| Reports by SPBS Members |
Conferences
held in 2006 |
The Lincoln College International Summer School in Greek Palaeography The first Lincoln College International Summer School in Greek Palaeography was convened at Lincoln College and in the University of Oxford in the week following the XXIst International Congress of Byzantine Studies in London. Over five days, from 28 August to 1 September, 2006, twenty-nine postgraduate students from fifteen countries (selected from some fifty applicants) jumped at this opportunity to study Greek palaeography in an international community and in the unique setting of Lincoln and Exeter Colleges and the Bodleian Library. Participants were given the chance of tailoring the programme to their academic requirements and interests: on top of plenary lectures in the morning, small-group reading classes (twice daily) and evening seminars, each participant was offered three tutorials on topics of his/her choice. In the afternoons, participants were taken on ‘field-trips’ to the Bodleian Library and introduced to a representative selection of manuscripts in situ. Additionally, the Bodleian featured a small exhibition of seven select manuscripts (including Arethas’ autograph scholia of Plato, MS E. D. Clarke 39) over the summer school week, while Greek Renaissance manuscripts of mostly scientific content from Archbishop Laud’s collection were put on display in St John’s College Library. Evening seminars were given by Mr N. Wilson, Oxford, who had also kindly agreed to act as the programme’s Honorary President (‘Greek Palaeography & Textual Criticism’); Prof. P. Schreiner, Cologne (‘Writing Against Oblivion: Reasons for and Methods of Writing and Book Production in the Greek Middle Ages’); Prof. C. Rapp, UCLA (‘Christian Writing Culture in Early Byzantium’); Dr T. Janz, Vatican Library (‘Field-work in the Library: Cataloguing Greek Manuscripts’); and Prof. E. M. Jeffreys, Oxford (Closing Lecture: ‘Post-Byzantine & Renaissance Greek Manuscripts’). Dr T. Janz, Vatican Library, and Dr C. Simelidis, Dumbarton Oaks, taught as Summer School Tutors along with the Programme Director, Dr N. Gaul. Thanks to various funding bodies a generous bursary scheme assisting participants could be established.
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INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF BYZANTINE STUDIES 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Congress Funding Reports The Congress distributed £12,500 pounds to students and those who applied from countries which could not possibly support their participation from official funds. This was made up from a grant of £10,000 from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and £1,500 for Turks from the British Council in Istanbul, to which we added £1000 in Congress funds because a further 4 applied from Turkey. In addition, Farig, Foundation for the Advancement of Research in Georgia, distributed six bursaries to Georgians. From Turks receiving bursaries from the British Council in Istanbul: “I had a really good time at the Congress. It was a great chance for me to experience an international congress about Byzantium, a great civilisation many years ago on the land that I was born and grew up in.” From Turks receiving Congress bursaries: “I would like to thank you for providing me with this bursary without which my participation in the Congress would have been very difficult.” “I had the chance to meet many of the scholars whom I’ve been reading through their publications, and to see many precious Byzantine items in exhibitions which were specially organised for the congress. Lastly, I caught the recent studies in international Byzantine studies, publications, web-sites.” |
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