The Byzness, 28th February 2024
Oxford University Byzantine Society
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THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BYZANTINE SOCIETY
The Byzness, 28th February 2024
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1. NEWS AND EVENTS
2. CALLS FOR PAPERS
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1. NEWS AND EVENTS
Early Palaiologan Constantinople, a 'fragmented city'?
History of the Palaiologan period (1261-1453). Byzantium, the Latin East, the Slavic and Turkish worlds
James Cogbill (University of Oxford), « Early Palaiologan Constantinople, a ‘fragmented city’? »
Seminar organised by Marie-Hélène Blanchet (UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Monde byzantin) and Raúl Estangüi Gómez (CCHS-CSIC, Madrid) in the Sorbonne at Irbimma, Esc. B, 4th floor, room H305, and online via the following Zoom link:
https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/93587837732?pwd=V3ZWaTNqaHF1a3IzcC9zR1p4Wmwwdz09
ID de réunion: 935 8783 7732
Code secret: 0CjpfA
Thursday 29 February from 4pm to 6pm (UTC)
'Using Macro-Scale Data to Understand the Relationship between Climate, Demography and Economy in Late Antiquity'
On Thursday, 29 February, at 4.45 p.m. (Warsaw time), at Ewa Wipszycka Warsaw Late Antique Seminar, Haggai Olshanetsky (UW) & Lev Cosijns (Oxford) will present a paper 'Using macro-scale data to understand the relationship between climate, demography and economy in Late Antiquity'. We are meeting in Room 203 at the Faculty of Law and Administration (UW main campus), but Zoom participation will be possible at this link.
Abstract:
In the last few decades, there is growing interest in the effects of climate on ancient societies, such as the end of the Roman Climate Optimum in the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD, and the LALIA in the 6th century AD. Often, specific archaeological finds are used as evidence to claim and support hypotheses on the large-scale effects of climate change in antiquity. However, in order to sufficiently prove and support such a claim, consistent similar evidence is needed in multiple widespread areas from the same period. This paper intends to present large-scale data and to show the changes throughout the Roman period in tens of thousands of sites in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. This information was extracted from hundreds of surveys, including from Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and will be used to show the changes in settlement patterns and distribution throughout the period in a tabular and graphical format, as well as in GIS. In addition, data from an expanded OXREP database on shipwrecks will be used. The amendments, as well as the addition of further shipwrecks to the database, can give us a better understanding of the rise and fall of maritime trade, both in the Mediterranean and beyond. All this will be used to show that the changes in society are not always as expected, and these processes were more complex and were not necessarily related to climate change.
Online Byzantine Greek Summer School, Bogazici University
The Byzantine Studies Research Center of Bogazici University is pleased to announce the organization of its seventh Byzantine Greek Summer School to be held during August 5 - 16, 2024. Students will have the chance to participate in an intensive program in Medieval Greek (upper intermediate level) with Prof. Niels Gaul. The language of instruction is English, and the classes will be held online. Students will receive a certificate of participation upon successful completion of the program.
Application deadline: May 1, 2024
For more information, please see:
http://byzantinestudies.bogazici.edu.tr/index.php?page=events&id=73
Online Workshop: Beginner's Guide to the Index of Medieval Art Database
Tuesday, 19 March 2024
10:00 – 11:00 am EST
We are pleased to announce that the Index will be holding a new online training session for anyone interested in learning more about the database! It will take place via Zoom on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 from 10:00 – 11:00 am EST.
If you are wondering if you are getting the best result for your searches or are unsure about how to use our keyword search or any of our filters, please join us for this introductory session! Index specialists Maria Alessia Rossi and Jessica Savage, will demonstrate how the database can be used with advanced search options, filters, and browse tools to locate works of medieval art. We will also look at the new subject taxonomy search tool that encourages further discovery of the online collection.
There will be a Q&A period at the end of the session, so please bring any questions you might have about your research! To register for the workshop and receive the Zoom link, please fill out the form below.
Please note that this session will not be recorded.
2. CALLS FOR PAPERS
Details of New or Completing MPhil/DPhil Students for SPBS' Bulletin
Call for Participants - Review Panel and Online Workshop: Syriac Manuscripts in the British Library
(This call for participants is also available online at https://bl.syriac.uk/.)
Syriaca.org is pleased to call for editorial review panelists to assist in the publication of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Library: A New Digital Edition of Wright’s Catalog, a digital enhancement of William Wright's Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum published by Syriaca.org in partnership with the British Library.
The new database is an open-access online resource designed to help users search and rearrange the manuscripts according to multiple criteria, many of which were not central to Wright’s system of organization (e.g. chronology, additions, marginalia, scribes, or forms of decoration). An uncorrected draft of the project can be viewed here: https://bl.syriac.uk/
Panelists will be invited to participate in a two-week online workshop hosted by The Digital Lab at Vanderbilt University during the weeks of June 3-7, 2024, and July 8-12, 2024. Honoraria for participants will be paid by a grant from Vanderbilt University’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research & Innovation.
We invite graduate students, independent scholars, researchers, librarians, and faculty members with expertise in Syriac Studies to serve as editorial review panelists who will review and revise the data and test the database. All collaboration will be done remotely, and we welcome applications from scholars in any location, if they can join the project using online tools.
Editorial review panelists will receive:
- Publication credit as co-editors on the final project.
- Training in using the TEI XML encoding standard for manuscript descriptions and cataloging.
- Training in methods of collaborative digital humanities research, including the use of technical tools such as oXygen XML Editor and GitHub version control software.
- An honorarium of $2,500 (USD) or more.
Panelist requirements include the following:
- All panelists must be able to read Syriac and have previous graduate-level training in the history of Syriac texts.
- No prior knowledge of manuscript cataloging, or digital encoding is required (the workshop will provide training).
- Panelists may be graduate students, independent scholars, researchers, librarians, or faculty members.
- It is preferred that panelists commit to at least two weeks of full-time collaboration (approximately 40 hours per week) on the project. Panelists will receive an honorarium of $1,250 (USD) for each week of participation. Up to five weeks may be possible per panelist, depending on availability.
- The project will be held in June and July of 2024 with mandatory workshop training meetings occurring in the weeks of June 3-7, 2024, and July 8-12, 2024.
- Applicants must provide their own internet connection and computer hardware (a laptop or desktop computer). The project will provide the required software.
Contact Information:
Interested applicants are invited to direct any questions about the workshop and project to the general editor, Dr. David Michelson, Associate Professor of the History of Christianity, Vanderbilt University: david.a....@vanderbilt.edu
Application Form:
Please complete the following form: https://forms.gle/rzZRqAZAUdDzGQwf9
Deadline: March 23, 2024
For full consideration, applicants should submit their application before March 23, 2024. Applications will continue to be received after that date until the workshop is full. Notifications for accepted applications will be sent in early April.
Sacred Days in Early & Medieval Christianity - The Case of Easter
As the Christian year took shape, Easter became its central feast, commemorating the foundations of the faith itself. Yet, the absence of uniformity of Easter celebrations across the landscapes of Christianity is striking. This conference will focus on the varieties of Easter, including Lent, Passiontide, and Holy Week, as well as other days and periods throughout the Christian calendar. We plan to investigate how holy days, liturgical feasts and seasons, and days of religious significance developed in Early, Late Antique, and Medieval Christianity.
We invite proposals for 20-minute papers in English on Easter from all angles and disciplines or any other aspect of holy days in pre-modern Christianity.
Suggested topics include:
- Sacred days in Christianity and their origins
- The terminology of the sacred
- The development of the liturgy in tandem with holy days
- Conceptions of Sacred Time
- Easter computus
- Palm Sunday and its traditions around the world
- Theological and historical aspects of Good Friday
- The history, theology, and geographical traditions of Holy Week
- Holy Saturday in Eastern and Western Christianity
- Lazarus Saturday: History, theology, and meaning
- The archaeology and art history of Holy Week
- Historical Easter customs
- Lenten practices in historical Christianity
- Non-Christian/ other influences on the development of holy days in Christianity
- Relationships to Judaism/ Graeco-Roman practices
- The development of the liturgical calendar
- Debates about the fixing of holy days on particular dates/ at particular times
Organizing committee of the conference
- Zoe Tsiami (University of Thessaly)
- Hagith Sivan (The University of Kansas)
- Konstantinos Zorbas (General Director, Orthodox Academy of Crete)
- Peter Konieczny (Medievalists.net)
- John J. Gallagher (University of St Andrews)
Bologna Summer School in Classical Languages
Applications are open for the 2024 Summer School in Classical Languages of the University of Bologna. It will take place from Monday 17 June - Friday 5 July 2024.
The School offers intensive courses in Ancient Greek and Latin (50 hours each over 3 weeks, Monday to Friday). The following courses are available: Beginners Latin, Intermediate Latin, and Beginners Greek.
All courses will be in English and will be held in person at the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies of the University of Bologna. Discounts are available for those who choose to enrol for a double course (i.e. Ancient Greek + Latin), for current/former students of the University of Bologna (including Erasmus students), and for former SSCL students.
The application deadline is Monday 3 June 2024.
The call and application form can be found on this website: https://ficlit.unibo.it/it/didattica/summer-e-winter-school/summer-school-in-classical-languages.
Please send any questions to: diri_sch...@unibo.it
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Alexander Sherborne
DPhil Candidate, Faculty of History
President, Oxford University Byzantine Society
http://oxfordbyzantinesociety.wordpress.com