Byzantine Studies Conference Archives
Twenty-Sixth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Governing Board Meeting Session 1, October 27, 2000
- Michael Maas, President of the BSC, called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.
Present:Robert Allison, Rebecca Corrie, John Cotsonis, Hugh Elton, Sharon Gerstel, Eric Ivison, Michael Maas, Kathleen Maxwell, Claudia Rapp, Patrick Viscuso
Invited Guest: Ellen Schwartz
Absent: Jane Baum, Maria Georgopoulou, Derek Krueger, and Glenn Peers
- Michael Maas circulated an agenda in which the following issues were discussed:
- Future BSC Conference locations:
2001 University of Notre Dame (Charles Barber)
2002 Ohio State University (Tim Gregory)
- BSC Abstracts:
All abstracts are being placed on the revamped BSC web site. No more complete runs of old abstracts are available. Michael Maas proposed that anyone who wants remaining abstracts should be given them for the cost of postage.
- BSC new web site
The BSC has a new web site being designed by Kevin Kelly. The University of South Carolina will continue to be the host for our site, thanks to the continued generosity of Ralph Mathisen. Ralph will continue to supervise operations, but Kevin Kelly has been hired to update material regularly. In discussion, it was agreed that the BSC web site needs its own domain. USC would still provide the server.
A new category for Graduate Students should be established on the new web site. Certain privileges, etc. pertaining to graduate students should be publicized there.
- Kalamazoo Conference
Tia Kolbaba and Paul Halsall have proposed that Byzantinists play a greater role at the annual spring conference at Kalamazoo. The emphasis would be pedagogical, concerning issues such as how to incorporate Byzantine material into Western Civ., Medieval History, and other courses. Giles Constable has agreed to serve as an informal advisor to this enterprise, and Emily Albu and Sally McKee, both Medievalists at UC Davis who teach Byzantine as well as Western Medieval subjects, have also agreed to participate. Moreover, Alice-Mary Talbot, Director of Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, has also expressed interest in this project. Michael Maas proposed that we invite these scholars to move ahead with the project, suggesting that Kolbaba and Halsall should be asked to lead the group.
- American History Association
Similar endeavors might also be possible with AHA if we choose to affiliate with them.
- Proposed Slate for BSC officers, 2000-2001
President: Eric Ivison
Vice-President: Sharon Gerstel
Treasurer: Rebecca Corrie
Secretary: Kathleen Maxwell (continuing)\
Program Chair: Robert Allison
- Flowers for George Dennis:
Michael Maas asked the Board members to agree to send flowers on behalf of the BSC membership to George Dennis who is in the hospital. All present agreed.
- Michael Maas proposed greater variety in future BSC program formats:
The following options were proposed:
a) an invited professor in a related field who has recently published a book of interest to Byzantinists
a plenary session encourage people to propose whole sessions (and to chair them and organize them).
pose these possibilities at the Business Lunch or in a questionnaire at the conference
- Abstract Mailing:
Sharon Gerstel has generously agreed to take care of mailing abstracts for the next five years.
- BSC Web Coordinator:
Hugh Elton has agreed to a three year appointment as BSC’s new web coordinator. All submissions for inclusion on the BSC web site should go to him. He will forward the material to Kevin Kelly. Hugh Elton can be reached at eltonh@fiu.edu
Hugh Elton has also agreed to write the copy needed for the first page of the revamped web site, explaining what the BSC is.
Eric Ivison will send letters out to active organizations to generate announcements to be posted on the BSC web site.
- BSC Logo
A. Dean Mckenzie, Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon, Eugene, won the BSC logo design contest.
- Graduate Students and the BSC
A number of proposals were made concerning graduate students and their status in the BSC. Regret was expressed that due to the neglect of the BSC Governing Board and the Local Arrangements Committee, no mention had been made of certain privileges reserved for graduate students in the conference registration materials. Reduced rates concerning conference registration fees as well as the conference business lunch and the banquet need to be better publicized. Also, graduate students who give papers are eligible for a small travel subsidy to help defray expenses. Finally, graduate students who give papers at the BSC may compete for a Graduate Student Paper Prize by submitting their papers to the Program Chair within one month of the conference. The Graduate Student Prize for the best paper is awarded at the next annual BSC conference during the Business Lunch.
It was proposed that we should automatically renew memberships (for 2001) for those graduate students who attended BSC 2000 who paid full fare for the business lunch and the banquet, in order to avoid having to issue checks to reimburse them.
- Graduate Student Paper Prize
It was proposed that the anonymous donor of the Graduate Student Paper Prize should be contacted to see if s/he would be willing underwrite the cost of an annual reception in honor of the graduate students instead of providing a gold coin prize for one individual. (See further discussion in BSC 2000 Minutes for the Business Lunch.)
It was also proposed that given the high number of graduate students giving papers at the BSC (at BSC 2000, thirty of eighty-nine papers were given by graduate students), that the prize should be awarded for the best abstract rather than the best paper. This would reduce the amount of work required by the judges. (See further discussion in BSC 2000 Minutes for the Business Lunch.)
- Graduate Student Status
You must be a graduate student at the conference in which you deliver your paper in order to qualify for the Graduate Student Paper Prize.
- BSC Archivist
The BSC is in need of an archivist. There are several boxes of materials that need to be sorted through and classified. Any volunteers?
- BSC Mailings
BSC mailing will only be sent to those members who have paid dues during at least one of the past five years. Others will have to depend on the web site.
- Other BSC web site issues:
Member names and e-mail addresses and posting on the web site: It is advisable to obtain permission from individual members before posting their names and e-mail addresses on the web site. This can be done through the annual dues submission form. Bob Allison also advised us to post these names and e-mail addresses as images rather than as ASCII text so that they can not be picked up by commercial organizations with ease and incorporated into their lists. An informal inquiry conducted by e-mail before BSC 2000 revealed no objections to names and e-mail addresses being placed on the web.
- Secretary’s Report by Kathleen Maxwell
The BSC database is maintained on Microsoft ACCESS. It contains 771 names of whom 125 reside in foreign countries. E-mail addresses are included for a little more than half of the membership. I am still refining my ability to conduct mass e-mails to the BSC membership. I am also happy to attempt to forward announcements via e-mail to the BSC membership, as long as it is understood that my success rate in doing this is somewhat variable. Address labels are available for purchase by members at a nominal cost, and available to commercial organizations for one-time use for $100.
- Treasurer’s Report by Derek Krueger (in absentia)
Derek Krueger could not attend due to a death in the family, but he did e-mail his report to us. Total assets of the BSC as of 10/15/00 were $29,048.37
- Governing Board Meeting II will be held in Boylston Hall 234 this evening at 6:45 p.m.
Governing Board Meeting Session 2, October 28, 2000
- Michael Maas, President of the BSC, called the meeting to order at 6:50 p.m.
Present:Robert Allison, Rebecca Corrie, John Cotsonis, Hugh Elton, Michael Gaddis, Maria Georgopoulou, Sharon Gerstel, Paul Halsall, Eric Ivison, Michael Maas, Kathleen Maxwell, Mario Philippides, Claudia Rapp, Patrick Viscuso
Absent: Jane Baun, Derek Krueger, and Ellen Schwartz
- Graduate Student Prize
Michael Maas inquired about the AIA statement concerning the sale of ancient coins. Claudia Rapp volunteered to contact Tim Gregory in an effort to obtain a copy of the statement.
Christine Havice asked if there might be a separate committee assigned to judge the graduate student paper submissions.
- Graduate Students and the BSC
Patrick Viscuso said that the Graduate Student Prize should be described in detail on the BSC web site. The process needs to be clarified and a time line given. Patrick Viscuso in consultation with Ellen Schwartz will draft the text and present it at the Governing Board Meeting 1 of the BSC 2001.
- Future BSC locations:
2001 University of Notre Dame (Charles Barber)
2002 Ohio State University (Tim Gregory)
2003 Bates College
Other possibilities for subsequent years include Yale University, Connecticut College, and Cornell University
- BSC web site
We will apply for our own domain name, but will keep USC as our server.
- Dumbarton Oaks Liaison Committee
Annemarie Weyl Carr and Leonora Neville will remain BSC representatives. Their two-year appointment began in 2000.
- BSC Officers:
President: Eric Ivison
Vice President: Sharon Gerstel
Program Chair: Robert Allison
Secretary: Kathleen Maxwell
Treasurer: Rebecca Corrie
- Program Chair and Committee:
Robert Allison, Chair
Carolyn Snively
Susan Madigan
Patrick Viscuso
- Kalamazoo Committee
Giles Constable
Emily Albu
Sally McKee
- Affiliation with AHA:
Eric Ivison will pursue this. Governing Board members who are already members of the AHA include Michael Gaddis, Michael Maas, and Claudia Rapp.
- Byzantine Studies Outreach Program
Outreach to High School history teachers should be undertaken. Dumbarton Oaks would provide the visuals. The NEH sponsored institutes for high school teachers would be an ideal vehicle for this. A section of the BSC web site could also be devoted to this.
- Retirement of Faculty in Byzantine Studies
Byzantine faculty who retire are often not replaced. The ramifications for the field necessitate that this situation needs to be addressed more aggressively by the BSC.
The meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Maxwell
Secretary