Announcements

Bryn Mawr College Graduate Group Symposium

Updated on by bsanacom

Call for Papers:

Timecraft: From Interpreting the Past to Shaping the Future 

The Fourteenth Biennial Symposium organized by Graduate Students in Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art at Bryn Mawr College 

November 10th-11th, 2023

Deadline for Abstract Submissions: Friday May 5th, 2023, 5:00 PM EST. biensymp@brynmawr.edu

Past, present, and future are not universal truths but ideas that emerge in relation to human existence. The social construction of time takes many forms. From the collection of relics and repatriation of antiquities to the creation of memorials and the removal of monuments, traces of the past help us to make sense of the current moment. Performances of epics collapse the past into the present and wish-fulfilling rituals tie the present to the future. Questions about time are accordingly wide ranging. For instance, how do researchers identify the cultural strategies people use to define their own time? What does the archaeological record tell us about continuities with and breaks from the past? How do objects and texts reflect attitudes and anxieties about the future?

Timecraft invites you to consider the ways in which people use the concept of time to understand the past, define the present, and envision the future. This will be the fourteenth biennial symposium organized by students in the Graduate Group of Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art at Bryn Mawr College. We encourage graduate students in relevant disciplines, working in any time period, to send us paper proposals on timecraft. Applicants may choose to present their research in the following formats:

  • Several regular panels are intended for full-length paper presentations. 15- to 20-minute papers will be followed by individual, 10-minute Q&A sessions in these panels. While we are planning the regular panels as in-person sessions, we hope to provide space for remotely-delivered papers to those participants who are unable to travel to the area.
  • One lightning panel is intended as an opportunity to share works-in-progress, and is geared towards fostering a hybrid mode of participation, allowing both remote and in-person participants to bring ideas into conversation. Five-to seven-minute introductions of the works-in-progress will be followed by a 10-minute Q&A after each paper.

Application process: Applicants are encouraged to submit abstracts to either or both types of panels, provided that the two submissions are separate works. We will consider submissions from graduate students at any point in their degree. All proposals should be sent to the BMC Graduate Symposium Committee at biensymp@brynmawr.edu by Friday May 5th, 2023, 5:00 PM EST.

  • To apply for the regular panel please send an abstract of 300-words to us, specifying your preferred panel format in the subject line of your email.
  • To apply for the lightning panel, please send a 150-word abstract to us, specifying your preferred panel format in the subject line of your email.

Review and Acceptance Process: The committee will assess submissions through a blind review process. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by Monday May 22nd, 2023.

Please contact us with any questions regarding the symposium at biensymp@brynmawr.edu.

Please visit this link to see a list of some suitable topics for Timecraft.

SAMR Zoom Flash Conference

Updated on by bsanacom

Religion and Material Culture in Late Antiquity, April 25-27, 2023

The Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions (SAMR) is hosting a zoom flash conference discussing evidence for and methodological issues in the study of materiality and late antique religion.

Schedule:

Tuesday, April 25, 6:00 pm Eastern Time

The Space of a Stylite: Columns and their Topographical Contexts,
Dina Boero (The College of New Jersey)

Wednesday, April 26, 6:00 pm Eastern Time

Desire in the Archive: A 1934 Excavation in Antioch’s Southeastern Nekropolis,
Sarah Porter (Gonzaga University)

Thursday, April 27,  6:00 pm Eastern Time

Animating Attachments: An Affective Archaeology of Late Antique Monastic Refectories,
Camille Angelo (Yale University)

For more information and to sign up: https://www.samreligions.org/flash-conference/

The 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies (2026)

Updated on by bsanacom

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

CFP: 49th Annual BSC, Abstracts due April 14

Updated on by bsanacom

This is a reminder that abstracts for the 49th Annual BSC are due April 14.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Forty-Ninth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference
DEADLINE: April 14, 2023

The Forty-Ninth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference (BSC) will be held at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver from Thursday, October 26 to Sunday, October 29, 2023. The Local Arrangements Co-Chairs are Dimitris Krallis (Department of Humanities and SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies) and Lauren Gilbert, Simon Fraser University (Department of Global Humanities). This conference will be in-person only.
The Program Committee invites proposals for papers and thematic panels on all topics and in all disciplines related to Byzantine Studies, broadly construed. All proposals must be submitted via EasyChair, and must adhere to specific formatting requirements. To deliver your paper at the BSC, you must be a member of BSANA in good standing, enrolled in a graduate program at the time of submission, or hold a graduate degree. We encourage undergraduate attendance, but do not accept submissions from undergraduates. To join or renew your membership in BSANA, pay your dues according to your current status at: https://bsana.net/members/.
For instructions on how to submit a proposal and to learn about funding opportunities, please see the attached PDF or visit the BSANA website: https://bsana.net/annual-conference/.
Brad Hostetler, BSC 2023 Program Committee Chair
Assistant Professor
Art History & Asian and Middle East Studies
Kenyon College

Opportunities for Scholars at Risk

Updated on by bsanacom

North of Byzantium and Dumbarton Oaks have announced two opportunities for scholars at risk due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Please share with your networks and invite scholars you know to apply (or apply yourself, if relevant): https://www.doaks.org/research/fellowships-and-awards/opportunities-ukraine-scholars

  1. Research Grants of up to $5000 – applications due March 31, 2023
  2. Mentorship Program – applications due April 30, 2023

 

Lecture: The English monks on Greek and Latin and on the Church Union debates

Updated on by bsanacom

The Byzantine Studies Lectures of the Institute of Historical Research (National Hellenic Research Foundation) continue on March 28 with a hybrid lecture on:

The English monks on Greek and Latin and on the Church Union debates (First half of the thirteenth century)
by Eleonora Kountoura-Galake, National Hellenic Research Foundation.

18:00 EET, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48, V. Constantinou Av. 11635, Athens.

To join via Zoom please follow the link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88500052364?pwd=ZURtOEE4RzZDRW5hVjJSSE1SMjF3UT09

The series program for the spring semester of 2022-23 can also be viewed online: http://www.eie.gr/nhrf/institutes/ihr/index-en_IHR_news.html

Piece by Piece: Mosaic Artifacts in Byzantium and the Ancient Americas

Updated on by bsanacom
Piece by Piece: Mosaic Artifacts in Byzantium and the Ancient Americas
WHERE: Dumbarton Oaks | Oak Room
WHEN: May 18  –  19, 2023
This workshop and museum colloquium will bring together art historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, curators, conservators, and scientists to consider the production, use, and meaning of mosaic artifacts in Byzantium and the ancient Americas.
Across premodern cultures, the mosaic artform enjoyed tremendous prestige. In the medieval Mediterranean, no other pictorial medium could rival mosaic’s opulence and visual splendor or claim to entail the same level of technical expertise. Durable and infinitely reparable, mosaics intimated a sense of both history and timelessness. Similarly, in the ancient Americas, the mosaic medium embodied status, wealth, and authority. A range of socially and ritually significant objects, from weapons and jewelry to figurines, were adorned with exquisitely crafted mosaic inlays, featuring such rich materials as turquoise, lapis lazuli, serpentine, and mother-of-pearl. Tellingly, both Byzantine micromosaic icons and ancient American portable mosaic objects would captivate the imaginations of discerning antiquarians and collectors in early modern Europe. To these later audiences, mosaic epitomized cultures that were, from the European vantage point, geographically and temporally “far away.”
The Dumbarton Oaks Museum has unique holdings of artworks in the mosaic medium, including two Byzantine micromosaic icons (BZ.1947.24 and BZ.1954.2), a Wari mosaic mirror (PC.B.432) and figurine (PC.B.437), and a Maya mosaic mask (PC.B.557). The collection therefore presents a rare resource for reexamining mosaic artifacts from a cross-cultural perspective and exploring new ways of thinking more expansively about the mosaic medium and its histories, both local and global. In addition to this cross-cultural frame, this workshop and colloquium will serve as an opportunity to devote specific attention to Byzantine micromosaic icons, exceptionally rare (only thirty-six are known to survive today), and yet understudied, outstanding works of medieval art. The occasion of this workshop and colloquium offers us a far-reaching opportunity to return to the proverbial square one and reassess everything we think we know about Byzantine micromosaic icons: when they were created, where, how, by whom, for whom, and why.
Event details
The two-day event will consist of three parts: a colloquium, with a series of papers, and two study sessions. The first study session, led by conservators, will present new technical research on the micromosaic icons of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia and St. John Chrysostom at Dumbarton Oaks, placing the Byzantine objects in dialogue with the Wari and Maya mosaic artifacts, also in the DO collection. The second session, which will be dedicated to Byzantine micromosaic icons specifically, will involve a structured group discussion about the current state of scholarship and imperatives for future research. The colloquium will be open to the public. The two study sessions will be open to colloquium participants and a small number of selected scholarly guests.
Organizers
  • Ivan Drpić, Associate Professor of History of Art, University of Pennsylvania
  • John Lansdowne, Post-Doctoral Fellow and Assistant to the Director for Academic Programs, I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies
  • Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, Curator, Byzantine Collection, Dumbarton Oaks

For more information, see the event’s web page:

https://www.doaks.org/events/other-events/piece-by-piece

Advanced Summer Course: ‘Byzantine Epigraphy in Situ’

Posted on by bsanacom

Advanced Summer Course: ‘Byzantine Epigraphy in Situ’

Centre of Excellence ‘Heritage BG’ Nessebăr,

Bulgaria, 12-15 September 2023

Organised and convened by Emmanuel Moutafov, Ida Toth and Andreas Rhoby

Overview

The Advanced Summer Course ‘Byzantine Epigraphy in situ’ offers a training programme to doctoral and early-career scholars, who wish to gain experience in using epigraphic material for research. The aim of the course is to advance the knowledge of medieval and early modern Greek inscriptional culture and its contributions to the overall heritage of Byzantium and the Balkans. The course will provide a unique opportunity to read, examine, and interpret inscriptions in situ, that is, in their architectural, iconographic, liturgical, art-historical, social and cultural contexts.

For more information, see the website: https://phd-edu.nasledstvo.bg/

 

Porphyra XXIX Call for Papers

Updated on by bsanacom

Porphyra Call for Papers: Issue XXIX

“What’s New in Byzantine Studies?”

Deadline: 15th July 2023

Porphyra, the international academic journal of Byzantine studies, is finally back online and, looking forward to its 20th anniversary, is calling for papers. This year’s issue will be entirely dedicated to reviews and bibliographic reports and the editorial board is thus asking scholars to send their contributions with regards to the latest publications within the field of Byzantine studies (including history, literature, philology, art history, archaeology, paleography, codicology, history of music, etc.) and its related subjects.
Reviews or simple bibliographic reports may cover, but are not limited to, recent monographies, collective works, scholarly editions of unedited material relevant to the Byzantine world, congress proceedings, catalogues of exhibitions as well as particularly relevant articles or essays.

The length of the contributions should be between 850 and 2500 words, the accepted languages are Italian, English and French and the authors are required to follow the editorial rules of the journal, which are found in our website.

The authors should send their papers in .doc and .pdf format by the 15th July 2023 to the following e-mail addresses: redazione@porphyra.it and lorenzomaria.ciolfi@gmail.com.

Byzantinist Society of Cyprus: Fourth International Conference on Byzantine and Medieval Studies

Updated on by bsanacom

We invite you to the Fourth International Conference on Byzantine and Medieval Studies, organized by the Byzantinist Society of Cyprus (Βυζαντινολογική Εταιρεία Κύπρου), in the Nicosia Multipurpose Municipal Center (Πολυδύναμο Δημοτικό Κέντρο Λευκωσίας), between the 17th and 19th of March 2023.

Academics, researchers, and post-graduate students will present their ongoing research, work-in-progress or fieldwork reports on aspects of
the history, archaeology, art, architecture, literature, philosophy and religion of Cyprus and the broader Mediterranean region, during the Byzantine, Medieval and Ottoman periods.

The Conference is dedicated to the memory of the Society’s founding member Dr Athanasios Papageorghiou. His work – an invaluable legacy for
Cypriot and Byzantine studies – will be presented by Dr Chalarambos Bakirtzis, on Friday, 17 March, at 18:15.

The Conference keynote speaker is Professor Emeritus Asher Ovadiah – Tel Aviv University. The keynote lecture, titled: The images of the Early
Byzantine church and its architectural elements in the mirror of patristic literary sources, will be on Friday, 17 March, at 18:30.

The Honorary President of the Conference is Professor Emeritus Costas N. Constantinides – University of Ioannina. His lecture, titled: Ελληνική
παιδεία: από τη σύγκρουση στη συμφιλίωση και την αρμονική συνύπαρξη με τη χριστιανική θρησκεία, will be on Saturday, 18 March, at 10:15.

Sincerely,
Byzantinist Society of Cyprus Executive Committee

© 2024 Byzantine Studies Association of North America, Inc. (BSANA) . All Rights Reserved.