Dear friends and colleagues,

we would like to cordially invite you to the online workshop Materiality amd Conversion: The Role of Material and Visual Cultures in the Christianization of the Latin Westwhich will be held from the 29^th of November to the 1^st of Decemebr.

The Christianization of the Roman Empire has no parallel in European history: in less than 150 years, the vast majority of the population in the Mediterranean area was Christianized. We believe—and this is the key hypothesis of this workshop—that a decisive role in this mass phenomenon was played by initiatory rituals and their material and immaterial elements, used in catechetic preparation, the very experience of baptism, and postbaptismal indoctrination. These were complex and multisensory processes created by movements, architecture, sounds, smells, touch, images, words and the mindsets of all participants.

The goal of this workshop is to advance and broaden our knowledge about the role of material and visual cultures during this rapid religious and social change. The main enquiry we wish to reassess is how these elements—especially architecture, various images, objects, and specific ritual performances—contributed to the process of conversion.

Besides this, we are open to questions such as (but not limited to):

• To what extent were initiatory spaces and objects present in public and everyday life in Late Antique society?
• How did the appearance of religious agents contribute to the potency of a complex ritual environment?
• What were the similarities and differences between Christian and other initiatory ritual spaces, and how were they created and perceived?
• What role did less visible material elements, such as fragrance, touch, or sound play in the initiatory rituals accompanying catechumens, in addition to images?
• How were the immaterial and ephemeral elements used in the process of conversion reflected in materiality, and vice versa?
• What are the limits and benefits of archaeological and hard-scientific approaches in the process of understanding (and interpreting) the preserved material culture?
• How are the liminal notions of death, resurrection, and re-birth mirrored in the material and immaterial elements involved in the process of conversion?
• Can we indicate comparable mechanisms or similar powers of material and visual culture in contemporary society?

The coference will be held via Zoom application. If you are interested in attending the sessions, please write to Klára Doležalová /dolezalova.klara@gmail.com/, Katarína Kravčíková /kravcikova.katarina@gmail.com/ or Pavla Tichá /pavla.ticha@phil.muni.cz/ before November 27 in order to receive a Zoom invitation link.