Updated version of the 1st Circular, Vienna Congress

On behalf of Christos Stavrakos, Secretary of the AIEB (Association Internationale des Études Byzantines), please find below an updated version of the First Circular of the 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies (Vienna 2026), including a language update.

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Dear Colleagues,

Following the online meeting of the Organizing Committee of the 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies -Vienna 2026 with the members of the AIEB Bureau on 16 March 2023, we would like to inform you about the preliminary profile and structure of the Congress program and to appeal to all National Committees to send us their proposals for Round Tables by 31 December 2023. The call for Free Communications will be sent in spring 2025. You may find below the main theme of the Congress, the themes of six Plenary Sessions, as well as the timetable and procedures for Round Tables, to be confirmed and approved at the Inter Congress meeting in Athens on 12 April 2024.

INFORMATION ON THE PROFILE AND STRUCTURE OF THE 25th CONGRESS OF BYZANTINE STUDIES, Vienna 2026

Date: The 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies will be held on 24 to 29 August 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

Main Theme: “Byzantium beyond Byzantium”, “Byzance au-delà de Byzance”, “Byzanz jenseits von Byzanz”, “Bisanzio oltre Bisanzio”, “Το Βυζάντιο πέρα από το Βυζάντιο”

General Rule: Scholars can participate in no more than two sessions throughout the Congress. (i.e., as speaker in two sessions, or as speaker in one session plus as convener, or as convener in two sessions).

Plenary Sessions: There will be six Plenary Sessions. The list of Plenary Session themes and speakers will be approved at the Inter-Congress meeting in Athens on 12 April 2024. National Committees will be informed about the details shortly before the meeting.
The themes for Plenary Sessions are:

1. Byzantium lost and found

2. Romanitas beyond Byzantium. Diffusion and impact of ideas of Rome in a „post-Roman” world

3. The beasts, the crops and the bones. Biological perspectives on the Byzantine world

4. Byzantine Diversities

5. Reading Byzantine literature across the centuries

6. Byzantium in Central Europe

Round Tables:

General rules

1. Round Tables must be proposed through the National Committee of the proposer. There is also the option of joint proposals by more than one National Committee.

2. Round Tables are allocated 90 minutes. They should consist of no fewer than four and no more than six speakers, plus the convener(s), in order to ensure adequate time for discussion.

3. The professional affiliation of the speakers should represent at least two countries. We particularly encourage the inclusion of young researchers.

4. We strongly encourage those who propose Round Tables to follow the Congress main theme.

5. The most important criterion for accepting a Round Table proposal will be its innovative scholarly contribution.

6. The number of proposals, including joint proposals by each National Committee is limited to ten.

7. Proposals should include a title, an abstract of 250 words, 5 key words, the names of the convener(s) and speakers as well as the name of the person sending the proposal, his/her affiliated institution and his/her mail address.

8. Proposals should be written in English, French, German, Italian, or Modern Greek.

Timetable

– The deadline for submission of Round Table proposals by National Committees to the Organizing Committee is 31 December 2023. Any Round Table proposal sent after the deadline will not be accepted. The proposals should be sent to program.ICBS2026@univie.ac.at.

– Conveners of Round Tables will be informed about the decision of the Program Committee (in accordance with the Bureau of the AIEB) in mid-February 2024. Proposed Round Tables will either be accepted or rejected or the option of an Organized Session will be offered.

– Conveners of accepted Round Tables will be asked to confirm their participation and the organization of their Round Tables by 31 March 2024. – The list of Round Tables will be presented at the Inter-Congress meeting in Athens on 12 April 2024.

Vienna, March 2023
The Organizing Committee

 

Start Planning for Vienna Congress

The call for proposals for Round Tables for the 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, to be held in Vienna on August 24-29, 2026, went out during the busy season of the spring semester.  In case you missed it, I am re-circulating the call.  Please spend some time this summer thinking and discussing potential topics for round tables and colleagues for proposals.

The US National Committee is able to submit 10 proposals to the Congress Program Committee at the end of 2023.  The US Committee requests that you send us your proposals by NOVEMBER 3.  If we receive more than 10 proposals, we will suggest that some proposals go through different national committees.

Proposals should represent scholars from at least two different countries.  Ideally proposals would represent scholars at a range of career stages, including emerging scholars.

If you wish to share ideas about potential proposals with the US Committee ahead of the November deadline, we can help alert you to potential overlap and opportunities for collaboration with other scholars.  We want to help put forward the best possible slate of proposals for the Congress.

Please send plans and proposals to Leonora Neville at leonora.neville@wisc.edu.  She will share with the rest of the US National Committee, which consists of Leonora Neville, Cecily Hilsdale, Andrea Achi, and Benjamin Anderson.

For more information, see also The 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies (2026) announcement.

The 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies (2026)

Following the online meeting of the Organizing Committee of the 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies -Vienna 2026 with the members of the AIEB Bureau on 16 March 2023, we would like to inform you about the preliminary profile and structure of the Congress program and to appeal to all National Committees to send us their proposals for Round Tables by 31 December 2023. The call for Free Communications will be sent in spring 2025. You may find below the main theme of the Congress, the themes of six Plenary Sessions, as well as the timetable and procedures for Round Tables, to be confirmed and approved at the Inter Congress meeting in Athens on 12 April 2024.

INFORMATION ON THE PROFILE AND STRUCTURE OF THE 25th CONGRESS OF BYZANTINE STUDIES- Vienna 2026

Date:

The 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies will be held on 24 to 29 August 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

Main Theme:

“Byzantium beyond Byzantium”, “Byzance au-delà de Byzance”, “Το Βυζάντιο πέρα από το Βυζάντιο”

General Rule:

Scholars can participate in no more than two sessions throughout the Congress. (i.e., as speaker in two sessions, or as speaker in one session plus as convener, or as convener in two sessions).

Plenary Sessions:

There will be six Plenary Sessions. The list of Plenary Session themes and speakers will be approved at the Inter-Congress meeting in Athens on 12 April 2024. National Committees will be informed about the details shortly before the meeting. The themes for Plenary Sessions are:

  1. Byzantium lost and found
  2. Romanitas beyond Byzantium. Diffusion and impact of ideas of Rome in a „post-Roman”world
  3. The beasts, the crops and the bones. Biological perspectives on the Byzantine world
  4. Byzantine Diversities
  5. Reading Byzantine literature across the centuries
  6. Byzantium in Central Europe

Round Tables:

General rules

  1. Round Tables must be proposed through the National Committee of the proposer. There is also the option of joint proposals by more than one National Committee.
  2. Round Tables are allocated 90 minutes. They should consist of no fewer than four and no more than six speakers, plus the convener(s), in order to ensure adequate time for discussion.
  3. The professional affiliation of the speakers should represent at least two countries. We particularly encourage the inclusion of young researchers.
  4. We strongly encourage those who propose Round Tables to follow the Congress main theme.
  5. The most important criterion for accepting a Round Table proposal will be its innovative scholarly contribution.
  6. The number of proposals, including joint proposals by each National Committee is limited to ten.
  1. Proposals should include a title, an abstract of 250 words, 5 key words, the names of the convener(s) and speakers as well as the name of the person sending the proposal, his/her affiliated institution and his/her mail address.
  2. Proposals should be written in English or French. Timetable
  • The deadline for submission of Round Table proposals by National Committees to the Organizing Committee is 31 December 2023. Any Round Table proposal sent after the deadline will not be accepted. The proposals should be sent to program.ICBS2026@univie.ac.at.
  • Conveners of Round Tables will be informed about the decision of the Program Committee (in accordance with the Bureau of the AIEB) in mid-February 2024. Proposed Round Tables will either be accepted or rejected or the option of an Organized Session will be offered.
  • Conveners of accepted Round Tables will be asked to confirm their participation and the organization of their Round Tables by 31 March 2024.
  • The list of Round Tables will be presented at the Inter-Congress meeting in Athens on 12 April 2024.

Vienna, March 2023
The Organizing Committee

ICBS Reception for Fellows and Alumni of the Institute and Dumbarton Oaks

Reception for the Fellows and Alumni of the Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini & Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection

24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies

Friday, August 26th, 2022 from nine o’clock in the evening
During the reception, there will be a presentation of editions and scholarly activities.

Castello 3412, Campo dei Greci, 30122 Venezia

Hybrid format – 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies

Via Derek Krueger, President of the USNCBS

The 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Venice and Padua will be held in hybrid format, in line with all other Congress activities. This entails both in-person and remote attendance, to ensure participation even in the event of a flare up of the pandemic and in view of the international instability which is regrettably afflicting the whole of Europe.
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The event is fast approaching and we are witnessing a considerable interest in attending it in person after this extended period of limited mobility. Nevertheless, we expect there to be some personal as well as more general situations that make in-person attendance of the Congress in Venice and Padua impossible.

We therefore officially wish to announce that the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies will be held in hybrid format, in line with all other Congress activities. This entails both in-person and remote attendance, to ensure participation even in the event of a flare up of the pandemic and in view of the international instability which is regrettably afflicting the whole of Europe.

In order to confirm your participation to the Congress, whether in person or online, we kindly request you to fill in the relevant form at this link by July 1st 2022 (https://byzcongress2022.org/mode-of-participation/). Please note that the choice you make will be irrevocable.

The form must be filled in with the following information:

  • name, surname, email address
  • choice of in-person or online participation

We remind you that for organisational reasons each speaker is kindly request to upload the abstract in its final version by April 30th 2022. Please find more info at this link (https://byzcongress2022.org/abstract/).

Last but not least, we should note that all Congress activities will take place in accordance with the norms in force in Italy as regards measures for the prevention and containment of Sars-Cov-2 contagion. In light of this, we trust you will show understanding, should it become necessary to make any last-minute organisational changes.

We once again thank you for your participation – do not hesitate to get in touch, should you have any queries.

Best regards,

The Organizing Office
“24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies”
Venice-Padua, 22-27 August 2022

AIEB Grants for junior scholars

AIEB Grants for junior scholars

The AIEB is pleased to announce that it is able to offer a limited number of grants for junior scholars to participate at the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, 22-27 August 2022 Venice/Padua, with a paper or poster presentation.

Amount: 500 EUR, payable to successful applicants via bank transfer (we regret that this is the ONLY method of transferring funds to those who are selected for an award).

Maximum number of grants: 50.

Eligibility: PhD Students in Byzantine Studies, and both non-affiliated and affiliated postdoctoral scholars in the field of Byzantine Studies. Applicants of all nationalities except permanent residents of Italy are eligible. Applicants should be under the age of 40 (born 1982 or later). Non-registered participants and those without a paper submitted by the appropriate deadlines (therefore not already included into the program) cannot receive a grant.

Please note: all deadlines having passed (see https://byzcongress2022.org/deadlines/), no new proposals can be accepted for free communications, posters and thematic sessions of free communications, or for round tables. Proposals submitted by these deadlines have been accepted and included in the program.

Process: All applicants whose paper, communication, poster, round table or other presentation has been accepted should first write to registration@byzcongress2022.org and request a letter of confirmation of their participation. They should then submit to the selection committee at: scholarships@aiebnet.gr a brief emailed request for support, together with the confirmation letter and other application documentation (see below). The subject line of the email should consist of the applicant name and the term byzgrant2022, for example: lefebvre byzgrant2022.

PhD students should include a signed letter of recommendation from their supervisor which also serves as a confirmation of their status; postdoctoral scholars should submit a signed recommendation letter from the director of their research program or from a senior scholar.

The letter of confirmation (1) should be accompanied by (2) their letter of recommendation, (3) a brief 1-page Curriculum Vitae and (4) a short abstract of their congress paper, communication or poster presentation (ca. 600 characters). All documents should be attached as pdf files to their brief email request for support. Please ensure that each file is clearly marked with your name.

Deadlines for applications: March 15th 2022. Successful grant recipients will be informed by April 5th 2022 (applicants who have not received notification by April 6th 2022 may assume that their application has not been successful). The deadline for registration and payment of the congress fee for successful applicants is April 30th 2022.

BSANA funding for the International Congress of Byzantine Studies

For the first time in its history, BSANA is offering funds to support graduate and early career scholars who are presenting papers at the International Congress. Funds are limited, and are intended to supplement institutional or outside funding.

Eligibility is open to graduate students and early career contingent scholars who have received their PhD within the past 8 years and who do not hold permanent or tenure-track appointments. Applicants are required to be BSANA members in good standing (renew or become a member here), and to provide documentation of paper acceptance and Congress registration. Please note that the Early Bird registration deadline has been extended to February 15.
In addition to completing the online application form, please send documentation of paper acceptance and Congress registration to the BSANA Vice President (bsana.vp@gmail.com). Awards of a minimum of $600 will be distributed to applicants with demonstrated need on a first-come, first-served basis. Review of applications will begin immediately. After April 2 applications will no longer be considered.

On the online form, applicants will be asked to submit a list of other sources of funding they expect to receive or are applying for, as well as an estimated budget. Applicants will also be asked if they identify as a Byzantinist of Color to determine eligibility for subsequent funding to be made available by the BSANA Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

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