The Byzness, 10th November 2024
Oxford University Byzantine Society
THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BYZANTINE SOCIETY
The Byzness, 10th November 2024
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1.
NEWS AND EVENTS
2. CALLS FOR PAPERS
3. JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
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27th OUBs International Graduate Conference
For those who may have missed it, last week we announced the call for papers for this academic year’s OUBs Graduate Conference entitled: “Byzantium and its environment.”
For those graduate students interested in participating and showcasing their research that touches upon nature and the environment during the Late Antique and Byzantine period please see the call for papers here.
1. NEWS AND EVENTS
‘Writing the Reign of Justinian’ by Prof. Peter Sarris – SPBS/BSA Autumn Lecture
This Wednesday at 5pm (13/11/24) Professor Peter Sarris will give the SPBS and BSA sponsored Autumn lecture, entitled: “Writing the Reign of Justinian.”
This will be physically held at King’s College London (Bush House Lecture Theatre 2, 4.04)
Those wishing to attend via Zoom must register, either by booking here, or by emailing Dr Alexandra Vukovich (alexandra...@kcl.ac.uk)
Liturgical Songs of Kassia by A. Mellas
Aurality & Devotion in the Pre-Modern World, a project sponsored by the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University invites you to virtual gathering on zoom for a lecture on
The Liturgical Songs of Kassia:
Hymnody and Piety at the Dawn of the Middle Byzantine Era by Dr. Andrew Mellas, St Andrew's Theological College and University of Sydney
GMT: Wednesday, November 13, 10:00 pm
AEST: Thursday, November 14, 9:00 am
To register and receive a zoom link, please complete this online form by November 12.
Question? Please contact Georgia Frank (gfr...@colgate.edu)
2. CALLS FOR PAPERS
14th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CRETAN STUDIES
At the closing session of the 13th International Congress of Cretan Studies (ICCS), it was decided that the organization of the next 14th ICCS would be undertaken by the Philological Society of Chania "O Chrysostomos".
The Society gladly undertook this organization, as it has done in the past, and announces that the 14th ICCS will be held in Chania between October 31 and November 7, 2027.
The general theme of the Conference will be “Cultural conflict, diversion and synthesis” and will be divided, as always, in three thematic sections, namely
A) Ancient Times
B) Medieval and Early Modern Times, and
C) Modern Times
The languages of the Congress will be Greek, English, French and Italian.
More organizational details will be provided in subsequent circulars. For any question or information regarding the organization and other aspects of the Congress, please contact the Secretariat of the Congress at the email address: 14i...@phschrysostomos.gr
3. JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Fully-funded PhD in Classics (incl. Byzantine Studies) at USC (Los Angeles)
The Ph.D. program in Classics at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences invites applications for admission to the USC Dornsife PhD program, which offers a 5-year funding package that consists of 3 years of fellowship and 2 years of teaching assistant support (plus additional funding opportunities; most students find fellowship or teaching opportunities for the following years).
We will be holding an info session for interested students on Nov 6 at 10am PST. Prospective students will be able to meet USC classics faculty and students, learn about the department and its activities, find out specifics about the Ph.D. program, the requirements to apply and the application process.
To take part, email Stefano Rebeggiani, rebe...@usc.edu to receive the link for the Zoom meeting.
USC Classics is part of the Epic Network with Harvard, Toronto, and Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa). An exchange program with Scuola Normale Superiore allows USC students to spend a year of fully funded fellowship in Pisa.
The Ph.D. program in Classics at USC aims to train students to become scholars, teachers and interpreters of ancient Mediterranean civilizations, the Greek and Latin languages and literatures, and the traditions that have developed from them. To prepare students to work in a variety of intellectual contexts, the department seeks to provide both a traditional, substantive training in classical philology and the intellectual flexibility that will enable them to make the world of the past available to audiences of the present.
For general information on the program and how to apply, visit https://dornsife.usc.edu/clas/how-to-apply/ and https://gradadm.usc.edu.
Deadline: December 15, 2024
For questions, please contact: Danny Richter, dric...@usc.edu (Chair), Stefano Rebeggiani, rebe...@usc.edu (Director of Graduate Studies), or Ryan Prijic in the departmental office, pri...@usc.edu.
PhD Position Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity: benefactors in Late Antiquity
The Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity (GCLA) is hiring a PhD student to work on benefactors in Late Antiquity.
Euergetism, or gift-giving by the wealthy to their city in exchange for public honours, experienced an unprecedented proliferation in the early Roman empire. However, with the rise of Christianity, it is thought that euergetism in its classic, civic sense declined. With Christian donors caring about saving their soul rather than improving their reputation among their fellow-citizens, P. Veyne stated, euergetism lost its rationale. According to P. Brown, a shift in the social imagination occurred, in which a Greco-Roman ‘civic model of society’, exemplified by elites benefitting their fellow-citizens, was replaced by a Judeo-Christian ideal of the rich caring for the poor. Yet, it has been argued (cf. C. Lepelley, R. Haensch, Y. Duval and L. Pietri, Ch. J. Goddard, D. F. Caner) that this scenario seems at odds with evidence for e.g. the continuing popularity of investment by local elites, pagan and Christian, in games and public buildings, including churches, the feverish imperial elite and emperor-sponsored world of the circus, and persistent concerns expressed by authors such as Augustine of Hippo or John Chrysostom about Christian engagement with euergetic culture. A rival model of ‘Christian euergetism’ was proposed (J.-P. Caillet), emphasizing continuities with the civic munificence of the high empire. We invite applications that engage with this debate, focussing, for instance, on categories of gifts, their context (civic, ecclesiastical, private, rural?), regional differences, the social profiles of donors/recipients in the context of the transformation of civic elites, discourses of benefaction and/or charity, or on the recognition (honours, high status, personal salvation…) donors expected/received in return for their gifts.
Your job
- You complete a doctoral dissertation on benefactors in Late Antiquity within four years
- You participate in, and are willing to co-organize, team meetings, workshops and conferences organised by the GCLA
- You contribute to the functioning of your team and department (e.g. limited amount of teaching and/or of administrative tasks, …)
Your profile
- You hold a good master’s degree in a relevant field, including (but not limited to) Ancient History or Classics (or will be holding one by the starting date of your appointment)
- You have a very good knowledge of the ancient language(s) that are relevant for your research project. Knowledge of more than one ancient languages or cultures is an advantage.
- Whilst capable of doing independent work, you can also work well in a team.
- You have good organizational skills.
- Knowledge of digital humanities, or a willingness to acquire it, is essential if your research proposal entails a digital humanities component; in all other cases, it is an advantage.
- An interest in different disciplinary approaches (historical, literary, linguistic, …) to Late Antiquity is an advantage.
What we offer
- We offer a full-time position as doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which, after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months. Your contract will ideally start on 1/1/2025.
- The fellowship amount is around 2500 euro net per month. The individual fellowship amount is determined by the Department of Personnel and Organization based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax. Click here for more information about our salary scales
- All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits (in Dutch).
Our profile
The Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity (GCLA) is an interdisciplinary research centre that brings together the rich and variegated expertise on Late Antiquity present at Ghent University. Some fifty researchers from the departments of archaeology, history, linguistics and literature join forces within the GCLA, and the GCLA also collaborates with other UGent colleagues, in this case from the Department of History. Our research, which is supported by the European Research Council (ERC), the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the UGent Special Research Fund (BOF), is characterized by close working with sources, material culture and languages, and covers Late Antiquity from North-Western Europe to Egypt and the Caucasus.
How to apply
To apply, please e-mail the following documents to lieve....@ugent.be by 20 November 2024:
- CV, including list of publications
- Copy of your diploma (if already in your possession)
- Motivation letter
- One-page research proposal setting out what you would like to research within the broad topic of benefactors in Late Antiquity.
More information
For more information about the topic of the PhD, please contact Arjan Zuiderhoek (andriesjoha...@ugent.be). For more information about the position or the-----------------
Alexander Johnston
MPhil in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
President, Oxford University Byzantine Society
http://oxfordbyzantinesociety.wordpress.com