Call for Papers – Light Colour Line – Perceiving the Mediterranean: Conflicting Narratives and Ritual Dynamics

The Mediterranean Seminar is proud to collaborate with the
5th International Conference of Mediterranean Worlds:
Light Colour Line – Perceiving the Mediterranean: Conflicting Narratives and Ritual Dynamics,
to be held at Bern (Switzerland), September 9-11, 2013

The theme of this interdisciplinary conference will focus on three issues:

1. The light, the colour, the horizon line are parameters for the perception of the Mediterranean. A statement such as “the colour of the Mediterranean is only turquoise in the indirect light of Capri’s Blue Grotto” is an example of the utopian metaphors that have shaped the image of this region. From classical times to today, the subjective image of the Mediterranean has moved so close to its object that it is perceived to have substantially converged with it. The subjective image has altered the history of its object, its linguistic, sectarian and social structures, giving rise to incomprehension or even rejection between ‘Occident’ and ‘Orient’. At the same time, however, it has also set a process of cultural osmosis in motion. Is there a valid image, a correlative or interactive visualization of the Mediterranean and its inhabitants?

2. Using narrative forms of representation, literary, filmic and photographic media require modes of perceiving the Mediterranean that in comparison with perceived reality reveal – on both sides – fractures and contradictions, conflicting narratives. Pictorial and textual narratives are attempts to perceive a region, a space, or a utopia which have their origin in and reflect the oral tradition of their inhabitants in the ports, trading posts and caravanserais. For this purpose the oral tradition has used predominant narratives and counter-narratives, heroes and anti-heroes, realities and utopias. How has this dialectic form of oral tradition been represented in pictorial and textual media from ancient times to the present day?

3. The title colour line is deliberately ambivalent, touching in equal measure on both the history of perception, epistemology, social anthropology and the political history of the Mediterranean. Thus, the Mediterranean is not only Europe’s most lethal border, located between three continents, three religions and ethnicities, but also the ‘transmission belt’ of an osmotic network that defines the dynamic development of the whole region. An important factor for this osmosis is the exchange, interdependence and transformation of ritual practices – linguistic, religious and political ceremonials. Accordingly, the aim of the symposium is to show that ritual dynamics have functions that integrate as well as exclude. Could ritual dynamics in fact constitute the mainspring for a mental affinity between the various Mediterranean cultures, for a mutual sense of cultural curiosity that traditional Mediterraneanism has sought to elucidate through the concepts of the cultural unity (Braudel) or connectivity (Horden-Purcell) of the Mediterranean?

SUBJECT AREAS:
Papers are required to be thought-provoking and methodically inventive, preferably addressing the following subjects:
– Light and Colour in Mediterranean Arts and Architecture.
– Perspectivism, Optics and Islam.
– Cinematographic Views: Perception and Reconstruction of the Mediterranean.
– Predominant and Counter-Narratives in Literature and Mythology.
– Oral Tradition and Artistic Performance: Means of Communication.
– Conflicting Narratives: Respect and War.
– The Osmosis of Honour and Shame.
– Inconsistence and Resistance.
– Performance of Mediterranean Rituals.
– Ritual Perception of History in the Mediterranean.
– The Mediterranean Sea as Colour Line.
– Migration: Sought Horizons and Lines of Sight.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS:
Participants are invited to submit 300-word abstracts for 25-minute presentations. Abstracts should include at least three descriptive keywords, the presenter’s name, organization, email and mailing address. The language of the conference will be English. Please send your abstracts to: agnes.sebestyen@ikg.unibe.ch

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: March 1, 2013

PROCEEDINGS:
The publication of selected papers is planned.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZER:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Dittelbach
Department of the History of Art – TransMediterraneanStudies
University of Bern
www.ikg.unibe.ch

FURTHER INFORMATION:
www.medworlds5.com

CONTACT:
Ágnes Sebestyén
Organizing Assistant
Department of the History of Art – TransMediterraneanStudies
University of Bern
E-Mail: agnes.sebestyen@ikg.unibe.ch

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Call for Papers – Chant and Culture

The University of British Columbia’s
Committee for Medieval Studies
presents
CHANT AND CULTURE
8th Annual Colloquium of
The Gregorian Institute of Canada
August 6-9, 2013
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

The Gregorian Institute of Canada has focused from its inception on performance, providing a unique opportunity for scholars and performers from Canada and around the world to share and discuss their ideas, research, and experience. This year’s theme—Chant and Culture—is inspired by an essay currently found in WILLIAM MAHRT’s book, The Musical Shape of the Liturgy, and which also originally appeared as “Gregorian Chant as a Fundamentum of Western Musical Culture”, in Sacred Music 102.1 (Spring 1975): 3–21. WILLIAM MAHRT, Professor Emeritus of Music at Stanford University, will be giving this year’s keynote address. In addition to academic papers, there will be workshops in chant performance. Vancouver Early Music Programme & Festival will have concerts on campus at the same time, including one on the medieval Carmina Burana by BENJAMIN BAGBY and the ensemble SEQUENTIA.

Submissions on any topic of chant research are welcome, but paper and workshop proposals that address the broadly conceived colloquium theme—Chant and Culture— are particularly encouraged and will be favored over others in the selection process. Suggested topics include anything related to Mahrt’s thesis: i.e., “Gregorian chant was not only the historical predecessor of a great development of polyphonic music; it was
also the actual structural basis of the better part of medieval and renaissance sacred music. One could chart this history in great detail, but more interesting are the ways in which it played the role of a fundamentum, and the part it played in the development of a polyphonic fundamentum. From the high middle ages onward, there existed a polyphonic sacred music which used the materials and even the thought processes of each age. A creative interaction between the traditional fundamentals of sacred music and the ideas of the time is a hallmark of the entire history. If at times it seems that the ideas of the time prevailed, it must not be forgotten that polyphonic sacred music always existed in the context of some kind of performance of Gregorian chant as chant.”

Please send a 250-word abstract to the program committee at chant@gregorian.ca. Abstracts may be sent and papers presented in either English or French. Conference papers will be limited to 30 minutes, followed by a 10-minute discussion period. Performance practice workshops will last 40 minutes.

The deadline for proposals is January 15, 2013.
For further information, registration, and conference updates,
please visit the Gregorian Institute of Canada website at www.gregorian.ca.

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Jobs for Medievalists

Fifteenth-Century Studies, a refereed interdisciplinary medieval studies journal which publishes in English, French, German, and Spanish, seeks a senior editor who will then assemble an editorial team. The journal currently publishes yearly, sponsors five sessions at the Medieval Congress held annually at Kalamazoo, and co-sponsors European conferences held at certain intervals. At present, the journal has an Editorial Advisory Board and a Book Review Editor. FCS was founded in 1977 by Edelgard Dubruck and has been published in 38 volumes (of approximately 250 pages each) to date. The book is brought out by Camden House, an imprint of Boydell & Brewer. Since 2007, FCS has been published digitally through LION (ProQuest) as well as in hard-cover format and thus has acquired a much wider readership. Besides being published in the USA, Germany, France, and Spain, academic institutions in the following countries subscribe: Korea, Japan, South Africa, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico, China, Ireland, Taiwan, Singapore, Turkey, Israel, India, Portugal, Kuwait, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. This is an unpaid position with enormous potential for developing the journal into the future. The interested scholar should have a background in French, German, or Spanish; experience publishing a yearly volume; and the ability to elicit institutional support. Camden House, the publisher, incurs the expense of typesetting, yet funds amassed by the journal are minimal, having been generated through readers’ subscribership to the Fifteenth Century Society, a professional organization associated with the journal and its associated activities; namely, the symposia held yearly in Kalamazoo. See the following URL for information about the contents of the last few volumes:

http://www.boydellandbrewer.com/store/listcategoriesandproducts.asp?idcategory=95

For additional information on this position contact: Barbara I. Gusick, Professor Emerita, English, Troy University, bgusick@troy.edu.

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Call for Papers – Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages

Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages

2nd – 4th May 2013

Saint Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages 2013, a three-day interdisciplinary conference for postgraduate and early career researchers hosted by The University of St Andrews Institute of Medieval Studies (SAIMS). Now in its fifth year, the conference aims to create a lively and welcoming forum for speakers to present their research, make contacts, and participate in creative discussion on the topics of gender and transgression in the Middle Ages.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Professor Pauline Stafford, Emeritus Professor in Early Medieval History at the University of Liverpool, who will be speaking on reading gender in chronicles, with special reference to the old English vernacular.

We invite postgraduate, postdoctoral and early career researchers from departments of History, Modern and Mediaeval Languages, English, Art History, Theology and Divinity, in addition to scholars working in any other relevant subject area, to submit a papers of approximately 20 minutes that engage with the themes of gender and/or transgression in the mediaeval period. Possible topics for papers might include, but are by no means limited to gender and/or transgression in the fields of:

  • Politics: kingship, queenship, the nobility, royal/noble household, royal favourites and mistresses, royal ritual, display and chivalry.
  • Legal Studies: men, women and the law, court cases, law-breaking, marriage and divorce.
  • Social and economic history: urban and rural communities, domestic household, motherhood and children, widows, working women, prostitution and crime.
  • Religion: monastic communities, saints and saints’ lives, mysticism and lay religion.
  • Literature: chivalric texts, romances, poetry, vernacular works.
  • Visual culture: depictions, architecture, art, material culture and patronage.
  • Masculinity and femininity in the middle ages and their application in current historiography.
  • Homosexuality, sexual deviancy and cross-dressing.

To mark the launch of St Andrews Centre for Mediaeval and Early Modern Law and Literature (CMEMLL) we shall be holding a session on medieval law and literature within the broader conference theme of gender and transgression and therefore particularly welcome papers within this field.

Those wishing to give a paper please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to genderandtransgression@st-andrews.ac.uk by Monday 11 February 2013. Your abstract should be attached to your email as a Microsoft Word or PDF file and include your name, home institution and what stage of your postgraduate or postdoctoral career you are currently at.

Registration for the conference will be £5 for students/unwaged, £10 for staff, which will cover tea, coffee and lunch on two days, and two wine receptions. All delegates are also warmly invited to the conference meal on Friday 3 May, the cost of which will be covered for speakers. Further details can be found at our website http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/saims/gender/index.html as they come available and we can be followed on twitter @gandt2013.

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Jobs For Medievalists

The research unit ‘Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies’ (Ghent University) has a position available for a:

Scientific Researcher
(Full-Time Predoctoral Researcher)

Project description
The Peace as an Instrument of Social Competition: Toward a Non-Homeostatic Interpretation of Political Relations in the Central Middle Ages (Western Europe, late tenth-early twelfth centuries)

This project will investigate the competitive aspects of the Peace of God-movement during the later tenth to early twelfth centuries. So far, the ritual and symbolic acts associated with the Peace have been studied primarily as part of strategies to maintain the current social order. However, recent studies have given credence to the possibility that forms of symbolic behavior, such as the ritualized Peace of God, could also serve as a form of competition, creating hierarchic inequalities and blocking the ascent of rivals. Using evidence originating from the Northern French archdiocese of Reims, the researchers involved in the project will investigate the extent to which the Peace-of-God-movement can be studied from the perspective of the careers of individual participants.
This research project is funded by the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO).

Professional environment
Medieval studies at Ghent University cover a wide range of subjects and methodological approaches. Intensive exchanges within the Department of History and the Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies, and with the international academic community, create a stimulating environment for innovative research. Research on the early and central Middle Ages currently focuses on the tenth to early twelfth centuries, with scholars involved in the study of a wide range of subjects including reform, conflict management, commemorative practices, material aspects of communication, and ritual and performance (http://www.resoma.ugent.be). This project will also benefit from the support of the International Research Network Conventus (http://www.conventus.ugent.be).

Qualifications
The candidate:
– has a Master’s degree in History or a Master’s degree with demonstrable interest in Medieval History;
– has experience with Latin sources of the Middle Ages;
– has active knowledge of Dutch and/or French and/or English (one of the latter two is sufficient) and can read publications in at least French and English. He/she is also willing to learn basic Dutch during his/her employment at Ghent University (introductory courses are available);
– is an enthusiastic and inventive team player and must be willing to travel abroad for conferences, meetings, etc.;
– is willing to prepare, and finish, a doctoral dissertation on the subject of the project within four years.

Offer
▪ A 4-year contract as a full time scientific staff member of Ghent University (scholarship starting from around 1700 euro net./month);
▪ Contact with national and international research groups;
▪ A friendly, dynamic environment for research;
▪ Opportunity to follow an individualized PhD programme at the UGent Doctoral School of Arts, Humanities and Law or the Doctoral School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, including language courses;
▪ Extra benefits: free public transport between home and work place; biking fee; access to university sports facilities and university restaurants.

Start of the project: May 1st, 2013

How to apply
If you are interested in joining us, please send a copy of your diploma, your CV and a cover letter describing your interest in the project, before January 10th, 2013 to Prof. Dr. Steven Vanderputten (Steven.Vanderputten@ugent.be).

More information:
http://www.resoma.ugent.be
http://ugent.academia.edu/StevenVanderputten
http://www.conventus.ugent.be
http://www.pirenne.ugent.be/
http://www.ugent.be

 

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Winner of the 2012 Prize for Best Article by a Graduate Student Announced

The Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2012 Prize for Best Article by a Graduate Student is Jennifer Freeman, a Ph.D. student in the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University.  Her essay, “Theologizing Gender in the Rothschild Canticles,” which was written for a course with Professor Kathleen Flake, will be published in the winter issue of Medieval Feminist Forum.  The Award Committee considered a strong field of papers, which represented the best of graduate student feminist scholarship written in the 2011-2012 academic year.  Jennifer will be honored at the SMFS reception at the 2013 International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in May.

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Dietrich Reinhart OSB Fellowship in Eastern Christian Manuscript Studies

http://www.hmml.org/news10/fellowship.htm

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) announces the establishment of the Dietrich Reinhart OSB Fellowship in Eastern Christian Manuscript Studies, to be awarded annually for three years beginning with the Academic Year 2013-2014. The fellowship has been established through the generosity of Rebecca Haile and Jean Manas of New York, New York, in memory of Br. Dietrich Reinhart OSB (1949-2008). Br. Dietrich, 11th President of Saint John’s University, was a visionary leader who saw HMML as integral to the mission of Saint John’s Abbey and University, and enthusiastically promoted HMML’s work in the Middle East, Ethiopia, and India.

Awardees must be undertaking research on some aspect of Eastern Christian studies requiring use of the digital or microfilm manuscript collections at HMML. They must have already been awarded a doctoral degree in a relevant field and have demonstrated expertise in the languages and cultures of Eastern Christianity relevant for their projects.

The Fellowship may be held for a full academic year (September 1-April 30) or for one semester (September 1-December 20; January 4-April 30). The Fellowship provides accommodation in an apartment at the Collegeville Institute on the Saint John’s University campus; working space at HMML; access to library, recreational and cultural activities at Saint John’s University; round-trip transportation; and a stipend of up to $25,000 for a full academic year. Stipends will be adjusted for less than a full year in residence.

Awardees will be expected to devote full attention to their research projects while in residence. They will also be expected to participate in a weekly seminar for Collegeville Institute resident scholars, to present their research in a public lecture sponsored by HMML, and to be a resource for HMML staff and other researchers during their stay.

Applicants are asked to provide: 1) a cover letter with current contact information and an indication of availability for a full-year or one-semester residency; 2) a description of the project to be pursued, including an explanation of how access to HMML’s resources will be important for its success (1000-1500 words); 3) an updated curriculum vitae; 4) two letters of reference.

The cover letter, project description, and CV should be sent by the applicant to hmmlfellowships@csbsju.edu; letters should be sent by the referees directly to the same email address or in hard copy to Julie Dietman, HMML, Box 7300, Collegeville, MN 56321.
Applications for the Academic Year 2013-14 are due December 15, 2012. The decision and acceptance process will be completed by the end of February 2013.

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Colloque “Codex and text. The use and relevance of codicology, paleography and illumination for textual studies”

6-7.XII.2012 : Codex and text. The use and relevance of codicology, paleography and illumination for textual studies Napoli (Università degli studi « L’Orientale »). — http://www.proyectos.cchs.csic.es/KOHEPOCU/sites/proyectos.cchs.csic.es.KOHEPOCU/files//2012-Codex%20and%20text%20Napoles.pdf

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Call For Papers – Future of the Mediterranean – Mediterranean Futures

The Center for Mediterranean Studies of the University Bochum, announces a call for the conference “Future of the Mediterranean – Mediterranean Futures,” to be held 30 September to 2 October 2013 in Bochum, Germany.

IThe future is terra incognita which can provide the surface onto which we project our dreams and yearnings or our nightmares. Today the Mediterranean region is commonly associated with conflict and crisis: the Middle East conflict has continued to smoulder for decades, the economic crisis has shaken countries on the northern and southern shores to their foundations, while responses to pressing environmental issues and dwindling resources have yet to be found. Despite all this, the upheaval in the countries of the Arab world shows that the dream of a better life can still move people to turn against existing power structures and stakeholders or even lead to rebellion. Thus the vision of a better future has become a resource which is driving societal, political and social changes in spite of all resistance.

Political, social, economic or cultural transformations provide a forum for a variety of notionsof what constitutes “progress” or “modern”. The future becomes a contested and controversial resource and may be construed according to religious beliefs, social class or prevailing perception of history, may be romanticised or may be discarded completely as a concept: Thus depictions of the future are always statements on a society’s “reality”.

We at the Center for Mediterranean Studies are now seeking contributors from all disciplines, who would be prepared to present their work or research results at the conference in one of the categories listed below. Thus we are looking for contributions which deal with historical and current visions of the future, from the oracle of Delphi to modern rating agencies. Furthermore we wish to examine the stakeholders and the structures which define, influence or manipulate visions of the future and the changes in and dynamics of local visions of the future, which contrast with those visions of nations, superpowers and dynasties.

If you are interested in contributing please send your details by e-mail to Meike.Meerpohl@ruhr-uni-bochum.de by 15 December 2012. Please enclose a synopsis in English (approximately 300 words) for a lecture of 20 minutes duration and a short CV.

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Colloque “Taxonomies of knowledge”

16-17.XI.2012 : Taxonomies of knowledge. 5th annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg symposium on manuscript studies in the digital age (Philadelphia [PA], University of Pennsylvania). – http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/lectures/ljs_symposium5.html

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