Fieldwork Opportunity: Archaeological Soil and Sediment Micromorphology Course

DEADLINE: March 15, 2020
Apply online: https://ascsa.submittable.com/submit/154931/archaeological-soil-and-sediment-micromorphology-course

An intensive week-long course in Archaeological Micromorphology is offered by the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science. Dr. Panagiotis (Takis) Karkanas, Director of the Wiener Laboratory, and Dr. Paul Goldberg, Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong, will lead the course, which will primarily focus on deciphering site formation processes and micro-stratigraphy. Students will receive instruction in optical mineralogy, description of micromorphological thin sections, and analysis of soil fabrics and sedimentary microstructures. 

The course will take place from June 22-26, 2020. Applications will be submitted no later than March 15, 2020 via the online application form

CFP: Brown University History Department’s Graduate Conference

New Worlds: Histories of Crisis and Encounter

History Graduate Student Association Conference, Brown University
Keynote Speaker: Tatiana Linkhoeva, New York University
April 3-4, 2020

Visions of new worlds and the stakes of abandoning the old are topics that have been taken up from many positionalities within a number of geographic and temporal subfields. New world history has traditionally referred to colonial encounters, especially on the American continents. Yet the questions that scholars in these fields have been asking can also be used to illuminate new and provocative approaches to histories of apocalyptic dreaming, environmental studies, and questions of new and changing lifestyles. These scholars continue to broaden existing theoretical models to probe the relationships between centers and margins, question received hierarchies, examine encounters between people, the exchange of ideas and resources, and reveal the ways in which different worlds collide. The concept of a new world calls attention to networks of knowledge production and circulation, as well as the visual and material representations of paradigm shifts and ruptures. It is not only valuable for considering dramatic revolutions, but allows us to interrogate our perspectives on continuities and the meaning of change. Running through all of these “new worlds” are issues of power, control, economy, environment, identity, and technology.

This conference intends to provoke discussion among academics from all geographical and temporal fields concerning how we envision new worlds, how they are created in politics and space, how
conceptions of newness change over time, and how these questions are approached by various methodologies. This could involve exploring ancient and medieval visions of the future, challenging the Eurocentric point of view in writing histories of encounter, examining the interactions between non-human and human worlds. It also reveals the extent to which the understanding of rupture and revolution has shifted and how the use of scientific knowledge and technology has reconfigured the modern world.

Possible paper topics and themes include, but are not limited to:
● Visions of the future and modernity
● Revolutions and ruptures
● Conceptualizing and representing the ‘foreign’
● Changing environments and questioning the Anthropocene
● Colonial expansions and indigenous responses
● New ways of knowing
● Disrupting binaries and re-inventing the gendered ‘self’
● Innovative approaches to the archive and writing new histories
● Encounters and contact zones
● ‘Building’ new worlds in art and architecture
● The politics of lifestyles
● Urban histories and metropolitan futures
● The end of history/the end of the world

We welcome both individual papers and full panel proposals. We also welcome volunteers for chairing panels. Papers should be 15-20 minutes in length, and may be from any geographic or temporal specialization. Please apply here by midnight on February 2nd, 2020.

Note: The costs of attending the conference, including travel, accommodation, and other expenses, will be the responsibility of the presenter(s) or their institutions.

Please contact [email protected] for further questions.

Fieldwork Opportunity: Dumbarton Oaks 2020 Byzantine Greek Summer School

June 29–July 24, 2020
Intensive four-week course in medieval Greek and introduction to paleography and Byzantine book culture. Approximately ten places will be available, with priority going to students without ready access to similar courses at local or regional institutions. Applications due February 1, 2020
Visit: https://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/scholarly-activities/2020-byzantine-greek-summer-school

Course Offerings

The principal course will be a daily 1½-hour session devoted to the translation of sample Byzantine texts. Each week, texts will be selected from a different genre, e.g., historiography, hagiography, poetry, and epistolography. Two afternoons a week, hour-long sessions on paleography will be held. In addition, each student will receive a minimum of one hour per week of individual tutorial. Approximately eleven hours per week will be devoted to formal classroom instruction. In the remaining hours of the week, students will prepare their assignments.

Students will also have the opportunity to study inscribed objects in the Byzantine Collection, and view facsimiles of manuscripts in the Dumbarton Oaks Rare Books Collection, as well as original manuscripts in the Byzantine Collection. Any extra time may be used for personal research in the Dumbarton Oaks library, but support for the summer school is intended first and foremost for study of Byzantine Greek language and texts.

Faculty

Alexandros Alexakis, University of Ioannina
Stratis Papaioannou, University of Crete

Accommodation and Costs

No tuition fees will be charged. Successful candidates from outside the Washington, DC, area will be provided with housing at no cost and lunch on weekdays. Local area students will not be offered accommodation but will receive free lunch on weekdays. Students are expected to cover their own transportation expenses.

Requirements for Admission

Applicants must be graduate students in a field of Byzantine studies (or advanced undergraduates with a strong background in Greek). Two years of college-level ancient Greek (or the equivalent) are a prerequisite; a diagnostic test may be administered to finalist applicants before successful candidates are selected. 

Application Procedure

Applicants should send a letter by February 1, 2020, addressed to the Byzantine Studies Program, describing their academic background, career goals, previous study of Greek, and reasons for wishing to attend the summer school. The application should also include a curriculum vitae and a list of all Greek authors and/or texts previously read in the original. Two letters of recommendation should be sent separately, one from the student’s adviser, and one from an instructor in Greek, assessing the candidate’s present level of competence in ancient or medieval Greek. Principles of selection will include three considerations: previous meritorious achievement, need for intensive study of Byzantine Greek, and future direction of research. Awards will be announced in late February 2020, and must be accepted by March 15, 2020.

Please send all required materials to:
Dumbarton Oaks
Byzantine Studies Program
1703 32nd Street NW
Washington, DC 20007

Tel.: 202-339-6940 FAX: 202-298-8409, Email: [email protected]

Fieldwork Opportunity: Tel Qedesh in Israel

The Hebrew University Excavations at Tel Qedesh

Tel Qedesh is one of the largest biblical mounds in northern Israel. The site that was a major cultural, economic and political hub for over four millennia is now nestled peacefully in the quiet, green scenery of the Upper Galilee of Israel, waiting for archaeologists to uncover its treasures.

Join Us to the fifth Season – July 12 – August 6, 2020. Registration is now Open! Find more info here: https://sites.google.com/view/huqedesh/home

Dig Directors
Dr. Uri Davidovich
Dr. Ido Wachtel

Geographic Location
Upper Galilee, Israel

Periods of Occupation
Early Bronze Age – British Mandate Period

Dates of the Dig
July 12, 2020 – August 6, 2020

Minimum Stay
Two weeks

Application Due
May 1, 2020

Cost
$300 for two weeks, $600 per four weeks

Academic Credit
Optional

Contact
Uri Davidovich
The Institute of Archaeology
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
Israel
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +972-546604676

Apply now: Online Registration Form

American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) summer fellowships for Turkish language study in Istanbul

ARIT Summer Fellowships for Advanced Turkish Language in Istanbul offer intensive advanced study of Turkish at Bogazici University during the summer 2020.  Participants must have two years of Turkish language study or the equivalent.  The fellowships cover round-trip airfare to Istanbul, application and tuition fees, and a maintenance stipend.   The application deadline is coming up on February 1, 2020!

Full-time students and scholars affiliated at academic institutions are eligible to apply. To be a fellowship applicant, you must:

  1. Be a citizen, national, or permanent resident of the United States
  2. Be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate level academic program, or be faculty
  3. Have a minimum B average in current program of study; and
  4. Perform at the high-intermediate level on a proficiency-based admissions examination

This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Post-Secondary Education, together with the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages, and Georgetown University.