Appel à contribution — Embodied Identities RCAC

Embodied Identities: Figural and Symbolic Representation of the Self in Anatolia
June 7 and 8, 2014

Istanbul, Turkey

This two-day workshop will be hosted at the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Koç University, in Taksim. The organizers invite the submission of abstracts presenting excavation data relating to identity, territoriality and artistic expression of Anatolian personalities or groups, as well as investigations into the creation and manipulation of identity through material culture. The focus of the first day will be on theoretical and methodological approaches to identity in prehistoric Anatolia, while the second day will be open to papers concerning identity and self at any time period in Anatolian studies.

The main objective of the workshop is to investigate the embodiment of identity markers in literal and representative media; such as mortuary practices, personalization of tools, location of petroglyphs, and changing contexts of settlement planning. The archaeological focus of this workshop will enhance our perspectives on the relations between the self-determination of ancient Anatolians and their material context in Anatolia.

Abstracts of 300 words or fewer should be sent to ehughes@ku.edu.tr no later than midnight on February 10, 2014.

Appel à contribution — Université de Tampere Finlande

Passages from Antiquity to the Middle Ages VI:

ON THE ROAD
TRAVELS, PILGRIMAGES AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

University of Tampere, Finland
6. – 8. August, 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS (deadline September 15th 2014)

The sixth international Passages from Antiquity to the Middle Ages
conference will focus on social approaches to travelling, mobility,
pilgrimages, and cultural exchange. Interaction between society and
space has been a key interest of scholars after the ‘Spatial Turn’.
Nevertheless, larger comparisons between eras and cultures are mainly
missing.

The archetypal journey of Odysseys served as a metaphor and model for
later narrations of travelling. In both Ancient and medieval worlds,
religious reasons were significant motivations for travelling; these
travels confront the traditional idea of these periods as eras of
immobility. However, the challenges of setting out for a journey, as
well as the dangers of the road, were not dependent on the incentive
but rather on distance and other geographical settings, social status
of the traveller, and political climate.

The conference aims at concentrating on social and cultural
interaction before, during and after travelling. What kinds of
motivations were there for ancient and medieval people to get on the
road and what kind of negotiations and networks were inherent in
travelling? We welcome papers, which have a sensitive approach to
social differences: gender, age, health, and status. Actors,
experiences and various levels of negotiations are of main interest,
and our focus lies on society and the history of everyday life, on the
differences and similarities between elite and popular culture, and on
the expectations linked to gender and life cycle stage, visible in the
practices and policies of travelling. We encourage proposals that
integrate the theme of travelling into wider larger social and
cultural contexts.

We aim at a broad coverage not only chronologically but also
geographically and disciplinarily (all branches of Classical,
Byzantine and Medieval Studies). Most preferable are contributions
that have themselves a comparative and/or interdisciplinary viewpoint
or focusing on a longue durée perspective.

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If interested, please submit an abstract of 300 words (setting out
thesis and conclusions) for a twenty-minute paper together with your
contact details (with academic affiliation, address and e-mail) by
e-mail attachment to the conference secretary, passages@uta.fi. The
deadline for abstracts is September 15th 2014, and the notification of
paper acceptance will be made in November 2014.

Conference papers may also be presented in French, German or Italian,
however, supplied with an English summary (as a hand-out) or
translation if the language of presentation is not English. The
sessions are formed on the basis of thematic coherence of the papers
and comparisons between Antiquity and the Middle Ages, thus session
proposals focusing on one period only will not be accepted.

The registration fee is 100 EUR (doctoral students: 50 EUR). For further
information, please visit http://www.uta.fi/trivium/passages/ or
contact the organizers by sending an e-mail to passages@uta.fi. The
registration opens in November 2014 at
http://www.uta.fi/trivium/passages.

Call for applicants (PhD) — Cologne

Lien avec les documents ici: http://www.varinst.de/en/node/78

At the newly established DFG Research Training Group 1878 of the Universities of Cologne and Bonn on the topic of “Archaeology of Pre-Modern Economies”, 4 doctoral posts (TV-L 13, 50%) are to be filled with effect from 1.4.2014 within the following fields of study:


– Ethnology / Social Anthropology (Cologne)
– Byzantine studies (history, culture, archaeology) (Cologne)
– Christian Archaeology (Bonn)
– Historical Geography (Bonn)

The posts are limited to a 2-year period, with the option to extend by one year following a positive interim evaluation.

Objectives, issues

The aim of the RTG is to record economic systems and economic areas of premodern societies in terms of their structure, efficiency and dynamics (genesis, transformation processes through to a potential dissolution) as well as to analyse them in interaction with their respective physical geographical, political, societal, religious and cultural conditions. The investigations will be focussed along three lines of research, ‘Economic Networks’, ‘Settlement Centres and Their Environs’ and ‘Religious Institutions as Economic Units’. More detailed information can be found in the research programme.

Subjects

These subjects are involved: Pre- and Early History, Egyptology, Classical Archaeology, Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Christian Archaeology, Byzantine Studies, Ancient American Studies, Ancient History, Ethnology, Historical Geography. Applications are also possible from neighbouring disciplines, as long as support in Cologne/Bonn is assured.

Dissertation topics
Enquirers can either apply for the dissertation topics proposed here or develop their own project proposals within the framework of the outlined research programme.

Language

The RTG language is German. Language lessons can be taken free of charge if required. The dissertation may also be written in another language. 

Location and support The doctoral candidate (m/f) will be employed at either of the two universities and registered as a doctoral student. Generally he/she will be looked after by two fellow applicants. In Cologne the doctorate is awarded within the framework of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities. The respective location will be jointly discussed and decided. Willingness to move to the Cologne/Bonn region is expected.

Study programme
The doctoral programme will be conducted within a structured study programme comprising weekly seminars, workshops or international meetings; participation is mandatory.

Support measures
In addition to the posts, resources for material and travel costs as well as for holding conferences are available. Both universities offer comprehensive further training measures. Doctoral candidates with children can obtain additional support.

Equality
Applications from severely handicapped people are welcome. Severely handicapped people will be preferred where suitability is equal. Applications from women are explicitly welcome. Preferential consideration will be given to women where suitability, aptitude and expertise are equal, provided that no grounds predominate in the person of a co-applicant.

Application requirements
Completed relevant university studies in line with the requirements for admission to doctoral studies at the participating universities.

Application documents
– Completed application form
– CV (résumé)
– Copies of references
– Digital version (PDF) plus summary (2 pages) of the Magister / Master dissertation
– Outline of ideas (max. 5 pages) on the planned dissertation project
– Names and addresses of two university teachers who will be able, if necessary, to provide further information about the applicant

Application procedure
– Closing date for applications: 15.1.2014
– Applicant interviews: anticipated during the week from 10 to 14.2.2014
– Notification of decision: anticipated mid-February.
Applications in German or English should be sent in electronic form by 15 January 2014 to the RTG spokespeople, Prof. Dr. Martin Bentz and Prof. Dr. Michael Heinzelmann at the following e-mail address: ina.borkenstein@uni-koeln.de(subject: Bewerbung Grako).

Appel à contribution — Sofia university

Deadline extended to January 6, 2014

The Basilica of St Sophia in the Transition from Paganism to Christianity

International Conference, March 11-13, 2014, Sofia, Bulgaria

The Sofia History Museum is organizing an international conference celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the first Christian church built at the site where the current basilica of St Sophia is situated. The event takes place in support of the candidacy of Sofia for European Capital of Culture in 2019. For more details please see attachment.

The conference will concentrate not only on the Basilica of St Sophia in Sofia but on the wider field of

– Early Christian and sepulchral architecture;

– Early Christian communities;

– History of Early Christianity;

– Conservation, restoration, protection and management of cultural heritage.

We welcome proposals for papers in all subjects related to Early Christian studies broadly conceived. Abstract of no more than 350 words should be sent by January 6, 2014 to Erina Krysteva (erina.krysteva@sofiahistorymuseum.bg).