MAA News – Jacqueline Brown Retires

On behalf of the staff, members and leadership of the Medieval Academy, I want to offer my thanks to Jacqueline Brown for her thirty-three years of service to Speculum and the Academy. Since 1981, she has edited hundreds of articles and more than 9,000 book reviews, guiding hundreds of authors from submission to publication. With her uncompromising attention to detail and consistency and her commitment to grammatical and rhetorical rigor, Jackie has earned the respect and gratitude of all who have worked with her. We are particularly grateful for her service these last eight months, when she stepped into the role of Acting Editor with little notice and proceeded to return the journal to a regular publication schedule without compromising the high standards for which Speculum is known. All of us in the office will miss her, and we wish her good luck in her retirement.

– Lisa Fagin Davis, Acting Executive Director

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MAA News – New Editor of Speculum

To the Memberssspence of the Medieval Academy:

The Council, on the recommendation of a search committee chaired by Richard Unger, is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Sarah Spence as the new editor of Speculum.

Sarah Spence has just taken early retirement from her post as Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia, where she was Distinguished Research Professor from 2009 to 2013.  A specialist particularly in troubadour poetry, Spence’s scholarship and professional activities demonstrate a great range, from classical antiquity to the Renaissance and beyond.  Her career has been marked not only by an impressive list of publications but also by skill in working collegially.  She has an extensive history as an editor.  In addition to two co-edited volumes of critical essays, Spence has developed particular expertise as a journal editor.  She was founding editor of Literary Imagination and held that post for eight years.  Before that, she was managing editor of Tenso.  After leaving Literary Imagination, Spence took on Vergilius for three years, raising its quality and readership.  Editing has thus been a major thread in Spence’s career, rivaling her activities as scholar and teacher.  Editing and the study of literature, while they are twin strands in her career, have never been divided.  Her interest in encouraging younger scholars to send their work to Speculum, though they may be daunted by the idea of publishing in the field’s most prestigious journal – famed (as it should be) for its rigorous standards – has the potential to establish new directions.  Her wide experience and genuine pleasure in the nitty-gritty of nurturing and editing articles hold great promise for her term as the editor of Speculum.

The task of the search committee proved a difficult one.  Making a choice among the ten applicants, individuals with varied and distinguished credentials, took longer than anyone had anticipated.  After extensive, careful, and thoughtful deliberation the committee made its recommendation to appoint Sarah Spence. The Academy is grateful to all ten members who applied for their willingness to serve and their interest in the organization. We owe a special debt of gratitude to the members of the search committee – Christopher Baswell, Susan Einbinder, Cynthia Hahn, and Cary Nederman – for their hard work over the last months and their contributions to the difficult decision that has now been made.

Sarah Spence is enthusiastic about this appointment and is very much looking forward to her new role as editor of Speculum. We are sure you will join us in wishing her all the best in her service to the Academy.

Richard Unger, President
William Chester Jordan, First Vice-President
Barbara Newman, Second Vice-President

Sarah Spence: Curriculum Vitae

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Call for Papers – Origines et mutationes circa principio Mare Balticum

Transfer of people, ideas, technologies and religion in the Baltic Sea Region between VIII-XVII centuries. We hereby have the pleasure to invite you to the international conference aimed at wide range of researchers, e.g. from Ph.D. Candidates to Professors, giving each of them an opportunity to exchange knowledge or start new research projects.

The focus of the conference is “transfer”, which best explains the changes Baltic Sea region has undergone from VIII to XVII centuries.

Presentations & Conference proceedings are divided into 4 main groups:

1. Transfer of People: Settlement process, Trade, Logistics, Diplomacy
2. Transfer of Ideas: Law, Tradition & Customs, Political Concepts
3. Transfer of Technology: Land & Maritime Craft, Agriculture, Medicine
4. Transfer of Religion: Dispersion of pagan beliefs; Christianization process

Place: Gdańsk – Old Town, Poland
Host – University of Gdańsk
Date: 10th – 13th September 2014 (note: date may change slightly)
Language: English
Abstracts: Paper proposals (max 700 signs with spaces) or 3-papers panel proposals (1800 signs) should be sent till 1st March 2014
Registrations: baltic.conf@gmail.com
Application Form: Please type your Scientific Title, Full name & surname, University or Institution.
Alternatively please send www.academia.edu link.
Further information will be passed to participants in early March 2014.
Presentations: Max. 20 minutes
Proceedings: Max. 12 pages, with summary, scientific apparatus & bibliography should be sent till 15th October 2014 A.D.

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EpiDoc Workshop

EpiDoc Workshop, London, April 28-May 1, 2014

We invite applications for a 4-day training workshop on digital editing of epigraphic and papyrological texts, to be held in the Institute of Classical Studies, London, April 28-May 1, 2014. The workshop will be taught by Gabriel Bodard (KCL), Simona Stoyanova (Leipzig) and Charlotte Tupman (KCL). There will be no charge for the teaching, but participants will have to arrange their own travel and accommodation.

EpiDoc (epidoc.sf.net) is a set of guidelines for using TEI XML (tei-c.org) for the encoding of inscriptions, papyri and other ancient documentary texts. It has been used to publish digital projects including the Inscriptions of Aphrodisias, the US Epigraphy Project, Vindolanda Tablets Online and the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri. The workshop will introduce participants to the basics of XML markup and give hands-on experience of tagging textual features and object descriptions in TEI, as well as use of the tags-free Papyrological Editor (papyri.info/editor).

No technical skills are required, but a working knowledge of Greek or Latin, epigraphy or papyrology and the Leiden Conventions will be assumed. The workshop is open to participants of all levels, from graduate students to professors or professionals.

To apply for a place on this workshop please email charlotte.tupman@kcl.ac.uk with a brief description of your reason for interest and summarising your relevant skills and background, by Friday, February 21st, 2014.

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Rare Book School opens applications for summer 2014

Applications for Rare Book School’s summer 2014 courses are now being accepted. Please see the Application & Admissions page of the RBS website to begin the application process: http://www.rarebookschool.org/applications/. To be considered for the first round of admissions decisions, please submit your application for summer courses by 15 February.

In our summer 2014 sessions, Rare Book School will offer a total of 31 courses at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (June–August), the University of Pennsylvania and the Library Company of Philadelphia in Philadelphia (June), and at Yale University in New Haven (July–August).

New courses for 2014 include: The Medieval Manuscript in the 21st Century,

The History of the Book in China, and American Publishers’ Bookbindings, 1800–1900. See the full summer 2014 course schedule at http://www.rarebookschool.org/schedule/

Courses fill quickly, so we recommend applying as early as possible: http://www.rarebookschool.org/applications/

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Call for Articles – Muslims and Islam in the Early Modern Italian and Mediterranean Worlds

I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance is pleased to announce a call for articles that explore the presence of “Muslims and Islam in the Early Modern Italian and Mediterranean Worlds.”  Articles should address the transmission and circulation of ideas, objects, and people during the Renaissance, into and beyond the Italian peninsula. We are especially interested in essays that challenge current disciplinary boundaries while providing new interpretations of and evidence for cross-cultural interactions between Muslims and other religious and ethnic groups. Essays should be between 7000-9000 words, including footnotes.  The deadline for submission is January 31, 2014; selected essays will appear in the May 2015 issue of I Tatti Studies.

The journal will continue to consider and encourage submissions of individual essays exploring any aspect of the Italian Renaissance. I Tatti Studies maintains a double-blind review process and commits to reviewing essays within six months. For author information and for online submission, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/its.html. For other inquiries, please email Prof. Jane Tylus at jane.tylus[at]nyu.edu

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Call for Papers – Robert Grosseteste and the Pursuit of Religious and Scientific Learning in the Middle-Ages

It is intended that this conference will explore the relationship between the pursuit of scientific and religious knowledge in the middle-ages, with a particular focus on the British scholar, theologian, scientist, astronomer and philosopher, Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175-1253). It will discuss Grosseteste’s theological and scientific understanding, particularly of the new Greek and Arab learning, and how

this influenced his theological/philosophical investigations. Whilst it is anticipated that the main focus will be on Grosseteste, it will also be an important part of the conference’s rationale to discuss contemporaries as well as later writers who drew on his learning in order to advance the study of science and religion. In addition to this rationale it will be an over-riding aim of the conference to discuss in general the relationship between science and religion and to discuss whether our present era has anything to learn from the middle-ages in this respect. Key note speakers will include Prof. Tom McLeish and Dr Giles Gasper from Durham University’s Order Universe Project and Dr Amanda Power from Sheffield University. It is expected that the proceedings of this conference will be published.

Proposals for 40 minutes papers or enquiries should be directed by 10th February to Dr Jack Cunningham, j.p.cunningham@bishopg.ac.uk, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, LN1 3DY, UK. Proposal should be 300-400 words in length and should include you telephone number or e-mail address, as well as your academic affiliation (if any).

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Call for Papers – The Art And Archaeology of Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus (1192-1571): Recent Research and New Discoveries

The art and archaeology of the Latin East have regularly been marginalised in broader accounts of medieval material culture, largely because they cannot fit within the restrictive parameters established for either the Byzantine East or the Latin West. Over the years, the art and archaeology of Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus (1192-1571) have attracted both western medievalists and Byzantinists, each group bringing its own methodological prejudices to the study of the subject. In the last twenty years, a number of international conferences, collaborative research initiatives and other events, culminating in last year’s exhibition Chypre entre Byzance et l’Occident IVe-XVIe siècle (2012-3) at the Louvre, have paved the way for a more fruitful interchange between scholars coming at the art and archaeology of Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus from a Byzantine or western medieval background.

Increasing specialisation within any given field being a virtual necessity in the modern academic world, students of medieval material culture West and East are called upon to broach the issue with an open mind to neighbouring fields, and to cooperate among themselves to bring about a synthetic, integrated vision of the complex history of Cypriot material culture in the later Middle Ages and of the society that produced it. Nevertheless, there is still much ground to cover. The brisk pace of current research activities has overtaken that of publication; a number of important excavations are still ongoing or under preparation for publication; and a host of new doctoral theses are in development. Now, more than ever, there is urgent need for the sustained exchange of new ideas and information regarding fresh discoveries, as well as for the rethinking of received knowledge and the renewal of approaches that this may entail.

This conference is the third in a series focusing on recent archaeological and art historical research on Cyprus from the Hellenistic period onwards. It aims at providing a forum for the discussion of the art and archaeology of Cyprus during the Lusignan and Venetian periods. Art historians and archaeologists engaged in research on this particular topic, both of the ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ persuasions, are encouraged to contribute by presenting the results of their recent work. We invite papers on subjects ranging from archaeological excavation, post-excavation finds analysis and field survey to monumental art (architecture, sculpture, painting), metalwork, ceramics, numismatics and other aspects of the island’s material life in the late medieval period.

We are planning a three-day event, with individual contributions up to 20 minutes in length. The conference will take place in Nicosia in 12-14 December 2014. Due to budgetary constraints, the speakers’ travel costs cannot be covered by the conference, but every effort will be made to secure conference rates at hotels near the conference venue. There is no registration fee for participation or attendance.

Prospective speakers are invited to submit a title and a 500-word abstract for consideration electronically, by 30 April 2014. Please send all materials and address all queries to Michalis Olympios (olympios.michalis@ucy.ac.cy) and Maria Parani (mparani@ucy.ac.cy).

The Organisers
Michalis Olympios
Maria Parani

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Viking and Medieval Norse Studies and Medieval Icelandic Studies

The University of Iceland is now accepting applications for Viking and Medieval Norse Studies and Medieval Icelandic Studies:

(1) Medieval Icelandic Studies is a three-semester (90 ECTS) graduate program, with two semesters’ (60 ECTS) worth of course work and one semester’s worth (30 ECTS) master’s thesis. The summer semester is the thesis semester, which means that the program can be completed in 12 months.

See http://english.hi.is/school_of_humanities/faculty_of_icelandic_and_comparative_cultural_studies/medieval_icelandic

(2) Viking and Medieval Norse Studies is a four-semester (120 ECTS) graduate program run in cooperation with the University of Oslo in Norway, Aarhus University and Copenhagen University in Denmark. The first year–60 ECTS’ worth of course work–takes place in Iceland, but the third semester is spent either in Oslo, Aarhus, or Copenhagen, completing 30 ECTS of courses. The fourth semester is devoted to writin the master’s thesis, and can be spent in Iceland or Oslo.

See http://oldnorse.is/

Application deadline for both programs is February 1, 2014.

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Call for Papers – Language as Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean (330-2013)

Language as Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean (330-2013)

The students of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham are proud to announce the 15th Annual Postgraduate Colloquium, which will take place on Saturday, 24th May 2014.

Keynote speaker: Dr Maria Georgopoulou

(Director of the Gennadius Library, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens)

The colloquium will bring postgraduate students together to discuss the significance of language in the eastern Mediterranean from Late Antiquity to the Modern Age. Beginning with the observation that all studies are routinely possessed by language, it is important to understand the relationship between language and culture. A major goal is to examine the role of culture in linguistic meaning, language use and, conversely, the role of linguistic form and culture in social action and in cultural practices. Language is a key to understanding the social, symbolic and expressive lives of members of society.

How, we will ask, can we learn more about language, and, what can we say about language in the Mediterranean basin?

Studies of ritual and performance, of patronage and status often draw on linguistic evidence to talk about various forms of cultural production: attesting to the crucial and hitherto unacknowledged role of language in the creation of cultural subjectivities. Language as a term should not be limited to literary forms, as verbal products, but may be extended to encompass a broader range of visual narratives, including, potentially, painting, architecture and other kinds of material culture. We are interested in the production, interpretation and reproduction of social meanings, as expressed and accrued through language and in exploring the relation to culture and society.

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers in all fields of Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies. Topics may include but are not limited to:

*   Language ideology
*   Ideological context of architecture
*   Visual culture
*   Literacy and education
*   Literary analysis
*   Multicultural communities
*   Objects and words as symbols of identity
*   Representation, power and social status
*   Theories and practices of image-making
*   Ideas about communication or trade
*   Perceptions and sounds of speech
*   Cultural history of texts

Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words to George Makris at GTM036@bham.ac.uk by Monday, 24th March 2014.

 

Registration is free.

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