The Byzness, 1st February 2026
Oxford University Byzantine Society
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THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BYZANTINE SOCIETY
The Byzness, 1st February 2026
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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,
Happy third week and welcome to February!
The time is getting ever closer… the OUBS 28th International Graduate Conference, Decline and Flourish, is in just 27 days! We could not be more excited to meet all our speakers and attendees in Oxford at St. Peter’s College and online on February 28th and March 1st.
Over this term, the OUBS will be documenting some of our more exciting endeavours on our social media channels. If you don’t follow us yet, you can find us at the following handles:
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)
All my very best,
Madeleine.
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 listing brief and include all relevant information in the body of the notice. Outside of exceptional circumstances, we only share events once.
International Byzantine Greek Summer School 2026
The International Byzantine Greek Summer School, directed by Anthony Hirst and hosted online by Trinity College Dublin, is now welcoming applications at www.tcd.ie/classics/byzantine.
Course dates:
- Level 1 Beginners: 20–31 July 2026
- Level 2/2.5 Intermediate: 3-14 August 2026
- Level 3 Advanced Reading: 3-14 August 2026
- Course information: www.tcd.ie/Classics/byzantine
To apply:
- Download the application form and guide at www.tcd.ie/Classics/byzantine
- Application deadline: 20 April 2026
- Online course fee: €375 per Level (2 weeks full-time study, 40 contact hours)
- A limited number of student bursaries are available for this course
- Course applications are processed on a rolling basis. Bursary decisions are communicated soon after 20 April.
For queries please contact us at ibgs...@gmail.com.
Jackson Lecture in Byzantine Art: Alice Isabella Sullivan, "Eastern Europe in Focus: Medieval Art, Cultural Heritage, and Global Conflicts" (Fri. Feb. 6, 2026)
The 2026 Jackson Lecture in Byzantine Art "Eastern Europe in Focus: Medieval Art, Cultural Heritage, and Global Conflicts”
Dr. Alice Isabella Sullivan (Tufts University)
Friday, February 6, 2026, 4:30–6:00 PM EST
Hybrid: In-person at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Room Arch 104
Temple University, 2001 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia PA 19122 and virtual via Zoom (register here: https://temple.zoom.us/meeting/register/YEJDqOhrSdGUT4v7hktfUQ)
A reception will follow the lecture in person at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University.
This lecture explores aspects of the history and art of Eastern Europe, which developed at the intersection of competing traditions and worldviews for much of the Middle Ages. Byzantium played a key role in shaping local artistic developments in regions of the Balkan Peninsula, the Carpathian Mountains, and further north, as did contacts with Western and Central Europe. Key objects and monuments reflect aspects of local negotiations among competing traditions, and the shifting meanings and functions of cultural heritage during moments of change, crisis, and conflict. Examples from regions of modern Ukraine, Romania, and North Macedonia, among others, underscore the importance of putting Eastern Europe in focus temporally, geographically, methodologically, and theoretically within the study of medieval, Byzantine, post-Byzantine, and early modern art history.
Alice Isabella Sullivan, PhD, is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Tufts University. She specializes in the artistic production of Eastern Europe and the Byzantine-Slavic cultural spheres in the period between the 14th and 16th centuries. Sullivan is the author of the award-winning book The Eclectic Visual Culture of Medieval Moldavia (2023), Europe’s Eastern Christian Frontier (2024), and co-editor of several volumes. In addition, she is co-director of the Sinai Digital Archive, and co-founder of North of Byzantium and Mapping Eastern Europe— two initiatives that explore the history, art, and culture of the northern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe during the medieval and early modern periods.
The event is free and open to the public. The Jackson Lecture in Byzantine Art is generously sponsored by Lynn Jackson, with additional support from Temple University's General Activities Fund (GAF).
Hellenic and Roman Library event: Roman food, taste and perception of quality
We will be holding a Hellenic & Roman Library fundraising event on Tuesday 24 February, 7-9pm, at Senate House.
Roman food, taste and perception of quality
Join us for a lecture and food tasting with renowned chef and food historian, Sally Grainger.
More details are available in the attached flyer and you can book online here:
https://www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Events/Event-Registration/EventId/25
Places are limited so please book early!
Free online Hellenic Research Fellowship Program lecture, Feb. 4
You are cordially invited to attend a live Zoom talk entitled "Origins of Imperial Monasteries of Byzantine Constantinople" on Feb. 4, 2026 at 10 am Pacific Time by one of our recent 2025-2026 Hellenic Research Fellows, Dr. Elif Neyzi, of the British Institute at Ankara. (The event will be recorded and archived on the Hellenic Research Fellowship Program (HRFP) page at https://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos-hellenic-collection/hrfp.)
See the relevant event details and access link in the attached event flyer. (Access link: https://bit.ly/49LeHjh)
Lecture: Byzantine-Sasanian struggle for the Caucasus: the Lazic War and warfare in Late Antiquity-Dr Nika Khoperia
The Lazic War (541–562 CE) was one of the most significant conflicts in the Caucasus, fought between the Byzantine Empire and Sasanian Iran over control of Lazica, corresponding to modern western Georgia. The war highlighted the strategic importance of the eastern Black Sea region as a corridor between the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Following the Sasanian occupation of Iberia in the early sixth century, Lazica emerged as a central arena of imperial rivalry: the Sasanians sought access to the Black Sea, while the Byzantines aimed to maintain their political and military influence in the region. Although generally aligned with Byzantium, the Lazian Kingdom periodically shifted its allegiance in response to evolving political pressures and military realities.
This lecture examines the decisive role of resources and logistics in the struggle for control over Lazica. Drawing on narrative sources, modern scholarship, and archaeological evidence, it analyzes the acquisition, transportation, and management of military supplies for troops and animals, the maintenance of communication and supply lines, and the provisioning of key fortifications. Through a comparative approach, the study explores the logistical practices of the Byzantine and Sasanian armies, as well as those of nomadic groups such as the Huns and the Alans. By situating the Lazic War within its environmental and geographical context and by drawing parallels with later periods, the lecture offers new insights into the dynamics of warfare and imperial competition in Late Antiquity.
Dr Nika Khoperia is an assistant professor at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and researcher at the Giorgi Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies, Tbilisi.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IBE7QhpUTdm8JkJxMi59_w#/registration
For more information: https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/kingdom-egrisi-lazica-1st-8th-c-ad-historical-and-archaeological-overview-dr-nikoloz
Lecture: The Great War of Egrisi: an archaeological and historical overview of Justinian’s 'northern' Persian wars- Dr Nikoloz Murgulia (Georgian National Museum & the Georgian American University, Tbilisi)
This event is jointly hosted by King's Silk Roads and the Friends of Academic Research in Georgia- FaRIG.org
The presentation will examine the origin, development, and decline of the Kingdom of Egrisi (Lazica), the successor kingdom to ancient Colchis, and predecessor of Medieval Georgia.
Based on written sources and new archaeological data, the presentation will outline the prerequisites for the emergence of Lazica, its trade and economic centers, and its defensive systems; the relations of Lazica with Byzantium and Sasanian Iran; the causes and consequences of the Great War of Egrisi (the northern theatre of the Emperor Justinian’s Persian wars, AD 541-562); the spread of Christianity in Lazica and its relationship with other religions; Christianity as a political instrument in the hands of the kings of Lazica; the weakening and fall of the Kingdom of Lazica.
The presentation will also present the results of recent archaeological research conducted at Nokalakevi-Archaeopolis, Petra-Tsikhisdziri, and Khuntsi Fortress, which have contributed significant new insights into the history of the Kingdom of Egrisi.
Dr Nikoloz Murgulia is the head of Anglo-Georgian expedition to Nokalakevi, a senior scientist at the Georgian National Museum and Associate Professor at the Georgian American University, Tbilisi.
This presentation was prepared with the support of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG) and within the framework of a fundamental research grant “The Kingdom of Egrisi in the 1st-8th centuries AD – A multidisciplinary study” [grant number FR-22-117], awarded by the Foundation.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/fwYNMQfBTyi3pifoj1Swlw#/registration
For more information: https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/kingdom-egrisi-lazica-1st-8th-c-ad-historical-and-archaeological-overview-dr-nikoloz
Mediterranean Seminar Summer Skills Seminars for 2026
This year the Mediterranean Seminar in conjuction with the CU Mediterranean Studies Group is offering thirteen Summer Skills Seminars – intensive four-day boot-camps for scholars, researchers, graduate and advanced undergraduate students, librarians, teachers, professionals and afficionados. Led by leading authorities and emerging scholars in their respective fields, the Summer Skill Seminars provide either a foundation or an intensive focus on different aspects of Mediterranean Studies. Acquire new skills to augment your research profile and open new areas of specialization, explore a new subject area or theme to enrich your teaching or simply expand your field of knowledge in these small-group hands-on four-day synchronous remote workshops.
This year’s Summer Skills Seminars include:
May 12-15 - Reading Archival Latin
May 18-21 - Reading Medieval Greek Manuscripts
June 15-18 - Reading Ottoman Turkish
June 15-18 - The Archivo General de Indias: A Global Archive (NEW)
June 22-25 - Medieval & Early Modern Cartography
June 22-25 - Medieval Mediterranean Coinage: An Introduction
June 29 - July 2 - Mediterranean Magic: An Introduction
June 2 9 - July 2 - Reading Armenian Manuscripts (NEW)
July 6-9 - Sephardic Culture: An Introduction
July 13-16 - The Archivo General de Simancas: An Introduction
August 3-6 - Reading Medieval Catalan
See below & individual announcements for details.
Regular registration is open until 26 April 2026. Numbers are limited so please register early to guarantee a place.
EXCUSE CROSS-POSTINGS – PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
Information
For general information regarding fees, enrollment, and administrative matters, contact the Mediterranean Seminar; for questions regarding seminar content and materials, contact the individual instructor directly.
May 12-15 2026 - Reading Archival Latin
Focusing on the documents in Latin held at the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona, this seminar presents an introduction to Latin diplomatics and the reading of unedited archival documents through the incredible rich collection of Barcelona’s ACA. The seminar combines hands-on reading practice with units on different genres of documents, abbreviations, research techniques, dating systems, and other relevant information.
Instructor: Brian A. Catlos
Prerequisites: Intermediate reading knowledge of Latin is required, but no previous experience in paleography or diplomatics.
May 18-21 2026 - Reading Medieval Greek Manuscripts
Participants will explore Greek manuscript culture through an introduction to paleography with a historical background on the evolution of Greek script. The course emphasizes the major hands and writing styles from antiquity through the Byzantine period, including majuscule and minuscule scripts as well as humanistic and Renaissance scripts. Techniques for deciphering common manuscript abbreviations, ligatures, and symbols, which are essential for understanding Greek manuscripts, will be covered in depth. Participants will also receive guidance on navigating digital repositories and databases for Greek manuscripts, along with tools for accessing online reproductions and secondary literature.
Instructor: Manolis Ulbricht
Prerequisites: Participants need to have reading knowledge of Greek (whether ancient, medieval or modern). The language of instruction is English.
June 15-18 2026 - Reading Ottoman Turkish
This course offers an introduction to Ottoman Turkish, providing an intro level course to the language and a brief overview of Ottoman paleography. By the end of the course, the student will be able to read basic texts in print, recognize different paleographic styles, types of documents, as well as understand how and what dictionary to use for different types of texts. The course is perfect for students with knowledge of Turkish and/or Persian and Arabic, with an interest but no prior knowledge of Ottoman Turkish.
Instructor: Oscar Aguirre Mandujano
Prerequisites: Reading of Turkish and/or Persian and Arabic; no prior knowledge of Ottoman Turkish necessary. The language of instruction is English.
June 15-18 2026 - Introduction to the Archivo General de Indias: A Global Archive (NEW)
This course offers an in-depth introduction to the Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de Indias) in Seville, one of the world’s most important repositories for the study of the Spanish Empire and the early modern Atlantic world. Founded in 1785, the archive houses millions of documents produced by Spanish colonial institutions governing the Americas and the Philippines from the 15th to the 20th centuries, featuring the five continents and numerous different languages. The course is open to anyone -undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, librarians, archivists and general public- interested in early modern, Atlantic, and global history, even with little or no research experience.
Instructor: Jorge Díaz Ceballos
Prerequisites: Applicants should have at least an intermediate level of reading Spanish. The language of instruction is English.
June 22-25 2026 - Medieval & Early Modern Cartography: An Introduction
This Summer Skills Seminar provides participants with an overview of key concepts and methodologies in the study of Mediterranean and Early Modern cartography and the interpretation of maps. The course will address the themes of mobility, connectivity, and encounter in relation to the visual culture of peoples and territories across the sea. Participants will acquire an art historical tool kit to assist them in conducting their own research on the visual culture and artistic production of the medieval Mediterranean.
Instructor: Karen Mathews
Prerequisites: Recommended: AP Art History courses or introductory surveys. Some upper division or graduate art history coursework is ideal but not required
June 22-25 2026 - Medieval Mediterranean Coinage: An Introduction
This Summer Skills Seminar will introduce participants to the dynamic interactions of Roman and Sasanian coinages in the Late Antique period, which gave way to the tripartite division of Latin, Byzantine, and Islamic coinages of the succeeding centuries. We will examine how these three coinages developed and interacted through the later medieval centuries, laying the groundwork for the modern monetary systems.
Instructor: Alan Stahl
Prerequisites: None.
June 29 - July 2 2026 - Mediterranean Magic: An Introduction
This four-day intensive skills seminar will not only provide participants with an overview of magic’s history (broadly defined) throughout the premodern period but also introduce them to recurring patterns in magical practice and representation, significant symbols, and even tools for bringing similar material into their classrooms or personal reflections. As much as possible the content will be catered to participants interests and needs. Medievalists of all disciplines and ranks, graduate students, qualified undergraduate students, library and archival professionals, independent scholars, and modern magic practitioners or enthusiasts are encouraged to apply.
Instructor: Veronica Menaldi
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites apart from an interest in magic, astrology, and occult science in both culture and literature.
June 29 - July 2 2026 - Reading Armenian Manuscripts (NEW)
From the fifth century CE onward, Armenian writing has spanned an incredible geographic and cultural scope. This intensive and introductory course guides participants to decipher medieval and early modern Armenian manuscripts, running a textual gamut from the work of professional scribes at the Cilician chancellery to the marginal notes of monastic readers, hard pressed for candles (and eyesight); from the personal correspondence of travelers, far from home, to equally well-traveled romances in the worldly vernacular. Through a combination of small-pair and group work, participants will acquire the paleographic skills to accurately read and describe handwritten texts in the Armenian script -- a massive corpus that includes works not only in Classical, Middle, dialectal, and modern Armenian, but other languages as well, such as Turkish (Armeno-Turkish) and Persian (Armeno-Persian).
Instructor: Michael Pifer
Prerequisites: Basic reading knowledge of Armenian (Classical or modern) is required.
July 6-9 2026 - Sephardic Culture: An Introduction
This Summer Skills Seminar provides participants with the an overview of main currents in Sephardic Studies including historial and cultural trends, texts, sources for the period 900-1700 CE, and attending to the potential of this field to enhance your own research and teaching. It is designed with academics in mind, particularly graduate students, postdocs, and professors working in disciplines such as history, literature, religious studies, but all interested parties are welcome to apply. Participants will receive a completion certificate which may be listed on your CV and other documents such as grant/fellowship applications. The seminar is held via zoom over four days, with two two-hour sessions each day. Participants are expected to prepare readings in advance of the sessions, which will be a blend of lecture, pair and group discussion, group close readings, and in-class activities.
Instructor: David A. Wacks
Prerequisites: None.
July 13-16 2026 - The Archivo General de Simancas: An Introduction
This seminar offers an introduction early Modern Spanish paleography and the organization of the General Archive of Simancas and an insight into the rich sources of the Spanish monarchy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Using a hands-on approach, students will learn to analyze original documents and to read and transcribe sources in early modern Spanish and in other languages, enabling students to read documents at the AGS and from across the global empire of Early Modern Spain.
Instructor: Prof. Rubén González Cuerva
Prerequisites: Applicants should have a good reading knowledge of modern Spanish. The language of instruction is English.
August 3-6 2026 - Reading Medieval Catalan
The vast and rich corpus of medieval Catalan literature has yet to be given its full due in our overall understanding of medieval European literature and culture. This is the result, in large part, of the fact that medieval Catalan, unlike Old French or Old Spanish, has not evolved to become the major language of a modern European nation state. For similar reasons, there have been few opportunities, outside a few centers, to study this corpus or to learn to read it in its original medieval language. The present course seeks to begin to fill this gap in the knowledge of medieval European vernacular literatures by offering the basic skills necessary to read medieval Catalan through study of key texts in the development of 13th through 15th century Catalan letters.
Instructor: John Dagenais
Prerequisites: Applicants should have at least a good reading knowledge of modern Spanish, French, Italian and/or Portuguese or some knowledge of Catalan. The language of instruction is English.
Complete information at www.mediterraneanseminar.org
2. CALL FOR PAPERS
CfP Seventh International Graduate Conference in Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies, Edinburgh, 18-19 May
The conference will take place on the 18th and 19th of May 2026 at the University of Edinburgh. Please find the call for papers description below:
Institutions provide a focal point for the development of communal identities both in the pre-modern world and today. Religious institutions, state structures, military roles, professional associations, and local governments could foster a sense of solidarity and community between members. Beyond solidarity, institutions could impose identities on individuals by labelling and limiting their religious choices, sorting them into a caste or class, and binding them to the land or an occupation in some way, such as through slavery or serfdom. Conversely, institutions and institutional actors could foster new identities that provided sites of resistance and survival against dominant structures. In Late Antiquity and the Medieval world, these institutional identities could transcend the institution that created them both spatially and temporally. Membership within the Islamic umma extended far beyond the ninth-century Abbasid Caliphate, and the names of Roman offices outlasted the Western Roman Empire and took on new meanings. Observing the long chronological expanse of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, we can see a world of overlapping and conflicting institutions and changing and fragmented identities deriving from them.
This conference will examine institutions in the broadest sense and the dynamic process by which they actively created identities and responded to existing identities. Taking such a wide lens allows for the exploration of this topic across a temporal and geographical range, within a variety of cultures, and to consider these processes’ implications in political, economic, cultural, and social contexts. We invite papers that focus on the intersection of institutions and identities in Late Antiquity, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world; however, we also welcome papers from other pre-modern disciplines related to the following subjects:
Diachronic study of institutions – What happened to institution-based identities when an institution transformed or collapsed? How did members of an institution respond to changes in the source of their identity?
Economic perspectives – How did institutions encourage or, conversely, discourage economic performance and activity? In what ways did economic factors influence individuals’ decisions to become part of an institution or adopt an institutional identity? How did intellectuals of various kinds in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages theorise a relationship between institutions and economic production?
Subaltern institutions and identities – What were the experiences of non-elites on the margins of institutions? To what extent did institutions impose identities on non-elite actors? Did non-elites develop counter institutions, and how did these express themselves?
Identity beyond institutions – How were institution-based identities informed by and interacted with other forms of self-identity, e.g. religious, geographical and ethnic? To what extent could one possess an identity beyond an institution in various polities of Late Antiquity, the Byzantine Empire, or in Medieval Islamic polities?
Comparative approaches – How did the development of institutional-based identities differ over place and time? What common features can be identified across Afro-Eurasian institutions? What can explain the differences that emerged between different institutions occupying similar “niches”?
Institutions beyond the state – How was an international community formed by institutions that crossed state borders? What conflicts emerged between the state and institutions external to it? What was the experience of individuals or groups who were both subjects of a state and members of trans-local institutions? How did some institutions survive the collapse of the state that hosted them?
The deadline for abstracts is the 20th of March, and notification of acceptance will be confirmed by the 31st of March. Please submit your abstract of no more than 300 words and a 100-word professional biography to byzant...@ed.ac.uk. We kindly welcome submissions from individuals or groups. There will be the possibility of attending online. Lunch will be provided on both days for those who attend in person.
Please email us at byzant...@ed.ac.uk if you have any questions.
Call for Submissions: Journal of Medieval Worlds
Journal of Medieval Worlds: Call for Submissions
We are relaunching the Journal of Medieval Worlds in Spring 2027 with two special debut issues: “Fragments I: Putting the Worlds Back Together” and “Fragments II: Worlds Reunited.” These two double issues, appearing in Spring and Fall 2027, will entail a first issue of shorter contributions and a second issue of longer, full-length contributions, that showcase the important and necessary interventions occurring in Medieval Studies around issues of race, sexuality, gender identity, decolonization, and other emerging critical discourses. These issues will highlight what makes the Journal of Medieval Worlds distinctly unique. The theme itself will reflect not only on the journal’s relaunch, but also on the state of our discipline in the context of current socio-political upheaval around the globe.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL WORLDS, Spring 2027 (3.1-2) - Fragments I: Putting the Worlds Back Together
“We need only … turn to those historians of the ancient, classical, and medieval worlds, who in some cases are working with the fragments of documents and partial objects of material culture. The ability to build outward from these fragments is not an obstruction to the creation of an historical literature—it is how the historical literature is created.” (Leslie M. Harris. “Imperfect Archives and the Historical Imagination.” The Public Historian, vol. 36, no. 1, 2014, pp. 77–80; 79)
What power can be found in the fragment? How do we reflect the fragmented world in our work? If fragments are residue of the past, what do fragments say about the future?
Fragments I:
1,000-3,000 word critically engaged responses to the state of medieval studies, with a particular emphasis on race, gender, sexuality, decolonization, and other emerging critical discourses. These pieces might include a look towards what the future of medieval studies might bring, or contain a reflection on what medieval studies is rejecting or growing away from.
Some ideas for contributions:
How do neglected fragments or the idea of fragments themselves allow us to make things whole or to accept the pieces? For example, we welcome explorations of the types of marginalization we experience as medieval scholars–not just inside the whole academy, but also as people under various work conditions (e.g., the “Lone Medievalist,” two-year colleges, outside academia, etc.).
How do fragments from the archives read differently for different scholars? How and why? For example, we welcome examinations of fragments we have from existing scholars themselves as well as from texts or contexts.
How has the reality of the Global Middle Ages changed our approaches to the field both as scholars and teachers? For example, did something wonderful (or awful) happen in your classroom that speaks to this change? Or has this shifted perspective affected how, why, and where you work on scholarship?
How has the expansion of the medieval worldview changed the canonical and the non-canonical approach to texts and languages? For instance, we welcome brief translations and analyses, or discussions of “go-to” texts (or “don’t-go” texts).
How has the critical concept of intersectionality become visible in the field of medieval studies? For example, we welcome brief readings of texts demonstrating an active critical intersectionality approach.
We also welcome other interpretations of fragments and/or the fragmentary nature of medieval studies.
Send submissions by August 15 to JMW_ed...@ucpress.edu
About the Journal
The relaunched Journal of Medieval Worlds serves as a venue for intersectional scholarship on the global medieval world, encompassing any geographic region from the year zero to around 1500 CE. The journal’s purpose is to foster an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to the Middle Ages, which foregrounds issues of race, sexuality, gender identity, disability, socio-economic status, immigration, and decolonization in a global expanse to encourage meaningful comparisons across cultures and periods.
The journal also encompasses the study of the Middle Ages’ afterlives with a particular attention to the ways in which the medieval past has been deployed in the modern world around issues relevant to our global, intersectional concerns.
In addition to full-length academic articles, the JMW also publishes reviews of books, textbooks, and relevant exhibitions, as well as essays on pedagogy, state of the field bibliographies, translations of primary and secondary sources, and other shorter interventions. https://online.ucpress.edu/jmw
Call for Papers: Workshop on Biblical Reception in Eastern Christian Traditions (EABS 2026)
Workshop – Biblical Reception in Eastern Christian Traditions
EABS Annual Meeting 2026 (20-23 July 2026)
KU Leuven, Belgium
Programme
This workshop provides an interdisciplinary and open forum for studying the reception and interpretation of biblical texts in the Eastern Christian traditions of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. It invites papers on various Eastern Christian languages and traditions, including Syriac. Studies of Eastern Christian interactions with all biblical traditions, including apocryphal and parabiblical texts, are welcome. Papers may focus on biblical interpretation across a variety of literary genres, involving not only biblical manuscripts, commentaries, and exegetical homilies, but also letters and works in which theological debate, philosophy, legal matters, and natural sciences are central concerns. Late antique and medieval writers, readers, and commentators may be approached in their multilingual and multireligious contexts. The workshop also encourages the discussion of research based on unedited, untranslated, or understudied manuscripts.
Call for Papers 2026
For the 2026 Meeting, the workshop on Biblical Reception in Eastern Christian traditions is especially interested in the actors and sites involved in biblical reception as well as in the circulation and exchange of interpretations and their different literary contexts. Along these four lines of enquiry, papers may for example address:
- The scribes, translators, authors, commentators, patrons, and audience members central to Eastern Christian biblical reception.
- Specific sites or places at which biblical reception took place, e.g. monasteries, schools, libraries, episcopal seas, or manuscripts as material objects.
- The circulation and exchange of particular texts and interpretations, e.g. through intellectual networks, both synchronically and diachronically.
- The use of particular biblical translations or interpretations in a broader selection of genres, like polemical, epistolary, or synodical texts.
- In addition, papers addressing other aspects of the Bible in Eastern Christianity are also welcome.
Abstracts
Abstracts can be submitted up to 31 January 2026 through the EABS website: https://eabs.my.site.com/s/research-units/2026-workshops-and-local-sessions?language=en_US
Chairs
Please feel free to contact the chairs, Eva María Rodrigo Gómez (evamaria.r...@kuleuven.be) and Marion Pragt (marion...@kuleuven.be), with any questions!
3. JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Extended Deadline & Increased Compensation to Lead an ASCSA Summer Seminar or Summer Session
ASCSA Summer Session and Summer Seminar Positions
for summer 2027
DIRECTOR(S) OF AN ASCSA SUMMER SEMINAR
Two Summer Seminar Programs (18-day courses, dates variable June through July 2027)
Deadline: February 28, 2026
Term: Summer 2027. Two seminars are offered each summer, one in June and one in July. See more details on the website.
Compensation: Stipend of $10,000 ($6,500 per person if joint directorship), plus travel and expenses, housing for the leader(s) for four weeks in total including the dates of the seminar. If a joint directorship is awarded, the two directors would share one salary. The School will cover travel expenses for each (co-)director to/from Greece (up to a total of $2000 per director). See more details in the policy online.
Eligibility: Applicants should have experience designing and leading travel study programs, preferably in Greece, and at least two years of teaching in a post-secondary educational institution. Joint applications by two scholars who have worked well together in the past are welcome. Program director(s) should have at least some knowledge of modern Greek and the ability to be engaging, organized, flexible and positive under often-demanding conditions. Qualified applicants in all areas of classical studies, including archaeology, art history, epigraphy, history, and languages are encouraged to apply.
Description: The theme of the 18-day field seminars is open. Previous Seminar offerings have included: Warrior Sailors, Traders, and Alexander to Actium/Hellenistic Greece; Caves in Greece; Ancient Gender and Sexuality; Greek Sculpture, Myth on Site; Greek Warfare and Culture; Greek Religion; Finding the Spartans; Greece from the Sea; The Northern Aegean; and Greek Funerary Customs through the Ages. Topics and seminar proposals should appeal not only to specialized graduate students and senior scholars, but also to undergraduate students and secondary school teachers with more general interests.
A maximum of twenty participants will be selected for each seminar. If enrollment does not exceed twelve participants, the ASCSA reserves the right to cancel the seminar.
The ASCSA Loring Hall serves as the main base for the program, and at least five days of the seminar are to be spent in travel outside Athens. Trips outside Athens give participants an introduction to the major archaeological sites and museum collections throughout the country. In general, the schedule of time in Athens and time outside Athens is constructed as: Athens (5 days/5 nights), trip/travel outside Athens (5-7days/4-6 nights), and ends in Athens (5-7 days/4-6 nights). The ASCSA staff provides planning and logistical assistance, in conjunction with the program director(s). If you wish to review the “Summer Program Director Handbook,” a previous report of a past Director, and/or a list of invited speakers and actual previous trip itinerary, please contact the Programs Administrator (Alicia Dissinger, adiss...@ascsa.org).
For more on duties, compensation, and how to apply, please see the listing on the website.
DIRECTOR(S) OF THE ASCSA SUMMER SESSION
One Summer Session Program (traditional six-week program, dates variable June through July 2027)
NEW Deadline: February 28, 2026
Two-Year Term: Summer 2027 and Summer 2028. The specific dates for the 6-week program will fall between June 1 and August 15. Program director(s) should plan to be in Athens at least a week before the start of the program (see Compensation, below).
Compensation: Stipend of $20,000 (per year) ($10,000 per person, per year, if a joint directorship), plus travel and expenses during the session, as well as housing for the Summer Session leader(s) for up to three months in total including the six weeks of the program itself. Specific dates of residence at the School are negotiable, but must include at least a week before the start of the program itself. Session leaders may wish to arrive in mid-May, for example, for scouting and personal research and leave in mid-August to continue personal research after the end of the session. The School will cover travel expenses for each co-director to/from Greece (up to a total of $2000 per director, if necessary). See more details in the policy online.
Eligibility: Applicants should have experience designing and leading travel study programs, preferably in Greece, and at least two years of teaching in a post-secondary educational institution. Joint applications by two scholars who have worked well together in the past are welcome. Programs director(s) should have at least some knowledge of modern Greek and the ability to be engaging, organized, flexible and positive under often-demanding conditions. Qualified applicants in all areas of classical studies, including archaeology, art history,
epigraphy, history, and languages are encouraged to apply.
Description: The ASCSA Summer Session has provided extensive exposure to Greece, ancient and modern, for generations of students of Classics and related fields. The program offers a broad introduction to Greek topography, history, archaeology, and culture. It has a strong academic component with participants researching and presenting topics on site. There are unique opportunities to interact with eminent archaeologists in the field. The group visits museums and sites from all periods of Greek history, from prehistoric to modern. The members (capped at 20 participants) tend to be serious career-minded students of the ancient world, with experience in ancient language, history, literature, and art, and aspirations to become professionals in the field.
The ASCSA Loring Hall serves as the main base for the program, and roughly half of the session is spent in travel throughout Greece. Trips outside Athens give participants an introduction to the major archaeological sites and museum collections throughout the country. When based in Athens, museums and monuments of Athens and the surrounding areas, as Marathon, Sounion, and Eleusis, are visited. The program has a fairly set schedule of time in Athens and time outside Athens, and is usually constructed as: Athens (6.5 days/6 nights), Crete (6 days/5 nights), Athens (4 days/4 nights), travel around the Peloponnese (10 days/9 nights), Athens (4 days/4 nights), travel around Northern Greece (8 days/7 nights), and ended in Athens (5.5 days/6 nights). The Summer Session Program is designed to present a comprehensive view of Greece’s rich history and archaeology.
The ASCSA staff provides planning and logistical assistance, in conjunction with the program director(s). The ASCSA staff will book all necessary components of the program, once the program itinerary is finalized and approved. If you wish to review the “Summer Session Director Handbook,” a previous report of a past Director, and/or a list of invited speakers and actual trip itinerary, please contact the Programs Administrator (Alicia Dissinger, adiss...@ascsa.org).
For more on duties, compensation, and how to apply, please see the listing on the website.
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Madeleine Duperouzel
DPhil in History
President, Oxford University Byzantine Society
http://oxfordbyzantinesociety.wordpress.com