced through both natural and unnatural processes and can be seen in all areas of life, from the reproductive cycles of organisms, to epochal changes undergone by entire societies, and everything in between. But transformations can also refer to distortions of reality, both deliberate and accidental, magical or real, as much as they can reflect genuine changes to an individual, an institution, a landscape, or even a society. Understanding how one thing becomes another was arguably a feature of much of medieval and early modern intellectual history – from Isidore to Aquinas, Albertus Magnus to Descartes and Newtown – and whole schools of thought could be founded and even wars fought over the differences.

Topics may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Agricultural/environmental transformations;
• Alchemy/medicine/science;
• Literary and historiographical transformation;
• Magical, mystical, and shapeshifting transformations;
• Metamorphosis in relation to animals and plants;
• Political and economic transformation/metamorphosis;
• Shifting between states such as life stages, death or rites of passage;
• Spiritual transformations;
• The body as a site of transformation.

There is no geographic or disciplinary limitation for submissions, which can consider any aspect of the medieval or early modern world or its reception.

We invite submissions of both full-length essays (5000-8000 words) and varia (up to 3000 words) that address, challenge, and develop these ideas. Ceræ particularly encourages submissions from postgraduate and early career researchers, and there is a $200 AUD annual prize for the best postgraduate/ECR essay.