Announcements

Mount Athos Foundation of America Travel Scholarships

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The Mount Athos Foundation of America (MAFA) offers annually two Mount Athos Travel Scholarships of up to $1000 each to support research projects related to Mount Athos.

Eligibility
Consistent with MAFA’s Scholarship Policy, grant recipients are selected on a nondiscriminatory basis. Although women are not permitted to visit Mt. Athos itself, women may still be awarded MAFA travel scholarships for the purpose of undertaking travel to other sites for the purpose of Athos-related research, such as libraries, museums, and research institutes, or dependencies of the Athonite monasteries located outside Mt. Athos.

There is no restriction on what fields of research will be supported. For example, they may be ones that are traditional for Mount Athos, like Byzantine and post-Byzantine history, art, architecture, musicology, diplomatics and manuscript studies; Eastern Orthodox theology, literature, hymnology, monasticism, monastic spirituality, patristic studies, etc. They may also be in scientific or social-scientific subject areas like botany, geology, forestry, anthropology or sociology, or an interdisciplinary field. This list is by way of example only; other fields of research are acceptable, as long as the project is focused on Mount Athos and the significance of the project to the applicant’s research project is made clear.

MAFA and Mount Athos Center Support
The MAFA Scholarships are unique in providing the winners not only funding, but also logistical support for their projects. In cooperation with the Mount Athos Center (Αγιορειτική Εστία) in Thessaloniki, we
• introduce our scholarship winners to the monasteries in which they hope to work,
• provide orientation to patterns of work and life within the monasteries, and
• provide logistical support as needed upon arrival in Thessaloniki.
MAFA’s goal is to assure, to the extent possible, the acceptance of the researcher in the monastery or monasteries and thus the success of the winning projects.

Application Calendar
MAFA follows a “rolling applications” system, that is, MAFA will judge the applications as they are received. We do not observe any deadline for receipt of applications.

For application materials, additional information and examples of earlier successful applications: https://www.mountathosfoundation.org/scholarships/

Inquiries may be addressed to: grantsinfo@mountathosfoundation.org.

Open Position: Summer 2023, Summer Session Director, Deadline Jan. 31

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DIRECTOR OF THE ASCSA SUMMER SESSION
GERTRUDE SMITH PROFESSOR(S)
Deadline: January 31, 2022

Summer Session (traditional six-week program): One Position

Term: Summer 2023

Eligibility: Former membership in the School and at least two years of teaching in a post-secondary educational institution. Gertrude Smith Professors should have at least some knowledge of modern Greek and the ability to be engaging, organized, flexible and positive under often-demanding conditions. Qualified applicants in all areas of classical studies, including archaeology, art history, epigraphy, history, and languages are encouraged to apply.

Description: See more information about the ASCSA Summer Session: https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/programs/summer-session

Duties: Plan the itinerary of the session, in consultation with the staff in Athens, at least six months prior to the session; collaborate with the Committee on the Summer Sessions in the selection of participants; correspond with participants concerning travel, equipment, academic requirements, etc.; supervise all aspects of the program in Greece, including teaching, coordinating with on-site expert lecturers, keeping a detailed log of the sessions, managing incidental expenses within a pre-approved budget, and submitting a report to the Director.

Compensation: Stipend of $9,064, plus travel and expenses, housing for the Summer Session leader(s) for eight weeks in total as available June 1 to August 15. See the policy.

Application: An online application consisting of a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, and three letters of support. More information can be found at: https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/about/staff/positions-available

Inquiries can be sent to:
Committee on the Summer Sessions Chair, Elizabeth Baltes
E-mail: ssapplication@ascsa.org

The appointments will be announced by March 29.

Book Epigrams, Verse Scholia and Some Limit Cases: Versified Paratexts on Historiography and Their Interplay

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Speaking From the Margins lecture series, organised by the Database of Byzantine Book Epigrams project (Ghent University).
Julián Bértola (Ghent University), Book Epigrams, Verse Scholia and Some Limit Cases: Versified Paratexts on Historiography and Their Interplay

Date: Tuesday 14 December 2021
Time: 16:00 CET
Location: online via Zoom. No registration required.

For the abstract and the link to the meeting, please visit https://www.projectdbbe.ugent.be/events/julian-bertola-book-epigrams-verse-scholia-and-some-limit-cases/.

You can find more information about the Fall 2021 Series of the Speaking From the Margins lectures on the DBBE project website: https://www.projectdbbe.ugent.be/lectures/.

CFP Reception of Aristotle’s Topics in medieval Islamic, Jewish and Christian traditions

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The XXVIth annual SIEPM colloquium will take place on 4-6 April 2022 at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. The subject of the colloquium is: Dialectic in the Middle Ages: Between Debate and the Foundation of Science. Dialectic played a central role in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures as both a tool for knowledge making and an object of study in its own right. Medieval intellectual cultures saw dialectic, often associated with Aristotle’s Topica, as crucial for describing and defining philosophy and science, as well as characterizing and inculcating religious beliefs. Debates and discussions, which played a large role in medieval education systems in all three traditions, were also frequently associated with Aristotle’s Topica. Indeed, Aristotle’s chief text on dialectic was associated with teaching the masses religious ideas, constructing arguments for various forms of debate, imparting religious, scientific, and philosophical concepts to the intellectual elite, and discovering the grounds of scientific arguments and their basic premises. At the same time, the text enabled a study of the methods themselves, viz. a study of arguments based on opinions, generally accepted premises (as opposed to demonstrations), induction, and the groundwork of debate itself. The forms of disputations and debate that we encounter in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures varied among intellectual and religious climates and so did the historical understanding of dialectic.
In the frame of this conference, we would like to explore the various intellectual endeavors associated with dialectic, particularly with Aristotle’s Topica, among different cultures, with a view to how this concept changed and developed through time, place, intellectual context, and religion. The colloquium will be held in-person with roughly 20-25 lectures, each forty minutes in length with a subsequent discussion period of twenty minutes. To submit a lecture proposal for the colloquium, kindly send a title with an abstract of no more than 300 words and your c.v. by December 20, 2021 to the Colloquium Organizer Yehuda Halper at: Yehuda.Halper@biu.ac.il.
Academic Board: Nadja Germann (Islamic thought), Steven Harvey (Jewish thought), Katja Krause (Christian thought), Charles Manekin (Jewish thought), Tim Noone (Christian thought).
Stipends: A limited number of travel stipends will be awarded through the Israel Science Foundation. Scholars under the age of 35 or from select countries may also apply for Brepols-SIEPM stipends (https://hiw.kuleuven.be/siepm/brepols-siepm-stipends).

MA and PhD Programs at Central European University, Vienna: Call for Applications

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The Department of Medieval Studies at Central European University (Vienna) is pleased to announce its call for applications for the academic year 2022/2023. The deadline is February 1, 2022.

Central European University is a graduate-level, English-language university with a multi-disciplinary Medieval Department that offers the following programs:

• 1-year MA in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies
• 2-year MA in Comparative History: Late Antique, Medieval and Renaissance Studies
• 2-year MA Cultural Heritage Studies
• PhD in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies

CEU provides a variety of need- and merit-based scholarships and various other types of financial support available to students at all levels and from any country (tuition waiver, stipend, housing awards, health insurance coverage): https://www.ceu.edu/financialaid.

Interested applicants can contact us at medstud@ceu.edu. For further information, visit: https://medievalstudies.ceu.edu/.

Call for Applications: Mary Jaharis Center Grants 2022–2023

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The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce its 2022–2023 grant competition.

*** NEW *** Mary Jaharis Center Co-Funding Grants promote Byzantine studies in North America. These grants provide co-funding to organize scholarly gatherings (e.g., workshops, seminars, small conferences) in North America that advance scholarship in Byzantine studies broadly conceived. We are particularly interested in supporting convenings that build diverse professional networks that cross the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines, propose creative approaches to fundamental topics in Byzantine studies, or explore new areas of research or methodologies.

Mary Jaharis Center Dissertation Grants are awarded to advanced graduate students working on Ph.D. dissertations in the field of Byzantine studies broadly conceived. These grants are meant to help defray the costs of research-related expenses, e.g., travel, photography/digital images, microfilm.

Mary Jaharis Center Publication Grants support book-length publications or major articles in the field of Byzantine studies broadly conceived. Grants are aimed at early career academics. Preference will be given to postdocs and assistant professors, though applications from non-tenure track faculty and associate and full professors will be considered. We encourage the submission of first-book projects.

Mary Jaharis Center Project Grants support discrete and highly focused professional projects aimed at the conservation, preservation, and documentation of Byzantine archaeological sites and monuments dated from 300 CE to 1500 CE primarily in Greece and Turkey. Projects may be small stand-alone projects or discrete components of larger projects. Eligible projects might include archeological investigation, excavation, or survey; documentation, recovery, and analysis of at risk materials (e.g., architecture, mosaics, paintings in situ); and preservation (i.e., preventive measures, e.g., shelters, fences, walkways, water management) or conservation (i.e., physical hands-on treatments) of sites, buildings, or objects.

The application deadline for all grants is February 1, 2022. For further information, please visit the Mary Jaharis Center website: https://maryjahariscenter.org/grants.

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center, with any questions.

Fantastic Fountains and Where to Find Them, Dec. 16

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Byzantium at Ankara is happy to announce the second talk of the Fall 2021/22 Seminar Series.

On Thursday 16 December 2021 (h. 18.00 Istanbul time), Dr. Federica A. Broilo (University of Urbino “Carlo Bò”) will be delivering a paper entitled: “Fantastic Fountains and Where to Find Them: A Comparative Analysis on Fountains in Byzantium and the Islamicate World.”

For further info and registration, please send an email to byzantiumatankara@hotmail.com

The talk will also be broadcast live on our Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN6mx3xkQknph5pPwrodhrw ) where all the recordings of the previous lectures can also be found.

Consuming the Middle Ages: 2022 Medieval Studies Student Colloquium

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The Medieval Studies Program at Cornell University is pleased to announce its thirty-second annual graduate student colloquium (MSSC), which will focus on the theme of ‘Consuming the Middle Ages’. The conference will take place on the 23rd of April, to be held virtually over Zoom. The colloquium will be preceded by a small lecture series.

We invite 20-minute papers that investigate consuming the Middle Ages as defined within a range of different disciplines and perspectives. Consuming can denote both physical consumption as well as the act of consuming and making sense of the medieval past through scholarly productions, creative media, and cultural phenomena and practices. How were medieval feasts organized and what socio-cultural function did food and the act of consuming it serve? What are possible connections between the life cycle stages of consumed goods (e.g., from cultivation to processing, to consuming, to disposal, etc.) and climate, migration, economics, etc.? What material and immaterial substances were subject to consumption and what religious or cultural roles did they play? How do postmedieval writers and thinkers configure the medieval? What are the ramifications of consuming the past and is this the nature of periodization? How are the traces, artifacts, or influences from the medieval past consumed by later or contemporary individuals, communities, and cultures? Papers may respond to (but are not limited to) one of these questions.

Preference will be given to papers from underrepresented backgrounds and disciplines. We strongly encourage submissions that expand these themes and categories of inquiry beyond Christian, Western European contexts. We invite submissions in all disciplines allied to Medieval Studies, including Asian Studies, Africana Studies, Critical Race Studies, Indigenous Studies, Near Eastern Studies, literature, history, the history of art, archaeology, philosophy, classics, theology, and others. Abstracts on all topics will be considered, though priority will be given to those which address our thematic strand.

Please send abstracts by January 30, 2022, to Sarah LaVoy at sfl39@cornell.edu.

Update: 2022 Summer Seminars, New Seminar, January 7 Deadline

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ASCSA SUMMER SEMINARS
DEADLINE: January 7, 2022

The Summer Seminars of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens are 18-day programs that focus on specific cultural themes, historical periods, or geographical regions. The Seminars are led by exceptional scholars of Classics and related fields. Under their direction, participants study texts, visit archaeological sites and museums, and engage with expert guest speakers in order to deepen their understanding of Greece’s landscape, history, literature, and material culture.
For Summer 2022, the two seminars are:
Thanatopsis: Greek Funerary Customs Through the Ages (June 6 to June 24, 2022)
This seminar will introduce its members to the wide range of Greek funeral customs and monuments, methods of burial, inscriptions, curse tablets, funerary offerings and rituals, and conceptions of death, from antiquity to the present. Participants will visit a wide range of sites and museums in Attica, Boeotia, the Argolid, and Crete to get a sense of the variety of mortuary practices and remains. Taught by Professor Daniel B. Levine (University of Arkansas).
The Northern Aegean: Macedon and Thrace (June 30 to July 18, 2022)
In this seminar, participants will explore the Northern Aegean region during various time periods. The history of Macedon and Thrace bridges the East and West and offers a glimpse into some of the most significant developments in Greek history, such as colonization, cross-cultural relations, the Persian Wars, Athenian hegemony, and the rise of Macedon. Taught by Professors Amalia Avramidou (Democritus University of Thrace) and Denise Demetriou (University of California, San Diego).
Internationally known scholars of Greek history, art, and archaeology will participate as guest lecturers in both seminars. Students are expected to give on-site reports, which they will prepare in their home libraries before the program begins. Committed to presenting a comprehensive view of Greece’s rich history and archaeology, these seminars involve long days and extensive walking in the hot Mediterranean summer, and participants should be prepared for a rigorous program of study.

Eligibility: Enrollment is open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students, as well as to high school and college instructors of classics and related subjects. Each seminar is limited to twenty participants. The language of instruction is English. Applicants who are not enrolled or teaching at English-speaking institutes, or schools, may be required to supply evidence of proficiency in English.

Cost: The fee for each summer 2022 Seminar is $2,750. This includes tuition, room for the entire 18-day period, partial board in Athens, travel within Greece, and museum and site fees. International airfare, most meals outside Athens and weekends in Athens, and incidental expenses are the participant’s responsibility. Financial aid is available in the form of ASCSA scholarships, awarded on the basis of academic merit, and many classical professional organizations have funding opportunities. More information at https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/programs/summer-session/ss-scholarships. Inquire about course credit option.
Application:  Applicants will complete an online application, for which they will submit scans of academic transcripts (unofficial transcripts are acceptable) and arrange for the online submission of two letters of recommendation by the application deadline, January 7, 2022. All applicants will be notified in February 2022. More information and online application form are available through the website at: https://ascsa.submittable.com/submit/115820/ascsa-summer-seminar-application-18-day-sessions
For more information on the seminars, view the website at https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/programs/summerseminars or email ssapplication@ascsa.org.

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