Postgraduate programmes at Koç University

 MA in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies

PhD in Archaeology and Art History with Late Antique and Byzantine concentration

Koç University is introducing fully funded graduate programmes with concentrations in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies.

MA Degree: A two-year programme including an introduction to the historiography and primary evidence of Late Antique and Byzantine civilization, with emphasis on the archaeology of Anatolia, the urban development and material culture of Constantinople, and the transition to the Ottoman Empire via the Seljuk sultanate and its successor states. The programme includes participation in the Byzantine archaeological field project, and intensive study of Byzantine Greek, with opportunities to acquire knowledge of other source languages (Latin, Arabic, Ottoman) and relevant modern languages (French, German, Italian, Russian). In addition to taking eight taught courses, students write a thesis in their second year. The University is equipped with newly-established laboratories and scientific specialists for the processing of archaeological data and artefacts; it provides for visits from leading scholars from abroad, and students have access to the resources of the Universities Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, with its annual fellowship programme that supports both junior and senior scholars in related fields.

PhD Degree:  The opportunity to pursue research on a Late Antique and/or Byzantine topic within the concentration areas of

• Archaeology and Archaeological Sciences
• History of Art

This is a fully-funded four year programme open to students either with suitable BA qualifications or an MA in a relevant subject. It comprises two years of coursework, language training and fieldwork activity. The coursework consists of core seminars, plus electives to be identified within the range of courses offered in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies; language training will involve in-depth study of texts in two ancient/medieval languages, and proficiency in a modern language relevant to the research area. Students who fulfil these requirements may proceed to dissertation research on an approved topic, which must be completed within two years.

General information for applicants

Koç University is a private university in Istanbul whose language of instruction and research output is English.

• Admitted students will receive a monthly salary for research and teaching assistantship.
• Benefits also include housing, laptop computer, health insurance, support for  conference participation, internships and fieldwork experience.

 Application deadline for 2010-2011 academic year: 28 May 2010

For application forms and application details, please consult http://arha.ku.edu.tr

or contact: Zeynep Cengiz, Secretary to the Institute for Social Sciences (zcengiz@ku.edu.tr; tel. +90 212 338 1883

[posted on BEDLAM, 10th May 2010]

ΠΑΡΕΚΒΟΛΑΙ PAREKBOLAI
AN ELECTRONIC JOURNAL FOR BYZANTINE LITERATURE

We are delighted to announce the launch of the new open source electronic journal Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, which will be published by the undersigned Editorial Committee and will be hosted by the Institutional Repository of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The journal, which will appear annually, will publish articles in English, French, German, Italian and Greek on matters relating to Byzantine Literature of the 4th through the 15th century. All articles  submitted will be peer-reviewed by 2 members of the journal’s international review committee, and once approved will be published in PDF format, in a form created by the editors in consultation with the author(s).

Deadline: 15 November 2010 to be included in the first 2011 issue. Contact: Sofia Kotzabassi (kotzabas@lit.auth.gr), Ioannis Vassis (vassis@phl.uoc.gr)

The Editorial Committee

[posted on BEDLAM, 4th May 2010]

KOÇ UNIVERSITY SUMMER SCHOOL 2010
JUNE 28 - JULY 31, 2010

On occasion of Istanbul's being nominated as European Capital of Culture in the year 2010, Koç University is offering a number of summer courses around the theme "Istanbul".

Summer School is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in other universities in Turkey and abroad. Regular Koç students need not apply and can register during the preregistration period. Other students who would like to attend Koç during the summer are welcome to apply.

For more information, see http://home.ku.edu.tr/~summer/

SPBS Chair calls for King's College rethink

The Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies expresses its extreme concern at the proposals for the dispersal of the Byzantine and Modern Greek Department at King’s College.

Read SPBS letter

2010 Greek Summer School at Dumbarton Oaks

June 7 – July 2, 2010
Dumbarton Oaks will again offer an intensive four-week course in medieval Greek and paleography in the early summer of 2010. A limited number of places will be available for students from North America and Europe.
Course Offerings
The principal course will be a daily 1 ½ hour session devoted to the translation of sample Byzantine texts. Each week texts will be selected from a different genre, e.g., historiography, hagiography, poetry, and epistolography. Two afternoons a week hour-long sessions on paleography will be held. In addition each student will receive a minimum of one hour per week of individual tutorial. Students will also have the opportunity to view facsimiles of manuscripts in the Dumbarton Oaks Rare Books Collection, as well as original manuscripts in the Byzantine
Collection. Thus approximately eleven hours per week will be devoted to formal classroom instruction. It is anticipated that students will require the remaining hours of the week to prepare their assignments. If they should have extra time, they may conduct personal research in the Dumbarton Oaks library.
Faculty
Stratis Papaioannou, Brown University/Dumbarton Oaks; Alice-Mary Talbot, Dumbarton Oaks
Accommodation and Costs
No tuition fees will be charged. Successful candidates from outside the Washington area will be provided with housing in the guesthouse at no cost and lunch on weekdays. Local area students will not be offered accommodation, but will receive free lunch on weekdays. Students are expected to cover their own transportation expenses.
Requirements for Admission
Applicants must be graduate students in a field of Byzantine studies (or advanced undergraduates with a strong background in Greek) at a North American or European university. Two years of college level ancient Greek (or the equivalent) are a prerequisite; a diagnostic test will be administered to finalist applicants before the final selection of successful candidates is made.
Application Procedure
Applicants should send a letter by February 15, 2010, to Dr. Margaret Mullett, Director of Byzantine Studies, describing their academic background, career goals, previous study of Greek, and reasons for wishing to attend the summer school. The application should also include a curriculum vitae and a transcript of the graduate school or undergraduate record. Two letters of recommendation should be sent separately, one from the student's advisor, and one from an instructor in Greek, assessing the candidate's present level of competence in ancient or medieval Greek. Principles of selection will include three considerations: previous meritorious achievement, need for intensive study of Byzantine Greek, and future direction of research. Awards will be announced in March 2010, and must be accepted by
April 1.
Please send all required materials to:
Dumbarton Oaks
Program in Byzantine Studies
1703 32nd Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Tel.: 202-339-6940 FAX: 202-298-8409, E-mail: Byzantine@doaks.org

GRANTS AWARDED BY THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF BYZANTINE STUDIES

The SPBS is delighted to announce the establishment of the 2006 Fund. This is set up to fund postgraduate students to attend conferences, symposia and exhibitions abroad. It will also offer grants to attend the Society’s Annual Spring Symposia. It is limited to students studying for a postgraduate degree at a British university. Priority will be given to students who have had papers accepted for delivery at the conference for which they are applying. The SPBS also offers small grants to help with the organisation of one-off small conferences, workshops, say-schools or seminars.

See our dedicated grants page for more details

TAY Project: Byzantine Inventory

The entire content of the TAY volume (Inventory of the Byzantine Buildings in the Marmara region) is on the internet now. The data is updated through the field survey and is available in Turkish and in English, together with several recent photographs and plans.

http://www.tayproject.org

[posted on BEDLAM, 9th Nov 2009]

The Byzantium Website

Welcome to Byzantium, the website for the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. This site is intended primarily as a platform to disseminate information about SPBS events, research grants and publications. In addition it will complement the Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies (BBBS), containing archived material from past issues. We are also collating useful links to external sites and details of Byzantine courses for students and would welcome any appropriate additions from members. Use the navigation bookmark on the left to explore the site. We hope that members will find this a useful resource and that non-members will be encouraged to join the society.

Teaching Resources
A new section of the SPBS website dedicated to Teaching Resources is currently under construction. This will include a section for “unofficial” or “private” translated texts. Suggestions and offerings of material gratefully accepted. Please contact Liz James, Chair of the Development Committee (E.James@sussex.ax.uk or Department of Art History. University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton).

Contributions to BBBS and the Byzantium web site

Contributors to BBBS should be aware that all publications, announcements and reports published in the Bulletin will also appear at some stage on this web site. If any individual does not wish to make their contributions available on the internet then please contact Byzantium@ncl.ac.uk and we will ensure that the relevant items are removed.

Older news items are held in the archive