Online Reading Group: Critical Theory for Byzantine Studies

Critical Theory for Byzantine Studies

Boğaziçi University Byzantine Studies Research Center Reading Group

The Critical Theory for Byzantine Studies reading group is intended as a platform to informally discuss critical problems and theoretical questions that are (or might be) relevant to the study of Byzantium. Initiated by Dr. Milan Vukašinović in the spring term of 2019-2020, the reading group will be moderated during Fall 2020 by Dr. Matthew Kinloch, Boğaziçi University/Villa I Tatti Joint Fellow, and facilitated by a different researcher each session (see the schedule below). A limited number of theoretical readings will be distributed and they will then be discussed first on their own terms and then in terms of their relevance to Byzantine studies and the research interests of the group. The language of readings and discussions will be English. Students and scholars of all levels interested in Byzantine studies are welcome.

The reading group will take place in biweekly sessions online, through jitsi.org (https://meet.jit.si/BogaziciReadingGroup). Readings for each session will be uploaded in advance on Google Drive.

The first session, Who’s who in (Byzantine) narratives?, will be held on Monday, 19 October 2020, at 16:00 (Istanbul time).

If you are interested in participating in the reading group and receiving information about sessions and reading lists, please email matthewckinloch@gmail.com with the subject line Reading Group.

Moderator

Matthew Kinloch received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2018 with a thesis titled Rethinking Thirteenth-Century Byzantine Historiography: A Postmodern, Narrativist, and Narratological Approach. He holds an MRes in Byzantine studies from the University of Birmingham and a BA in ancient, medieval, and modern history from Durham University. He has spent time as a Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks, as a Guest Lecturer at Masaryk University, Brno, and as a Gästdoktorand in Greek linguistics and philology at Uppsala University. He is currently working on a comparative project entitled Minor Characters across Historiographies: A Comparative Narratological Analysis of Urban Populations in the Histories of Doukas and Leonardo Bruni, as a Joint Fellow in Byzantine and Renaissance history at Boğaziçi University and Villa I Tatti.

Provisional Schedule

• 19 October 2020, 16:00–17:30 (Istanbul time)

Session 1: Who’s who in (Byzantine) narratives?

Facilitated by Matthew Kinloch (Boğaziçi University/Villa I Tatti Joint Fellow)

• 2 November 2020, 16:00–17:30 (Istanbul time)

Session 2: Ethnography and Race in Developing the Study of Early Rus

Facilitated by Alexandra Vukovich (University of Oxford)

• 16 November 2020, 16:00–17:30 (Istanbul time)

Session 3: To be confirmed

• 30 November 2020, 16:00–17:30 (Istanbul time)

Session 4: To be confirmed