The Byzness, 7 December 2025
Oxford University Byzantine Society
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THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BYZANTINE SOCIETY
The Byzness, 7 December 2025
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1. NEWS AND EVENTS
2. CALLS FOR PAPERS
3. JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
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1. NEWS AND EVENTS
Dear all,
We’ve reached the end of term! Hopefully everyone is starting to feel the holiday spirit kicking in.
Find us here:
Instagram: @ox_byz
Bluesky: @oxunibyzantinesoc.bsky.social
X/Twitter: @oxbyz (if you do follow us on X, we are transitioning over to Bluesky, so please do follow us there in the first instance)
Kind regards,
Nidanu
For those wishing to submit an event, call for papers, job or scholarship opportunity to the Byzness please send details to the committee at byzantin...@gmail.com indicating the relevant list for The Byzness our external to Oxford and year-round newsletter or The Byzantine Lists our Oxford-centered events and circulated only in term-time. Please keep the listing brief and include all relevant information in the body of the notice. Outside of exceptional circumstances, we only share events once.
Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture Conference - Michael Muhlbauer, “Learning Late Antiquity: The Quarry Church at Deir al-Ganadla (Asyut, Middle Egypt) and the Lost Timber Nave”, online, December 9, 2025.
Information and registration: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/learning-late-antiquity
Annual Seminar, EPHE - Le Roman d'Alexandre, de la tradition syriaque au livre des rois de Ferdowsi, Sorbonne, Paris, November 2025 – May 7, 2026.
More information here.
Online Guest Lecture No. 32 of the HAEMUS network: Carolyn S. Snively (Gettysburg College), The Late Antique City at Golemo Gradište, Konjuh: An Episcopal Center in a Mining Region, online, December 15, 2025.
More information here. Registration here.
Medieval Epiros and Albania: Geopolitical and Εconomic Reflections in the Light of Coinage, Julian Baker (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford), Athens
Those who wish to attend in person must register following this link: https://forms.gle/voeTNK7skGDrKUEn9
To join via Zoom please follow the link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oUA2uGwiR4aMeh4KIZyFog
2025-2026 Lecture Series at the New Cluny College. Les arts et leurs mécènes. Session of April 2, 2026: Maréva U (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), « Aux seuils des églises byzantines. Commanditaires et mémoire incarnée ».
More Information here.
Learning Late Antiquity: The Quarry Church at Deir al-Ganadla and the Lost Timber Nave, Mikael Muehlbauer, Columbia University, 9 December 2025, Online, 12:00–13:30 EST
See here for more information and registration.
Thinking in Greek and Thinking in Aramaic: How Languages Foster Unique Ways of Processing and Expressing Thought in Late Antique Epigraphy, Paweł Nowakowski (UW), 11 December 2025
The full programme can be consulted at the seminar website.
OIKOS Crash Course in Greek Palaeography May 2026
More information about the programme and registration can be found here: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2026/05/oikos-crash-course-in-greek-palaeography-2026
Call for applications - HaZen Project Summer School (Handschri4ftenzentrum), Freie Universität Berlin, June 15-19, June 20-24, or August 10-14, 2026:
Applications must be submitted by January 15, 2026. More information here.
CfApp: Doctoral and Postdoctoral Sphragistic Workshop - "Introduction to Sphragistic Sources between Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Sources, Methods, and Tools" (École française de Rome, Rome, 3–6 June 2026)
Information here. Application Deadline: 15 January 2026, 12:00 noon (CET)
2. CALL FOR PAPERS
CfP: Vulnerability and Power in Late Antiquity. 2nd International Doctoral Conference of the Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity, 27–29 April 2026, Ghent Belgium
The call is open to doctoral and master's students from all fields studying Late Antiquity. To be considered for a 20-minute paper, please send an email to gclap...@ugent.be with a paper title, an abstract of max 300 words, a short bibliography (max 10 titles), and a brief academic biography by 7 January 2026. Applicants will be notified by early February 2026.
CfP: Biblia Africana conference, 5-6 May 2026, Brussels, Belgium
Presentations should last about 20/25 minutes and may be given either in English or in French. Proposals (250 to 300 words) accompanied by a short biographical note including the author’s current institution, and subject of research should be sent by the 15th of December 2025 to Xavier Philippart (xavier.p...@futp.be) or Aurélien Zincq (aurelie...@futp.be).
Call for applications - Symposium Marc Bloch: Histoires croisées et engagement franco-allemand, Marc Bloch Center, Berlin, May 28, 2026
Applications must be submitted before January 15, 2026.
Information here.
CfP: Doctoral and Postdoctoral Spring School: Arabo-Byzantine Workshop: Towards a Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of Eastern Mediterranean Sources, Rome, 18–22 May 2026
Application Deadline: 19 December 2025, 12:00 noon (CET). More info here.
CfP: Knowledge, Resilience and the Environment in the Mediterranean, 1-1000 CE, Venice 8-10 September 2026
Please submit abstracts for posters or 20-minute papers by 22 February 2026, using the online form. Some bursaries may be available. For more information please see the full call for papers.
CfP: Innovation and Renewal in Ancient Egyptian and Coptic Culture, Budapest, Hungary, in 2026, 25th May – 29th May 2026
Please find the conference call here.
3. JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Dumbarton Oaks Plant Humanities Summer Programs
The 2026 Plant Humanities Summer Program is for graduate students and advanced undergraduates with an interest in plants from the perspectives of botany, botanical exploration, the history of science and medicine, environmental studies, art history, literature, and the history of the book and botanical illustration. The summer program will be hybrid, with two weeks of virtual instruction followed by two weeks at Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, Virginia.
2026 East Asia Plant Humanities Virtual Faculty Residencies are for faculty in East Asia Studies who are interested in integrating more plant-related sources and narratives in their teaching. This year, the program will concentrate on topics at the intersection of East Asia Studies and Plant Humanities. This focus fits within the Initiative’s broader interest in biocultural “hotspots”: centers of plant biodiversity and domestication that have particularly rich archives and traditions documenting plant-human relationships.
Follow the respective links to learn more about and apply for these unique programs. Applications close on Sunday, February 15, 2026.
Call for Applications - Cotsen Traveling Fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the 2026-2027 academic year
Applications must be submitted by January 15, 2026.
Information: https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/fellowships-and-grants/graduate-and-postdoctoral#CotsenFellowship
Call for Applications - Constantine and Georges Macricostas Fellowship at the Gennadius Bookstore of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the 2026-2027 academic year
Applications must be submitted by January 15, 2026.
Information: https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/fellowships-and-grants/graduate-and-postdoctoral#CotsenFellowship
Call for Applications - Kathryn and Peter Yatrakis Fellowship at the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the 2026-2027 academic year
Applications must be submitted by January 15, 2026.
Information: https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/fellowships-and-grants/graduate-and-postdoctoral#CotsenFellowship
Call for applications - IFEA - ANAMED Joint Fellowship
For postdoctoral fellows affiliated with a French academic institution. Applications must be submitted by December 15, 2025.
Information: https://anamed.ku.edu.tr/en/joint-research-supports/ifea-anamed-joint-fellowships/
Call for applications - Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max Planck Institute (KHI) and ANAMED Join Fellowship
For postdoctoral researchers. Applications must be submitted before December 15, 2025.
Information: https://anamed.ku.edu.tr/en/joint-research-supports/max-planck-instituts-kunsthistorisches-institut-khi-anamed-joint-fellowship/
Call for applications - Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation İstanbul Research Institute (İAE) and ANAMED Joint Fellowship
For postdoctoral researchers. Applications must be submitted before December 15, 2025.
Information: https://anamed.ku.edu.tr/en/joint-research-supports/iae-anamed-joint-fellowship/
Call for applications - ANAMED Regular Fellowship
For doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. Applications must be submitted before December 15, 2025.
Information: https://anamed.ku.edu.tr/en/regular-fellowships/
Call for applications - Marc de Montalembert Prize 2026, Marc de Montalembert Foundation and Louvre Museum
Applications must be submitted before December 14, 2025.
Information here.
Call for applications - Visiting Researchers in Residence 2026, ERC Advanced Grant Project AGRELITA no. 101018777, « The reception of ancient Greece in pre-modern French literature and illustrations of manuscripts and printed books (1320-1550): how invented memories shaped the identity of European communities », University of Caen, May, June, or early July
Applications must be submitted before February 15, 2026.
Information: https://agrelita.hypotheses.org/9813
Call for applications - IMOMM (Islam, Middle East, and Muslim Worlds) 2026 Doctoral Thesis Prize from the GIS Middle East and Muslim Worlds (UAR 2999) and the Institute for the Study of Islam and Muslim Societies (UAR 2500)
Eligible works must be defended in French or in France between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025. Applications must be submitted before January 16, 2026.
Information: https://iismm.ehess.fr/appel/appel-candidatures-prix-de-these-islam-moyen-orient-et-mondes-musulmans-2026
Call for applications - Postdoctoral fellowship for a research stay in the Baltic States, South Caucasus, and Moldova 2026, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) and Institut française de recherche sur l’Europe de l’Est, le Caucase et l’Asie du Nord (IRECA)
Applications must be submitted before February 6, 2026.
Information: https://www.fmsh.fr/appels/atlas-france-pays-baltes-caucase-du-sud-et-moldavie
Call for Fellowship Applications: "Exploring the Assumptions of Cultural History, Fall Semester 2026, University of Minnesota
Applications should be submitted to future...@umn.edu with the subject line “Fellowship Application 2026” no later than Sunday, February 15th. If you have any questions, please contact Noah Segal (nse...@umn.edu). More information here.
Baden-Württemberg Early Career Rescue Fellowship Programme, July 2026 – November 2028
Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. The university based Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), Tübingen College of Fellows (CoF), and Zukunftskolleg Konstanz (ZuKo) invite early career researchers from all over the world, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA, to apply for the Baden-Württemberg Early Career Rescue Fellowships 2026-2028.
Application Deadline: 9 January 2026, 11:00 AM (CET). For application, please consult the Programme and Application Manual available on the institute’s homepages and then apply under: APPLICATION FORM
Appel à candidatures- Recrutement des membres scientifiques 2026-27, École Française d’Athènes
Information here. Deadline: 1 February 2026.
Research positions in Lisbon
The Centre for Classical Studies at the University of Lisbon (https://centroclassicos.letras.ulisboa.pt/) is pleased to announce that it is looking to support candidates in the Portuguese R&D Funding Agency's (FCT) call for applications for research contracts in all scientific domains. The call will be open from 15 December 2025 to 29 January 2026. All relevant information can be found here: https://www.fct.pt/en/concursos/concurso-estimulo-ao-emprego-cientifico-individual-8-edicao
We are particularly keen to support applications in the areas of:
• Classical Literature (Greek and Latin);
• Epigraphy (Roman, Medieval, Renaissance);
• Late Greek and Byzantine Literature;
• Medieval Latin (with a focus on, but not limited to, Iberian texts);
• Humanism and Neo-Latin (with a focus on, but not limited to, Iberian texts);
• History of Science (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance);
• Latin and Neo-Latin texts related to Asia;
• Reception Studies (16th–21st centuries, with a focus on, but not limited to, Portuguese-language Literature);
• Information Science (libraries, archives).
Additionally, we welcome proposals from scholars interested in carrying out research in the following fields:
• Classics and Gender;
• Classics and Postcolonialism;
• Classics and Education.
If you are interested in joining our team, please contact f.hadj...@edu.ulisboa.pt and submit a summary of your proposed research project by 15 January 2026.
Call for Expressions of Interest – Institute of Classics, Jagiellonian University (Kraków)
The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) has announced the launch of a new incoming programme (2–4 years) that supports research stays in Poland for international scholars, including the possibility of establishing a research group on site. At the Institute of Classics, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, we are eager to promote this opportunity worldwide and to collaborate with prospective applicants interested in developing competitive project proposals.
The NAWA Top 200 Programme 2026 supports researchers who have held a PhD for at least three years, as well as senior researchers affiliated with one of the top 200 universities according to the rankings specified in the call text. The programme enables them to develop their projects in Poland together with their research team. The maximum funding available under the programme is approximately €500,000 in direct costs over a period of four years, which includes the salary of the principal investigator and the salaries of the research group members. In addition, applicants may apply separately to the Polish National Science Centre for up to €100,000 in research funding.
We warmly invite expressions of interest from colleagues in all fields of Classical Studies who wish to carry out research in Poland under this scheme. (https://nawa.gov.pl/images/TOP200/0.-Call-for-applications-TOP200__EN.pdf).
If you are interested in joining the research community at Cracow Classics, please contact Wojciech Sowa at wojcie...@uj.edu.pl by 22 December for further information or to express interest.