MAA News – Kalamazoo 2016 Call for Papers

Fishermen. Abbey Bible. J. Paul Getty Museum, MS 107. Italian, probably Bologna, about 1250 - 1262. Tempera and gold leaf on parchment.

Fishermen. Abbey Bible. J. Paul Getty Museum, MS 107. Italian, probably Bologna, about 1250 – 1262. Tempera and gold leaf on parchment.

The Call for Papers for the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies has been issued. We invite submissions for these MAA-sponsored sessions:

Medieval Academy of America: How We Read I-II: I. Medieval Literature; II. Medieval Scholarship, Translation, Historiography. Contact: Monica Green (monica.green@asu.edu).

CARA (Committee on Centers and Regional Associations, Medieval Academy of America): 1) Reflections on the Medieval Mediterranean NEH Summer Institutes (A Panel Discussion); 2) Addressing Career Diversity for Medievalists (A Panel Discussion). Contact: Michael Ryan (ryan6@unm.edu).

Medieval Academy Graduate Student Committee: The Modern Grail: Insider Tips from Search Committees to Land That Academic Job (A Roundtable).

Contact: Justin Barker (barker18@purdue.edu).

The Medieval Academy of America’s ICMS plenary lecture will be delivered by Jane Chance (Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor Emerita, Rice University).

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Alexander von Humboldt Professorship

Katrin Kogman-Appel, Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship (http://www.humboldt-professur.de/en/). Kogman-Appel’s research discusses illumination and decoration in Hebrew manuscripts and Jewish book culture. She will assume the Professorship in November 2016 at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster to establish a study track in Jewish cultural history.

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Franklin Research Grants

Scope

This program of small grants to scholars is intended to support the cost of research leading to publication in all areas of knowledge. The Franklin program is particularly designed to help meet the cost of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes; the purchase of microfilm, photocopies or equivalent research materials; the costs associated with fieldwork; or laboratory research expenses.

Eligibility

Applicants are expected to have a doctorate or to have published work of doctoral character and quality. Ph.D. candidates are not eligible to apply, but the Society is especially interested in supporting the work of young scholars who have recently received the doctorate.

Award

From $1,000 to $6,000.

Deadlines

October 1, December 1; notification in January and March.

Full Information and Online Application Access

www.amphilsoc.org/grants/franklin. Please direct all questions to Linda Musumeci, Director of Grants and Fellowships, atLMusumeci@amphilsoc.org or 215-440-3429.

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Jobs for Medievalists

Position Announcement: Head of the Manuscript Section, Houghton Library, Harvard University

 

Harvard University invites applications and nominations for the position of Head of the Manuscript Section, Houghton Library.  Reporting to the Associate Librarian for Technical Services, the Head of the Manuscript Section leads, manages, and supports Houghton Library’s efforts to accession, describe, preserve, and provide access to archival, manuscript, photographic, born-digital and other non-print holdings in all formats and across Houghton’s curatorial areas. The incumbent will bring a progressive, flexible, and innovative approach to this work and will be responsible for developing and/or implementing strategies, technologies, and standards that facilitate researcher access to Houghton’s holdings.   The Head of the Manuscript Section supervises section staff, plans and manages projects, and collaborates with staff and departments throughout Houghton Library, and participates actively within the broader Harvard special collections and archives community. 

 

Full details and application procedures are available on the Harvard Recruitment Management System: http://bit.ly/1KlBXSH

 

For salary information, consult Harvard’s “Salary Ranges and Position Grades for Staff Jobs” site:

 

http://hr.harvard.edu/salary-ranges

 

The position is Grade 58, which has a salary range that begins at $71,500.  As is customary, final salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.  

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Jobs for Medievalists

Position Title: Director of Byzantine Studies

Supervisor:    Director

Department:  Byzantine Studies

Grade:            60

Term:             Five years with the possibility of renewal up to an additional five years

Duties and Responsibilities

The Director of Byzantine Studies reports to the Director of Dumbarton Oaks and oversees the Byzantine Study Program at Dumbarton Oaks. The Director of Studies supports the Byzantine Fellows (who are resident for the academic year, a term, or the summer and pursue their own research) and organizes scholarly meetings such as symposia, colloquia, and lectures.

The individual holding the position has overall responsibility for administering the study program, including: coordinating the three annual meetings with the Board of Senior Fellows that advises the Director on fellowship selection and programmatic activities; supervising the Program Coordinator; ensuring the smooth running of activities in Byzantine Studies (such as research reports by Fellows, one-month research awards, the summer school, summer internships, one-month Visiting Scholars, etc.); and managing budget development, forecasting, and tracking of expenses (including project grants to archaeologists).

Within Dumbarton Oaks, the Director of Byzantine Studies provides input as requested on Byzantine holdings within the library (including Byzantine portions of the image and fieldwork archives); is expected to produce reports, such as the Byzantine portion of the annual report; and participates with other directors of scholarly departments in conducting basic research necessary to evaluate the success of programs.

In the broader scholarly world, the Director of Byzantine Studies promotes the vitality of the field. Outreach activities include regular communication with relevant Byzantine societies, listservs, and academic programs in the United States, Europe, and beyond. The Director of Byzantine Studies also fosters exchanges with closely connected fields such as medieval and Islamic studies.

The Director of Byzantine Studies acts as editor of the Byzantine journal, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, in conjunction with a small editorial board. He or she receives or solicits submissions, sends them out for peer review, relays comments to contributors, and ensures that accepted essays have been revised in accordance with reviewer comments and house style. The Director also serves as the acquiring editor for Byzantine books. This role requires assisting symposium organizers in their capacities as volume editors for proposed symposia volumes, monitoring submissions for other Byzantine series, creating proposals for review, and acting as developmental editor for all such submissions.

Supervisory Responsibilities

The Director of Byzantine Studies supervises the Program Coordinator.

Qualifications

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline and demonstrate strong administrative, editorial and interpersonal skills; a distinguished record of publications; and an excellent command of medieval Greek. They must have broad knowledge of various aspects of the field outside their own specialty and be well acquainted with the American academic setting. They must have the interest, ability, and commitment to join in the general intellectual life of Dumbarton Oaks.

To Apply

The application process is open to strong applicants at all career stages, from early to advanced. The appointment runs for five years, with the possibility of renewal up to an additional five years.

The position remains open until filled. Candidates should submit a detailed CV, cover letter, and list of references by clicking the link below. Questions can be addressed to HumanResources@doaks.org. Please note that interviews will be in Cambridge, Mass. and are likely to be held in the second half of January.

https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerID=25240&siteID=5341&AReq=36490BR

Dumbarton Oaks is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).

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Call for Papers – Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Sponsored Session

Call for Papers
Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Sponsored Session
at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 12-15, 2016

We seek proposals for the following session:

Networks of Transmission: Histories and and Practices of Collecting Medieval Manuscripts and Documents

This session will focus on the mapping of those networks of sale and purchase through which medieval manuscripts have been pursued and on the collectors and collecting that have catalyzed this transmission across the centuries. This session – like The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts itself – is rooted in the belief that studying manuscripts’ provenance can have dynamic and profound effects not only on our understanding of these medieval materials as objects to be bought and sold but also on their texts through mapping their circulation and reception. We particularly welcome proposals that explore diverse topics from the role of digital technologies such as the SDBM in conducting provenance research, the relationship between institutional and private ownership of manuscripts, specific case studies of collecting practices, the transatlantic travels of medieval materials, collectors’ roles in the dispersal of libraries and the fragmentation of manuscripts, collectors and manuscript preservation, and how a manuscript’s provenance history can effect its value and collectability on the rare books market, to how collectors and the act of collecting can shape and influence interpretations of manuscript evidence.

Please send proposals with a one-page abstract and Participant Information Form (www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html) to Lynn Ransom (lransom@upenn.edu ) by September 1, 2015.

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The Berlin Prize Call for Applications 2016/2017

The Berlin Prize
Call for Applications 2016/2017

The American Academy in Berlin invites applications for its residential fellowships for the academic year 2016/2017. The deadline is Wednesday, September 30, 2015 (12 noon EST or 6 pm CET). Applications may be submitted online or mailed to the Berlin office.

The Academy welcomes applications from emerging and established scholars, writers, and professionals who wish to engage in independent study in Berlin. Approximately 20 Berlin Prizes are conferred annually. Past recipients have included historians, economists, poets and novelists, journalists, legal scholars, anthropologists, musicologists, and public policy experts, among others.

Fellowships are typically awarded for an academic semester or, on occasion, for an entire academic year. Bosch Fellowships in Public Policy may be awarded for shorter stays of six to eight weeks. Benefits include round-trip airfare, partial board, a $5,000 monthly stipend, and accommodations at the Academy’s lakeside Hans Arnhold Center in the Berlin-Wannsee district.

Fellowships are restricted to individuals based permanently in the United States. Candidates in academic disciplines must have completed a PhD at the time of application. Candidates working in other fields—such as journalism, filmmaking, law, or public policy—must have equivalent professional degrees. Writers should have published at least one book at the time of application. The Academy gives priority to a proposal’s scholarly merit rather than any specific relevance to Germany.

Please note that the Inga Maren Otto Berlin Prize in Music Composition and the Guna S. Mundheim Berlin Prize in the Visual Arts are invitation-only competitions. We also do not accept applications in mathematics and the hard sciences.

Following a peer-reviewed evaluation process, an independent Selection Committee reviews finalist applications. The 2016/2017 Berlin Prizes will be announced in late February 2016.

For further information and to apply online, please see http://www.americanacademy.de/home/fellows/applications

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Call for Papers – Second International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Thought

Second International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Thought
April 7-9, 2016

Featuring Plenary Speaker
Dr. Caroline Bruzelius,
Professor of Art History, Duke University

The conference is slated to be held on the beautiful campus of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

Deadline to propose a Special Session:      Aug. 15, 2015
Deadline for abstracts:                                Nov. 15, 2015
Notification of acceptance:                         Dec. 15, 2015

You are invited to send your 250-300-word abstract to Dr. Darci Hill, Conference Director, on any topic dealing with Medieval and/or Renaissance thought. If you would like to propose a special session, you are welcome to do that as well. We welcome papers and performances on any aspect of this time period. Papers dealing with language and linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, history, art, music, and theatre are all equally welcome.

Please send all inquiries and abstracts electronically to:

Dr. Darci Hill,
Conference Director,
Dr.darci.hill@gmail.com
Department of English
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas 77340

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Call for Papers – Art and Articulation: Illuminating the Mystical, Medieval and Modern

 

Art and Articulation: Illuminating the Mystical, Medieval and Modern

When:  8th-9th January, 2016

Where:  St Hilda’s College, Oxford

Description:
The relationship between word and image, and the ways in which medieval art (be it visual, textual, or both) operates as a means of expressing the inexpressible, will be explored in a two-day conference held 8th-9th January 2016 at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, under the auspices of the Mystical Theology Network. This interdisciplinary conference will bring together theologians, art historians, and literary scholars to examine the ways in which various forms of artistic expression are used to articulate the mystical or that which cannot easily be spoken. The conference will investigate the role of art and its connection to forms of mystical knowing through various strands. From visual art, through optics, apophasis and ekphrasis to mystical theology, this multidisciplinary approach to illumination will shed new light on the role of art in mystical contemplation.

Keynote Speakers:

Barbara Baert (KU Leuven), Inigo Bocken (Titus Brandsma Instituut for the Study of Spirituality), Sheila Gallagher (Boston College), Vincent Gillespie (University of Oxford), Catherine Karkov (University of Leeds), Michael Kuczynski (Tulane University), Bernard McGinn (University of Chicago), William Prosser (Regent’s Park College, Oxford).

Call for Papers:

We welcome submissions for 20-minute papers and proposals for sessions of three 20-minute papers.

Topics may include, but are by no means confined to:

  • The interplay between mysticism and art, both visual and textual.
  • Art (visual, textual or both) as a means of communicating that which is hard to articulate.
  • Apophasis.
  • Theorisations of art and beauty and how these relate to notions of mysticism.
  • Transformative visions and the therapeutic effect of ‘seeing as’.
  • Medieval and modern ideas on optics, seeing and contemplation/mysticism.
  • The intersection between visual and textual art.
  • The role of illuminations and annotations in medieval manuscripts.
  • Ekphrasis.

Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words to the conference organisers at artandarticulation@gmail.com by 1st September 2015.

artandarticulationconference.wordpress.com

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Call for Papers – Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference

Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference 26 – 28th August, 2016

We are pleased to announce that the 23rd biennial conference of SASMARS will be held at Mont Fleur in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 26 – 28th August 2016.

“Texts and Transformations: Medieval and Early Modern Cultures”

Medieval and Early Modern societies weathered various socio-cultural transformations, ranging from economic developments to religious conflicts, across a range of different geographies and in urban and rural spaces.  How did poetry, theatre, prose, visual art, architecture, and other forms of art respond to such changes?  How do we historically understand and assess various kinds of social transitions?

Topics for this conference can include but are not limited to:

  • Adaptions of classical texts and artworks
  • Translation of texts and ideas
  • Contemporary readings of old texts
  • Cross-cultural interactions and influences
  • Historical transitions and periodisation
  • Religious reform
  • Urban renewal and development
  • Medieval and Early Modern studies in contemporary education
  • Appropriations of Medieval and Early Modern culture
  • Cultural responses to economic change
  • Representations of political dissent and rebellion
  • Utopias and dystopias
  • Gender, sexuality, and social change

Deadline:  A conference proposal and a short biography to derrick.higginbotham@uct.ac.za by 30 November 2015.  Any inquires can be directed to the same email address.

The CFP has been posted to our website at http://sasmarsnewsletter.blogspot.com/

Please send other items for the newsletter to me by 12 July.

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