56th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies: Symposium Information

The Byzantine Empire was built on the backs of the rural and urban labour force. From agricultural production and the extraction of raw materials to the physical construction of urban centres and buildings, the strength of the empire’s economy and its imperial administration rested upon complex networks of labourers, artisans and ‘local notables’, across its natural landscapes, in villages, and cities. While huge advances have been made in studying labour processes in recent years, the experiences of such populations within the Byzantine world have received comparatively less attention when compared to other fields of late Roman and western medieval studies. How the Byzantine Empire was experienced and understood by those far removed from its centres of governance and central networks of power, are crucial questions for understanding the lived experience of the mostly silent majority whose lives played out both within, and around, the empire’s fluctuating ‘borders’. Beyond exploring the contribution of rural communities and non-elites to modes of production, this symposium will also explore what can be said of the intricacies of their lives, societies, and what it meant to ‘be Byzantine’, viewed from below.

Symposiarch

Dr Daniel Reynolds

Cost

Full three days:

  • Members of SPBS – £95
  • Non-members – £110
  • Students/ unwaged: – £50

One day:

  • Members of SPBS – £55
  • Non-members – £65
  • Students/ unwaged – £30

Symposium Feast

Sunday 13 April 1930 (Kolkata Lounge Restaurant) – £40 per head

Online:

  • Members: £20
  • Non-members: £35
  • Students/unwaged: £10

 

 

 

 

Venue

The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom

The Symposium will be hosted in the Arts Building on the University of Birmingham’s main campus (map reference R16): https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/university/edgbaston-campus-map.pdf

An interactive map can be accessed here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/contact/directions

 

Getting to campus

Train

The University of Birmingham has its own train station known as ‘University’. Trains leave every 10-15 mins from Birmingham New Street Station, usually departing from platform 11B.

Further details on train travel: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/travelling-to-campus/travelling-by-train.aspx

Information on National Rail Services: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

It may be possible to get cheaper tickets, especially for longer-distance rail travel within the UK, here: https://www.thetrainline.com/

By bus

Local routes 61, 63, 41, 48, 76, X21, X22, 19, 20, 20A directly serve the University of Birmingham campus, linking the university to the city centre, local train stations and neighbourhoods. The circular 11A and 11C routes also run nearby.

Further details on bus travel: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/travelling-to-campus/travelling-by-bus.aspx

Car Parking

Northeast multi-storey car park (Pritchatts Road, B15 2SA).

You can park here for up to ten hours. Parking charges apply Monday to Sunday, between 8am and 6pm. This includes Bank holidays and university closed days.

Charges start from £3.40 and are capped at £10 (as of October 2024) Monday to Friday. If parking at the weekend or on a Bank holiday, there is a flat day rate of £2.50.

 

Taxi

TOA Taxis are a Birmingham-based company which is recommended by the university.

TOA Taxis: Birmingham black cab taxi service | Home | TOA Taxis

Accommodation

The university has its own onsite hotel accommodation, now known as the Edgbaston Park Hotel:  https://www.edgbastonparkhotel.com/

The city centre has a greater range of accommodation options and is located around 10-15mins away by train.

Further information on city centre options can be found here: https://visitbirmingham.com/where-to-stay/

Medical assistance

First Aid: Dr Daniel Reynolds (symposiarch) is a qualified first aider.   

Emergency service numbers: 999 or 112

Medical Practice:

The university has its own dedicated GP practitioner for non-emergency care: https://www.theump.co.uk/

UBHeard is a confidential listening and support service for all registered students (undergraduate and postgraduate) at the University of Birmingham. It offers immediate emotional and mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Call the service on 0800 368 5819 (Freephone UK*) or 00353 1 518 0277 (International), or visit the UBHeard portal (create an account with your UoB email address). You can also text ‘Hi’ to +44 74 1836 0780 for SMS & WhatsApp support (standard rates apply) or contact UBHeard via Live Chat.

Security

If there is an immediate risk to life, safety or security – yours, another person’s, or property – call the emergency services on 999. Then call Security on 0121 414 4444. If you are a member of the University of Birmingham, you can also alert them through the SafeZone app.

If you’re calling to report an alleged crime (especially assault/sexual assault, indecency, fraud, theft, or burglary), you should always contact both the police and Security. Security will be able to support you while you wait for the emergency services to arrive.

To report a non-emergency crime (e.g., theft), call Security on 0121 414 3000 or report an incident through the SafeZone app. You should also report the incident to the police online or by calling 101.

 

Food and drink

Lunch and refreshments will be provided for all symposium delegates. However, the campus also has a wide range of options you may prefer to explore: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/community/university-campus/retail/food-fellows/opening-times

 

The Main Library

The University Main Library is open 0800-2000 during university holidays and is open to visitors for consultation. Further information can be found here:  https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/libraries/index.aspx

Symposium Feast (Sunday 13 April 1930)

The symposium feast will be held at Kolkata Lounge 1488 Pershore Rd, Bournville, Birmingham B30 2NT.   

SPBS-OEBG Joint Lecture 2024 – Hybrid Event!

Peeping under the palimpsest: reclaiming the urban topography of Byzantine Constantinople

Prof. Jim Crow (University of Edinburgh)
Respondent: Dr Galina Fingarova (Universität Wien)

Event Details:
In person
May 13th 2024 at 5:30PM
Location: Meadows Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG

The subject of this talk is the sub-surface archaeology of Constantinople. A recent publication on late antique and medieval urbanism titled ‘Cities as Palimpsests?’ draws attention to the multi-layered nature of ancient cities and the nuanced perspectives which are offered for the study of evolving urbanism. But how far is this engaging metaphor relevant for understanding the city beneath our feet and as a contribution to comprehending past lifeways? By reviewing past and contemporary approaches and methodologies I aim to consider the contribution of previous observations and excavations for the topography and infrastructure of the city, with particular attention to the Byzantine remains enclosed within the circuit wall of the Topkapi Saray, the city’s first hill.

To register please click here

Dumbarton Oaks Collections Virtual Tour

 

We would like to invite you to  a virtual handling session of some of Dumbarton Oaks’ collections of Byzantine bronze and ivory, delivered by Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, curator of the Byzantine Collections.

Monday 25 March at 18:00 UK time. Please register in advance here.

 

 

 

Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies Autumn Lecture

The Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies UK, would like to invite you to our Autumn Lecture which will take place in Birmingham this November.

This year our speaker will be Henry Maguire, Professor Emeritus at John Hopkins University, who is going to be speaking about Byzantine gospel illustrations.

“Scenes Revolved in the Mind”: Allusion and Exegesis in Byzantine Gospel Illustration”

Wednesday 1st November, 1630
Venue: CAHA Museum, Arts 305, Arts Building, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT

Please book your ticket in advance here.

The 54th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies

The 54th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies

Material Religion in Byzantium and Beyond

17-19 March 2023, Corpus Christi College & All Souls College, Oxford

The 54th Annual Spring Symposium in Byzantine Studies will be held in Oxford on the theme of Material Religion in Byzantium and Beyond. The Symposium brings together Byzantine studies with a series of innovative approaches to the material nature and realities of religion – foregrounding the methodological, historical and archaeological problems of studying religion through visual and material culture. Taking a broad geographical and chronological view of the Byzantine world, the Symposium will range across Afro-Eurasia and from Antiquity to the period after the fall of Constantinople. Sessions will be arranged around the themes of ‘Objects in motion’, ‘Religion in 3D’, ‘Religious landscapes’, ‘Things without context’, ‘Things and their context’ and ‘Spatial approaches to religion’.

Confirmed speakers include: Béatrice Caseau, Paroma Chatterjee, Francesca Dell’Acqua, Ivan Foletti, David Frankfurter, Ildar Garipzanov, Troels M. Kristensen, Anne Lester, Birgit Meyer, Brigitte Pitarakis, Regula Schorta, Myrto Veikou, and Anne-Marie Yasin.

The Symposium will be hybrid, taking place at Oxford – Corpus Christi College and All Souls College –, and on Zoom.

Fees and registration:
– In person, for three days: Full: £130; Members of the SPBS: £110; Students/Unwaged: £60.
– In person, for one day: Full: £65; Members of the SPBS: £55; Students/Unwaged: £30.
– On-line: Full: £35; Members of the SPBS: £20; Students/Unwaged: £10

A booking form will soon be available online, on the Symposium website, with further details of registration and payment.

Symposiarchs
Jaś Elsner, Ine Jacobs, Julia Smith

Rethinking Late Antiquity as Early Christendom

Court Room, Senate House, Malet Street, WC1E 7HU
7 June 2022, 18:00

The SPBS, in association with the Hellenic Society and the Roman Society is pleased to announce a public lecture by Professor Judith Herrin, ‘Rethinking Late Antiquity as Early Christendom’.

If you are unable to attend the lecture in person, it will be streamed via Zoom. Please email Dr Fiona Haarer for joining instructions.

Spring Symposium Update

Please note the ‘Material Religion in Byzantium and Beyond’, the unfortunately postponed 54th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, will now take place on 17-19 March 2023. We encourage you to mark the date in your diary!

Update: Spring Symposium

Dear Colleagues, dear Friends,

We are writing with an update on the upcoming 2022 SPBS Spring Symposium on Material Religion in Byzantium and Beyond.

After much consultation and deliberation, we have decided to postpone this year’s Spring Symposium to the Spring of 2023. Although we regret not being able to meet this year, continuing COVID19-related uncertainties and restrictions in the UK and beyond put the feasibility of meeting in person in doubt, and it has proved impossible to organise a viable hybrid format at this relatively short notice. We will post an announcement of the revised dates shortly.

Mindful that the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies meets in August 2022, the SPBS Executive Committee has agreed that there will be no symposium this year, and we are especially grateful to the organisers of the Spring Symposium scheduled for the year after Oxford (Kent, with Anne Alwis as Symposiarch) who have generously agreed to defer their meeting to 2024.

We are looking forward to welcoming you all in Oxford in the Spring of 2023.

Symposiarchs
Jaś Elsner, Ine Jacobs, Julia Smith

Into The Labyrinth: a Journey into Stoudite ‘Cancel Culture’

29 November 2021, 17:00 GMT

A reminder that Rosemary Morris has kindly agreed to re-present the SPBS Autumn Lecture, Into The Labyrinth: a Journey into Stoudite ‘Cancel Culture’, on Monday, 29 November at 5 p.m. (1700) London time. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A session. We have done our best to ensure that neither the lecture nor the discussion that follows will be disrupted this time round!

Zoom details are below, and please do urge anyone else whom you think might be interested to join us as well! If there are any problems with access, please contact Dan Reynolds, at D.K.Reynolds@Bham.ac.uk

Join Zoom Meeting
https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83796231771?pwd=elcvV0RUcUMwcFZFNG8xTzNPcUVCZz09

Meeting ID: 837 9623 1771
Passcode: 277530
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