NEW VIDEO! FRIENDS OF THE ICMA PRESENTS MEDIEVAL COMING ATTRACTIONS, 2024-2025

NEW VIDEO

FRIENDS OF THE ICMA PRESENTS MEDIEVAL COMING ATTRACTIONS 2024-2025

12 September 2024, 12 PM ET

The Friends of the ICMA held the latest in a series of special online events on Thursday 12 September 2024, 12 PM ET. The hour-long program previeweed three medieval exhibitions, each introduced by its curator.

Stephan Wolohojian introduced the exhibition, Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350. The exhibition is on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until 26 January 2025. For more information, visit https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/siena-the-rise-of-painting-1300-1350

Sue Brunning spoke about the exhibition, Silk Roads. The exhibition is on view at The British Museum until 23 February 2025. For more information, visit https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/silk-roads

Ladan Akbarnia introduced the exhibition, Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World. The exhibition is on view at the San Diego Museum of Art until 5 January 2025. For more information, visit https://www.sdmart.org/exhibition/wonders-of-creation-art-science-and-innovation-in-the-islamic-world/

The panel was introduced and moderated by Leslie Bussis Tait, Chair of the Friends of the ICMA.

To watch the video, visit the Special Online Lectures page.

Last Conques EU Project Meeting: Conques in the Global World, Rome, 11 October 2024, 9:30-13:00

Last Conques EU Project Meeting

Conques in the Global World

11 October 2024, 9:30-13:00

Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome, Italy

The last meeting of the Conques EU project will take place in Rome in person--For those who cannot attend, look for a book publication within the year that is full of the newest research on Conques. See: https://conques.eu/outputs for material that has already appeared.

Branner Forum for Medieval Art: Professor Ivan Drpić, At Columbia University, 14 Nov. 2024 6:15-7:45PM

Branner Forum for Medieval Art

Image Therapy: Notes on a Byzantine Picture Book

Professor Ivan Drpić

Thursday, 14 November 2024, 6:15-7:45PM

Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, New York, NY

Join us for Professor Ivan Drpić's (University of Pennsylvania) Branner Forum lecture entitled, “Image Therapy: Notes on a Byzantine Picture Book.” The lecture will take place at Columbia University on Thursday, November 14th at 6:15pm in Schermerhorn Hall, room 807.

For more information, visit
https://arthistory.columbia.edu/events/branner-forum-medieval-art-professor-ivan-drpic
.

Branner Forum for Medieval Art: Professor Jacqueline Jung, 17 Oct. 2024 6:15-7:45PM

Branner Forum for Medieval Art

Boundaries, Passages, and the Play of Media: The Painted Screen-Walls of Franciscan Churches in the Italian Alps

Professor Jacqueline Jung

Tuesday, 17 October 2024, 6:15-7:45PM

Stronach Center, Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, NEw York, NY

Join us for Professor Jacqueline Jung's (Yale University) Branner Forum lecture entitled, “Boundaries, Passages, and the Play of Media: The Painted Screen-Walls of Franciscan Churches in the Italian Alps.” The lecture will take place at Columbia University on Thursday, October 17th at 6:15pm in the Stronach Center (8th floor of Schermerhorn Hall).

For more information, visit https://arthistory.columbia.edu/events/branner-forum-medieval-art-professor-jacqueline-jung

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE CONFERENCE: Unruly Iconography? Examining the Unexpected in Medieval Art, INDEX OF MEDIEVAL ART AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE CONFERENCE

Unruly Iconography? Examining the Unexpected in Medieval Art

INDEX OF MEDIEVAL ART AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

9 NOVEMBER 2024

LINK TO REGISTER: https://ima.princeton.edu/conferences/

Ivory chess piece in the form of a queen, British Museum (1831 1101 84) © The British Museum; CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Free registration is now open for on-site attendance at the upcoming Index conference. “Unruly Iconography?” opens a new conversation about medieval images that don’t follow the rules. Speakers will challenge their listeners to rethink the unspoken paradigms that have decided when iconographic motifs should be considered canonical and which are instead “singular,” “exceptional,” or even “mistakes.” They will interrogate the value and limitations of the unspoken binaries that often underlie such labels: tradition versus invention, canon versus exception, or center versus periphery. Their wide-ranging papers will demonstrate the value of a more critically aware, contextually sensitive, and historically informed approach to the study of images and image-making in the Middle Ages. The conference will take place on November 9, 2024 in the Louis A. Simpson Building, A71, at Princeton University. Although the conference will not be recorded, a live stream link will provide digital access to those who cannot attend in person. Only those attending on site are asked to register, using the form below.

This constitutes the first of two internationally linked conferences, the second of which will be a site-based seminar at the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities “La Capraia” in Naples in June 2025, which makes southern Italy a laboratory for exploring the relationships between iconography and place within a geographically expanded Middle Ages. Details and a call for participation for the field seminar can be found here.

SCHEDULE

8:45–9 am: Coffee and pastries

9:00–10:15 am

Welcome

Diliana Angelova (UC Berkeley), “Lawless, Hilarious, Black: Eros and Companions in Byzantium.”

Krisztina Ilko (University of Cambridge), “The Chessmen of the Hunt.”

10:15 am: Coffee break

10:45–12:15 pm

Heidi Gearhart (George Mason University), “A Poem, a Scribe, a Saint, and a Scriptorium: Evoking Multiple Presences in Arras Bibliothèque Municipale MS 860.”

Julie A. Harris (Independent Scholar, Chicago), “Indicate, Illustrate, Decorate, or Comment? Iberian Hebrew Bibles and Their Unruly Paratextual Marks.”

Q&A

12:15–2:00 pm: Lunch Break

2:00–3:00 pm

Alexander Brey (Wellesley College), “Iconography Between Empires: The Red Hall at Varakhsha.”

Mark H. Summers (University of Kentucky), “Dressed to Impress: Reconsidering Roger II of Sicily and the Iconography of Kingship.”

3:00–3:30: Coffee break

3:30–4:30 pm

Nicole C. Paxton (John Cabot University), “Iconographic Innovation and Political Subversion in the Medieval Serbian Akathistos Cycle.”

Patricia Simons (University of Michigan/University of Melbourne), “The Goldfinch: Flights of Fancy.”

4:30-5:15 pm

Q&A and Closing

Reception to follow in Weickart Atrium, Louis A. Simpson Building


LINK TO REGISTER: https://ima.princeton.edu/conferences/

ICMA in Milwaukee on Saturday 12 October 2024: Tour of "Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives" + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

ICMA in Milwaukee
Tour of Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives + Joan of Arc Chapel site visit

Saturday 12 October
2pm CT

Register HERE

ICMA members are warmly invited to an informal gathering at the Haggerty Museum of Art on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday, October 12th, beginning at 2:00pm to view Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives. The co-curators of the exhibition, Abby Armstrong Check, Claire Kilgore, and Tania Kolarik will give a brief introduction to the exhibition and highlight different objects within the show. Attendees will then be welcome to roam the galleries. At 3:00pm we will walk over as group to the Joan of Arc Chapel on the campus of Marquette University where Abby Armstrong Check will give a short talk about the history of the only consecrated medieval chapel in the United States.

More information about the exhibition: https://www.marquette.edu/haggerty-museum/material-muses.php

Register HERE

Call for Applications: Assistant Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies, Mount Holyoke College, Due By 1 December 2024

Call for Applications

Assistant Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies

Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean World

Department of Art History and Architectural Studies

Mount Holyoke College

Due By 1 December 2024  

The Mount Holyoke College Department of Art History and Architectural Studies invites applications for an art or architectural historian of the late antique and medieval Mediterranean world for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin July 1, 2025. We are especially interested in candidates whose research and teaching are concerned with aspects of globalism and cultural connections. The teaching load is four courses per year, comprising a general survey, upper-level courses, and advanced seminars in the candidate's area of expertise.

In addition to an active and exciting research program, applicants should have a record of strong teaching at the undergraduate level and experience mentoring students who are broadly diverse. Our department is deeply committed to diversifying our curriculum as well as our faculty. Ph.D. or ABD in art or architectural history is required. Please submit a cover letter, CV, and three statements concerning 1) teaching philosophy, (2) research interests, and (3) mentoring. Please also include a writing sample and upload this additional document in the Please upload other documents in support of your application section of the application. Reference letters will be requested at a later date in the process.

Applicants are requested to apply online by December 1, 2024 at the following site:

https://mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/details/Assistant-Professor-of-Art-History-and-Architectural-Studies_R-0000001388

 For more information, please contact Anthony Lee.

For a copy of this advertizement, click here.

Mount Holyoke is an undergraduate liberal arts college with 2,200 students and 220 faculty. Over half the faculty are women; one-fourth are persons of color. Mount Holyoke College is located about 90 miles west of Boston in the Connecticut River valley, and is a member of the Five College Consortium consisting of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts.


Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

 

Special Instructions for Applicants: 

Apply online; application materials must include:

  • A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications

  • A complete resume or curriculum vitae

  • For faculty positions, statements on mentoring, teaching, and research will also be required.


Mount Holyoke College is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE)

Mount Holyoke College, the leading gender-diverse women’s college, is dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are a diverse community of staff, faculty, and students, united in our mission to offer an intellectually adventurous education in the liberal arts through academic programs that are renowned internationally for their cross-disciplinary excellence, experiential approach, and commitment to diversity.

Mount Holyoke College is a welcoming and inclusive environment that values and respects individuals of all backgrounds. As an EOE, we encourage members of historically underrepresented groups or nontraditional backgrounds to apply for open positions at our institution. The College has a long-standing tradition of providing women and other historically underrepresented groups with access to an innovative educational experience that prepares students for purposeful leadership by integrating hands-on opportunities into the curriculum. We firmly believe that diversity enriches our community and enhances our ability to prepare students for success in an increasingly globalized world. 

We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities for all qualified applicants and to building an exemplary workforce that reflects the diversity of our student body and the communities we serve. Our ultimate goal is to produce graduates who are capable of engaging thoughtfully, effectively, and boldly with the world.

Online Lecture: Sing to Him a New Song! Liturgical Hymns from Medieval Nubia, Agata Deptuła, 27 Sept. 2024, 12:00PM ET

Online Lecture

Sing to Him a New Song! Liturgical Hymns from Medieval Nubia

Agata Deptuła, University of Warsaw

Friday, September 27, 2024 | 12:00 PM (EDT, UTC -4) | Zoom

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the first lecture in the 2024–2025 East of Byzantium lecture series.

Three Nubian kingdoms (Nobadia, Makuria, and Alwa), located in the Middle Nile Valley, became part of the Christian oikumene in the middle of the sixth century, receiving from Byzantium not only the faith, but also its setting, including Greek as the principal liturgical language and a set of texts used during liturgical celebrations. Singing was an integral and significant component of the Eastern Church ritual, and it is not surprising that hymns also gained popularity in Nubia.

Texts at our disposal are mostly fragmentary, preserved in the form of parts of manuscript leaves, faded wooden tablets, or inscriptions written on the walls of cult buildings. Despite their fragmentary state, Nubian hymns exhibit a richness of forms and themes. There are troparia belonging to the oldest layer of Greek liturgical poetry and witnesses of the original Greek versions of the hymns by Severus of Antioch, known so far only through their Syriac translations. Longer compositions are also found, with the canon—a structured liturgical hymn composed of nine odes related to the nine biblical canticles—seemingly enjoying particular popularity.

These compositions span the spectrum of feast days as well as fixed celebrations, and also praise saints, especially Archangel Michael and Theotokos. Attestations of the usage of individual hymn verses in inscriptions left by visitors in churches indicate that singing to praise the Lord was widespread among the faithful. As a result, hymns are the largest and richest group of liturgica known from the area, shedding light on local liturgical practices. Additionally, the fact that some hymns are not preserved in their original form outside Nubia demonstrates that the material can contribute to unraveling the development of hymnography in Eastern Christianity at large.

Agata Deptuła is an archaeologist at the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, where she specializes in medieval Nubia and epigraphy.

Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.

Upcoming Exhibition: Corvey Unddas Erbeder Antike: Kaiser, Kloster under Kulturtransfer im Mittelalter, Diözesanmuseum Paderborn, Germany, Opens 21 Sept. 2024

Upcoming Exhibition

Corvey Unddas Erbeder Antike: Kaiser, Kloster under Kulturtransfer im Mittelalter

Diözesanmuseum Paderborn, Germany

21.9.2024-26.1.2025

The Aachen Bear | Cathedral treasury Aachen

A think tank of the Middle Ages marks the starting point of the exhibition in the Paderborn Diocesan Museum; formerly the Corvey Monastery that was founded 1,200 years ago and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the last 10 years. Back then, it was monasteries that preserved the ancient knowledge that still shapes us today. The numerous fasinating exhibits in the exhibition vividly show how ancient cultural techniques - especially reading and writing - and ideas about politics, law, art and science were transmitted in the Middle Ages. Monks reproduced ancient documents, craftsmen reworked ancient originals or integrated them into their own works. Captrued and shaped by the spirit of the times, such treasures reveal narratives that continue to puzzle us even today.


More than 120 fascinating artefacts on loan from European museums, libraries and archives will be on display on Paderborn, accompanied by insights into the work of the curators and research scholars who are preserving our ancient heritage today. The calligrapher and artist Brody Beuenschwander will also bring the diversity of writing cultures to life in impressive visual interventions. A richly illustrated catalogue will be published and there will be an extensive programme of events.


The exhibition is under the patronage of the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

For more information, go to https://www.erbe-der-antike.de/en/

Call for Papers: Medieval Iberia in a Connected World: The Raw-Materials Record, ICMS Kalamazoo (8-10 May 2025), Due 15 Sept. 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS

Medieval Iberia in a Connected World: The Raw-Materials Record

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, 8-10 May 2025

Due 15 September 2024

This session aims to contribute to the production of knowledge about the Global Middle Ages by analyzing the role that the Iberian Peninsula played in the trade of raw materials. On the one hand, the goal is to advance the knowledge of the Iberian Peninsula as a point of arrival/departure of raw materials relative to extra-peninsular and/or extra-European territories. In addition, papers may address the representations and symbolism those raw materials acquired in Iberian contexts.

This session will create a space for methodological reflection. It thus aims to bring together researchers from very different disciplinary perspectives, including not only the Humanities but also scholars from the Experimental and Natural Sciences. This session will highlight the need for cross-cultural approaches for a more comprehensive approach to medieval Iberia.

Papers may delve into issues of short-, medium-, and long-distance trade; the subsequent use of these raw materials in the production of objects, artifacts, or buildings; and the significance assigned to them in visual and literary culture. Proposals for papers will be accepted through September 15 and need to be submitted at:

https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6341

Delivery Mode: Hybrid session

Organizers: Erika Loic (eloic@fsu.edu); Alicia Miguélez (amiguelez@fcsh.unl.pt)

Sponsoring Organization: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, Univ. NOVA de Lisboa

Keywords: Medieval Iberia, Global Middle Ages, Raw Materials, Trade, Reception and Symbolism

Call for Papers For Special Online Session: Purgatory to Paradise - Visualizing the Iter Salvationis in Medieval Art, ICMS Kalamazoo (8-10 May 2025), Due By 14 Sept. 2024

Call for Papers For Special Online Session

Purgatory to Paradise - Visualizing the Iter Salvationis in Medieval Art

60th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (May 8–10, 2025)

Due by 14 September 2024

This special session wishes to analyze the representations of souls in Purgatory and their journey toward Paradise. The exempla employed in medieval texts and sermons featured vividly impactful imagery designed to engage the audience and leave a lasting impression. In medieval visual art, how are themes of sin, punishment, and, importantly, the possibility of salvation portrayed? Additionally, what is the significance of depicting souls in purgatory as naked? How this symbolism can be interpreted in conveying theological truths about redemption and renewal?

The session will encourage an interdisciplinary approach. Liturgy, sermons, drama, and visual arts were deeply interconnected with the expression of iter salvationis. For this reason, these elements will be examined in relation to pilgrimages and indulgences to understand the dramatization of the after-life. The scientific importance of the session lies in understanding how these devotional images served not only as reminders of mortality, akin to memento mori, but also as catalysts for the pursuit of indulgences. Moreover, the analysis of case studies will not only aim to highlight specific aspects and general phenomena in Late Medieval Europe, but also to define identities and devotees’ experiences in their life and after-life journey of purification.

Scholars are invited to submit a 300-word abstract, excluding references. Proposals should also include name, affiliation, email address, the title of the presentation, 6 keywords, a selective bibliography, and a short CV. Please send the documents to maryandthecity.imc2022@gmail.com by September 14, 2024.

Call for Papers: Manuscripts Before the Year 1000, ICMS Kalamazoo 2025 (8-10 May 2025), Due By 15 September 2024

Call for Papers

Manuscripts Before the Year 1000

ICMS Kalamazoo 2025 (8-10 May 2025)

Due By 15 September 2024

Image credit: Blue Quran, National Library of Tunisia (s.x)

This special session solicits research on any aspects of manuscript study from late Classical through the Early Medieval era, notably palaeography and codicology, but also study of mise-en-page, transmission, and editing. Discussion of manuscripts from all eras and global origins before the year 1000 is welcomed, especially papers which may deal with cross-cultural exchange and movement of manuscripts across the medieval world conceived broadly (China, India, the Near East, Africa just as much as Europe and the Mediterranean).

In-person.

Organizer: Dr. Bruce Gilchrist bruce.gilchrist@concordia.ca

Send proposals by September 15 to: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6018

Call for Papers: The Living Dead and the Transmission of Otherworldly Knowledge in Medieval Texts and Images’, IMC Leeds (7-10 July 2024), Due By 16 Sept. 2024

Call for Papers

‘The Living Dead and the Transmission of Otherworldly Knowledge in Medieval Texts and Images’

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds 2025

Due By 16 September 2024

Office of the Dead in a Book of Hours, San Marino, Huntington Library, MS HM 1165, fol. 105r.

Throughout the Middle Ages, narratives circulated in which the dead returned to convey special knowledge to the living, appearing in the form of ghosts, visions, and walking corpses. As intermediaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead, these figures revealed hidden truths, issued dire warnings, and imparted wisdom about the future and the afterlife. This session focuses on representations of the living dead in art and literature throughout the medieval period, with a particular focus on the role of the dead as keepers and transmitters of hidden knowledge.

We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers on topics relating to the living dead in medieval art and literature, which may include: 

  • Accounts of ghostly apparitions in waking life, dreams, and visions 

  • Descriptions of the afterlife given by the dead as well as visionary encounters with the dead in heaven, hell, and purgatory 

  • Encounters with walking corpses or other corporeal undead 

  • Visual representations of interactions between the living and the undead 

  • Necromancy and magical contact with the spirits of the dead 

  • Warnings and prophecies pronounced by the dead 

  • The living dead as conveyors of moral lessons in exempla and didactic literature 

  • Confessions and revelations of hidden sins in encounters with the living dead 

  • Discussions of commemorative practices between the living and dead 

  • The nature of interactions with ghosts and other revenants, including noise and non-verbal communication

Submit abstracts of up to 250 words to Sam Truman (sat89@case.edu) and James Galvin (james.galvin@keysfamily.co.uk) by Monday, 16 September 2024. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Call for Papers: BAA Sponsored Sessions, International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds (7-10 July 2025), Due By 20 Sept. 2024

Call for Papers

BAA sponsored sessions

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds 2025

Due By 20 September 2024

The BAA is now welcoming paper proposals for the BAA-sponsored sessions at the International Medieval Congress, which will take place at the University of Leeds (7th-10th July 2025).

The IMC’s research theme for 2025 is ‘Worlds of Learning’ and the IMC’s suggested themes include, but are not limited to:

  • Ideals, practices, and rituals of teaching and learning

  • Gendered ideals of learning and gender in learning

  • Pedagogical techniques for different age groups

  • Technical and artisanal knowledge

  • Oral transmission, practice, and performance in learning processes

  • Medieval epistemologies and systematisations of knowledge

  • Religious conceptualisations and interpretations of learning

  • Forms of learning and/about the self

  • Languages and their role in the acquisition of learning

  • Representations of learning in literature and art

  • Learning materials, including instructional objects, texts, images, and diagrams

  • Schools and universities and their local and regional networks

  • Financial and political networks supporting communities of learning

  • Lieux de savoir and locales of learning, including (permanent or situational) material and spatial arrangements

  • Printing and publishing learned materials

  • Distribution and circulation of knowledge traditions (Digitally) Mapping intellectual networks

  • Cross-cultural and interreligious learning

  • Cultural transfer and cultural appropriation

  • Different national and confessional/religious historiographies of learning, their continuing impact, and their problems

A full list of suggested topics and more details can be found here: https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/ 

It is hoped that we can organise several sessions, with similar papers grouped together (either methodologically or by subject). Before submitting a proposal, please ensure you have familiarised yourself with the conference fees and the available bursaries for the IMC, details of which are available here: https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2025/proposals/bursary 

Proposals should consist of a paper title, your affiliation (if any), your contact details, and a short abstract (50-100 words). Please send paper proposals to Harriet Mahood (hpmahood@gmail.com) by Friday 20th September 2024.

Call for Participants: Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual, Three-Part Workshop, Due By 23 September 2024

Call for Participants

Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual

Three-Part Workshop

Due By 23 September 2024

The Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, are pleased to invite abstracts for the next Studying East of Byzantium workshop: Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual.

Studying East of Byzantium XI: Ritual is a three-part workshop that intends to bring together doctoral students and very recent PhDs studying the Christian East to reflect on how to reflect on the usefulness of the concept of “Ritual” in studying the Christian East, to share methodologies, and to discuss their research with workshop respondents, Emma Loosley Leeming, University of Exeter, and Lev Weitz, The Catholic University of America. The workshop will meet on November 18, 2024, February 14, 2025, and June 5–6, 2025, on Zoom. The timing of the workshop meetings will be determined when the participant list is finalized.

We invite all graduate students and recent PhDs working in the Christian East whose work considers, or hopes to consider, the theme of ritual in their own research to apply.

Participation is limited to 10 students. The full workshop description is available on the East of Byzantium website (https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/studying-east-of-byzantium-xi-ritual/). Those interested in attending should submit a C.V. and 200-word abstract through the East of Byzantium website no later than September 23, 2024.

For questions, please contact East of Byzantium organizers, Christina Maranci, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies, Harvard University, and Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at contact@eastofbyzantium.org.

EAST OF BYZANTIUM is a partnership between the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA. It explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire in the late antique and medieval periods.

Call for Applications: Master's Program, Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History, University of Texas, Dallas, Due January 15, 202

Call for Applications

The Master's Program

the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas

Due January 15, 2025

The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas is a center for innovative research and graduate education in the history of art.

Our Master’s degree program immerses students in a global history of art across geography, chronology, and medium, and brings to life a range of methodological approaches. We have developed a particular strength in the Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Mediterranean.

Through rigorous coursework, paid museum and research assistantships, and funded research travel, students build a strong foundation in art history, historiography, and professional practice.

The O’Donnell Institute invites applications for the Fall 2025 entering class of our Master’s Program in Art History.

A limited number of scholarship opportunities are available to candidates who demonstrate exceptional academic merit and potential.

The application deadline is January 15, 2025. To learn more, visit https://arthistory.utdallas.edu/graduate.

Call for Proposals: Season 4 of Medieval Academy of America's Podcast Series, The Multicultural Middle Ages, Due 11 Oct. 2024

Call for Proposals

Medieval Academy of America's podcast series

Season 4

The Multicultural Middle Ages

Due 11 October 2024

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series welcomes proposals for single episodes to be featured in its fourth season. After three successful seasons, The Multicultural Middle Ages (MMA) will return for its fourth in 2025. Sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America, MMA is an anthology-style podcast that welcomes the global turn in Medieval Studies. This podcast series is a platform from which to continue ongoing conversations and generate new and exciting avenues of inquiry related to the Middle Ages that emphasize its diversity. We seek to highlight thoughtful reflections on culturally responsible approaches to the study of the Middle Ages. This is a space from which to speak to fellow medievalists and, more importantly, the wider public to inform our audience about the multicultural reality of the medieval period and the plurality of voices that comprise the fields of medieval studies.

We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines, including graduate students, for single podcast episodes aimed at fellow medievalists and the wider public.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovative methodological and disciplinary approaches to the Middle Ages

  • The future of Medieval Studies

  • Research on the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic Middle Ages

  • Discussions of recent scholarship

  • Archival discoveries

  • Academic activism and responses to misappropriations of the Middle Ages

  • Pedagogical approaches

  • Medievalisms

  • Medieval culture in contemporary political discourse

  • Cultural heritage and approaches to curating exhibitions of the Middle Ages

Possible formats may include narrative expositions, interviews, textual analysis, visual analysis, oral performances, and panel discussions.

No previous experience with podcasting is required. The Graduate Student Committee of the MAA has hosted several podcasting workshops, which are now available on the MAA YouTube channel. If accepted, an MMA team member will support you through the episode development process and post-production. If you would like our technical assistance to realize your episode, such as facilitating an interview, helping record the episode, or taking care of the audio editing, please make a note of it in your proposal.

Your application should include a brief description (500 words) of your proposed

episode, noting the following:

  • the chosen topic and its relevance;

  • the plan for adapting the topic to a podcast medium (we encourage 40-50 min. episodes, but also welcome proposals for shorter or longer episodes);

  • and the episode format (interview, narrative, etc.) with an overview of its structure a description of the support you’ll need (if any) from the MMA production team.

This information is not binding but will help the committee assess the potential of the project. Please include the name and CV of each author. Submit your proposals and any questions to mmapodcast1@gmail.com and to Loren Lee (lel7qsf@virginia.edu) by October 11, 2024.

For a PDF of the call for papers, click here.

For a JPG of the shortened-version of the call for papers, click here.

The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast Series Production Team

Will Beattie | wbeattie@nd.edu

Jonathan Correa Reyes | jonatcr@clemson.edu

Loren Lee | lel7qsf@virginia.edu

Reed O’Mara | rao44@case.edu

Logan Quigley | quigleylogan@gmail.com

Website: https://multiculturalmiddleages.com/

X: @Podcast_MMA_MAA

Instagram: @MulticulturalMiddleAgesPod

Call for Applications: Editorial Assistant to Gesta, Due Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET

Call for applications

Editorial Assistant to Gesta

due Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET

The International Center of Medieval Art (“the ICMA”) seeks to retain an independent contractor for a position as Editorial Assistant to Gesta, the ICMA’s peer-reviewed journal.
 
The ICMA is a non-profit organization that promotes and supports the study, understanding, and preservation of visual and material cultures produced primarily between ca. 300 CE and ca. 1500 CE in every corner of the medieval world. Our journal, Gesta, is published by the University of Chicago Press and features articles on all facets of medieval artistic production. The Gesta Editors aim to showcase the most creative and rigorous research in the field.
 
The position of Editorial Assistant to Gesta entails working approximately 20 hours per month, supporting the Editors’ work by reviewing image permissions, carrying out tasks involving the University of Chicago Press’s Editorial Manager platform, and checking references in footnotes. The number of hours will vary from week to week, so applicants need to have flexible availability. 
 
Applicants must hold or be pursuing a PhD in medieval art history, be eligible to work in the United States, and currently be without full-time employment that would impede their ability to dedicate the necessary time to this position. The Editorial Assistant will work remotely, but must be available for correspondence and meetings during regular business hours with the Editors.
 
Please email to gesta@medievalart.org a CV and letter of interest (no more than two pages, single-spaced), describing: (1) your research expertise and experience; (2) your facility in learning digital platforms; and (3) your past experience in activities related to publishing (which can include work as a research assistant to an author). The CV must include the contact information for your references. No letters of recommendation are required; the committee reviewing applications will contact references.
 
The International Center of Medieval Art is a 501(c)(3) organization whose Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Committee members, Associates, and other officers work volunteer. For information on the ICMA, please visit www.medievalart.org
 
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 3 September 2024, 5:00pm ET
Compensation: $25/hour, 20 hours per month. No fringe benefits.

Send CV and letter of interest to gesta@medievalart.org.

Call for Papers for ICMA Sponsored Session: Images of Dancing Women in the Middle Ages, ICMS Kalamazoo 2025 (8-10 May 2025), Due 15 September 2024

Call for Papers

ICMA Sponsored Session

Images of Dancing Women in the Middle Ages: Joy and Sorrow 

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES, KALAMAZOO 2025 (8-10 MAY 2025)

Due Sunday 15 September 2024

Organizer:
Licia Buttà, Rovira i Virgili University licia.butta@urv.cat

This session focuses on the close relationship that has been established since antiquity between the female body and choreographic movements. The iconography of dance has gained increasing ground in studies on the Middle Ages. Since the pioneering work of musicologist Tilman Seebass and art historian Jonathan J.G. Alexander, it has been clear that dance images, like the texts describing choreographic performances, are an exceptional means to deal with the history of the conception of the body and the centrality of religious and secular rituals, as well as a vehicle for interpreting exegetical approaches to sacred texts. Whatever the dance scenario, the importance of the dancing female body is evident both in the sacred sphere, with dance and celestial choruses of exaltation and praise to God, and in the imagination that stages idolatry, diabolical rites, or the perverse use of the body in earthly performances.

The tale of the young Muse, who converts the wholly worldly joy of dance into a prayer, becoming part of the choir of saints following the Virgin, or the dance of uncontainable joy of Miriam, sister of Moses, who celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea, are just two examples in which the joy that springs from movement deeply modifies the scenario and the protagonists of the narrative. In many medieval exempla, female dance turns into pain and suffering at the exact moment at which the female body is possessed by the devil. Literary, allegorical, and even historical dancing women reflect the medieval conception of the body and embody the dichotomy of joy and sorrow, which is expressed in the narrative capacity of gestures. Through the study of the representations of dance, the aim of this session is to investigate the emotions linked to choreographic narratives. The objects of study could include the enjoyment of the celestial dance and its earthly mirror: the courtly dance, narratives of death and diabolical torments, ecstasy and possessions. Allegorical-courtly literature offers countless examples of dances of joy, as in the Roman de la Rose. Moreover, Islamic and Sasanian art left traces of the importance of dance in court ceremonials, as well as rituals, as in the case of the frescoes of Qusayr Amra or the several Sasanian silver bowls and ewers. In the production of material culture, objects also introduce the tactile dimension, in addition to sight and hearing, as the choreomusical scenes depicted on a plate, a jar or a gemellion were observed but also manipulated, understood and experienced in accordance with the rites in which they were displayed.
  
This session seeks to investigate the emotions generated by dance and music both in the performer and in those who observe the dance. The proposal is developed in the field of cultural history and the visual culture of dance in medieval Europe, Byzantium, Islam and beyond, and aims to provide a new vision of the role of the woman as dancing body, as a key element for investigating the history of emotions in the Middle Ages. The session will focus on approaches that take into account a methodology of image analysis with an anthropological and sociological dimension.

Delivery Mode:
In-Person (The ICMA offers small travel subventions for the participants in this session)

Keyword:
Biblical Studies, Cultural History, History of Emotions, Iconography of Dance, Medieval Performance and Medieval Visual Culture

Proposals for papers will be accepted through September 15 and need to be submitted at: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6333


A NOTE ABOUT KRESS TRAVEL GRANTS

Thanks to a generous grant from the Kress Foundation, funds may be available to defray travel costs of speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions up to a maximum of $600 for domestic travel and of $1200 for overseas travel. If available, the Kress funds are allocated for travel and hotel only. Speakers in ICMA sponsored sessions will be refunded only after the conference, against travel receipts.  In addition to speakers, session organizers delivering papers as an integral part of the session (i.e. with a specific title listed in the program) are now also eligible to receive travel funding. 

Click here for more information.