Byzantine Studies Conference Archives

Thirty-First Annual Byzantine Studies Conference

University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Business Lunch Minutes: Friday, 28 October 2005

  1. Charles Barber, President of the BSC, called the meeting to order at 1:00.

  2. On a motion duly made by C. Rapp and seconded by G. Peers, the agenda as presented was approved unanimously.

  3. On a motion duly made by D. Olster and seconded by D. Krueger, the minutes for the Business Lunch meeting in 2004 (30.x) were approved unanimously.

  4. The President expressed thanks on behalf of the membership to the Local Arrangements Committee, especially Asen Kirin, to the Program Committee and Chair, Amy Papalexandrou, to the anonymous donor of the graduate-student prize, to Dr. Anastasios Tousimis, to the BSC/DO Liaison Committee and to the Governing Board. Each expression of thanks was warmly greeted with applause.

  5. President’s Report:
    1. C. Barber reported on the difficulties experienced over maintaining charitable status in the state of Illinois.
      1. He also reported on issues concerning the BSC website and on the agreement by R. Alison to become the site’s ‘webmaster’.

    2. Treasurer’s Report: L. Jones tabled the budget for the previous year, and she drew particular attention to the large increase in sales of abstracts, due to the work of A. Gonosova. The balance in the bank is very healthy, she reported. The budget was duly approved.

    3. Governing Board Elections: A vote was held for the four places from the five candidates on the slate. The following were elected to the Governing Board: Sarah Bassett, Anna Gonosova, Henry Maguire and Ralph Mathison.

    4. Graduate Student Prizes for 2003: On behalf of the Program Committee, L. Jones presented the prizes. First prize was given to Gunder Varinlioglu, second to Young Kim, and third to Cristina Toma.

    5. Report of BSC/DO Liaison Committee: The minutes of the meeting were presented by C. Barber to the membership, and on a motion duly made by D. Krueger, seconded by G. Peers, the minutes were accepted. The President recommended that the committee no longer be formed because of expense and because of the helpful participation of the Director of Byzantine Studies at the Business Luncheon. The Board reserved the right to form such a committee in the future if the need should arise.

    6. Report from Dumbarton Oaks: Alice-Mary Talbot addressed the membership on the eventful year at Dumbarton Oaks. A report of activities was distributed to all members in attendance, and attention was particularly drawn to the new arrangements necessitated by the renovations. Visitors to the library must now give at least 24 hours notice, and the first visit to the new library must make time for an orientation session as well. Members were also informed that no guest accommodation would be available for the next two years. A new publications director has been hired, and JSTOR now has all volumes available for access, the members were told. C. Rapp asked about the Greek summer schools, and members were informed that for reasons of housing and classrooms, DO would not be hosting a summer school in 2006.

    7. New Business:
      1. The President asked that the membership vote on the following constitutional amendment, "The President of the BSC, in consultation with the Governing Board, may write letters on behalf of the membership of the organization in support of posts in the field of Byzantine Studies and to express concern over the fate of historical artifacts and monuments that pertain to Byzantine studies." The membership cast ballots, the amendment received the necessary vote of three-quarters of the membership in attendance, and it duly passed.
      2. The President also asked for direction from the membership on changing the BSC to a Byzantine Studies association. Discussion centered on overlap with the US National Committee, agreement of the Canadian national committee, incorporation, and composition of any committee formed. The President tabled a proposition, “The BSC shall consider revising its constitution to become a Byzantine Studies association with annual meeting, and the membership directs the President to form a committee in order to propose a revised constitution to the membership for discussion at the next meeting of the BSC.” D. Olster made a motion that this proposition be put to an oral vote, H. Evans seconded, and the motion carried without an opposing vote
        1. L. Striker asked that the BSC re-consider its position on the coin given as a graduate student-prize, but discussion was delayed for procedural reasons until the following meeting.

      3. Announcements:
        1. G. Majeska brought the recent foundation of the society for East Christian History and Culture, which had held its first meeting recently at Columbus. He encouraged anyone interested in joining or participating to go to the website.
        2. The President read a letter from the Dean of Arts and Sciences from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, welcoming all to attend the 2006 conference 9-12.xi.06.
        3. R. Allison brought fundraising efforts for fire-damaged Chilandar Monastery to the attention of the members.
        4. Members also agreed to give a vote of thanks for all that Paul Halsall had done on behalf of the BSC, and the vote was followed by warm applause.

      4. Date and Time of Next Governing Board Meeting – 6:30, 29.x.05, at the Conference Center.

      5. Adjournment – On a motion duly made by D. Olster, seconded by L. Neville, the meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m.

      Respectfully submitted,
      Glenn Peers, Secretary 

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