2026 Mediterranean Seminar Summer Skills Seminars [deadline to register Apr 26]
David Wacks
Announcing the 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 18-21 - 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 18-21 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.
