The Byzness, 13th March 2022

Posted on by obsoc

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THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BYZANTINE SOCIETY
The Byzness, 13th March 2022
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1. NEWS AND EVENTS

2. CALLS FOR PAPERS

3. JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

4. SPBS STATEMENT ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR UKRAINIAN SCHOLARS AND REFUGEES
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  1. NEWS AND EVENTS

OXFORD BYZANTINE GRADUATE SEMINAR 

HILARY TERM 2022 

Mondays, 12:30-14:00 (GMT), via Zoom. 

To register, please contact the organiser at james.cogbill@worc.ox.ac.uk. 

Please note that there is no need to register if you have previously subscribed to the seminar mailing list. 

14th March 

Margherita Riso (Leicester), Churches at a Crossroads: Archaeological and Landscape Assessment of a Rural Sacred Landmark in Central Sicily 

21st March 

Canan Arıkan (Vienna), Clerics and Building in Early Byzantine Inscriptions 

28th March 

Blake Lorenz (KU Leuven), The Epigraphy of the Dome of the Rock in Relation to the Sacred Landscape of Jerusalem 

Hesychasm in Context: Theology and Society in the Fourteenth Century

The Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Maison Française d’Oxford invite you to attend the hybrid conference Hesychasm in Context: Theology and Society in the Fourteenth Century, Thursday 17th – Friday 18th March 2022. 

To register for the in-person event (including lunches), please email Dr Rei Hakamada (rei.hakamada@theology.ox.ac.uk) as soon as possible, as numbers are limited. 

Registration to participate online is via the following link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArc-2trj4iGdfuVWLi81Wc0ybeFo43Xx-i

PROGRAMME 

Thursday 17th March, Lecture Room, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 St. Giles’, Oxford, OX1 3LU 

9.00: Welcome  

9.15: Rei Hakamada (Okayama University / University of Oxford), Lay Hesychasts? Isidore and Palamas among Lay People 

10.00: Mihail Mitrea (Babeș Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca / Institute for South-East European Studies, Bucharest), Hesychasm and Hagiography in Fourteenth-Century Byzantium [online]

10.45: Coffee 

11.15: Ralph Greis (St Joseph’s Benedictine Abbey, Gerleve), The Connection Between Liturgical Theology and Hesychastic Spirituality in the Homilies of St. Gregory Palamas 

12.00: Christiaan Kappes (Ss Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary), Gregory Palamas’s Theotokos in Light of Latin Contacts and his Reception of Latin Literature in Byzantium  

12.45: Lunch 

13.45: Marie-Hélène Blanchet (CNRS, UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Paris), John VI Cantacuzene, the Hesychast Crisis and the Latin World: An Ambiguous Strategy 

14.30: Judith Ryder (University of Oxford), When To Speak and When To Hold Your Peace: The Conflict between Demetrios Kydones and Philotheos Kokkinos 

15.15: Coffee 

15.45: Monica White (University of Nottingham), Hesychasm in Rus? 

16.30: Norman Russell (St Stephen’s House, Oxford), Engaging with Islam in Late Byzantium: Strategies of Resistance and Accommodation  

17.15: Drinks – The Maison française d’Oxford is delighted to offer participants a glass of champagne 

Friday 18th March, Miles Room, St Peter’s College, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, OX1 2DL 

10.30: Eiji Hisamatsu (Ryukoku University), The Jesus Prayer and Yoga: The Early Literature of Hesychasm and the Svetasvatara Upanishad [online]

11.15: Vassa Kontouma (École Pratique des Hautes Études, PSL, Paris), The Re-enchanted Universe of Iakovos of Nea Skete (19th c.). A Hesychast Response to the Copernican Revolution? 

12.15: Final remarks  

12.30: Lunch 

Virtual Public Lecture: from Individual Stories to Imperial Policy: Seals and the Reign of Basil II, Dumbarton Oaks, March 17, 2022 at 4 p.m. (EST)

In conjunction with the Dumbarton Oaks special exhibition Lasting Impressions: People, Power, Piety, this lecture explores how seals, both singly and collectively, can provide fresh insights on Byzantine history. Inscriptions on seals are a snapshot of a person’s life at the time the seals were struck.Examining the seals of individuals who lived during the reign of Basil II (976–1025), Jonathan Shea enhances the generally accepted image of this great warrior-emperor. A single seal of a reformed rebel opens a new window onto the civil wars that rocked the early years of Basil’s reign. The vast body of material struck in Constantinople uncovers what the emperor was doing when he was not fighting with his neighbors.

Jonathan Shea is Associate Curator of Coins and Seals at Dumbarton Oaks. His book Politics and Government in Byzantium: The Rise and Fall of the Bureaucrats is an exploration of how information from seals can cut through the distortions in the historical record and reveal the domestic policies of Byzantium’s much maligned eleventh-century emperors. Shea is curator of the Dumbarton Oaks exhibition Lasting Impressions: People, Power, Piety, an exploration of Byzantine expressions of identity, faith, and visual culture through seals.

From polyglossia to polyethnia: Culture, Ethnicity and Identity on Medieval Mount Athos The Second Workshop for the ERC Starting Grant “Mount Athos in Medieval Eastern Mediterranean Society: Contextualizing the History of a Monastic Republic (ca. 850-1550)”, March 17th-19th, 2022, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, GFG 01-511 (hybrid)

The participants in this second MAMEMS workshop will explore questions of cultural and ethnic identity on medieval Mount Athos. Of particular importance will be discussing ways of moving beyond traditional discussions of “national” identity on the Holy Mountain, and how more recent scholarship on ethnicity in the Middle Ages might inform the Athonite context. The workshop will be held in a “hybrid” format, with both in-person and digital participation via Zoom. Those interested in attending the workshop should send an e-mail to mamems@uni-mainz.de by March 15th, 2022. Attendees will be then sent a Zoom-link for all of the workshop sessions.

Thursday, 17th March

4:30-5:00 p.m.Welcome, Opening Remarks

5:00-7:00 p.m. Session 1: Changing Identities on Ottoman Athos

Georgios Liakopoulos-Elias Kolovos, In Search of Ethnic Diversity in Ottoman Documents Pertaining to Mt Athos

Sergej Shumylo, The Existence of the Ukrainian ‘Cossack’ Skete ‘Black Whirlpool’ on Mount Athos in the 18th Century According to Archival Sources

Radu Păun, The Languages of Charity. Mount Athos in the Wallachian and Moldavian documents (14th-17th Centuries)

7:00 p.m. Dinner for Conference Participants

Friday, 18th March 10:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m.

10:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m. Session 2: A Lingering Presence: Armenians, Georgians and Latins on Athos

Gevorg Kazaryan, Historical Evidence for the Presence of Armenian Monks on Mount Athos, 9th-18th Centuries

Marco Merlini, The Geopolitical Role of the Benedictine House in the Ecumenical Athonite Community

Tamar Otkhmezuri, Georgians on Mt Athos: Medieval Georgian Literary Culture and Manuscript Production at Iviron Monastery

12:00-1:00 p.m. Catered Lunch for Conference Participants

1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Session 3: South Slavs and Serbokratia

Kirill Maksimovič, Communities and Communication on Mount Athos: Possibilities and Limits of Interethnic Connections Between Russians and Serbs

Kyrill Pavlikianov, The Bulgarian Linguistic and Ethnic Presence on Mount Athos from 980 to 1550

2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Coffee Break

3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Session 4: Liturgy and Living Together

Tinatin Chronz, Liturgical Life of Iberians and Rhomaioi in Iviron: Separate and Yet Together

Srđan Pirivatrić, Concepts of Ethnicity at the Monastery of Hilandar (late 12th – mid-13th Century)

7:00 p.m. Dinner for Conference Participants

Saturday, 19th March

10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Session 5: Identity on and beyond Athos

Zachary Chitwood, Shifting Allegiances: Mount Athos, Byzantine Political Decline and the Emergence of a ‘Hagiorite’ Identity

Jost Gippert, Membra disiecta: Georgian Manuscripts of the Iviron Monastery and Beyond

Milan Vukašinović, Mobility, Property, (Extra)territoriality: Whose Language and Ethnicity Mattered on Athos?

12:00-1:00 p.m. Concluding Remarks and Discussion

Derek Krueger on Symeon the New Theologian / in dialogue with Buddhist studies – 18 March 2022

The PAIXUE project is pleased to announce an on-line talk by Professor Derek Krueger (Joe Rosenthal Excellence Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro) titled: Symeon the New Theologian’s Ecstatic Experience and the Monastic Culture of Reference in Byzantium.

Professor Krueger’s discussant will be Professor Stephen Teiser (D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies, Princeton University).  

Date: Friday, 18 March 2022 

Time: 2–3.30pm GMT 

Location: Zoom 

The event is open to all but registration essential: please register here.

Please find the poster here and the abstract of the talk pasted below.

This talk & discussion is part of the upcoming workshop, ‘Classical Antiquity in Byzantium and Middle Period China: Revivals and Reinventions in Visual and Intellectual Culture’, which will take place in hybrid format from 9–11 May, 2022. For more information about our workshop and about the PAIXUE Project, please visit http://paixue.shca.ed.ac.uk/ 

Sixth International Conference on the Ancient Novel: registration now open

Registration for the Sixth International Conference on the Ancient Novel: Roads less Travelled is now open. This conference will take place in a hybrid format, both in Ghent and online. You can find all information about the conference (registration, travel, accommodation etc.) on the website: https://www.novelsaints.ugent.be/ican-vi/. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact icanvi@ugent.be.

Lecture: Dr. Alkiviadis A. Ginalis, The Byzantine Aegean: A Connecting Sea, March 23rd at 7pm (UTC + 3)

 lecture by Dr. Alkiviadis A. Ginalis, German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul
Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 7pm Istanbul (UTC + 3)

Dr. Ginalis anlalyzes how the different islands and coastal areas of the Aegean Sea played crucial roles in economic, social, cultural and political interactions in the complex maritime world of Late Antiquity.  

Please register in advance: 
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsdeqqpzMiEtJ3lh_cns3cJQNtlmSHDAc6

Click to access Alkiviadis-Ginalis-update.pdf

Dura-Europos: Past, Present, Future; March 31-April 2, 2022

Yale University’s interdisciplinary ARCHAIA program is pleased to share news of its upcoming hybrid conference: Dura-Europos: Past, Present, Future. This three-day event (March 31-April 2, 2022) is arranged to celebrate the centennial of excavations on-site at Dura-Europos (Syria). Papers and discussion will explore the town’s regional and long-distance ties in antiquity, 21st-century geopolitical entanglements, and avenues for future research. Registration is free, and online attendance is open to all. 

For information about the papers and presenters, and to register, please see: 

Home

The road to Rome: Aspects of religious conflict and mobility in the greater Mediterranean, 700- 900 

Organized by J. Berland and F. Montinaro, with the assistance of M. Kleemann and V. Osswald. “Verfügungsgebäude”, Room 001, Wilhelmstraße 19, 72074 Tübingen. The conference is hybrid. For online (Zoom) registration please contact viola.osswald@student.uni-tuebingen.de or markus-piet.kleemann@student.uni-tuebingen.de.

Friday, April 8, 2022 

9:00 Greetings and introduction 

Rome as an iconophile centre 

9:15 F. DELL’ACQUA (Salerno) and C. GANTNER (Vienna), Ink, marble, and silver: Pope Gregory III and the Image Controversy 

10:30 Break 

11:00 A. ALEXAKIS (Ioannina), Palestine, Rome and  Constantinople: how do they link in the exchange of  iconophile texts? (8th-9th centuries) 

11:45 J. BERLAND (Paris/Notre Dame), Proskynesis,  veneratio and adoratio of images: conflicting terminology in eighth-century Roman milieux

Frankish connections 

14:30 S. OTTEWILL-SOULSBY (Tübingen), The circle of  the world: al-Manṣūr’s diplomacy with Pippin III in  global context 

15:15 R. MCKITTERICK (Cambridge), Communications  between Rome and the Franks in the eighth and ninth  centuries in the context of religious conflict: books,  texts and legates

16:00 Break

16:30 A. RICCIARDI (Rome), The reception of Gregory the  Great’s writings between the 7th and 9th centuries:  some observations

17:15 K. MITALAITĖ (Vilnius), The Paris Meeting (825): its  documents and their authenticity 

18:00 Book launch: The Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 869-70,  transl. by R. Price with an introd. and notes by  F. Montinaro, Liverpool 2022 

Saturday, April 9, 2022 

Slavic and Saracen (in)roads 

9:00 T. LANKILA (Helsinki), The Saracen road to Rome

9:45 M. IVANOVA (Sheffield), Institutionalising Slavonic:  the Life of Methodios and the Roman Church 

10:30 Break 

The road to Constantinople 

11:00 D. PLESHAK (Tübingen), Photius’ letters to the West 

11:45 F. MONTINARO (Tübingen), John VIII’s letters and  the Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 879-80:  a reappraisal 

12:30 Conclusions

Tübingen Byzantine and Near Eastern Seminar – Summer Term 2022, Thursdays 6.15 pm (CEST)

Convened by the Emmy Noether Research Group “Religious Conflict and Mobility: Byzantium and the Greater Mediterranean, 700-900” In collaboration with the Institutes of Ancient and Medieval History and the Center for Advanced Studies “Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages”

April 28 – Paul MAGDALINO (St Andrews), The Hospitals of Eirene and Theophilos in Constantinople 

May 12 – Evangelos CHRYSOS (Athens), The Pentarchy in the Times of Photius (858-867, 878-886) 

May 19 – Gabriel Said REYNOLDS (Notre Dame), Religious Conflict in Baghdad: Proto-Sunnism and Its Opponents in Ibn Qutayba’s (d. 276/889) Kitāb Taʾwīl Muḫtalif al-Ḥadīṯ 

June 2 – Jean-Claude CHEYNET (Paris), Byzantine Sigillography and Christianity: Texts and Iconography 

June 23 – Zachary CHITWOOD (Mainz), A Missing Link? Mount Athos and the Medieval Middle East 

June 30 – Vivien PRIGENT (Paris), Byzantine Administration in 7th-Century Africa: New Sigillographic Evidence 

July 15 – Alison VACCA (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), Reflections of Roman Masculinity on the Khazar Frontier 

The lectures are in a hybrid format. For online (Zoom) registration please contact viola.osswald@student.uni-tuebingen.de or markus-piet.kleemann@student.uni-tuebingen.de. For more information, please visit https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/213202.

Byzantine Missions: Meaning, Nature, and Extent, 29th – 30th April, 2022. Byzantine Studies Symposium

Lived streamed from Dumbarton Oaks, where the speakers will convene in person. Upon registration, registrants will be sent a zoom link to the webinar.

Though closely connected with the study of conversion and Christianization in the premodern era, the history of Christian missions has received little attention in recent scholarship. The recipients of Christian faith—individuals, nations, or social groups—and the processes of integrating the new religion have continued to attract analysis, but the agents of religious transformation have been relatively understudied, especially beyond the boundaries of medieval western Europe.

How did Byzantium missionize “barbarians”? To what extent did the motives, goals, or methods of missionaries themselves correspond with the vision of Byzantine rulers who may have sponsored them? This symposium examines the meaning of religious mission in Byzantium and how this concept shifted over time under changing political circumstances. Speakers consider literary works, linguistic evidence, and archaeological traces from Lithuania in the north to Nubia in the south, from Croatia in the west to the Golden Horde in the east. They examine how imperial policy built on or coincided with the unofficial missionary activity of monks, merchants, exiles, refugees, and captives. Concurrent with imperial efforts, Miaphysite and East Syrian churches, deemed heretical by the Orthodox Byzantines, conducted their own missionary endeavors reaching as far as Central Asia and China. What do the mission strategies of sibling Christianities suggest about underlying theological ideals, and what light might these comparisons shed on the nature of Byzantine missions?

The symposium aims to illuminate the inner motives that characterized Byzantine missions, the changing incentives that inspired them, and the nature of their missionary activity; and ultimately to better understand how the Byzantines perceived the universal claims of their empire and their church. At the same time, the organizers hope to throw light on the broader religious dynamics of the medieval world.

Register: https://doaks-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8Ntn0a-XSlaK-pC4itGpTA

Symposiarchs: Sergey Ivanov (National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Moscow) and Andrea Sterk (University of Minnesota)

Speakers:

  • Jonathan Shepard (University of Oxford), Missions, Emissions, and Toolkits: Byzantium’s Creative Untidiness
  • Alexander Angelov (William & Mary), Byzantine Missionaries, Foreign Rulers, and Conversion to Christianity: Historical Events and Byzantine Reconstructions
  • Andrea Sterk (University of Minnesota), Farming, Building, Teaching: Views of Mission from Below
  • Anna Lankina (University of Florida & Santa Fe College), Interpreting Accounts of Non-Nicene Mission: Ecclesiastical Historians on Missionary Bishops
  • Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent (Marquette University), Mission, Conversion, and Myth in Syriac Christian Memory
  • Joel Walker (University of Washington), The Road to Bulayïq: Mission and Translation in the Church of the East
  • Tim Greenwood (University of St. Andrews), “Remembering Saint Gregory: Armenian Tradition and Byzantine Mission”
  • Jitse H.F. Dijkstra (University of Ottawa), Sixth-Century Byzantine Missions to Nubia in Context
  • Andrey Vinogradov (National Research University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow), Byzantine Mission οn the Black Sea and in the Caucasus: New Data
  • Maja Petrinec (Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments, Split, Croatia), Byzantine Missions in the West and Central Balkans in Light of Archaeological Finds
  • Li Tang (University of Cambridge), From Byzantium to China: East Syrian Christian Missions along the Silk Road
  • Thomas Carlson (Oklahoma State University), Competition in Continuity: Christian and Muslim ‘Mission’ in the Late Medieval Middle East
  • Sergey Ivanov (National Research University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow), Byzantine Missions and the Mission of Byzantium

Music at Dumbarton Oaks: Special performance by A Far Cry, 3rd April at 4 p.m. (Washington Time)

The alchemy of combining musical thinkers with world-class collections of Byzantine and pre-Columbian art, formal gardens, and scholarly research has been producing amazing results from Stravinsky to the present day. As the 75th season of concerts at Dumbarton Oaks draws to a close, the ensemble A Far Cry adds to and celebrates the tradition of remarkable moments in the Music Room with a concert of works closely connected to the storied institution. In its walls have echoed the premieres of new music by not only Stravinsky but also leading American composers, including Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber, and of newer voices who have held residencies at Dumbarton Oaks, including Caroline Shaw and Jessie Montgomery. Inspired by Dumbarton Oaks’ legacy, A Far Cry presents the program Then and Now, exploring the early and recent musical fruits nurtured in the Bliss’s Home of the Humanities. Every work on the program is by a composer with a relationship to Dumbarton Oaks, both “then” and “now,” and features the world premiere of Woven in Earth and Sky by our 2021 Musician in Residence, David Crowell. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/music-at-dumbarton-oaks-a-far-cry-tickets-294647698197

Music at Dumbarton Oaks: Sandbox Percussion 10th  April, 2022 at 7 pm (Washington Time)

Described as “exhilarating” by the New York Times and “virtuosic and utterly mesmerizing” by the Guardian, Sandbox Percussion has established itself as a leading proponent of this generation of contemporary percussion chamber music. The 2022 Grammy-nominated ensemble returns to the Music Room with an exciting, all-new program. Both visually and aurally stunning, it includes two world premieres, one of which is by David Crowell, Dumbarton Oaks’ recent Musician-in-Residence. Also to be performed are works by Andy Akiho, Lukas Ligeti, Jonny Allen, Tawnie Olson (world premiere), and Steve Reich.

PROGRAM:

Pattern Transformation Lukas Ligeti

Sonata Jonny Allen

Rational People Tawnie Olson (world premiere) I. Trolling II. Muting III. Mobbing IV. Listening

From Seven Pillars: Andy Akiho Pillar VI Pillar V

-intermission-

Haiku 2 Akiho

Verses for a Liminal Space David Crowell (*world premiere)

Mallet Quartet Steve Reich

Identifying and Describing the Structures of Textiles

 The Early Textiles Study Group (https://www.earlytextilesstudygroup.org) offers a course in English on identifying textile structures. The course is divided into two sessions of two weeks each. It is intended for people who have to analyse and describe textiles as part of their employment or research work: archaeologists, museum professionals, anthropologists etc.  It is suitable for people with some practical experience of textiles, for example with some weaving experience and/or work already undertaken with archaeological, historical or ethnographic textiles. Part 1 is on simple weaves and early non-woven structures and Part 2 on complex weaves defined as made on a loom with a figure harness. 

The 2022 Part 1 sessions will take place in May (9-13 & 16-20) and in July (11-15 & 18-22)

The venue for both will be Britannia Mills, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, HD7 5HE.             https://en-gb.facebook.com/theloftspaceBritanniaMills/

The tutors for Part 1 are textile archaeologist Hero Granger-Taylor and weaver Ruth Gilbert.   The number of participants is limited to 10 and the charge per participant in 2022 is £350.  We have places still open for both May and July.  For further details please e-mail

Hero Granger-Taylor, hero@granger-taylor.com  and copy your message to 

Ruth Gilbert, plainweave879@btinternet.com

Part 1 covers the range of simple weaves.  We take a broader view of early textiles than the CIETA course (https://cieta.fr/courses/) and cover in addition linking and looping, twining, pile structures, and weaving to shape.  Participants will learn how to analyse and record structures using samples of different fabrics, a standard form and agreed terminology (CIETA supplemented by Emery and Seiler-Baldinger). They will also be introduced to different formats of weave diagram.  Types of looms and how these may affect fabric structure will be discussed and some simple weaving undertaken to give a proper understanding of the process.  Our aim in particular will be to increase the confidence of participants in their analytical skills, needed especially when faced with unfamiliar or poorly-preserved surviving textiles.  

The specific learning outcomes for Part 1 are: 

  • identify basic weave structures and their variants 
  • record structures in a standard format
  • use internationally-agreed terminology   
  • explain the relationship between looms and fabric structure  

Two Part 2 sessions will take place in London during 2022 People wishing to take Part 2 will be asked to take Part 1 first, unless they can prove they have already the background and experience necessary to follow Part 2. 

The tutors for Part 2 will be anthropologist Sophie Desrosiers and historian Lisa Monnas, both specialists in European and Asian medieval textiles. Sophie Desrosiers, who also has experience of archaeological and ethnographical textiles from the Andean region, has in the past been the tutor for the CIETA ‘sessions techniques’.  

  • CALL FOR PAPERS

Akropolis: Journal of Hellenic Studies

Akropolis is now accepting submissions for vol. 6, to be published in 2022. Research articles on all topics pertinent to Hellenic Studies, regardless of school of thought, historical period and academic discipline, are most welcome. Interdisciplinary articles are particularly encouraged, as well as reviews of recently published books.

All articles go through a double blind peer review process.

The journal is indexed in Scopus, ERIH Plus, Philosopher’s Index, and other databases. According to Scimago, Akropolis is ranked as Q4 for 2020. Submissions should be sent via online submission system, and should conform to the journal’s stylesheet: http://helenskestudije.me/ojs/index.php/jhs/about/submissions.

For more information, please visit: http://helenskestudije.me/ojs/index.php/jhs/

Call for papers: Narrative and narratology in pre-modern historiography 

Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, 3-4 November 2022 

Convenors: Aske Damtoft Poulsen, Matthew Kinloch, Ingela Nilsson 

The aim of this workshop is to bring together PhD students and early career scholars who work with issues of narrative and narratology in pre-modern historiography. We wish to share and discuss different approaches, examine theories and methodologies, and – above all – encourage dialogue between students and scholars working on different periods and different cultures, from antiquity onwards and beyond. Questions and topics could include, but are in no way limited to: 

  • How should we approach issues of factuality and fictionality in historiography?
  • How can postclassical narratology be useful for the study of historiography? 
  • To what extent are concepts such as worldmaking, possible worlds, and storyworlds useful for the study of historiography? 
  • How can narratology help us explore power dynamics, subalternity, and minor characters in historiography? 
  • How do historians negotiate the conflicting demands of teleology and experientiality? 

The workshop format is designed to facilitate interaction between the participants, especially that between senior and junior scholars. The 2-day workshop will have ca 12 participants, who will be asked to pre-circulate their papers; at the workshop, short introductions by the authors (15 minutes) will be followed by responses from designated discussants (10 minutes) and a general discussion. The workshop will close with a roundtable discussion introduced by Eva von Contzen, Jonas Grethlein, and Karin Kukkonen. 

Please send an abstract (max 500 words) and CV to matthew.kinloch@ifikk.uio.no or asdapo@dps.aau.dkby 30th April 2022. We hope to provide flights and accommodation (3 nights) for the participants. 

  • JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Position for PhD students at University of Mainz

Within the Research Training Group 2304 “Byzantium and the Euro-Mediterranean  Cultures of War. Exchange, Differentiation and Reception”, which is financed by the  DFG (German Research Foundation), there are at the Johannes Gutenberg University  of Mainz  

2 positions for doctoral research associates (pay scale TV-L13, 2/3 FTE) 

to be filled as soon as possible for a contract period of three years. In consideration of  the current situation, we especially welcome applications by Ukrainian scholars. 

Participating in this Research Training Group are the disciplines of Ancient History,  Ancient Church History/Theology, Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Eastern  European History, Early Modern Church History, Classical Archaeology, Christian  Archaeology and Byzantine Art History, Early and Prehistorical Archaeology (with a  focus on Medieval Archaeology) and Musicology.  

The goal of the Research Training Group is to examine the Euro-Mediterranean  Cultures of War from a transcultural perspective, from the Roman Imperial Period to  the Early Modern Period. With cultures of war are understood to be the forms and  practices of war as well as the norms, interpretations, attributions of meaning and  reflections referring to war. The mutual processes of exchange, differentiation or  reception will be explored via four thematic areas: 

1. Strategies of justification and legitimation 

2. Conceptualizations of persons and groups 

3. Rituals and worship 

4. Knowledge and infrastructure 

A thorough description of the research program and the emphases of the participating disciplines is available on the homepage [https://grk-byzanz-wars.uni-mainz.de]. The prospective dissertation project must address at least one of these thematic areas as well as be housed within one of the participating disciplines. The primary criterion for the evaluation of applications is the originality and quality of the research project summarized in the exposé. Suitable candidates can also apply on the basis of suggested topics – a selection of possible dissertation topics is likewise to be found on the homepage [ https://grk-byzanz-wars.uni-mainz.de/job-advertisements/  ] 

Upon acceptance the graduate students are to participate in a structured doctoral program at the JGU Mainz, for which residence in Mainz is required. The Research Training Group offers intensive specialized and interdisciplinary exchange, cross-disciplinary doctoral supervision by two professors from amongst the participating  scholars, praxis-oriented courses directed at public engagement (including through  museums), a comprehensive range of key qualifications (e.g. from the sphere of Digital  Humanities) and diverse opportunities for international networking. 

Requirements for the application include a degree (Magister, M.A. or the equivalent) completed with above-average marks in a participating or related field as well as openness to interdisciplinary work. 

The following application materials are to be submitted electronically in a single .pdf  (in German or English): 

  • A letter of application (one page) 
  • An outline of the planned dissertation project (two pages) 
  • A curriculum vitae with list of publications (if applicable), degree  diplomas, certificates of scholarly activities 
  • Master’s Thesis (or equivalent) 

The Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz is keen on increasing the proportion of women within the sphere of scholarship and therefore especially welcomes applications from female researchers. Please refer to any disability status in the application. 

For subject-related questions please direct your queries to the corresponding specialists of the Research Training Group, other questions to the Spokes-person.  

The application deadline ends by 10th April 2022. 

The application materials along with two letters of recommendation from university level instructors, who should submit their letters separately, are to be addressed to the Spokesperson of the Research Training Group, Prof. Dr. Johannes Pahlitzsch, (address: grk2304@uni-mainz.de ; subject-line: grk2304_Last Name). 

Three open positions for Lived Time project, University of Amsterdam

The project Lived Time: Using and Experiencing Time in Late-Antique Egypt (funded by the NWO, PI: Sofie Remijsen, University of Amsterdam) is looking for several team members from September 2022. 

The project examines the uses and experiences of time in daily life as responses to the shifting social norms from ca. 250 to 750 CE. It studies reactions to temporal norms and the synchronization of activities to gain a better understanding of how people in all layers of societies lived together with others and helped shape societal change. 

We are looking for: 

One PhD-position (Greek papyrology): https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/PhD-Position-on-the-Transformation-of-the-Festival-Calendar-in-Late-Antique-Egypt/742532802 

Two postdoc positions (Coptic studies and Arabic papyrology): https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/Postdoctoral-Position-The-Temporal-Practices-of-Monks-in-Late-Antique-Egypt/742745702 

https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/Postdoctoral-Position-The-First-Century-of-Arab-Rule-in-Egypt/742518902

UPDATE: Medieval Slavic Summer Institute 2022 – Deadline extended

Pandemic permitting, the 11th Biennial Medieval Slavic Summer Institute (MSSI) will be held June 4 – July 2, 2022 at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, USA)

Application Deadline: March 22, 2022
https://rcmss.osu.edu/mssi

The Hilandar Research Library (HRL), the Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies (RCMSS), and the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures (SEELC) at The Ohio State University host a four-week intensive Medieval Slavic Summer Institute for qualified graduate students in Columbus, Ohio, every other year. The Medieval Slavic Summer Institute (MSSI) offers lectures in two areas: Manuscript description and access and Readings in Church Slavonic. Manuscript material on microform from the Hilandar Research Library’s extensive holdings forms a large part of the lectures and exercises. There is also a program of lectures on related topics, and other activities.

Applicants must be graduate students with a BA degree and with a reading knowledge of Cyrillic and of at least one Slavic language. Preference will be given to applicants with reading knowledge of Old Church Slavonic or some other pre-modern Slavic language.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History, Clark University

Art Historian in Art/ Archaeology of the Ancient or Medieval Mediterranean World, including North Africa. Visiting Assistant Professor, one-year limited term (full-time) for AY22-23. Requirements: Ph.D. in Art History or Archaeology, teaching experience, and active research record. Teaching requirements are 6 courses (3 in fall’22, 3 in spring’23), including introduction to archaeology (fall) and upper-level seminars. Clark University, Worcester, MA is a private, liberal arts & sciences research university offering an undergraduate degree in art history in the context of a multi-disciplinary Department of Visual and Performing Arts. The successful candidate will be able to incorporate their own research interests into the classroom curriculum and to generate enthusiasm from both art history majors and students in a wide variety of fields. Research experience involving one or more of the following ancient or medieval Mediterranean areas is desirable: colonialism/anti-colonialism or migration and translation; gender in built environments and/or artworks; material culture and issues of cultural assimilation; race and ethnicity; and museum and cultural heritage issues surrounding ancient art. Clark University is an institutional member of the Worcester Art Museum, allowing students and faculty first-hand study of ancient and medieval artworks and artifacts.

To apply, please send a cover letter, cv, names of references, teaching statement, and an example of an introductory-level syllabus to ClarkUarthistorysearch@gmail.com We will begin reviewing applications on March 15, 2022 and applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Queries may be addressed to Kristina Wilson, Professor of Art History, Department of Visual and Performing Arts, at KrWilson@clarku.edu

SLS Call for Grant Applications – deadline 22nd April 2022

The Society for Libyan Studies is calling for applications for funding for high-calibre projects on any topic in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

A variety of different grants up to £8,000 are available to support travel and primary research in the humanities and social sciences in Libya and the broader North African region (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Mali, Chad, Sudan) and to explore connections between North Africa and the Mediterranean or sub-Saharan Africa.  Research may take place within the region, or be UK-based, depending on its nature.

In addition, this year the Society is able to offer at least two North Africa Postdoctoral Writing Fellowships that provide up to £8,000 to support the writing-up of already completed research on North Africa in the humanities and social sciences. The awards are explicitly intended to support early career scholars ordinarily resident in the UK (within eight years of the PhD) who have not yet been appointed to a permanent academic post, who frequently lack the time and resources they need to publish their work.  

For full details go to http://www.societyforlibyanstudies.org/research-activity/society-grants/  

Applications should be submitted to me gensec@societyforlibyanstudies.org  by midnight (GMT) on Friday, April 22nd 2022.

  • SPBS STATEMENT ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR UKRAINIAN SCHOLARS AND REFUGEES

United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland 

Council for At Risk Academics

The Council for At Risk Academics (CARA) is a UK-based organisation which offers academic, financial, and practical support, to academics and their families who are in immediate danger, forced into exile, or who continue to work in their home countries despite serious risk. 

Several members of the Executive Committee of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (SPBS) are affiliated with universities who are part of the CARA network. 

This includes:

The Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies is happy to offer support to applications from Ukrainian Byzantinists, or Ukrainian academics working in a related discipline (such as medieval studies, including the study of early Rus), who wish to make an application to one of the institutions within the CARA network. 

To contact the SPBS directly, please email:  

Dr Daniel Reynolds: d.k.reynolds@bham.ac.uk  

Further information on the CARA scheme, including a list of member institutions, may be found here:  https://www.cara.ngo/who-we-are/partners-and-supporters/cara-scholars-at-risk-uk-universities-network/

Donate: The CARA network also accepts donations to support their activities. Further information may eb found here: https://www.cara.ngo/how-to-help/donations/

Universities of Sanctuary Scheme 

The Universities of Sanctuary Scheme works closely with the UK Cities of Sanctuary Scheme to provide support to refugees and people seeking political asylum in the UK Higher Education network. 

Further information on the United Kingdom network may be found here:  Universities of Sanctuary | Building a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in Higher Education (cityofsanctuary.org)

Further information on the network within the Republic of Ireland may be found here: https://ireland.cityofsanctuary.org/universities-and-colleges-of-sanctuary

Information on the United Kingdom Cities of Sanctuary may be found here: List of City of Sanctuary groups | City of Sanctuary

Free English tuition for Ukrainian nationals

Oxford International Education Group is offering free English language and cultural preparation courses for Ukrainian nationals arriving in the country. The courses will be delivered fully online and can be accessed from mobile phone

Further Information may be found here: OI Digital Institute I University courses and tests online

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Великобританія та Республіка Ірландія

Рада вчених з групи ризику

Рада вчених з групи ризику (CARA) — це організація, що базується у Великобританії, яка надає академічну, фінансову та практичну підтримку вченим та їхнім сім’ям, які перебувають у безпосередній небезпеці, змушені перебувати у вигнанні або продовжують працювати у своїх країнах, незважаючи на серйозний ризик.

Декілька членів Виконавчого комітету Товариства сприяння візантійським дослідженням (SPBS) пов’язані з університетами, які входять до мережі CARA.

Це включає:

Товариство візантинознавців пропонує підтримку науковим проектам українських візантіністів або українських учених, що працюють у суміжній дисципліні (наприклад, медієвістики, включаючи Стародавню Русь), які бажають подати заявку до однієї з установ мережі CARA.

Щоб зв’язатися безпосередньо з SPBS, будь ласка, скористайтесь електронною поштою:

Dr Daniel Reynolds: d.k.reynolds@bham.ac.uk  

Додаткову інформацію про схему CARA, включаючи список установ-членів, можна знайти тут: https://www.cara.ngo/who-we-are/partners-and-supporters/cara-scholars-at-risk-uk-universities-network/

Пожертвувати: мережа CARA також приймає пожертви на підтримку своєї діяльності. Додаткову інформацію можна знайти тут: https://www.cara.ngo/how-to-help/donations/

Університетські програми організації притулків для біженців (Universities of Sanctuary Scheme)

Програма університетів тісно співпрацює з програмами міст Сполученого Королівства, щоб надавати підтримку біженцям і людям, які шукають політичного притулку і можуть скористатися програмами мережі вищої освіти Великобританії.

Додаткову інформацію про притулки для біженців Сполученого Королівства можна знайти тут:

Universities of Sanctuary | Building a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in Higher Education (cityofsanctuary.org)

Додаткову інформацію про мережу в Ірландії можна знайти тут: https://ireland.cityofsanctuary.org/universities-and-colleges-of-sanctuary

Інформацію про притулки для біженців Сполученого Королівства можна знайти тут:

List of City of Sanctuary groups | City of Sanctuary

Безкоштовне навчання англійської мови для громадян України

Oxford International Education Group пропонує безкоштовні підготовчі курси англійської мови та культури для громадян України, які прибувають до країни. Курси проводитимуться повністю онлайн та доступні з мобільного телефону.

Додаткову інформацію можна знайти тут: OI Digital Institute I University courses and tests online

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Соединенное Королевство и Республика Ирландия 

Совет, созданный для ученых, подвергающихся риску

Совет по делам ученых, подвергающихся риску (CARA) – это британская организация, которая предлагает академическую, финансовую и практическую поддержку ученым и их семьям, находящимся в непосредственной опасности, вынужденным покинуть родину или продолжающим работать в своих странах, несмотря на серьезный риск. 

Несколько членов Исполнительного комитета Общества содействия византийским исследованиям (SPBS) связаны с университетами, входящими в сеть CARA. 

К ним относятся:

Общество содействия развитию византийских исследований предлагает поддержку украинским византинистам или украинским ученым, работающим в смежных дисциплинах (например, медиевистика, включая Древнюю Русь), которые хотят подать заявку в одно из учреждений сети CARA. 

Чтобы связаться с SPBS напрямую, пожалуйста, напишите по электронной почте:  

Dr Daniel Reynolds: d.k.reynolds@bham.ac.uk  

Дополнительную информацию о схеме CARA, включая список учреждений-участников, можно найти здесь: https://www.cara.ngo/who-we-are/partners-and-supporters/cara-scholars-at-risk-uk-universities-network/ 

Пожертвования: Сеть CARA также принимает пожертвования для поддержки своей деятельности. Дополнительную информацию можно найти здесь: https://www.cara.ngo/how-to-help/donations/

Программа «Университеты-убежища» 

Программа «Университеты убежища» тесно сотрудничает с Программой «Города-убежища» Великобритании, предоставляя поддержку беженцам и лицам, ищущим политического убежища, в сети высшего образования Великобритании. 

Дополнительную информацию о сети вузов Великобритании можно найти здесь:  Universities of Sanctuary | Building a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in Higher Education (cityofsanctuary.org)

Дополнительную информацию о сети в Республике Ирландия можно найти здесь: https://ireland.cityofsanctuary.org/universities-and-colleges-of-sanctuary 

Информацию о городах-убежищах Соединенного Королевства можно найти здесь: List of City of Sanctuary groups | City of Sanctuary

Бесплатное обучение английскому языку для граждан Украины

Oxford International Education Group предлагает бесплатные курсы английского языка и культурной подготовки для граждан Украины, прибывающих в страну. Курсы будут проводиться полностью в режиме онлайн и будут доступны с мобильного телефона.

Дополнительную информацию можно найти здесь: OI Digital Institute I University courses and tests online