APPLICATION FORM FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

Proceedings of the Plenary Sessions. The 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, 2022

OPEN ACCESS: http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-590-2 The present volume collects most of the contributions to the plenary sessions held at the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, and incisively reflects the ever increasing broadening of the very concept of ‘Byzantine Studies’. Indeed, a particularly salient characteristic of the papers presented here is their strong focus on interdisciplinarity and their breadth of scope, both in terms of methodology and content. The cross-pollination between different fields of Byzantine Studies is also a major point of the volume. Archaeology and art history have pride of place; it is especially in archaeological papers that one can grasp the vital importance of the interaction with the so-called hard sciences and with new technologies for contemporary research. This relevance of science and technology for archaeology, however, also applies to, and have significant repercussions in, historical studies, where – for example – the study of climate change or the application of specific software to network studies are producing a major renewal of knowledge. In more traditional subject fields, like literary, political, and intellectual history, the contributions to the present volume offer some important reflections on the connection between Byzantium and other cultures and peoples through the intermediary of texts, stories, diplomacy, trade, and war.

It is an introductory course in the history of the Byzantine Empire (330 – 1453). It will be divided into two parts. The first part consists of 15 lectures and 6 group discussions. We will follow the main events and the milestones of the Byzantine history structured chronologically, and will discuss the specific topics such as Byzantine political organization, international relations, society, economy, and culture. We will start with an overview of the main types of primary sources that scholars use studying Byzantium. Students will explore the different areas of the Byzantine history by reading a selection of the narrative sources, by examination of Byzantine coins, seals, manuscripts and art objects (available on-line). We will immerse ourselves in the legends and realities of the social, political, and cultural life of the majestic capital of the Byzantine empire, the city of Constantinople. Together with the Byzantine historians Eusebius of Caesarea, Procopius, Leo the Deacon, Michael Psellos, and Anna Komnene, we will have a chance to peep in the couloirs and chambers of the Imperial Palace, to eavesdrop on the flattering and defamatory stories about emperors and empresses, generals and bureaucrats, and to learn about intrigues, ambitions, love and hatred of the Byzantine beau monde. We will try to understand why (according to Averil Cameron) Byzantium is virtually " absent " from the public and even academic memory of the Western World, and will discuss the modern examples of the use (and abuse) of the Byzantine aesthetics (see the " Byzantine " collections from Dolce & Gabbana (2013), Valentino (2013), and Chanel). The second part of the course consists of students' presentations. Each student is invited to prepare a talk on the one of the " unorthodox " subjects that often are left behind in the standard expositions on the history of Byzantium (such as Byzantine magic, the Byzantine garden culture, cuisine and fashion, the Byzantine sense of humor and emotions, the Byzantine ideas about death, dreams, beauty, holiness, gender, women, and eroticism; please, find the list of the topics and the suggested bibliography at the end of this syllabus). Students will learn and practice the basic academic skills of preparing and delivering the oral presentations, and giving feedback on their colleagues' talks. This approach will make the fascinating and mysterious civilization of Byzantium more tangible and, in fact, unforgettable. The required primary and secondary literature will be available on the Blackboard, through the UA library E-Resources, and freely on the Internet. The course will require the occasional visits to the library, but the students will not have to purchase their own books or materials. The primary sources will be provided in English translation. Student learning outcomes: 1. Broadly recount the history of the Byzantine empire in the context of world civilization 2. Be able to discuss current issues and debates in Byzantine studies 3. Understand how various types of primary sources and methods of historical inquiry contribute to Byzantine studies.

This is a book on the history of the Byzantine Empire, one of the longest-lived and most important cultures in Western civilization, but also one of the least understood. The book is meant to be both concise and comprehensive, and as such it has been necessary to make a variety of decisions and sacrifices. The history of Byzantium is well over a thousand years in duration and any reason- able book on the subject must prepare the ground with consideration of the institutions and the issues of what came before; it must also consider the aftermath of the empire and the ways in which its culture has continued to affect our lives over the past 500 years. Given all that, serious thought had to be devoted to organization and to questions of inclusion and focus.

Member of the Organising Committee & Panel Chair.

2022

We were pleased to announce the 25th Annual Oxford University Byzantine Society International Graduate Conference for the 24th-25th February 2023. This important milestone marks the 25th annual conference, and we hope it serves as a fitting celebration of the society and its history. Papers are invited to approach the theme of 'Passing Judgement: Distinctions, Separations, and Contradictions' within the Late Antique and Byzantine world, broadly defined.

2019

2022

The abstract of my report " Cilician Miniature and Byzantine Traditions of the 11th Century" is placed on p.173

The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe, 2021

A gulf of centuries separates the Byzantine Empire from the academic field of Byzantine studies. This book offers a new approach to the history of Byzantine scholarship, focusing on the attraction that Byzantium held for Early Modern Europeans and challenging the stereotype that they dismissed the Byzantine Empire as an object of contempt. The authors in this book focus on how and why the Byzantine past was used in Early Modern Europe: to diagnose cultural decline, to excavate the beliefs and practices of early Christians, to defend absolutism or denounce tyranny, and to write strategic ethnography against the Ottomans. By tracing Byzantium’s profound impact on everything from politics to painting, this book shows that the empire and its legacy remained relevant to generations of Western writers, artists, statesmen, and intellectuals as they grappled with the most pressing issues of their day. Refuting reductive narratives of absence or progress, this book shows how “Byzantium” underwent multiple overlapping and often discordant reinventions before the institutionalization of “Byzantine studies” as an academic discipline. As this book suggests, it was precisely Byzantium’s ambiguity—as both Greek and Roman, ancient and medieval, familiar and foreign—that made it such a vibrant and vital part of the Early Modern European imagination.