SPBS News Archive

Oxford Centre Byzantine Research

It is a great pleasure to announce the establishment of The Oxford Centre for
Byzantine Research. Based in the Ioannou Centre for Classical & Byzantine
Studies at the University of Oxford, the new Centre presents and promotes
research activity by senior scholars and emeriti working in Byzantine Studies
and related fields.

The foundation of the Centre is a major new initiative to help strengthen the
subject at Oxford and internationally, and is the result of collaboration
between the faculties of History, Classics, Modern and Medieval Languages, Oriental Studies and Theology, as well as the School of Archaeology.

The Centre has an active programme for 2010-11, including workshops on the
Transformation of Byzantium in the eleventh century, colloquia on the book
production and on the manuscripts of St. Catherine¹s of Sinai. Special
lectures are also scheduled to take place throughout the year which are also
available as podcasts.

Travel awards and conference grants have been established for the current
academic year.

The Centre will be formally launched on Friday 3 December with a lecture by
James Howard-Johnston, entitled Œ The Seventh Century and the Formation of
Byzantium.¹ The lecture will take place in the Lecture Theatre at the Ioannou
Centre at 5pm and will be followed by a reception. All are welcome.

More details about the Centre, whose Director is Dr. Peter Frankopan and Chair Prof. Dame Averil Cameron, can be found on the website

Proposal for a Development Commission within AIEB

After the discussions at the Society’s AGM held on 10 April 2011 during the Symposium in Newcastle, the Executive has tabled a proposal for the creation of a Development Commission within the International Byzantine Association (AIEB). This has been circulated to all the other National Committees and will be discussed at the General Assembly of the AIEB. This meeting is taking place towards the end of the Sofia Congress, on 26 August 2011. Dr Rosemary Morris and Dr Dionysios Stathakopoulos will be representing SPBS at the Assembly.

Further comments or suggestions on our proposal are very welcome – please send them to the email address at the bottom of the paper.

summer school
2011 June 27th-July 29th
Koç Univesity: İstanbul Through the Ages

For Summer 2011, Koc (pronounced “Coach”) University is offering a specialized
five-week seminar examining Istanbul from pre-history to the present. Open to
graduate students from all around the world, the program presents the best of
Koc University faculty sharing their perspectives on what is the center of several
empires through time, with a history spanning millennia: Istanbul.
Koc University is among the most elite institutions of Turkey, with a portfolio of
professors who are leaders in their field. The university’s Office of International
Programs, along with the Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and its
Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC), is excited to extend an invitation to you to participate in a dynamic, in-depth program geared toward graduate students, all the while spending the summer in an exotic city bursting with energy, history, spontaneity and endless roads to travel and discover. With over 12 million inhabitants representing a true melting pot of cultures and faiths, Istanbul--supplemented by the contents of this unique summer program--gives you the chance to enrich your academic pursuits while concurrently enriching your mind and soul.

For the program see website
The list of the instructors for Summer 2011 is as follows
(bios and CVs available on the program website):
Dikmen Bezmez, Koç University - Assistant Professor of Sociology
Paul Magdalino, Koç University - Professor of History
Gül Pulhan, Koç University - Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology Cultural Heritage Management
Rana Özbal, Koç University - Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Koç University - Associate Professor of Archaeology and the History of Art
Ivana Jevtic, Koç University - Instructor, Faculty of Arts and Social Science
Nina Ergin, Koç University - Assistant Professor of Archaeology and History of Art
Alessandra Ricci, Koç University - Assistant Professor of Archaeology and History of Art

International Workshop
2011 June 27th- July 12th
International Workshop for Graduate Students: Cappadocia in Context

Koc (pronounced “Coach”) University’s Office of International Programs (OIP) and Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC) is jointly launching a compact and in-depth workshop geared toward graduate students interested in the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Cappadocia. The program offers the unique opportunity to explore the region's spectacular volcanic landscape with dozens of rock-cut settlements, including hundreds of painted, rock-cut churches, chapels, monasteries, houses, villages, towns, fortresses, and underground cities. Through a program that combines lectures, guided site visits, thematic explorations, and seminar presentations, the workshop will explore ways to "read" the landscape and its monuments, as well as ways to write a regional history based on the close analysis of sites and monuments.

For the program see website
The list of the instructors for Summer 2011 is as follows (bios and CVs available
on the program website):
Professor Robert G. Ousterhout, University of Pennsylvania - A leading historian of Byzantine art and architecture
Assoc. Prof. Scott N. Redford, Koç University RCAC - Archaeology and History of Art of Medieval Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean, Landscape Archaeology, Materials Science in Archaeology, Ceramics, PhD.
Tolga Uyar, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - Byzantine Art and Archeology

***3 Full PhD Scholarships***
The Visualisation of the Late Antique City
Centre for Late Antique Archaeology
University of Kent

Thanks to a grant from the Leverhulme Trust, the University of Kent is able to offer three full 3-year PhD scholarships beginning May 2011, on The Visualisation of the Late Antique City, as part of a research project led by Dr Luke Lavan and Dr Ellen Swift. Our research will aim to establish an academic basis for reconstructions of everyday life in Mediterranean cities of this period, through both synthetic writing and
detailed case studies of specific archaeological sites.

The three doctorates will consider
i) Everyday Architectural Decoration in the Late Antique City
ii) Urban Artefact Assemblages in Late Antiquity
iii) Dress and Personal Appearance in Late Antiquity

All three doctorates will be jointly supervised by LL and ES. Sources will be both archaeological, artistic and textual, and will be used to build a shared database on everyday life, which will be used by LL and ES in conjunction with a historical illustrator to produce colour images of urban scenes in selected cities. On completion of the project, the doctoral theses will be prepared for publication in a monograph series and will also contribute to a collective volume on Everyday Life in the Late Antique City.

The Centre for Late Antique Archaeology is an active research hub, with easy access to London research libraries, now 50 minutes away by train. It produces its own annual, Late Antique Archaeology, holds frequent international conferences and is engaged in a number of related field projects, at Ostia, Port of Rome, and on the Saxon Shore Forts. We enjoy good relationships with heritage practitioners of museum display, re-enactment and site interpretation for the late antique period.
See website.

The Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies is a vibrant community, which under Professor Ray Laurence is experiencing a period of expansion. It is committed to the interdisciplinary study of the ancient world and its neighbours, from Minoan to Late Antique times. It has special interests pertinent to the project in Roman cities, Roman social life and the material culture of the Roman world, particularly ceramics, dress accessories and medical tools. It collaborates with local units and archaeological groups who often focus on the late antique to Anglo-Saxon transition. See website.

Duration: Full-time 3 years
Start date: 1st May 2011

Entry Requirements
Applicants should have a first class or 2i degree or equivalent and an established interest in late antique archaeology. International candidates are welcome. An MA degree (merit or distinction) would be an advantage, as would practical experience of archaeological fieldwork / museums, and knowledge of one or more modern European languages (French, German and Italian). A commitment to meeting deadlines and working within a team is essential, as the project will only achieve its full potential if outputs are delivered on time and a collaborative ethos is maintained.

Scholarship
A tax-free scholarship will be provided for three years, to cover fees at Home/EU level and to provide a living allowance of 13,000 GBP. Research expenses to cover foreign travel for the project will also be covered.

Application Process
Applications for the scholarships should consist of a CV, covering letter and an example of written work, made by email to postgraduate secretary Juliette Ashby. An application must also be made for the degree programme on-line here.
No research proposal is required but all application materials (via email or on-line) must make clear which of the above doctorates is being applied for. Candidates are
welcome to apply for more than one topic, but must specify an order of preference.
Further details of the doctoral topics can be viewed here.
The deadline for submissions is 20th February 2011. Selection will be based on written submissions, with the option of interview by telephone / email.

For queries contact:
Dr Luke Lavan,
Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies, SECL, Cornwallis North West,
University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NF

TV Documentary - Euronews video
Art – Dye Another Way: The Secret Agents of Colour

Researchers around Europe and the Mediterranean are looking at new ways to preserve ancient icons and textiles. The plant and insect pigments used to colour old paintings and tapestries are being isolated using 21st century technology, so they can be turned into modern chemical formulae. Post Byzantine textiles from Simonos Petra Monastery (Mount Athos) and tapestries were also presented. Identifying pigments used in the Mediterranean for icons, murals and textiles is the aim of the European research project Med-Colour-Tech. The results of the project should improve the preservation techniques for historical artwork.

Participants: Prof. Dr. Harald Marx, Dr Ioannis Karapanagiotis, Dr. Christos Karydis, Prof. Dr. Evangelia Varella, Athina Doussi, Recep Karadag, Elpida Minopoulou and Father Iakovos Simonopetritis.

***Call for Manuscripts!***
Liverpool University Press: Translated Texts for Byzantinists (TTB)

This new series has been initiated as a ‘sister’ series for the existing LUP TTH (Translated Texts for Historians). Whereas the latter has focused on Late Antique and early Medieval texts, up to about A.D. 850, the former will aim to translate later Byzantine texts, e.g. from about 850- 1453. The texts will include a variety of literary genres, including Histories, saints’ Lives, theological works, poetry, romances, and others.

The LUP TTB series will complement, but not compete with, other series of translated Byzantine texts such as the Belfast Byzantine Texts and Translations series, the Byzantina Australiensia series, Birmingham’s Byzantine and Ottoman Monograph series with Ashgate Publishing, and the forthcoming ‘Byzantine Loeb’ series from Dumbarton Oaks. It is thought that the TTB series will appeal to students and scholars who seek affordable English translations that are provided with an extensive introductions and commentaries.

The TTB Editorial committee invites scholars who have prepared, or are in the course of preparing, English translations of Byzantine texts to submit proposals for publication. Please send the following documents to the Editor, Dr Mary Cunningham
1) a short (ca. 500-1000 word) proposal explaining the importance of the text and the need for a new English translation; 2) a sample page of translation; 3) a short resumé of the translator’s professional qualifications. It would also be helpful if you could provide some indication of the timescale for submission.

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

***JOB*** Professor of Medieval History, with research focus in Byzantine History (1,0 fte)
Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Arts.

Vacancy number: 23.17.10 Closing date: 17-12-10

Job description
As Professor of Medieval History, with a research profile in Byzantine History, you will be giving further impetus to teaching in Medieval History, and will be at the core of a new research focus on Byzantine History. You will be building bridges between Ancient and Medieval History, and between the departments of History, Classics and Art History. In your BA teaching, the emphasis will be on general (Western) Medieval History, whereas in your MA teaching you will focus on the Byzantine world, preferably in relation to the ancient and medieval West, in particular Rome. Your courses are primarily taught for students in the department of History.

Research in Byzantine History will be embedded in the research institute Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies and will form a bridge between the HLCS research programmes ‘The Ancient World’ and ‘Culture, Religion and Memory’. You will be expected to give new impetus to the interdisciplinary focus on ‘Europe’s Identities Past and Present’, and to acquire external funding that will support current and new research projects within HLCS. Your research strengthens our research lines focusing on ancient and medieval Rome, including its reception and representation, and concentrates on Byzantine History from ca. 700 AD onwards. In addition to teaching and research, you will have administrative responsibilities related to the chair of Ancient and Medieval History, the department of History, and where appropriate, the Faculty of Arts.

More details available here (pdf doc)

University FellowShips

Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations in Istanbul is accepting applications for its Residential Fellowship program for the 2011-2012 academic year. RCAC fellowships are for study of the archaeology, art history, and history of the past of Turkey, from the Neolithic through the Ottoman eras. There are two categories of fellowship: junior fellowships for advanced Ph.D. students and senior fellowships for scholars with Ph.D. For more information about the RCAC, and application forms, please visit the RCAC website Application deadline is December 15.

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/

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]

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

***JOB*** Byzantine History, Harvard University

The Department of History announces an open-rank search for a tenure-track faculty member or a tenured professor in the field of Byzantine history, specializing in the history of Byzantine civilization from 400 to 1461. The candidate’s research and teaching must be broadly gauged so as to enrich the work of Harvard’s wider community of scholars, notably Byzantinists, medievalists, and classicists within and beyond the Department of History, and including Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Teaching duties will include courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels; a strong record of doctoral advising will be welcome. Applicants should submit a letter of application, including brief statements of current and future research and of teaching philosophy, and a curriculum vitae with a complete bibliography, to:

Byzantine History Search Committee
c/o Janet Hatch
Department of History
Harvard University
201 Robinson Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138.

The deadline for receipt of applications is May 1, 2010. Harvard is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Applications from women and members of minority groups are strongly encouraged.

[Posted on BEDLAM: Byzantine Email Distribution List and Mailings.]

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]

Council for British Research in the Levant
Awards 2010-11

The Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) aims to promote, sponsor and carry out high-quality research in the humanities and social sciences throughout the countries of the Levant: Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
Details of CBRL award schemes for 2010-11 are now available at
http://www.cbrl.org.uk/funding.html

Applications are invited for the following schemes:
Research Awards
Pilot Studies and Pump Priming Awards
Travel Grants
Visiting Research Fellowships

[Posted on Bedlam 8th Oct 2009]

The Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations of Koç University - Residential Fellowships

The Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations of Koç University, Istanbul, invites applications for residential fellowships for the 2010-2011 academic year from junior and senior scholars of the archaeology, art history, and history of Anatolia. Beginning in 2010, the chronological restriction has been lifted, with applications from scholars of Anatolia in the Bronze Age and Neolithic encouraged as well as those of the Iron Age, Classical, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. The application deadline is December 15, 2009. Further information and application forms are available from the RCAC website http://rcac.ku.edu.tr

[posted on BEDLAM, 12th Oct 2009]

SPBS Chair manifesto

I welcome the opportunity to participate in the first ever election to the post of Chair of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. This development is evidence of the concern of the Executive to modernise its governance and is an important step towards widening the influence of its membership on the conduct of the Society. I have been a member of the Society since its inception and am now serving my second term on its Executive. For many years I was Co-Editor of the Society’s Bulletin. At present, I serve on the Development Committee and have been responsible for co-ordinating the Regional Events held this year to mark the Royal Academy’s Byzantium Exhibition. As well as researching and writing on Byzantium, I have taught at the Universities of Manchester and York both full-time undergraduates and graduates and part-time and Life Long Learning students. I am thus familiar with both academic Byzantinists and those for whom Byzantium is a major, but non-professional, interest. As I see it, the major challenges the Society faces are the following:

Making it clear that the Society welcomes all those interested in Byzantium whilst also providing a professional body for Byzantinists.
Building on the success of the Royal Academy Exhibition and recruiting new members from the thousands who have attended it.
Suggesting the reform of the structures and organisation of the International Congresses so that they better reflect the interests and priorities of the international Byzantine community and provide more encouragement to younger contributors.

To this end, I would like to see the Executive explore the following possibilities

The appointment of a Conference Officer to liaise with those running each SPBS Spring Symposium on behalf of the Society so that the Symposium may be made financially and intellectually accessible to all.
The continuation of the Society’s promotion of a programme of events both in London and the regions, again with the emphasis on accessibility.
The further development of the Society’s web-site and electronic communication systems.
The creation of a group to draw up suggestions as to how the workings of the International Committee for Byzantine Studies and its Congress might be improved.
The creation of a Professional Sub-Committee (to include the Chair and Secretary) to act as a ‘rapid-response’ group to initiatives and enquiries which come to the Society from other academic bodies (HEFCE, AHRC RAE panels etc).

Rosemary Morris, 31/12/08

THE HELLENIC INSTITUTE

Studentships, Bursaries and Prizes in Byzantine and Hellenic Studies (2009-10) offered at the Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London.

His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies
The Nikolaos Oikonomides Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies
The Panagiotis and Eleni Xenou Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies
The Charalambos and Eleni Pelendrides Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies

All four studentships are awarded on the basis of proven academic merit. Candidates should meet the normal entrance requirements of the University of London. The closing date for submission of applications is 1 September 2009.

George of Cyprus Bursaries
The Julian Chrysostomides Memorial Bursaries
The Joan Mervyn Hussey Prize in Byzantine Studies
The John Penrose Barron Prize in Hellenic Studies

Please see our website for details & further information.

There are no special application forms for the studentships and bursaries. Applicants should send a letter of application to Dr Charalambos Dendrinos

DUMBARTON OAKS summer school

In July 2009 Dumbarton Oaks will host a 4-week summer school in Byzantine numismatics and sigillography, taught by Drs. Cécile Morrisson and John Nesbitt. The program will be open to graduate students pursuing a doctoral degree in any field of Byzantine studies, and to junior faculty members in the field of Byzantine studies. For additional information, please consult the full announcement on the Dumbarton Oaks website at http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/doaks_byz_summer_program_2009.html

BYZANTINE GREEK SUMMER SCHOOL, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST

There are still a few places available at all three levels of the Byzantine Greek Summer School run by the Institute of Byzantine Studies at Queen's University Belfast:

Level-1 (28 June to 12 July) is for absolute beginners.

Level-2 (12-26 July) is an Intermediate course for those who are following on from Level-1 or have completed an elementary course elsewhere in Classical, New Testament or Byzantine Greek.

Level 3 (12-26 July) is an Advanced Reading Course is for those who have thorough knowledge of Greek morphology and syntax and want to test their reading and translation skills on a wide range of Greek texts. This course will also contain some elements of palaeography.

Please bring the Summer School to the attention of any students or others who you think might be interested. Please note that it is too late to apply for bursaries for the Summer School as all the bursary funds have now been allocated.

For further details and an application form contact Dr Anthony Hirst

Newton International Fellowships

The Newton International Fellowships will be the pre-eminent award for postdoctoral researchers wishing to undertake research in the UK. The Fellowships will be launched on 4 June 2008 and will be run by the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society to cover the broad range of natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities.

Newton International Fellowships aim to attract the world’s best post-doctoral researchers to Britain for a period of one to two years. Funding for follow-on activities will continue for up to ten years after the Newton International Fellows have returned overseas, with the aim of maintaining links with the UK. In addition, Newton Fellows will have the opportunity to join a national alumni scheme for international fellows run by RCUK.

More details will be available from the Newton International Fellowships website, which will go live on 4th June.

British Institute at Ankara: Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship

Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship tenable for one year from September 2009 based at the Institute in Ankara.

Applications are invited from candidates who should normally have completed a doctorate. Applicants must have a demonstrable connection with UK
academia.

The subject of the proposed research should focus on Turkey and/or the Black Sea littoral and may fall within any of the academic disciplines of the arts, humanities and social sciences. It should lead to a substantial publication either in monograph or in article form.

The salary will be £16,000 per annum and the Institute will pay the cost of one return flight between the UK and Turkey.

For further information contact Siobhan McKeown at biaa@britac.ac.uk

or visit the BIAA website

The deadline for applications is 1 May 2009 and interviews will be held in
London on 18 May 2009

BIAA Study Grants 2009/10

Study grants are intended to support doctoral or post-doctoral research in the fields of the arts, humanities and the social sciences related to Turkey and the Black Sea littoral. Specifically, the grants are intended to support scholars in defined aspects of doctoral research which will significantly progress the research, in the completion of PhDs, or in discrete pieces of post-doctoral research. These grants are not intended to support fieldwork within a wider project. They can be used to provide access to the particularly good Institute library, to support use of the Institute archive resources, and to study in the broader academic context within Turkey. Periods of study from one to three months will be supported.

An airfare (£300) and funding for basic subsistence and accommodation (£500 per month) is the expected level of funding. Accommodation at the Institute’s hostel will be available and full access to the Institute’s facilities will be provided. It is expected that normally the study will be based in Ankara, but specific applications based elsewhere in Turkey are not excluded.

Eligibility
1. Support is available to support scholars in defined aspects of doctoral research which will significantly progress the research, in the completion of PhDs, or in discrete pieces of post-doctoral research.
2. The period of study must take place between April 2009 and March 2010.
3. Applicants must be postgraduate students or postdoctoral scholars based in a British university.
4. Applications are considered by the BIAA Research Committee at half-yearly intervals; the next deadline for submission is 1 April 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

For further information please email Siobhan McKeown
Or visit the website

[Posted on BEDLAM: Byzantine Email Distribution List and Mailings.]

BIAA Turkish and Black Sea Scholars Fund

Purpose
Applications are being accepted for:
(1) support for scholars of post-graduate status and above from countries bordering the Black Sea to travel to the UK in order to visit a recognized UK academic institution and further their research interests (e.g. studying a museum collection, using a university library and/or presenting papers at conferences/workshops);
(2) support for scholars of post-graduate status and above from countries bordering the Black Sea to travel to the Institute’s premises in Ankara in order to further their research interests by using the collections held at the BIAA’s centre for research excellence.

Applicants wishing to visit the UK are expected to have provisionally organised their visit to the UK prior to applying for BIAA financial support, and are asked to confirm the participation of the host institution in the UK.

Applicants wishing to visit the Institute in Ankara are encouraged to apply to visit during the winter months (when accommodation at the Institute’s hostel in Ankara is more readily available).

Awards of a maximum of £500 will be offered.

Applicants will be conferred the title BIAA Visiting Researcher.

Eligibility
1. Support is available to support scholars of post-graduate status and above from countries bordering the Black Sea.
2. The funds must be taken up within one year of award.
4. Applications will be considered by the BIAA Research Committee; the deadline for submissions is 1 April 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

For further information please email Siobhan McKeown
Or visit the website

[Posted on BEDLAM: Byzantine Email Distribution List and Mailings.]

Byzantium 330-1453

25 October 2008 - 22 March 2009
Royal Academy of Arts

From October 2008, the Royal Academy of Arts will host a groundbreaking exhibition devoted to Byzantium. Highlighting the splendours of the Byzantine Empire, the exhibition will comprise around 300 objects including icons, detached wall paintings, micro-mosaics, ivories, enamels plus gold and silver metalwork. Some of the works have never been displayed in public before. Byzantium 300-1453 will include great works from the San Marco Treasury in Venice and rare items from collections across Europe, the USA, Russia, Ukraine and Egypt.

The exhibition begins with the foundation of Constantinople in 300 AD by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great and concludes with the capture of the city by the Ottoman forces of Mehmed II in 1453. This will be the first major exhibition on Byzantine Art in the United Kingdom for 50 years

SPBS is collaborating with several other institutions, with the support of the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Enterprise in organising a series of events and activities to accompany the exhibition, http://royalacademy.org.uk/byzantium

See the calendar of events, to which all are welcome. http://lcace.org.uk/events

To book tickets, please telephone 0870 848 8484 or visit https://ratickets.org.uk/welcome.asp

For more information on the exhibition see our dedicated Exhibitions page

BIAA Fieldwork Awards

SPHS Fieldwork Award
Sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies

Purpose
A grant of up to £400 is available to enable an undergraduate or postgraduate student to participate in a fieldwork project that relates to Hellenic studies (in its widest sense). Participation in the project should take place between April 2009 and March 2010.

Eligibility
Support is available to enable an undergraduate or postgraduate student to participate in a fieldwork project, in Turkey or the region of the Black Sea littoral, that relates to Hellenic studies (in its widest sense).

Participation in the project must take place between April 2009 and March 2010. Applicants must be undergraduate or postgraduate students based in a British university.

The completed application form and references should be emailed to http://www.biaa.ac.uk by 1 February 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

SPBS Fieldwork Award
Sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies

Purpose
A grant of up to £400 is available to enable an undergraduate or postgraduate student to participate in a fieldwork project that relates to Byzantine studies (in its widest sense). Participation in the project should take place between April 2009 and March 2010.

Eligibility
Support is available to enable an undergraduate or postgraduate student to participate in a fieldwork project, in Turkey or the region of the Black Sea littoral, that relates to Byzantine studies (in its widest sense).

Participation in the project must take place between April 2009 and March 2010.
Applicants must be undergraduate or postgraduate students based in a British university.

The completed application form and references should be emailed to http://www.biaa.ac.uk by 1 February 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

For more information please contact Siobhan McKeown

BIAA Travel Grants

Applications for Travel Grants are now being accepted for the period April 2009-March 2010. The deadline for applications is 1st February 2009.

Purpose
Travel grants of up to £500 each will be made to students in the fields of the arts, humanities and the social sciences to enable them to travel to and in Turkey and the region of the Black Sea littoral. Applicants should note that travel grants are not intended to support participation in fieldwork projects. The trip must take place between April 2009 and March 2010. The Institute tries to ensure that some undergraduates are among the successful candidates each year.

Eligibility
1. Support is available to enable students in the fields of the arts, humanities and the social sciences to travel to and in Turkey and the region of the Black Sea littoral.
2. The trip must take place between April 2009 and March 2010.
3. Applicants must be undergraduate or postgraduate students based in a British university.
4. The completed application form and references must reach the London office by 1 February 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

For further information along with the application form please contact Siobhan McKeown or visit http://www.biaa.ac.uk

Message from the Treasurer...

Please could members remember that annual subscription to the Society is due by 31st January 2009 (£20 / $40 / 40 euros / or £10 / $20 / 20 euros for students).

Please note that those members who are in arrears will not receive a copy of the Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies 35 (2009) or be eligible for a discount at the 2009 Symposium.

THE HELLENIC INSTITUTE

Postgraduate Studentships and Awards in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies (2008/9)

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies, in honour of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I, was established by the Orthodox Cultural Association of Athens through a generous donation by Mrs Angeliki Frangos in memory of her late mother Stela N. Frangos.

The Nikolaos Oikonomides Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies, established by the friends of the Hellenic Institute in memory of the distinguished Greek Byzantinist Nikolaos Oikonomides (1934-2000), in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Byzantine Studies.

Both studentships cover tuition fees at UK/EU rate for one year and are open to full-time and part-time students who wish to pursue either the University of London federal taught MA degree programme in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, or MPhil/PhD research in Byzantine Studies at the Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London.

The Panagiotis and Eleni Xenos Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine and Hellenic Studies, established through a generous donation by Mrs Politeia Katekou in memory of her late parents Panagiotis and Eleni Xenos.

The Charalambos and Eleni Pelendrides Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies, established thanks to a generous donation by Dr Andreas Pelendrides in memory of his late parents Charalambos and Eleni Pelendrides.
Both studentships cover tuition fees at UK/EU rate for one year and are open to full-time and part-time students who wish to pursue either the University of London federal taught MA degree programme in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, or the RHUL taught MA degree programme in History: Hellenic Studies, or MPhil/PhD research in some aspect of Byzantine and Hellenic studies at the Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London.
All studentships are awarded on the basis of proven academic merit. Candidates should meet the normal entrance requirements of the University of London. The closing date for submission of applications is 1 September 2008.

The George of Cyprus Bursaries in Hellenic Studies were established through the generous support of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, in honour of the great thirteenth-century scholar George of Cyprus, later Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory II (1283-89). The bursaries are awarded to part-time and full-time students who pursue the taught MA degree course in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, or the MA in Advanced History: Hellenic Studies, or MPhil/PhD research in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies at the Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London. There is no closing date for submission of applications for the bursaries.

In addition, the Hellenic Institute offers The Joan Mervyn Hussey Memorial Prize in Byzantine Studies in memory of the distinguished Byzantine scholar and teacher J.M. Hussey (1907-2006), Emeritus Professor of History in the University of London and former Head of the History Department at Royal Holloway College. The Prize (£500) is awarded to Hellenic Institute students who complete the MA in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies with the mark of distinction.

There are no special application forms for the studentships and bursaries. Applicants should send a letter of application to Miss J. Chrysostomides, Director, The Hellenic Institute, RHUL, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK.
For further information please contact Dr Charalambos Dendrinos, The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK; tel. +44 (0)1784 443791/443086/ 443311, fax +44 (0)1784 433032, e-mail: Ch.Dendrinos@rhul.ac.uk
For updated information on the Hellenic Institute and its activities please consult the web page: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/hellenic-institute/

University of Cyprus Postgraduate Programme

Since September 2007 the University of Cyprus has offered an Interdepartmental Postgraduate Programme in Byzantine Studies. The Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies and the Department of History and Archaeology offer a joint specialised postgraduate programme in Byzantine Studies leading to an MA and/or PhD degree. The goal of the programme is to promote interdisciplinary approaches in the various fields of Byzantine Studies. More specifically, the programme aims at a multilevel and multifaceted study of Byzantine culture that combines the various theoretical and practical methodological tools of Philology, History, History of Art and Archaeology. In this way, the historical phenomenon "Byzantium" is firmly placed within the broader geographical framework of Medieval Europe and the Middle East. For more information please visit the programme’s website:
http://www.ucy.ac.cy/byz/_en/index.html

The Composition of Byzantine Glass Mosaic Tesserae
Leverhulme International Network.

The Network has been established to bring together scholars interested in the production and composition of glass for Byzantine mosaics. Our first meeting was for two days in September. Here we set out what we see as the five key research issues to be considered during the project:

What are the colorants in mosaic tesserae? (including questions of sources of raw glass, sources of colorants, patterns and changes of colour use in mosaics – technical or aesthetic?
What does a comparison with window and vessel glass reveal?
What can be said about re-use and restoration of Byzantine mosaic glass? (both relative to the medieval world, for example in the re-use of Roman glass and tesserae – why is such glass re-used? What of the spread of tesserae and their use in other areas such as Scandinavian beads. And what conservation issues need to be considered?)
Where does the glass for tesserae come from?
What can be said about the making of mosaics? (making tesserae; gold and silver; volume of production; issues about making mosaics; regional questions; issues of supply; what would a Byzantine mosaicist look for in a glass factory? Why are there no mosaics in Egypt? What is happening in Rome in the middle ages? Is it possible to develop a production model for tesserae?)

Arising from these, we decided that our central projects would be to put together several basic research tools. These include a database and bibliography of research and analysis of Byzantine glass mosaic tesserae, a database of sites from which glass mosaics are known or recorded, and a glossary of key terms used by scientists, archaeologists and art historians.

The meeting also included a study day at which speakers and delegates, including Marie-Dominique Nenna, Marco Verità, Ian Freestone, Julian Henderson, Mariangela Vandini and Fatma Marii, discussed their research in the field and raised further research questions. These included the question of whether a ‘best practice’ document could be devised, and whether it was possible to define a common colour vocabulary for the study of glass and tesserae.

We are grateful to all who attended and contributed with such enthusiasm to the debates, proving that the topic is less esoteric than we had originally feared.

For a fuller report of the meeting, see our website,
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/arthistory/ByzantineGlass

If you have any interest in any of these themes, if you have other research questions, if you can contribute to the databases of research and analysis or sites or if you would like to be added to our mailing list, if you have any views on colour charts and best practice documents, please don’t hesitate to get involved. The Network welcomes contributions from all interested parties: contact Liz James or Bente Bjornholt.

KOÇ UNIVERSITY Residential and Non-Residential Fellowships for the academic year 2009-2010

Koç University invites applications from junior and senior scholars specializing in the archaeology, art history, history, and allied disciplines of Anatolia (and Istanbul) during the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman eras. Fellowships, which include accommodation, travel, and stipend, will be given to approximately 10 Ph.D. candidates and 10 scholars with Ph.D. to spend the 2009-2010 academic year in Istanbul at Koç University's Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations. Successful candidates will be required to be resident in Istanbul during the 9-month academic year (September 15-June 15). Some senior fellowships may be granted on a semester basis (September 15-January 31 or February 1-June 15). A small number of Non-Residential fellowships now available.

Located in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations offers housing, study, and computer facilities to its fellows. It is near the libraries of the French, German, Swedish, and Dutch Institutes and other scholarly facilities in Istanbul. RCAC fellows are expected to devote themselves full time to their research projects. Fellows will also be asked to give 2 lectures on their work during the course of the year. Fellows must be proficient in English, which is the language of instruction at Koç University. Applications from scholars of all nationalities are encouraged.

APPLICATION DEADLINE : JANUARY 15, 2009

For more information and application forms please visit : http://www.rcac.ku.edu.tr

[Posted on BEDLAM 25/11/08]

Chair of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies

Following the appointment of Prof Margaret Mullett as Director of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies is looking for a NEW CHAIR.

This is your opportunity to lead the promotion of Byzantine Studies in the UK. We would welcome nominations from across the full range of the membership of the society (academic seniority is not a precondition!). Enthusiasm and a desire to promote Byzantine studies are much more important.

If you wish to stand as Chair of the Society, please write to the Secretary (Antony Eastmond, Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN; email: antony.eastmond@courtauld.ac.uk), with the names of your proposer and seconder. Nominations close on 31 December 2008.

Please also include a manifesto or personal statement so that all may read your ideas for the future of the Society. All manifestoes and personal statements will be posted on the Society’s website so that members can read ideas in advance of the election.

The new Chair will be elected at the Society’s Annual General Meeting at 1.30pm on Sunday 22 March 2009 at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London [Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN]

CHURCH OF CYPRUS ICONS
Six smuggled icons (13th - 16th c.) recovered by the Church of Cyprus

In 2005 the California-based Charles Pankow Foundation consigned six Cypriot icons for sale at Sotheby’s in New York. The sale was halted when the Metropolis of Morphou (one of the Ecclesiastical Metropolises of Cyprus), after having found out that four of the icons came from its jurisdiction, demanded that they should not be offered in an auction until their provenance and the way they were exported from the island were clarified.

In May 2005, during a visit to Sotheby’s in New York, the Cypriot origin of the icons was confirmed.....[Continued 305kb pdf]

BIAA Study Grants 2009/10

Eligibility

Support is available to support scholars in defined aspects of doctoral research which will significantly progress the research, in the completion of PhDs, or in discrete pieces of post-doctoral research.
The period of study must take place between April 2009 and March 2010.
Applicants must be postgraduate students or postdoctoral scholars based in a British university.
Applications are considered by the BIAA Research Committee at half-yearly intervals; the next deadline for submission is 1 November 2008. Late applications will not be considered.

For further information please contact Siobhan McKeown: biaa@britac.ac.uk
Or visit the website: http://www.biaa.ac.uk

Byzantium unearthed on bbc radio 4

Historian Bettany Hughes begins a new series that uses the latest archaeological evidence to learn more about the empire of Byzantium and the people who ruled it.

Episode 1 starts Wednesday 8th October at 11am
Accessible via BBC i-player thereafter http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

Byzantological periodical Byzantinoslovaca

In the Slovak Republic the first issue of the new Byzantological periodical Byzantinoslovaca (ISBN 80-89236-07-3, EAN 9788089236077) was published by the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, Bratislava.
http://www.phil.uniba.sk
e-mail: kvd@fphil.uniba.sk.
The Editor in Chief is Miroslav Danish and the Executive Editor is Martin Hurbanich. The first issue was dedicated to the Slovak byzantologist Alexander Avenarius (+ 26.10.2004).

THE HELLENIC INSTITUTE
Postgraduate Studentships and Awards in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies (2007/8)

The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies, in honour of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I, was established by the Orthodox Cultural Association of Athens through a generous donation by Mrs Angeliki Frangos in memory of her late mother Stela N. Frangos.

The Nikolaos Oikonomides Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies, was established by the Friends of the Hellenic Institute in memory of the distinguished Greek Byzantinist Nikolaos Oikonomides (1934-2000), in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Byzantine Studies.

Both studentships cover tuition fees for one year and are open to UK/EU students who wish to pursue either the University of London federal taught MA degree programme in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, or MPhil/PhD research in Byzantine Studies at the Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London. The studentships are awarded on the basis of proven academic merit. Candidates should meet the normal entrance requirements of the University of London.

George of Cyprus Bursaries in Hellenic Studies, was established through the generous support of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, in honour of the great thirteenth-century scholar George of Cyprus, later Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory II (1283-89). Born in Cyprus in 1240, then under Latin occupation, at the age of seventeen he fled to Nicaea in order to pursue his studies. After the restoration of the Byzantine Empire in 1261 he settled in Constantinople, where he completed his higher education and subsequently taught the eminent scholars of the next generation. One aspect of his personality was his tenacity and dedication to his studies, despite enormous adversities. These grants are usually of a few hundred pounds to assist with general expenses of studying. They are awarded to part-time and full-time students who pursue either the University of London federal taught MA degree programme, or MPhil/PhD research in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies at The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Closing date for submission of applications: 31 August 2007.

In addition, the Hellenic Institute offers The Joan Mervyn Hussey Prize in Byzantine Studies in memory of the great Byzantine scholar and teacher J.M. Hussey (1907-2006), Emeritus Professor of History in the University of London and former Head of the History Department at Royal Holloway College. The Prize (£500) is awarded to Hellenic Institute students who complete the MA in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies with the mark of distinction.

For further information please contact:

Dr Charalambos Dendrinos, The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK; tel. +44 (0)1784 443791/443086/ 443311, fax +44 (0)1784 433032, e-mail: Ch.Dendrinos@rhul.ac.uk

For updated information on the Hellenic Institute and its activities please consult the web page: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/hellenic-institute/

University of Cyprus, Postgraduate Programme

From September 2007 an Interdepartmental Postgraduate Programme in Byzantine Studies will start at the University of Cyprus, run by the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies and the Department of History and Archaeology.

The first postgraduate student positions will be announced in January 15, 2007. For full information, please visit the Programme’s Website: http://www.ucy.ac.cy/byz

For further information, contact the two Programme co-ordinators Martin Hinterberger (siebens@ucy.ac.cy) and Alexander Beihammer (abeihamm@ucy.ac.cy).

AIEB

At the XXI International Congress in London in August 2006, the Association International d’Etudes Byzantines met for its 5-yearly main meeting. At the meeting the officers for the coming session were appointed: Prof Peter Schreiner as President, Prof Evangelos Chrysos as Secretary and Prof Michel Kaplan as Treasurer (replacing Prof Cecile Morrison).

Armenia was welcomed as a new national committee, and new statutes were approved. Prof Chrysos is in the process of updating the AIEB’s website, so soon you should be able to read all the news about international matters at http://www.aiebnet.gr, including the activities of the other national committees.

Dr Antony Eastmond

Oxford Centre for Late Antique Studies

Oxford University has recently set up an Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity, to link the work of over sixty scholars researching in Oxford at post-doctoral level into Late Antiquity - which, for the purposes of this centre, embraces the period circa 250-750 and the geographical area between Iran and Ireland.

The Centre has set up a website at www.ocla.ox.ac.uk where all Oxford research seminars and lectures within Late Antiquity are advertised, and, thanks to a generous gift, will also be inviting to the university a number of speakers from overseas. Members of the SPBS will already know that Oxford has particular strengths in Byzantine studies, and also in the study of near eastern Christianity. Information on all activities and courses in these areas can be found on the new website, as well as information about work on the Latin West and on the early Islamic world. Any interested party can attend the lectures and seminars that are advertised on the OCLA website.

Bryan Ward-Perkins
Chair, OCLA

Cardiff University
Centre for Late Antique Religion and Culture

Cardiff University’s Centre for Late Antique Religion and Culture (CLARK) is launching a new journal for inter-disciplinary research into the post-classical and late antique period.

The Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture (JLARC) is a full text, open access online Journal edited by members and associates of CLARC and published by Cardiff University.

Contributions are welcome for a wide range of topics in the research area as defined on the homepage of the centre. Further information, including details of the editorial board, may be found at: http://www.cf.ac.uk/clarc/jlarc/jlarc-home.html

The launch of the journal is planned for the end of November 2007.

Prosopography of the Byzantine World

A British Academy Research Project funded by the AHRC

PBW launched version 2006.1 of its electronic database of eleventh-century sources at King's College London last August, during the International Byzantine Congress. The database has since been updated and version 2006.2 is now freely accessible on the net: http://www.pbw.kcl.ac.uk . It contains information on some 12,000 individuals, culled from more than 7,800 lead seals and from textual sources mainly in Greek but also in Latin and Arabic. This information is presented in some 63,000 small packets (“factoids”) that appear as answers to specific searches (or combinations of search terms) and are organized where appropriate in chronological order, based on almost 3,000 events (“narrative units”) recorded in the empire and the wider area in the course of the 11 th and 12 th centuries. Thus, PBW is much more than a fully searchable prosopographical database: its chronological component and the abundant sigillographic material it integrates turn it into a valuable research tool for sigillographers and historians alike. It is also a rich resource for students and for the interested general public....[continued]

The Orthodox Academy of Crete
by Judith Herrin, King's College London

Last summer after attending a conference at Rethymno, I was urged to go and visit the Orthodox Academy of Crete, a centre for oecumenical studies. It is based in western Crete just beyond the Mone tes Gonias, which derives its name from the ‘elbow’, a right angle turn in the north coast, where a thin peninsula juts out into the Mediterranean.

Dr Alexandros Papaderos who founded and directs the OAC conceived the idea of the Academy as a centre of reconciliation.....[continued]

[From BBBS 32 (2006)]

The Medieval Logistics Project

The Medieval Logistics Project is shared between Birmingham University (Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity) and Princeton University (History Dept.). A new website, with updated details of current work and projects, will shortly be set up at Princeton to complement that at Birmingham: see www.medievallogistics.bham.ac.uk

Multi-Campus Research Group in Late Antiquity

After a successful first five years, the Multi-Campus Research Group in Late Antiquity of the University of California system, has been renewed for a further round of funding (to 2010), to engage in research activities on the topic 'From Polis to Oikoumene: Defining Cities and Citizenship from Antiquity to the Middle Ages'. For further information, see the website: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/lateantique/index.htm

Martin Harrison Fellowship: Turkish scholar to the UK

With funds donated in memory of the late Professor Martin Harrison, the University of Oxford has instituted a scheme of short-term Fellowships to enable Turkish scholars to come to the United Kingdom and Oxford for a period of research. The Fellowships are open to Turkish citizens (men and women) resident in Turkey who are working in any area of the material and visual culture of Anatolia , from the Prehistoric to the Ottoman period.

Applications are welcome from archaeologists and scholars in related fields such as epigraphy, numismatics, ancient history, and art history; museum curators and personnel are also eligible. Applicants should have completed two years of postgraduate research and be aged forty-five or younger. The Fellowships are intended for scholars from the docent, assistant, and doctoral student levels.

Competence in speaking and writing English is necessary. The Fellowship is to support a stay of between six and thirteen weeks, and has a maximum value of £1,500. A return airfare to London will be provided by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (BIAA).

Application forms and further details are available from the British Institute of Archaeology at Anakara, 24 Tahran Caddesi, Kavaklidere, TR-06700 Ankara. The closing date for applications is 31 March 2008. Completed applications, including a curriculum vitae, should be sent to the BIAA which will forward them to the University of Oxford .

If you want to discuss the Martin Harrison Fellowship or require further information please contact: Gülgün Girdivan on g.girdivan@biaatr.org

http://www.biaa.ac.uk/awards_details.html#mhf

THE 41st Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies

The Archaeologies of Byzantium

School of History, Classics and Archaeology,
University of Edinburgh
4-6th April 2008

This will be the first Spring Symposium directly focused on Byzantine Archaeology and aims to consider differing approaches to the archaeologies of the Byzantine world as well as highlighting the most important discoveries of recent years. We will cover the archaeology of the Byzantine world from the death of Justinian to fall of the City in 1453. We hope to consider how an understanding of the material culture of Byzantine has been moulded by the differing cultural and national perspectives of those who have inherited former Byzantine lands, especially Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Major themes will include:
• Spanning the divide, Archaeology and History
• Nautical archaeology;
• The Archaeology of Buildings;
• The Archaeology of Images;
• National Narratives;
• Material world ceramics, coins etc
• The Borders of Byzantium: Italian and Islamic perspectives
• Technology
• Peoples and Lands, settlement and landscape
• Geoscience: pollen etc.
• Osteoarchaeology

Visit our dedicated Symposium pages for further details including programme and registration forms.

Offer to members of the SPBS
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies

bmgs The Society proposes to offer Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, published twice yearly, at a significant reduction in its cost. Members would receive two issues of the journal yearly, together with the Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies, for a small raise in the annual subscription rate of £10-15.

For more information about BMGS and a sample of its contents see http://www.maney.co.uk/journals/byzantine
and http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/byz

We are very keen to solicit Members’ views on this proposal. Please send responses, indicating whether you would be interested in taking up this offer, to Fiona Haarer, either by email (fiona.haarer@kcl.ac.uk) or post (Department of Classics, Kings College, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS) by 31st December, 2007.

Byzantine Studies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia:
a historical review
by Jozef Matula

The history of the development of Byzantine Studies is not only a part of historiography and philology, but it also constitutes a special chapter in European cultural history and thinking. The evaluation of Byzantium and the attitude towards this empire on the borders of Europe and Asia which had claimed to be the inheritor of the Roman Empire, has always been connected with a whole set of political, cultural and religious factors. With the exception of a rather short episode when Cyril and Methodius led a mission to Great Moravia, the Czech countries have never been under the direct influence of Byzantine civilisation, but have developed in the sphere of Western Latin culture. It is therefore understandable that modern historical and philological enquiries have also been directed towards the study of the Middle Ages in Western and Central Europe and that Byzantine studies started to develop relatively late, and have stayed on the periphery of our research interests.
Continued.....

Byzantine Studies in Japan: a historical review
by Hiroyuki Hashikawa*

It seems probable that only a few Japanese Byzantinists are known to western Byzantinists even today, yet Japanese academic historical studies have been concerned with Byzantine studies since the end of World War II. As Byzantine studies had already begun in nineteenth-century Europe and even in the preceding centuries, a fifty-year history can be said to be quite short by comparison. This short history derives from the fact that Japan had no direct link with the Byzantine Empire. By the time that Japan's first historic contact with the West occurred, in 1543, when a Portuguese merchant ship drifted onto a southeastern island of Japan, the Byzantine Empire no longer existed.
Continued.....

The Anatolian Civilizations and Cultural Heritage Management Masters Program
Koç University, Istanbul

Now accepting applications for the 2007-2008 academic year
Student fellowships (tuition plus stipend) are available

The Program:
The Anatolian Civilizations and Cultural Heritage Management program is an interdisciplinary, two-year masters program whose primary goal is to provide an in-depth education in the history of art and architecture, archaeology, and cultural history of the lands that comprise present day Turkey. The program also introduces students to both the theoretical and practical aspects of museum operations and the management of cultural heritage resources. Experts in various areas of cultural heritage management and museum studies are invited as guest lecturers in the courses to expose students to a range of issues and approaches. Training in one of the languages of the Anatolian past is also provided. The ACHM Master's Program is administered by the Department of History at Koc University in Istanbul and is closely linked to the university's new Anatolian Civilizations research institute. Masters students in the ACHM program benefit from the expertise of the permanent faculty at Koc University as well as junior and senior fellows who are in residence at the Anatolian Civilizations research institute, located in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul.

Note that English is the language of instruction at Koç University and non-native speakers are requested to submit TOEFL scores in addition to GRE or LES scores.

For more information and application forms see the Koç University web site: www.ku.edu.tr

Application deadline: June 1, 2007

Professor Margaret Mullett awarded OBE

Congratulations to Margaret Mullett, Director of the Institute of Byzantine Studies at Queen's University, Belfast and SPBS Executive Committee member, who has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday honours for services to higher education.

Byzantinist Averil Cameron honoured in New Year list

The Society is very pleased to be able to congratulate SPBS member Averil Cameron, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine History, University of Oxford, and warden, Keble College, on the award of a DBE at the New Year's Honours list for services to classical scholarship.

News Release (28th October, 2005)
Istanbul Chaplaincy greets FCO response to Campaign to save bomb damaged St Helena’s

The Istanbul Chaplaincy has welcomed a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) response to a question tabled in the House of Lords by a prominent supporter of the Istanbul Church Council’s Campaign to save St Helena’s Chapel and churchyard within the British Consulate General site in Istanbul, from being leased to a hotel developer.

In a Written Answer to Lord Strathclyde, Leader of the Opposition in the Lords, FCO minister Lord Triesman stated ‘the Foreign Secretary has now asked officials to discuss the repair of the chapel with the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe and the Church Council at Istanbul. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will meet reasonable repair costs’
In the wake of the terrorist attack on the British Consulate in Istanbul and three other terrorist attacks on their city in November 2003, Istanbul residents were astonished to learn that the FCO had corresponded with the Bishop of Gibraltar’s office over plans to lease the Chapel and churchyard to a neighbouring hotel for entertainment purposes. Lord Strathclyde awaits Written Answer to six further questions, including a demand that all documents relating to the matter be placed in the library of the House of Lords.

Alerted by the sudden destruction of the churchyard and lodges by hotel developers, the Church Council mounted a vigorous campaign for the restoration of the Chapel and churchyard to Christian worship for which purpose the site was specifically gifted to the British crown in 1801 by Sultan Selim III. Chaplain’s statement follows:-
• The Chaplain in Istanbul, Canon Ian Sherwood OBE, welcomes the FCO’s response and expresses gratitude to Lord Strathclyde and all those who struggle to safeguard St Helena’s Chapel and churchyard. The decision to fund the repairs to the chapel follows a great deal of effort and intense high-level lobbying by Campaign supporters.
• Canon Sherwood is delighted at this positive outcome which represents a victory for all those who have rejected on principle the consideration of plans to commercialise a bomb damaged place of worship by leasing it to a hotel - for whatever purposes a hotel in Istanbul’s Soho might find for our Chapel and churchyard.
• The Church Council believes that the FCO’s response to Lord Strathclyde augurs well for the recovery and beautification of the churchyard in full co-operation with the FCO and Consulate; the commercialisation of the Chapel and churchyard would have occurred but for the astonishing response of nearly 600 signed-up campaign supporters ranging from the local carpenter to a pop music impresario, Glenda Jackson and Lord Salisbury!

BACKGROUND NOTE
• St Helena´s Chapel is the historic home of Anglican worship in Istanbul, which has centred on Christ Church (The Crimean Memorial Church), ever since the plans of a previous Bishop to hand over the abandoned Christ Church, its churchyard and Parsonage to the local municipality were defeated after a vigorous campaign lead by the Chaplain.
• The Chapel was frequently used for liturgical and charitable functions up to the time of the bombing, and after the bombing until access was barred.
• A significant restoration of St Helena´s Chapel had only just been completed in the weeks immediately prior to the terrorist incident.

For more information, including the list of Campaign supporters and Campaign press clippings, please contact Mr. Andrew Boord, Secretary of the Istanbul Church Council, e-mail aboord@profilo-telra.com.tr

Forthcoming Exhibitions
[Dr Antony Eastmond]

The Road to Byzantium. Luxury Arts of Antiquity
An exhibition at the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
30 March – 3 September 2006
In spring 2006 a major exhibition of Classical and Byzantine art opens in the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House on the Strand in London. The exhibition traces the development and survival of classicism from its birth in Greece in the fifth century BC through to the middle Byzantine period. Using sumptuous luxury goods, mostly in gold and silver, but also ivory, cameos and gems, the exhibition presents some of the finest objects from the State Hermitage Museum – Scythian gold and Greek silver from burials in the Crimea, an extensive display of the magnificent collection of Late Antique silver, and recent middle Byzantine discoveries such showing the silver dish of Alexander the Great, only discovered in 1987.

More details on the Exhibitions page...

Ivories at the British Museum
Next Summer it will also be possible to see the Hermitage Rooms exhibition in conjunction with a display at the British Museum of the Late Antique ivories from the National Museums on Merseyside, which will be loaned to the BM for a short period at around the time of the Congress. This will enable visitors to view such famous objects as the ivory diptych of Clementinus [513] and the panels of Asklepios and Hygeia alongside those already at the British Museum, and close to their related pieces at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Exhibitions to look out for in 2006
Soon we hope to have further information about other exhibitions related to Byzantium and the International Congress, including a display of icons at the British Library and of materials gathered by British visitors to Byzantine lands [location to be confirmed].

XXI International Congress of Byzantine Studies
London
21-26 Aug 2006

See the dedicated Congress web-site for information on registration, themes, speakers and paper titles.

The Congress will open at 11.00 a.m. on Monday 21 August, with suitable pomp and ceremony, to be followed by a grand lunch for all registered participants and will close on Saturday 26 August at midday with another lunch. Receptions are planned for most evenings in, for example, the Great Court of the British Museum, Lambeth Palace, and Somerset House. Exhibitions will range from Lear’s watercolours of Greece to fabulous late antique silver via the Codex Sinaiticus in electronic format.

Call for Information - Exhibition Material for 2006 Congress

Message from Ruby Clark:-
An exhibition is planned to coincide with the 2006 International Congress of Byzantine Studies. The exhibition is to be held at the Courtauld Institute Galleries and will take "British Travellers to Byzantium" as its general theme. It is hoped that a collection of diverse objects will be brought together from various British collections which will provide the visitor with a colourful description of who travelled to Byzantium from Britain, and what it was they chose to record and bring home. In the process of researching this exhibition on behalf of the Congress Committee, I am trying to collect information on the existence of as many examples of such objects, paintings, drawings, photographs and memorabilia as is possible. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone with any such information or ideas would contact me. The form of the exhibition is as yet very malleable, so all suggestions will be gratefully received. Thank you!

Please send your ideas to me, Ruby Clark, at rubyclark@hotmail.com

THIRTY-SECOND ANNUAL BYZANTINE STUDIES CONFERENCE

CALL FOR PAPERS
Deadline: March 15, 2006

The Thirty-First Annual Byzantine Studies Conference will be held at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, from November 10-12. The conference is the annual forum for the presentation and discussion of papers on every aspect of Byzantine studies, and is open to all, regardless of nationality or academic status. For more information, see our website: http://www.byzconf.org.

Birmingham Archaeology Group
http://www.byzarch.bham.ac.uk/

While the archaeology of the Early Byzantine world, broadly defined, is increasingly well served by dedicated or relevant meetings under a variety of headings (e.g., Roman Archaeology, Christian or Early Christian Archaeology, Late Antiquity, and sometimes “Early Medieval” for relevant parts of the post-Roman West), no such forum, either meeting or periodical, exists to facilitate the development of the archaeology of Byzantine world “after Antiquity”. Inspired by the example of the still continuing series of international colloquia Late Antique Archaeology, which take place twice yearly, the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies (based in the Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity of the School of Historical Studies at the University of Birmingham) (CBO&MGS) seeks to create the first forum dedicated entirely to the advancement of Byzantine archaeology from the seventh century onwards

The aim is to build upon the numerous excellent initiatives of Byzantinists and medievalists in many countries, without which this new step would still not be practical. It is the progress represented by these initiatives (conferences, workshops, projects, and publications) that leads us to believe that a dedicated colloquium series would be fruitful. To reflect the work that is under way in so many fields, part of the justification of this colloquium series must be its interdisciplinarity.

Middle and Late Byzantine, and East Mediterranean Frankish, Archaeology: an international colloquium series

With these aims in mind, the CBO&MGS proposes to organise, in collaboration at different stages with various international partners, a series of colloquia focused upon the archaeology of the Byzantine world from the Dark Age (7th - 9th cc.) onwards. The Byzantine world is understood to be wider than the regions that were at any given time under the direct political control of the Byzantine empire or, in the late period, of its successor states. This wider, and of course fluctuating and tapering, zone of cultural, economic, and political interaction cannot be rigidly demarcated, but should include the Balkans, the Black Sea littoral, parts of Italy, and, to varying degrees, the Crusader states.

In general terms the purposes of this series will be to stimulate a more inclusive and wider-ranging dialogue between specialists than the structures and fora of Byzantine Studies traditionally allow, and to project this dialogue to an increasingly engaged audience of historians. The details of the whole series’ agenda are not pre-cast since committed participants must be able to help in shaping the dialogue that is sought. But it is proposed, in the belief that all will find this useful, that as the series unfolds we use our projects to explore and reflect critically upon the following broad issues:

a) what the different forms of survey (19th - 21st-c.) and excavation have so far contributed to the analysis of the Dark Age, Middle Byzantine, and Late Byzantine (Byzantino-Frankish) periods;

b) the distinct and growing contributions of the archaeological and environmental sciences;

c) the evolving dialogue between archaeological enquiry and historical enquiry (cultural, economic, politico-administrative) within our discipline, and the value, or otherwise, of applying a “pure” or “generic” archaeological agenda;

d) the role of Dark-Age and Middle-to-Late Byzantine and East Mediterranean Frankish archaeology in 19th-20th-century cultural politics.
Meetings will therefore seek constantly to situate archaeological research in various ways, but this aim includes, and will not be at the expense of, much-needed reflections on the ways in which particular kinds of evidence (from numismatic to palynological for example ) are interpreted.

It is planned to hold the first meeting in April 2006.

For further information contact:
Archie Dunn
Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies
School of Historical Studies
University of Birmingham
B15 2TT
DunnAW@hhs.bham.ac.uk

21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies
(ByzCong 2006)

The Organising Committee for ByzCong 2006 met formally for the eighth time on 29 October 2004. The Academic Programme is now virtually complete, structured around the eight themes already announced and with panels associated with each theme.

Invitations to the plenary speakers and panel leaders were sent out in July and speakers in each panel are in the process of being finalised. Information about the themes and panels, together with the names of the co-chairs for each theme, can be found on the Congress web-site; details of the plenary speakers and the panel-leaders will be posted there shortly.

In the meantime, you are urged to consult the web-site for general information about the Congress, and to continue to consult it as the intention is that it will be updated frequently. The next major phase of activity will come in spring 2005 when the First (and only) Circular will be distributed. This will contain registration forms and also the call for Communications and Posters (not to be confused with the poster mentioned below!). The First Circular will be sent out on paper and also electronically. Plans for Exhibitions continue to evolve (in parallel with the evolutions among the directors of the galleries and museums in London and Oxford) as do plans for excursions and a social programme.

AAMB (Convenor ByzCong 2006)
EMJ (Deputy Convenor)

S.P.B.S. Chair

Robin Cormack's term of office as chairman of the Society will be coming to an end in 2005 and the Executive Committee would like to invite nominations for his successor. These should be sent to the Honorary Secretary, Jim Crow, at the Department of Archaeology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, or by e-mail: J.G.Crow@ncl.ac.uk.

British Academy Black Sea Initiative Scholarships

The management committee of the British Academy Black Sea Initiative is pleased to announce that a number of scholarships are available to academics from countries bordering the Black Sea who want to visit Turkey and make use of the research resources held at the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) for a period of up to one month. Applicants from across the arts, humanities and social sciences, including history, geography anthropology, linguistics, art history, literature and ethnography, are eligible to apply.

Further details are available at http://www.biaa.ac.uk/babsi/funding.html

Deadline for Application 30 Aug 2005

Two new appointments in Byzantine/Modern Greek posts

Dr Dimitris Papanikolaou: fixed-term lectureship in Modern Greek in the sub-faculty of Modern Greek at Oxford (Dr Papanikolaou is currently Mellon Fellow at University College London).

Tony Eastmond: Reader in Byzantine Art at the Courtauld Institute, University of London (currently at Warwick University).

The Byzantine Archaeology Group has been set up by Professor John Haldon and Archie Dunn of the University of Birmingham, UK. Their aim will be to run a series of seminars and produce a collection of books, in an attempt to set East Mediterranean archaeology of the 7th c. onwards on a firmer footing. If you are interested in taking part in this project in any way please contact haldonjf@artsadt1.bham.ac.uk or dunnAW@hhs.bham.ac.uk. They are very keen to establish contact with interested parties.
See the project details below.

While the archaeology of the Early Byzantine world, broadly defined, is increasingly well served by dedicated or relevant meetings under a variety of headings (e.g., Roman Archaeology, Christian or Early Christian Archaeology, Late Antiquity, and sometimes "Early Medieval" for relevant parts of the post-Roman West), no such forum, either meeting or periodical, exists to facilitate the development of the archaeology of Byzantine world "after Antiquity". Inspired by the example of the still continuing series of international colloquia Late Antique Archaeology, which take place twice yearly, the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies (based in the Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity of the School of Historical Studies at the University of Birmingham) (CBO&MGS) seeks to create the first forum dedicated entirely to the advancement of Byzantine archaeology from the seventh century onwards.

a) what the different forms of survey (19th - 21st-c.) and excavation have so far contributed to the analysis of the Dark Age, Middle Byzantine, and Late Byzantine (Byzantino-Frankish) periods;

b) the distinct and growing contributions of the archaeological and environmental sciences;

c) the evolving dialogue between archaeological enquiry and historical enquiry (cultural, economic, politico-administrative) within our discipline, and the value, or otherwise, of applying a "pure" or "generic" archaeological agenda;

d) the role of Dark-Age and Middle-to-Late Byzantine and East Mediterranean Frankish archaeology in 19th-20th-century cultural politics.

Meetings will therefore seek constantly to situate archaeological research in various ways, but this aim includes, and will not be at the expense of, much-needed reflections on the ways in which particular kinds of evidence (from numismatic to palynological for example ) are interpreted.

The partnerships that are under discussion involve sharing the responsibility for organising and raising funds to support the meetings which, it is our aim, will commence in the autumn of 2005 at Birmingham University in the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity. The proceedings will be published in a series of volumes while the CBO&MGS hosts or co-hosts a related web-site. Among the host organizations, the CBO&MGS sponsors conferences and colloquia in all the fields of study which it represents. Apart from the regular Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, begun in the late 1960s by Prof. Anthony Bryer, and now hosted at Birmingham on a rotational basis, it has most recently (November 2003) hosted the first of a projected series of international colloquia on Byzantine and Medieval Logistics with support from the European Science Foundation and the British Academy, which interconnects at every level with the purposes of a series on Middle and Late Byzantine and related archaeologies. Similarly, it hosted and organised a colloquium in November 2002 on Coinage & History in the 7th century Near East, with support from the Royal Numismatic Society and the UK Numismatic Trust. The wider Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity likewise hosts national and international meetings in the disciplines which it represents (e.g., theoretical archaeology, the archaeology of the ancient Near East, Roman archaeology), and invites Byzantine and Frankish archaeologists to make use of its unique facilities such as the recently-inaugurated (2002) HP Visual and Spatial Technology Centre. This is a dedicated centre housed within the Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity and provides an infrastructure and the resources to carry out the full range of remote sensing data capture and associated analytical processes, with enhanced projection facilities available for group or individual viewing and provide high-technology imaging solutions for both academic research and industrial applications.

From October 2003 the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham has two research fellows in residence, Dr Dimiter Angelov and Dr Mary Cunningham. Dr Angelov is a recipient of a two-year Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship (2003-2005) from the European Commission. Dr Cunningham holds a three-year AHRB grant (2003-2006).

Dr Angelov who is assistant professor of medieval history at Western Michigan University holds a doctorate in Byzantine history from Harvard University (2002) where he studied with Michael McCormick and Angeliki Laiou. He specialises in late Byzantine history and literature and has published on late Byzantine rhetoric, Greek epigraphy and the discovery of Byzantium in the Enlightenment. At Birmingham he will complete his book on late Byzantine imperial ideology and political thought. He will also collaborate with Dr Ruth Macrides on a translation and study of Pseudo-Kodinos' fourteenth-century treatise on court hierarchy.

Dr Cunningham, AHRB fellow, holds a BA from Harvard University where she studied with Ihor Sevcenko and a MA and PhD from Birmingham in Byzantine Studies. She has taught church history and Byzantine literature at Kings College, London, Belfast, Nottingham, and Birmingham where she also held a lectureship in Theology. Dr Cunningham has published widely on the church and preaching. Her research project at Birmingham, in collaboration with Dr Leslie Brubaker, concerns the relationship between relics, icons and the cult of the Virgin in the 8th century. Dr Cunningham will write a study of hymns and homilies on the Theotokos which will include all previously unpublished and untranslated homilies.

Established in spring 2002, the British Academy Black Sea Initiative (BABSI) is a three-year programme of interdisciplinary research in the Black Sea region sponsored by the British Academy and co-ordinated by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (BIAA).

Travel and Research Development Grants Travel and research development grants of up to £1,000 are available. These are intended to support brief visits to enable academics with an interest in the Black Sea region to visit specific countries, meet local academics and officials, and develop the early stages of new projects that will bear
fruit in later years.

Outreach Grants
Outreach grants are intended to support UK-based outreach activities (such
as workshops, seminars, conference panels, visiting scholars, etc) which promote international and interdisciplinary collaboration and the work of BABSI. Grants of up to £2,000 are available for larger events. However, some funds will be set aside for smaller workshops, seminars and meetings.

Scholarships
A number of scholarships are available to academics from countries bordering the Black Sea who want to visit Turkey and make use of the research resources held at the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara for a period of up to one month.

Application Procedure
While traditional areas of BIAA support, such as archaeology, are not excluded, applicants from across the arts, humanities and social sciences, including history, geography, economics, anthropology, linguistics, art history, literature and ethnography, are specifically encouraged to apply.

For further details about the awards listed and the application procedures, please visit the BABSI website.

A new society, SYTCOS, the Syrian Textile and Costume Squad, has been formed. The geographic area comprises prehistoric, ancient, Byzantine, and Muslim Syria (including the present following territories: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey) as well as the Spain of Al-Andalus.

- To unite people interested in the field of Syrian textiles and costumes or the Eastern Mediterranean world: archaeologists, prehistorians, historians, philologists, city planners, ethnologists, archivists, librarians, information professionals, private collectors, curators, chemists, restorers, etc., but also manufacturers, craftsmen, stylists and Syrian artists who keep up or revive the traditional techniques;

- To gather, circulate and publish any data and documentation relating to the history, the techniques, and the cultural, ethnographic, iconographic and religious meaning of these textiles;

- To promote by any available means the study of these textiles (conferences, exhibitions, publications, etc.) ;

- To promote the preservation of traditional techniques of weaving and dyeing by encouraging the craftsmen who still practice them.

The Bulletin of the Syrian Textile and Costume is published by SYTCOS. This publication is devoted to the research and the information-documentation in the field of Syrian textiles & the Eastern Mediterranean world: archaeology, prehistory, history of techniques, economic and social history, silk road, history of art, iconography, philology, city planning, ethnology, conservation-restoration, fibres and dyes analyses, etc., but also industry, handicraft, fashion and artistic creation.

Valérie Lefebvre-Aldawi, President
4 rue Collette, FR-75017 Paris
France
sytcos@wanadoo.fr

We are pleased to announce that the British Academy Black Sea Initiative (BABSI; a programme of research in the Black Sea region co-ordinated by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara) has recently been awarded a second year of funding by the British Academy.

Throughout this second year, BABSI will continue to promote study of the Black Sea region within British universities and to encourage increased interaction between British academics and scholars from the countries neighbouring the Black Sea and within a wider international context. With these aims in mind, a number of funding opportunities are available to scholars from across the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Details can be found on the BABSI website. We would be extremely grateful if you could draw the attention of your colleagues and students to these funding opportunities and the wider work of the British Academy Black Sea Initiative.

This new centre, one of the first ten awarded by the AHRB from over 140 applications, is designed to bring together textual scholars with art historians and archaeologists to develop a new generation of scholars who will write the new cultural history of Byzantium. The aim is to unite the strengths and of three universities, the expertise of Sussex in art history, the long tradition of Byzantine archaeology at Newcastle, and the literary interests of Belfast to enable resources to be maximised for the benefit of the subject.

The Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at the University of Reading

In October 2001, the University of Reading established the Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies and appointed Dr Ken Dark as its first Director. The Research Centre will focus on the archaeology, art history and history of Late Antiquity (broadly defined) and of the Byzantine world. Both the Late Antiquity Research Group and the Istanbul Rescue Archaeological Survey (see Fieldwork) will be based at the Research Centre from 2002. The Research Centre also has an especially close relationship with The British Museum, which will involve both research and teaching links.

Current research at the Centre includes work on Byzantine ceramics and rural settlement, the external contacts of the Byzantine Empire and, of course, urban archaeology. In addition to work on Byzantine Constantinople, projects underway at present range from Turkey and Israel to France and Spain. Additional projects are being developed with scholars working in other British universities and internationally.

Although primarily research-led, the Research Centre will also provide Masters options in Byzantine Studies within the existing programme of the Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, using both its own staff and in collaboration with The British Museum. Options already on offer include units on Byzantine archaeology and Byzantine artefacts.

The Research Centre is keen to develop further collaborative research and fieldwork projects and invites offers of collaboration from individual members of the SPBS, universities, museums and other relevant organisations. It also welcomes applications from prospective PhD students and Post-doctoral fellows, who might like to work in the stimulating and exciting new research environment it offers.

Finally, as a newly-established body, the Research Centre is also seeking sponsorship from individuals or organizations that would like to contribute to furthering research in Byzantine Studies, and particularly the archaeology of the Byzantine Empire. Even small amounts would, for example, permit us to help researchers to travel to relevant parts of the Byzantine world.

Enquiries regarding research collaboration, postgraduate or postdoctoral study or sponsorship, may be sent by email to the Director, Dr Ken Dark (K.R.Dark@reading.ac.uk) from whom a leaflet about opportunities for research and study at the Reading Research Centre is also available free of charge.

GRANTS TO ATTEND
Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York March 23, 2004–July 4, 2004

The Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies offers four grants, each worth £350, to subsidize the cost of visiting New York to see the major Late Byzantine Art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

As part of the AHRB Centre for Byzantine Cultural History (Belfast, Newcastle and Sussex), a project is underway to create a database of the images of the Madrid Skylitzes manuscript (Bib.Nac.vitr. 26-2). The database construction is run from the University of Sussex by Liz James and Bente Bjørnholt and forms a section of the Centre's Skylitzes project. Once complete, the database is intended for public use.

The manuscript, which is a twelfth century illustrated version of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes, contains 574 images of various subject matters related to the events in the text. It is the endeavour of the project to establish a comprehensive database, which will cover as many aspects of the images as possible such as iconographical features, colour, and style. In existing scholarship the images have already been used for many different purposes and it is the aim that the database will fulfil future requirements as far as possible. We want to ensure both that the operation of the database (such as search topics) and the information supplied meets the needs of the users and therefore ask you to tell us which topics would you find valuable to include in the database. Please email your suggestions to Skylitzesdata@hotmail.com.