Posted on

Conference: Gold Glass Memorial Day for Daniel T. Howells

Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, Oxford, 27 April 2019

A conference, co-hosted by Drs Susan Walker (Oxford University) and Ine Jacobs (Ioannou Centre), in commemoration of the life and work of the late Dr Daniel Howells. Speakers, many of whom knew or worked with Dr Howells, will present papers on the art of ancient gold glass, its historical contexts and influence on later art.

Speakers:

· Giulia Cesarin, “Gold-band glass: from Hellenistic to Roman luxury glass production.”

· Yasoko Fujii, “A Study of Continuity: gold leaf techniques on gold glass. From Hellenistic ‘Kirikane’ to Late Roman ‘Scratching’.”

· Will Lewis, “A Constantinian prince’s guide to religion and culture in the mid-fourth century.”

· Susan Walker, “Craft, consumers and the value of gold-glass in late antique Rome.”

· Lucy Grig, “’Cultures of Conviviality’: thinking about the role of the gold glasses in feasting and conviviality.”

· Eileen Rubery, “Gold glass and the cults of female saints in Rome: whatever happened to the Virgin Mary?”

For online registration, visit the conference’s Eventbrite page.

Posted on

Call for Papers: Syriac Worlds: Interactions, Exchanges, Contributions

Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, 16-19 June  2019

Deadline: 2 January 2019

The Eighth North American Syriac Symposium will convene at Brown University on June 16-19, 2019. Held every four years since 1991, the North American Syriac Symposium brings together scholars and students for exchange and discussion on a wide variety of topics related to the language, literature, and cultural history of Syriac Christianity, extending chronologically from the first centuries CE to the present day and geographically from Syriac Christianity’s homeland in the Middle East to South India, China, and the worldwide diaspora.

We invite paper proposals for the 2019 Brown Syriac Symposium on the them of Syriac Worlds: Interactions, Exchanges, Contributions.

Throughout its long history, Syriac Christianity has flourished in the midst of other languages, religions, cultures, and societies. However turbulent its circumstances, Syriac has enabled distinctive articulations and cultural expressions for its speakers. Moreover, not only have there been constant interactions, but Syriac has been an active medium of exchange. Contributions, borrowings, adaptations, and innovations have characterized the literary, material, philological, and cultural productions of Syriac speakers from the start. This Symposium welcomes proposals for scholarly papers on all topics that address Syriac in any of its historical time periods, within this broad theme.

Proposals may be submitted either for individual papers or as part of a proposed panel. Individual presentations must be limited to 20 minutes, plus 5 minutes of discussion time. Please submit contact information for the presenter(s) and an abstract of 250-350 words. Those wishing to propose a panel of 3 to 4 papers (4 papers maximum) on a specific theme must submit a separate abstract for each presentation, a title for the panel, and full contact information for all presenters and the session moderator.

All proposals should be submitted electronically to nasyriacsymposium@gmail.com on or before January 2, 2019. Notification of acceptances of paper and panel proposlas will be made in early February, with a view to publishing the program in early March.

For further information, see the conference website.

Posted on

Call for Papers: Seventh Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies

17-19 June 2019, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Deadline: 31 December 2018

The Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies provides a convenient summer venue in North America for scholars in all disciplines to present papers, organize sessions, participate in roundtables, and engage in interdisciplinary discussion. The goal of the symposium is to promote serious scholarly investigation of the medieval and early modern worlds.

We invite proposals for papers, sessions, and roundtables on all topics and in all disciplines of medieval and early modern studies. Proposals from learned societies and scholarly associations are particularly welcome. The deadline for proposals submissions is December 31.

The plenary speakers for this year will be John J. Contreni, of Purdue University, and Maureen C. Miller, of the University of California, Berkeley.

The Symposium is held on the beautiful midtown campus of Saint Louis University, hosted by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. On-campus housing options include affordable, air-conditioned apartments and a luxurious boutique hotel. Inexpensive dorm meal plans are available.

All sessions take place in state-of-the-art classrooms and auditoriums with complete audiovisual facilities. All sessions, events, meals, and housing are located within easy walking distance of each other. A rich variety of restaurants, bars, and cultural venues are also only a short walk away.

All sessions are 90 minutes long. A variety of session formats are welcome. Preference will be given to organized sessions that involve participants from multiple institutions.

For further information, see the conference website.

Posted on

Call for Papers: Following the Holy Fathers: Patristic Sources in the Palamite Controversy

“Following the Holy Fathers: Patristic Sources in the Palamite Controversy”, 18th International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, 19-24 August 2019

Deadline: 31 August 2018

Opponents on both sides of the Palamite controversy (1338-1368) invoked the writings of the Church Fathers to support their theological claims and positions. Though scholars have long debated the patristic antecedents of the essence-energies distinction, research has tended to focus almost exclusively on the fidelity of St. Gregory Palamas to his patristic sources. This Workshop seeks, instead, to explore the use of the Fathers in the Palamite controversy more generally, from neglected influences on the writings of Palamas himself to the use of patristic authorities by Gregory’s opponents and subsequent defenders. Comprising a philological, historical, and theological exploration, we welcome papers on the following topics:

  • The Fathers in St. Gregory Palamas
  • Patristic sources in anti-Palamite theology (from Barlaam to Manuel Kalekas and beyond)
  • Middle Byzantine and later patristic influences on the Palamite controversy
  • The role of the Liturgy and Hymnography in the Palamite controversy
  • The use of the Fathers by Palamite authors to 1453 (from Dishypatos and Kokkinos to Eugenikos and Scholarios)

Papers may focus on individual Church Fathers or patristic sources and methodology in general on any aspect of patristic theology that enhances our understanding of Palamite and anti-Palamite theology in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Abstracts, of no more than 300 words, to oxfordpalamas@gmail.com.