The Byzness, 13th April 2024

[Oxford University Byzantine Society]

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THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BYZANTINE SOCIETY
The Byzness, 13^th April 2024
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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

 

Dumbarton Oaks Spring Byzantine Studies Symposium - The Byzantine Portrait: Personhood and Representation

Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20

In recent years, questions of identity, individuality, and subject formation have been at the forefront of Byzantine studies. Scholarship on autobiographical writings, for instance, has demonstrated that the adoption of exemplary voices and roles can enable self-expression, and therefore that the individual and the normative are not necessarily opposite. Similarly, students of Byzantine theology have drawn attention to the discourse on personhood that developed in the course of the trinitarian and iconoclastic controversies, and allowed Byzantine thinkers to conceive of the human subject both in its autonomy and in its relation to others. The cumulative effect of these studies is to undermine the strict dichotomy between individual and type. Subject formation in Byzantium is no longer negatively defined by the absence of Renaissance individualism. It is understood instead as a process of self-definition through engagement with multiple, sometimes widely varying, models.

Learn more about and register for this Byzantine Studies symposium exploring questions of personal identity and visual representation at our website.

Byzantine Medicine in Light of the Global Middle Ages: Current Trends and Future Avenues

The Byzantine Studies Lectures of the Institute of Historical Research (National Hellenic Research Foundation) continue on Monday April 22 with a hybrid lecture on:

 

Byzantine Medicine in Light of the Global Middle Ages: Current Trends and Future Avenues

 

Petros Bouras-Vallianatos National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

 

18:00 EET, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48, V. Constantinou Av. 11635, Athens.

 

To join via Zoom please follow the link:

 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8yzZ0I3jT1a96KDpwymxFg

History of Science in the Medieval World Summer School

The History of Science in the Medieval World (HSMW) summer school, organized by St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, with Academic Theatre Ikaros, in cooperation with the International Summer Seminar in Bulgarian Language and Culture (University of Veliko Tarnovo), with the support of the Faculty of Slavic Studies, Sofia University is happy to announce its Second 2024 edition which will take place from 15 to 19 July 2024 in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. 

In its pilot 2022 edition, HSMW Summer School introduced the participants to the medieval epistemic fields (sciences) which study the natural world (the kosmos) as a space, namely geography, cosmography, and astronomy. In 2024, we shift the focus to the history of knowledge and the practitioners and their practices: from the geographers and the astronomers, the map and instrument makers, to the users of medieval herbals and the artisans preparing graffito pottery and enamel. 

The instructors include: Marie-Hélène Blanchet (CNRS, UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Monde byzantin); Chiara D’Agostini (Department of Culture and Language, University of Southern Denmark); Aneta Dimitrova (Faculty of Slavic Studies, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”); Stephanie Drew (Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York); Rossina Kostova (Department of Archaeology, Faculty of History, St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo); Divna Manolova (MSCA Paris Region Postdoctoral Fellow, Université PSL-Observatoire de Paris, SYRTE, CNRS); Angel Nikolov (Faculty of History, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”); Shannon Steiner (Independent Researcher, Practicing Goldsmith).

The participants will acquire fundamental knowledge concerning the place and role of the sciences in the intellectual world of the Middle Ages. They will also develop an understanding of premodern science as a spectrum of disciplines wider than the late antique framework of the four mathematical sciences (arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy) and inclusive of all epistemic domains dedicated to the creation, preservation, and transfer of knowledge. The School relies on a discussion-based and experiential / experimental format. That is, the School includes workshops, which will guide the participants into the use of medieval scientific manuscripts, texts, and instruments, and will introduce them to tradition and modern practice of graffito ware production in the city of Veliko Tarnovo. The lectures will be conducted in a hybrid way, whereas the workshops will be in person.

Application Deadline: 29 April 2024  

In order to apply, please send a short bio and description of what motivates your application (maximum one page altogether). There is no need to submit your extended CV.

Please indicate in your application whether you would like to attend the Summer School in person or online.

Please address your application materials and your informal inquiries to Dr Divna Manolova at manolov...@gmail.com.

Available places: The School offers ten places for in-person participants wishing to attend both the lecture and workshop sessions. There is no limit for the number of online participants, but their registration is restricted solely to the lecture sessions. During the selection process, preference will be given to MA and PhD students, but researchers, writers, artists, and non-academic professionals with an interest in the Middle Ages and / or History of Science are also welcome to apply.

We cannot offer any financial support to cover travel and accommodation expenses.

There is no participation fee.

The common discussion language of the School will be English. If the participants know a medieval scholarly language (for this edition: Latin, Greek and/or Old Church Slavonic), this would be an advantage, but it is not an essential requirement for participation.

For more information about the HSMW summer school and for the full programme, see here. The poster is available here.

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 the attached PDF or visit:

http://byzantinestudies.bogazici.edu.tr/index.php?page=events&id=73

King's College London Ancient Languages Summer School 2024

King’s College London offers two six-week courses (1 July – 9 August 2024) in Ancient Greek and Latin.  These courses offer students who have not previously had the opportunity to study Greek or Latin intensive training designed to bring them from complete beginners to a point where they are able to read simple texts.  They are ideal for students who intend to study for a Masters or Doctoral degree to get ahead during the summer, thus acquiring an essential skill for their future research. They are also appropriate for teachers, undergraduates, mature students and anyone with an interest in the Hellenic or Roman world. 

 

It is also possible for complete beginners to take just the first half of the course (1 – 19 July), and for those who already have a basic knowledge to take the second half of the course (22 July - 9 August).  

 

Students may choose to study on campus or online.  

 

Students may choose to take the courses with or without an examination (£900 without exam; £1150 with exam per 3-week course). 

 

The deadline is 31 May. There is an earlybird discount of 5% for applications received before the end of April.

 

For further details and to make an application: 

https://preview-kcl.cloud.contensis.com/language-centre/ancient-languages-summer-school-2024

From Solidus to Stavration: Coinage and Money in the Byzantine World

Princeton, April 26-28, 2024

 

This three-day international conference, to be held at Princeton University will be the first ever devoted solely to Byzantine numismatics, and it will reunite renowned scholars and specialists from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the U.S.

 

The acquisition of the collections of Peter Donald and Chris and Helen Theodotou, totaling over 17,000 coins, has placed Princeton University at the forefront of institutions supporting research in Byzantine numismatics. Both of these purchases were made with the help of generous support of the Friends of Princeton University Library and the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies.

 

Among the activities that we have initiated to accompany these acquisitions are the cataloging of the coins onto the Princeton University Library catalogue; the development of a shared-open-data web platform for Byzantine coinage in collaboration with scholars at Dumbarton Oaks, Oxford University, and the American Numismatic Society; and the planning of this conference "From Solidus to Stavraton."

 

During the first two days, a total of 22 academics will present their updated research to colleagues, scholars, students, and members of the general public.

 

The last day will be dedicated to a workshop that will aim at bringing the scholars together and finalize the Linked-Open-Data database of Byzantine coinage. This platform, established with the Nomisma ontology, is an international collaborative project, created to provide stable digital representations of numismatic concepts according to the principles of Linked Open Data, while maintaining formalized RDF Ontologies. It will become a vital tool for consultation by scholars, numismatists and general public around the world. Furthermore, the tool will be open to institutions from different countries, enabling them to contribute their evidence to the database.

 

For further information or to register for in-person or remote participation: From Solidus to Stavraton: Coinage and Money in the Byzantine World | Princeton University Library

Data Literacy for Byzantinists Workshop

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Byzantine Studies Association of North America are pleased to offer a week-long data workshop for graduate students and early career researchers in collaboration with Dr. Paula Loreto Granados García of The British Museum and Dr. Ryan Horne of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Data Literacy for Byzantinists, workshop by Paula Loreto Granados García (The British Museum) and Ryan Horne (UCLA), Zoom, May 13–17, 2024, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM EDT (with a lunch break and lab time)

 

This online workshop will offer Byzantinists an introduction to data and its management. Participants will explore the data lifecycle from creation and acquisition through analysis and visualization and learn best practices for data management. This material will be complemented by sessions touching on data analysis—particularly social network analysis—IIIF, linked open data (LOD) and the Semantic Web, the basics of Python and Jupyter Notebook, and spatial humanities and geodata. Participants will be introduced to an array of tools, such as Gephi, OpenRefine, Quarto, Recogitio, Tableau, and Voyant. Throughout the week, participants will learn the basics of GitHub, create accounts, and setup GitHub pages that will be used during the workshop. Participants will use their own data and prepared datasets to complete assigned exercises.

 

The workshop is limited to 15 participants. The time commitment for this workshop is 20 hours of instruction and an additional 30 minutes to an hour between sessions for practice exercises and preparation for following session. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Registration is first come, first served.

 

Registration closes Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

 

Who is eligible?

·      Graduate students and early career researchers (PhD received after May 2016) in the field of Byzantine studies. Students enrolled in graduate programs in North America and early career researchers working in North America will be given priority. Graduate students and early career researchers outside of North America will be placed on a waiting list and contacted if space is available.

·      All participants must be BSANA members. BSANA membership is free for graduate students and early-career contingent scholars who have earned their PhD within the last eight years and who do not hold a permanent or tenure-track appointment.

To read a full description of the workshop and register your interest, please visit https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/data-literacy-for-byzantinists.

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjc...@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, with any questions.

Tübingen Byzantine and Near Eastern Seminar Summer Term Series

Thursdays, 2:15 p.m. Münzgasse 11, Room 101, 72070 Tübingen

The lectures are in a hybrid format. For online (Zoom) registration please contact maren....@student.uni-tuebingen.de.

For more information, please visit https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/201982.

April 25

Jeffrey BERLAND (Tübingen)

Byzantine-Carolingian Imperial Recognition after Aachen (812): Michael II's Letter to Louis the Pious of 824 and the Parisian Synod of 825

May 2

Moritz MAURER (Heidelberg)

Gute Armut, böse Armut? Mittelpersische Zoroastrische Perspektiven

May 16

Hugh KENNEDY (London)

The Globalisation of Baghdad, 762-1000 CE

June 6

Nevra NECIPOĞLU (Istanbul)

Monasteries of Palaiologan Constantinople: Spatial, Structural, and Topographic Considerations

June 20

Jack TANNOUS (Princeton)

From Tatian to Hunayn: The Emergence of Syriac as an alternative to Greek

July 4

Taro MIMURA (Tokyo)

Greek Scientific Research as a Family Business at the Abbasid Court: Thābit ibn Qurra and His Heirs

July 11

Johannes PAHLITZSCH (Mainz)

Die Melkiten in Syrien unter ayyubidischer Herrschaft (1174-1260) zwischen Byzanz und der islamischen Welt

July 18

Christophe ERISMANN (Vienna)

Das Individuum denken und darstellen: eine byzantinische Perspektive

July 25

Luca ZAVAGNO (Ankara) & Nikolas BAKIRTZIS (Nikosia)

‘Outsiders’ in Byzantine Cyprus: Monks and Religious Leaders across the Mediterranean

Emlyn Dodd - Tastes, Places and Processes of Ancient Winemaking

Wednesday 8 May, 2024, 6-8pm

G22/26 and the Hellenic & Roman Library

Senate House WC1E 7HU

https://www.romansociety.org/Events/Event-Booking/EventId/13

There will be opportunities throughout to – quite literally – get a taste of ancient wine, with several wines made using ancient techniques able to be tasted, connected into discussions of ancient evidence.

Wine underpinned and permeated Hellenic and Roman antiquity. It could transcend social status – drunk by the rich, poor and the spectrum between – yet also embedded hierarchy through a range of desirable and undesirable, expensive and inexpensive qualities. It was found in domestic, religious, medicinal and commercial contexts and had the potential to create enormous wealth or cause financial ruin. This lecture will combine archaeological, artistic, and historical evidence to explore Hellenic and Roman wine production, from small urban vineyards to extravagant imperial villas.

Emlyn Dodd FSA FRHistS is Lecturer in Classical Studies at the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, and was Assistant Director at the British School at Rome from 2021–23. He has published extensively on ancient wine production in Greek and Roman antiquity, and he features regularly in public media.

This event is held in aid of (HARL). Owned by the Hellenic and Roman Societies and Institute of Classical Studies, this is one of the world’s greatest Classics libraries. The Societies are running a fundraising campaign to meet rising costs and to maintain and enhance the Library as part of a world class research facility for future generations: www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org.
Please consider making an additional donation to HARL here: https://www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Support-Us/Donate

New Insights into the Study of Byzantine Manuscripts: Text, Image, and Liturgy

A one-day International Seminar on Byzantine Manuscripts will be held at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), on May 17^th, 2024.

II  MABILUS International Seminar

Dir. Manuel Castiñeiras

The study of Byzantine manuscripts has undergone a deep transformation in recent years. Digitization, laboratory analysis techniques and interdisciplinary projects have allowed a better knowledge of a very valuable written and illuminated heritage which, in the case of Spain, is very well represented in the collection of the National Library of Madrid and the Library of the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. On the occasion of this international seminar, a series of experiences in the field of Byzantinology will be presented. They are helping to enhance and disseminate the Byzantine legacy from a wide range of perspectives. These talks will be complemented by the presentation of the book, The Akathistos Hymnos and Intermedial Compositional Processes in Later Byzantium-Sung, Written, Painted, edited by Jon C. Cubas (Palgrave, Cham, 2024). 

 

Free entrance

For further information, please contact: in...@mabilus.com

The Skylitzes Matritensis, Byzantium and Norman Sicily: New and Old Issues on an Exceptional Greek Manuscript

A one-day international conference on the Skylitzes Matritensis will be held at the National Library of Spain, Madrid, on June 13^th, 2024.

The aim of this international symposium on the Sykilitzes Matritensis (BNE, Vitr. 26-2) is to delve into one of the most precious manuscripts of the National Library of Spain, which still poses many issues to scholars today.

It is the oldest and most extensive surviving copy of an illustrated Byzantine chronicle, the Synopsis Historiarum by John Skylitzes, containing 574 miniatures. The manuscript was produced in the mid-12th century in Sicily, during the Norman period, and its creation involved two scribes and seven miniaturists with very different artistic backgrounds. This reveals the multicultural environment of the island, where Latin, Greek, and Muslim cultures coexisted. Scholars will approach various aspects of the manuscript from a multidisciplinary perspective -paleographic, codicological, philological, and historical-artistic -, and address some issues related to its commissioning, place of production and creative process, from the materials used by the miniaturists to their working methods. It will be an outstanding occasion to rediscover Byzantium, the fascination for Constantinople, as well as some aspects of the12th-century Sicilian culture.

 

Free entrance

For further information, please contact: in...@mabilus.com

Live streaming on the BNE YouTube channel

Pithoi in the Archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean: International e-Conference

We are glad to inform you that an international e-symposium on pithos in the Classical and Byzantine eastern Mediterranean will occur on May 8, 2024 on Zoom.us.

A pithos (πίθος; plural “pithoi”) was a large storage container form and pithoi were found in relatively large quantities in the entire Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria and Egypt to France, where they were manufactured between the Neolithic and Medieval periods. Pithoi were used for bulk storage, primarily for fluids, grains and olives, comparable to the drums, barrels and casks of recent times. Besides these uses, they were also utilised as burial containers secondarily. During the three millennia of their service between the Second Millenium B.C. and First Millenium A.D. the form and the function of pithoi were not changed on the whole. They were exported or imported over the entire eastern Mediterranean.

Organizing and executive committee (in alphabetical order; to be completed)

Dr Gülseren Kan Şahin (Sinop),
Professor Hugo Thoen (emer., Ghent / Deinze),
Ms Zoe Tsiame (Volos).

Website of the e-symposium

https://deu.academia.edu/ErgunLAFLI/Congressus-internationales-Smyrnenses

2.             CALLS FOR PAPERS

The Fiftieth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference

DEADLINE: April 19, 2024

The Fiftieth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference (BSC) will be held at the Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus, Columbia University, and Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), in New York City from Thursday, October 24 to Sunday, October 27, 2024.  The Local Arrangements Chair is George Demacopoulos (Fordham University, Department of Theology and Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center). This conference will be in-person only.

The Program Committee invites proposals for papers and thematic panels on all topics and in all disciplines related to Byzantine Studies, broadly construed. All proposals must be submitted via EasyChair, and must adhere to specific formatting requirements. To deliver your paper at the BSC, you must be a member of BSANA in good standing, enrolled in a graduate program at the time of submission, or hold a graduate degree. We encourage undergraduate attendance, but do not accept submissions from undergraduates. To join or renew your membership in BSANA, pay your dues according to your current status at: https://bsana.net/members/.

For instructions on how to submit a proposal and to learn about funding opportunities, please see the attached PDF (or this link) or visit the BSANA website: https://bsana.net/annual-conference/.

 

Loyalty Oaths in the Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamicate Legal Spheres

I'm delighted to share the CfP for a two-day hybrid conference on oaths in late antiquity, to take place at Hamburg/Germany on 21-22 October 2024. The conference is organised by Alasdair Grant ('Social Contexts of Rebellion' team, Hamburg) and Daphne Penna (Legal History, Groningen), co-PIs of the research project 'Loyalty Oaths in the Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamicate Legal Spheres' (LORILS). LORILS is a cooperation between the universities of Hamburg and Groningen. 

The conference aims to investigate oaths, covenants, and notions of loyalty in late antique political and legal cultures across various traditions (Islamicate, Roman, Byzantine, Sasanian, Jewish, Christian) and foster interdiscplinary discussion of shared patterns as well as differences. The full CfP can be found here: https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/voror/forschung/score/news/conferences/lorils-conference-2024.html. Abstracts should be sent to Alasdair Grant (alasdai...@uni-hamburg.de) and Daphne Penna (d.p...@rug.nl) by 26 April 2024. Likewise, if you would like to know more about LORILS or the upcoming conference, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Alasdair and Daphne. 

What Means Late Antiquity in the Balkans? New Concepts, Historiographies and Case Studies for the Period Between the 3rd and the 8th Centuries

The Young Scholars Circle of the HAEMUS International Research Network is pleased to invite you to its International Online Seminar for PhD students and Postdocs: 

What Means Late Antiquity in the Balkans? New Concepts, Historiographies and Case Studies for the Period between the 3rd and the 8th Centuries

7 June 2024

This second edition of the YSCH online seminar aims to stimulate a discussion that, relying on the most recent studies, can contribute to specifying the definition of the concept of “Late Antiquity” for the Balkan Peninsula.Taking into account the distinctive features of this historical period, as defined in the major epistemological works on the question, and recognising the elements of rupture and continuity from the past, the debate that will arise from this activity will try to answer such questions (among others):

1. What means Late Antiquity in the Balkans? (Viz. how Late Antiquity is generally
perceived in studies produced in the Balkans and on the peninsula.)
2. Is it a simple synonym for the Late Roman or the Early Byzantine/Mediaeval periods, or is it a period in its own right?
3. What are its ante and post quem termini, when applied to the Balkans?
4. With regard to the Late Antique period, what makes the Balkans specific and what makes it an integral part of the Empire?

The seminar will take place online on the 7 June 2024.
Each presentation (c. 20 minutes) will be followed by a small discussion (c. 10 minutes).

TOPICS

This seminar will be multidisciplinary, relying on any kind of testimonies available in the fields of history, archaeology and art history. Among the themes for which discussion are encouraged, we can mention (but not exclusively):

HISTORIOGRAPHY
EPIGRAPHY
NUMISMATICS
TOPOGRAPHY
ICONOGRAPHY
ADMINISTRATION
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
MILITARY ORGANISATION
RELIGION
MIGRATIONS

HOW TO APPLY
Presentations from PhD students or Postdocs who have defended their PhD dissertation during the last 5 years are accepted from this call for papers.
The title of the paper, an abstract (200-400 words) and 5 keywords can be sent to
haemusyou...@gmail.com by the 1st of May 2024.
Presentations may be in English and in French.

Website https://haemus-network.univ-lille.fr/young-scholars-circle/
E-mail haemusyou...@gmail.com

Oxford University Numismatic Society Graduate Colloquium

The Oxford University Numismatic Society is pleased to be hosting its termly 'Graduate Numismatic Colloquium' on Wednesday May 29^th at 4-5.30pm. We would be delighted to receive proposals for 20 minute papers on any subject related to numismatics (in its broadest sense) currently being researched by graduates. Please do send expressions of interest to the Secretary (jame...@merton.ox.ac.uk) and President (finn....@balliol.ox.ac.uk). The event will be held in hybrid format, so we welcome external speakers as well.

Martyrs and the City in the 4th and 5th Centuries

Deadline: 30. April 2024

It is my pleasure to invite paper submissions for a conference on "Martyrs and the city in the 4th and 5th centuries". The conference, jointly organised with Johannes Hahn, will take place from 19 to 21 February 2025 at the TU Darmstadt (Germany). It is dedicated to the transformation process in the 4th and 5th centuries, when the martyr cult reached urban society and urban space and thus transformed earlier practices, narratives and monuments that created identity. The focus is on the interfaces between literature, religious practice and urban studies in order to bring different specialist perspectives and source genres into dialogue with one another.

The conference pursues a comparative geographical approach and, in addition to the major metropolises of Rome, Constantinople and Antiocheia, will consider urban centres in both the West and the East.

Speakers and topics already confirmed:

Franz Alto Bauer (Munich): Thessaloniki
Susanne Froehlich (Greifswald/Darmstadt): Antioch
Johannes Hahn (Münster): Alexandria
Aaltje Hidding (Oslo): Oxyrhynchus
Nathalie Klinck (Hamburg): Tipasa (Mauritania)
Karen Piepenbrink (Giessen): Rome
Philipp Pilhofer (Rostock): Cyprus
Matthias Sandberg (Münster): Milan
Christian Stadermann (Greifswald): Aginnum (Gaul)
Nadine Viermann (Durham): Constantinople
Elena Weber (Münster): Arles

This CfP invites proposals for topics that extend the programme to further cities. In particular, we would welcome contributions on Carthage and Corinth as well as case studies from Illyricum and Hispania.

Please find the detailed CfP online via the following ling: <https://www.mommsen-gesellschaft.de/veranstaltungen/call-for-papers/2459-maertyrer-und-stadt-im-4-und-5-jahrhundert>.

For any questions, please contact <susanne....@uni-greifswald.de>.

Saints and Martyrs Between Italy and the Mediterranean in Late Antiquity: Movements, Connections, and Influences

We are pleased to invite you to submit an abstract for the international workshop 'Saints and Martyrs between Italy and the Mediterranean in Late Antiquity: Movements, Connections and Influences' 

 

The aim of the workshop is to investigate and deepen the dynamics and questions related to the circulation of cults of saints and martyrs from Italy to other areas of the Mediterranean and vice versa. Furthermore is the intention of the Workshop to analyse which exchanges and mutual influences these movements entailed and in which sources they can be found.

 

The workshop will be held in person in English on 22-23 November 2024 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. You are invited to submit an abstract (max. 300 words) by 24 May. All information can be found in the following link.

 

https://sabkmuenchen.com/2024/03/08/call-for-papers/ 

 

We look forward to receiving your proposals, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us via E-Mail at: 
info.saintsand...@gmail.com

Euro-Mediterranean Entanglements in Medieval History - Seminar Series

German Historical Institutes of Paris and Rome (Max Weber Foundation)
Online Zoom – Academic year 2024/2025

 

The aim of our online seminar series on "Euro-Mediterranean Entanglements in Medieval History" is to exchange new ideas and perspectives with young and established scholars from all medieval disciplines. Sessions will take place every two months and are intended to provide an international and interdisciplinary forum where different topics and methodological approaches can be presented and discussed.

Our speakers begin with a 10-minute keynote to present their current or recently completed research, followed by a 10-minute commentary from an invited expert. This will be the basis for the subsequent 40-minute discussion with the online audience.

 

We cordially invite interested researchers to send an abstract (1–2 pages) and short curriculum vitae (with list of publications, if possible) by June 3, 2024 to asag...@dhi-paris.fr and wo...@dhi-roma.it.

 

Topics

The geographical area is deliberately not clearly defined and includes Europe, as well as the Mediterranean region in its broadest sense. Interconnections between the Euro-Mediterranean area and other world regions are also included. The following topics are in focus:
• cross-regional, transcultural, and interreligious entanglements (processes/results).

• overlapping spaces: between geographic borders and cultural contacts
• social networks and interpersonal relations
• mobility and migration
• transfer, diffusion and adaptation (of ideas, knowledge and material objects)

 

Dates

Tuesdays 5.00-6.00 PM CET

September 24, 2024

November 26, 2024
January 28, 2025

March 25, 2025

May 27, 2025

 

Contact

If you have any questions about the research seminar, please contact:

Amélie Sagasser (DHI Paris): asag...@dhi-paris.fr 

Kordula Wolf (DHI Rome): wo...@dhi-roma.it

Northern Environmental History Network Online Seminars: Fluid Histories

Like the River Tyne in the twelfth century illumination of Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert, environmental-historical narratives both must be contained within the confines of the page yet cannot help but to flow out, escaping the borders we place between times and places. Taking inspiration from this, The Northern Environmental History Network will focus its autumn and winter online seminars around the theme of ‘Fluid Histories’. As well as welcoming proposals on all areas of Environmental History, we are especially interested in papers that speak to the theme of ‘Fluid Histories’ from scholars of all career stages working on all regions and periods.

Papers on ‘Fluid Histories’ may discuss topics that include:

Pourable resources and commodities: Water (history), Oils (Mineral and otherwise), Dairy
products, viniculture and brewing
Flowing landscapes and ecosystems: Rivers and seas, sand-dunes and estuaries, mires and
peatlands, wetlands and Ice 

Fluid concepts and ideas: Queering landscapes and environmental histories, crossing
disciplinary boundaries, mobility and travel, transgress[ed/ing] boundaries between human
and nonhuman, perceived connections between ecosystems and peoples, blue humanities

Papers that flow between and outwith these categories are very much welcomed.
Seminars occur monthly at a time arranged between the seminar co-ordinator and the speaker between August and December.

Please send an abstract [300 words] for a 30-50 minute paper and a short biography [100
words] to the seminar co-ordinator, Gwenffrewi Morgan (gj...@st-andrews.ac.uk) by the 31st of May 2024 with ‘NEHN’ in the subject line.

First International Conference on Antiquity in Central and South Africa

First International Conference on Antiquity in Central and South Africa. Potchefstroom, South Africa (5-8 February 2025)

Deadline 30 June 2024

 

The School of Ancient Languages and Text Studies of the North-West University of Potchefstroom in South Africa would like to invite you at the international and interdisciplinary conference:

Approaching Foreigners in Antiquity: Studying Intercultural Contact

5-8 February, 2025

North-West University

Potchefstroom

South Africa

 

We are interested in discussing intercultural contacts between different peoples in antiquity and ways to approach the study of such contacts. We invite proposals for papers. Each lecture may include any people and culture from Africa and the Mediterranean to Near East and India, but it should focus on the contacts they had with one or more other peoples in the above-mentioned geographical areas. For instance: “contacts between the Egyptians and the Nubians”. Or “contacts between the Phoenicians and the Philistines”.

 

The timeframe of these contacts starts from the prehistoric times and goes up to the first millennium CE. Scholars who wish to talk about a later author’s views on past peoples and on their contacts with other peoples, are also welcome. The study to be presented may be related to any kind of contact in antiquity (language, trade, war, cooperation, science, technology, art etc.). We welcome linguistic, philological, historical, archaeological, geographical, anthropological, and DNA studies.

We now understand that the peoples of the ancient world did not exist in isolation and that trade routes connected the Mediterranean and the Levant with the Caucasus, India and further afield. We are interested in the various approaches to the ways in which cross-cultural contact between these people should be studied. We solicit papers analyzing and discussing contact between specific peoples and the methodological issues related to the study of this contact. 

 

Points on interest include, but are not limited to:

· the discrepancy between archaeology and written sources,
· the limits of archaeology, philology and DNA studies,
· the chronological gap between scripts or written sources and the reconstruction of an early past based on later sources,
· the social constructions of ethnicity, race, etc. in ancient societies, especially that of the ‘other’,
· the archaeology of migrated groups and nomads,
· the movement of peoples in antiquity (ships, horses, camels) and the extent of their mobility limits.

 

For more information contact Asterios Kechagias asterios.k...@gmail.com

Viator Cluster: Cultivating and Contesting the Spiritual Meaning of Male Hair

Special edition editors Dawn LaValle Norman (Australian Catholic University) and Lea Niccolai (Cambridge University) are welcoming short article submissions (3,500-5,000 words) for a topical cluster on the religious meanings behind male hair choices for the journal Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

The connection between hair and the sacred is as pervasive as it is underexplored. Millennia of religious traditions, from across the world, describe and prescribe rites of cutting, shaving, covering, adorning, and dyeing hair.

Hair is the most readily changeable part of bodies. Some of it, especially head hair, is highly visible and confronting; other body hair may be hidden, removed, or seen only by intimates. All hair is freighted with religious meaning. In many cultures, a person’s hair itself, whether its absence or arrangement, and the behaviors that surround it, can be key markers of identity, such as age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, community, political association, and religious affiliation or piety. The essays in this Cluster challenge scholars to “read” hair across a number of contexts, situating it amongst many potential meanings from internal and external viewers.

We seek papers that investigate, compare, and theorize the intersections between male hair and religion in late antique, medieval, and pre-modern societies. This Viator Cluster thus addresses a gap in scholarship, as much less attention has been paid to male hair, including beards and body hair, in hair studies. For men, how to grow, shave, and groom hair are daily choices that can advertise such affiliations and entwine entire identities and ontologies of belief. We are especially interested in religions beyond Christianity and traditional Greco-Roman cults, and welcome papers focusing on hair in Islam, Judaism, and non-European traditions.

Specific foci for papers might include:

1.    How do hair and beards acquire religious meaning and what sorts of meaning do they acquire? Are the processes and implications different for different types of hair (beard/facial hair vs head hair or body hair)? How much does context matter when reading hair religiously? What happens to hair when religion itself is contested?

2.    How does religion shape rituals involving hair (e.g., shaving, adorning, dyeing, powdering, wig-wearing, covering)? When and how do these rituals acquire spiritual dimensions? Are there differences for those who see themselves or are seen as profane vs holy? How do religious considerations intersect with the practicalities and technologies of hair maintenance?

3.    How does religion shape the treatment of hair that has been removed from the body (e.g., locks of hair cut as mementos, for use in magic, or as relics of the dead)? How is removed hair understood relative to growing hair on the body? Do specific considerations govern it differently from other kinds of bodily excretions?

4.    What religious arguments underly the different commands to shave or not shave pubic and other body hair? How is this involved in inter-religious self-definitions? How does the rhetoric of body shaving relate to how cultures define sexual difference?

We are particularly interested in essays that consider the underlying arguments for why hair choices are legislated or encouraged, how such legislation is enacted, how internal justifications bend or shift across cultures, and how arguments about hair intersect gender as a social construct.

For more information about the past events run by our project, please see here: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/39650/ and the blog post here: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/blog/godly-grooming-religion-spirituality-and-male-hair/

Submission guidelines

We invite papers between 3,500 and 5,000 words. There will be further time to revise your submission if it is successful. Submit papers as email attachments to cultivatingmalehair...@gmail.com by 1 September 2024. Papers will be assessed through anonymous peer review, so please make sure that they are free of identifying information, only including your name and departmental affiliation in your email and not in the body of your paper.

Successful papers will be notified by 1 October 2024.

The deadline for the delivery of the final papers is scheduled in February 2025, and publication of the issue (Viator 56, no. 2) for fall 2025.

Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have any queries.

3.             JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

EX-PATRIA Project Funded PhD Programme

We invite applications for a funded PhD programme to work within the EX-PATRIA project at the University of Lille, France: Research Center UMR 8164-HALMA, Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences. 

The starting date is October 2024. 

 

The dissertation subject should be in line with the topic: 

Captive Experiences in Late Antique Eastern Mediterranean and West Asia

Possible angles of research may include but are not limited to the problems of military and civil captivity, challenges of return, ransoming and exchange of captives, and shifting loyalties. The more precise thematic and geographical foci of this prosopographical work, as well as its principal source base, will depend on the candidate’s profile and specialisation.

 

Required degree: Master

Type of contract: Full-time fixed-duration contract

Duration: 36 months

Start date: 01/10/2024

Salary: Gross monthly salary around 2100 € / month

Application deadline: 25/04/2024

 

Application

 

· CV (mentioning your command of ancient and modern languages)

· A short cover letter, mentioning: your research qualifications & interests; the desired angle of your dissertation project & the envisaged source base

· Names and contact information (with email addresses) of 2 persons who can be eventually contacted for letters of recommendation

· Proof of degrees

 

Complete applications are to be submitted in PDF format via e-mail by the 25th of April 2024 to both following addresses:

ekaterina...@univ-lille.fr

thibaut....@univ-lille.fr

 

Interviews will take place in mid-May and early June 2024.

 

For questions please email: ekaterina...@univ-lille.fr

 

This announcement can be found here: https://ex-patria.univ-lille.fr/open-positions-phd

Gordon Milburn Fellowship, University of Oxford

The Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford seeks to appoint to the Gordon Milburn Research Fellowship, which will be held in conjunction with Campion Hall.

This Fellowship is designed for an individual with outstanding potential who is still at an early stage of their academic career. This is a fixed-term appointment for three years from 1^st October 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter.

You will be responsible for devising, carrying out and managing your own research project of advanced research in the theological or philosophical study of mysticism or religious experience, broadly interpreted, of any religious tradition. You will also contribute to research and teaching at the Faculty of Theology and Religion.

You will have access to a Faculty research allowance, which is currently £1,500 per annum.

This Fellowship is supported from a fund which was established to promote the theological or the philosophical study within the University of Oxford of mysticism and religious experience in memory of the author and missionary Robert Gordon Milburn, vice-principal of Bishop's College, Calcutta, 1906-14, who died in 1968.  

About you

You will hold, or be close to completion of, a postgraduate qualification (which would normally be a doctorate) in a relevant area of theological or philosophical study of mysticism or religious experience, broadly interpreted, of any religious tradition. You will be able to evidence some experience of research. The duties and skills required are described in more detail in the further particulars.

If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account. The selection committee will also be mindful of the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic may have had on candidates’ careers as a result of additional caring responsibilities or other factors.

Application process

Please submit your application online via www.recruit.ox.ac.uk and Vacancy ID 171817. You will be required to upload a supporting statement (setting out how you meet the selection criteria for the post, using examples of your skills and experience), curriculum vitae and a 500-word proposal for your research project.

The closing date for applications is midday on Monday 22^nd April 2024. Interviews are planned to be held in the week commencing Monday 13^th May 2024.

King's College London and University of Kent PhD Studentships

King’s College London and the University of Kent are jointly offering up to fifteen fully-funded PhD studentships in medieval history, literatures and other disciplines (including up to three studentships for international students, and up to three Master’s Plus studentships available for low-income and/or ethnic minority applicants) through the new £2M Leverhulme doctoral training centre Knowledge Orders before Modernity.

 

Applicants can submit their own project through an open call, provided it falls broadly within the themes of the project (transmission, selection, production, reproduction and/or technologies of knowledge); or they can apply for particular projects proposed by potential supervisors at King’s and Kent.

 

For more information and on how to apply: https://www.komldsp.org.uk/about-us/ . The deadline this year will be 8 May 2024.

Sorbonne University PhD on Ammonius' Commentary on De Interpretatione

Please find here an application form for a 3-year PhD contract at Sorbonne University in Paris.

 

Title of the PhD project : Ammonius' commentary on De interpretatione: a study based on the Paris palimpsest, using multispectral imaging

Brief description: The PhD student will work on Ammonius’ commentary on De interpretatione, using multispectral images of the palimpsest manuscript Paris, BNF, Grec 2575. They will use their excellent philological skills and prior experience in paleography to decipher the palimpsest and investigate philosophical, historical and literary aspects of the text.

 

The call for applications is open until April 22nd, 2024. Potential candidates are advised to contact Victor Gysembergh before submitting an application. Expressions of interest and questions may be directed to victor.g...@gmail.com.

Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection - Hellenic Research Fellowship Program 2024-2025

Thanks to generous funding from the Tarbell Family Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Endowment Fund of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation of Sacramento, the University Library at California State University, Sacramento is pleased to offer the continuation of the Hellenic Research Fellowship Program (HRFP) for a 12th year. The HRFP, the only residential fellowship program west of the Mississippi in Hellenic studies broadly conceived, enables visiting scholars to conduct research using the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection in Sacramento, CA. This year we are happy to inaugurate writer-in-residence fellowships as an addition to the Program. The HRFP provides a limited number of fellowships in the form of reimbursement to help offset transportation and living expenses incurred in connection with the awards. The fellowship application deadline is May 3, 2024. No late applications will be considered. See below for full program information and application instructions.

Consisting of the holdings of the former Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism, the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, part of the Donald & Beverly Gerth Special Collections and University Archives, is a research collection of international significance for the campus and Sacramento regional communities, as well as for scholars around the globe. Currently numbering over 80,000 volumes and 500 linear feet of personal papers and institutional archives, it comprises a large circulating book collection, journal holdings, electronic resources, non-print media, rare books, archival materials, art, and artifacts. With its focus on the Hellenic world, the collection contains materials from antiquity to the present across the social sciences and humanities relating to Greece, its neighboring countries, and the surrounding region. There is a broad representation of languages in the collection, with a rich assortment of primary source materials. For further information about the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, visit https://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos.

 

For the full Hellenic Research Fellowship Program description, application instructions, and list of previous fellows, see: https://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos-hellenic-collection/hrfp. Questions about the Program can be directed to George I. Paganelis, Curator, Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection (paga...@csus.edu).

Joan and Eugene Vanderpool Fellowship at the Athenian Agora

Deadline: May 15, 2024

The Joan and Eugene Vanderpool Fellowship at the Athenian Agora supports research on any aspect of the Athenian Agora, including history, archaeology, literature, epigraphy, architecture, art history, and biodiversity.

Eligibility: PhD holders and graduate students working on any aspect of the Athenian Agora from antiquity to the present are eligible. As noted, the fields of study may include, but are not limited to, all aspects of the history and material culture of the site. Open to all nationalities.

Terms: The School awards at least one fellowship each year. The fellowship includes a stipend of $5,000 and a waiver of membership fees for the duration of residency in Athens while working on the proposed project (a maximum of two months membership fees covered). Costs of travel, lodging, board, visas, and incidentals can be paid from the stipend. Applicants may also include costs for the photographs/photographic permission and preparation of illustrations in their budgets. Applicants should specify and justify the proposed duration of work in Athens and related costs. The award is to be used between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. A final report is due at the end of the award period. The ASCSA expects that all publications that result from research conducted as a Fellow of the ASCSA acknowledge the support of the ASCSA and that copies be contributed to the appropriate library of the School and to Agora’s research library.

Application: Submit an online application form for the “Joan and Eugene Vanderpool Fellowship.” An application consists of a curriculum vitae, description of the proposed project (up to 750 words), a timeline and budget of the proposed project, and two letters of reference to be submitted online. Student applicants must submit transcripts. Scans of official transcripts are acceptable.

Link to online application. 

Link to online posting.

Questions? Contact: appli...@ascsa.org 

The award will be announced by June 15, 2024.

Research Associate Position Within the Team of Prof. Julia Hillner at Bonn

The Bonn Center for Slavery and Dependency Studies invites applications for the position of a Research Associate (65%) within the team of Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner.

 

The position is for a fixed-term period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2028. An interim evaluation will be carried out after one year. Until January 31, 2026, the position is located at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), from February 1, 2026 at the Institute of Historical Sciences / Department of Ancient History. The BCDSS is a "Cluster of Excellence" funded by the German Research Foundation.

 

Your tasks:

• Development of an independent doctoral project within one or more of the research fields of Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner and her team in the area of social and cultural history of late antiquity (ca. 200-700 AD), in particular history of the family and the household; prosopography, social networks and digital humanities; urban history; legal, criminal and penal history; gender history,

• Teaching commitment of 2.6 semester hours per week in German and English.

 

Your profile:

• Completed academic university degree (Master's, Magister or state examination) in Ancient History or a related subject,

• Proven command of written and spoken German as well as English is mandatory,

• Ideally, international academic outlook and experience,

• Committed, flexible, team-oriented and interested in further training.

 

We offer:

• a varied and stimulating position with one of the largest employers in the region,

• the opportunity to do a doctorate,

• participation in the doctoral program of the BCDSS,

• the opportunity to go on research trips and attend conferences,

• institutional support for applicants with families and for women,

• Company pension scheme (VBL),

• numerous university sports facilities,

• very good transport connections and the opportunity to use low-cost parking facilities,

• Remuneration according to pay group 13 TV-L.

 

The University of Bonn is committed to diversity and equal opportunity. It is certified as a family-friendly university. It aims to increase the proportion of women in areas where women are under-represented and to promote their careers in particular. It therefore urges women with relevant qualifications to apply. Applications will be handled in accordance with the Landesgleichstellungsgesetz (State Equality Act). Applications from suitable individuals with a certified serious disability and those of equal status are particularly welcome.

 

If you are interested, please send your complete application documents

 

1. Your application, consisting of:

a) CV;

b) a copy of your Master's, Magister or state examination certificate;

c) proof of the required language skills,

 

2. An outline of the research project you would like to develop during the doctorate (maximum 4 A4 pages), including central research questions and hypotheses; originality of the proposed project in relation to the research context (with a list of maximum 10 key publications); sources and methodology; connections of the proposed project with and relevance to the research topics of Prof. Dr. Hillner and her team.

 

3. name and contact details of two referees (position, professional address and e-mail) in a single pdf file by May 19, 2024 to appli...@dependency.uni-bonn.de, quoting reference number 3.2/2024/23.

Ahmanson Research Fellowships for the Study of Medieval and Renaissance Books and Manuscripts

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please apply at least six months in advance of the preferred date of research in UCLA Library Special Collections.

 

Ahmanson Research Fellowships for the Study of Medieval and Renaissance Books and Manuscripts support the use of any of the UCLA Library Special Collections’ extensive holdings in medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and printed books. Some of these holdings include the Ahmanson-Murphy Aldine and Early Italian Printing Collections; the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana; the Orsini Family Papers; the Bourbon del Monte de San Faustino Family Papers; the Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection; the Richard and Mary Rouse Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts and Early Printed Books; and the Medieval and Renaissance Arabic and Persian Medical Manuscripts.

 

The fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis to graduate students or postdoctoral scholars who need to use these collections for graduate-level or postdoctoral independent research. Recipients receive a stipend of $3000/month for fellowships lasting up to three months. Please note that housing and office space is not provided.

United States citizens and permanent residents with the legal right to work in the U.S. who are engaged in graduate-level, post-doctoral, academic, or independent research are invited to apply.

 

Additional requirements: To accept the award, non-UCLA graduate students will be required to obtain Visiting Graduate Researcher status and pay the associated fees; students from other University of California campuses may be able to come to UCLA as Intercampus Exchange Students. Independent PhD scholars or those holding faculty positions at other institutions must obtain approval as Visiting Scholars or Researchers to accept the award. CMRS-CEGS staff will assist you with these processes.

 

The application should include:

 

• Cover letter, including preferred dates to be spent in residence at UCLA
• Curriculum vitae
• Description of research and special collections to be used (two pages maximum, single spaced)
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty or other scholars familiar with the research project.

 

HOW TO APPLY? Click here for application submission instructions.

 

View the list of Ahmanson Research Fellowship recipients

-----------------

Alexander Sherborne

DPhil Candidate, Faculty of History

President, Oxford University Byzantine Society

byzantin...@gmail.com  

http://oxfordbyzantinesociety.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/oxbyz