Byzantine Greek Summer School (July 29-August 18, 2021)

Boğaziçi University

Byzantine Studies Research Center

BYZANTINE GREEK SUMMER SCHOOL (Online)

29 July–18 August 2021

The Byzantine Studies Research Center of Boğaziçi University is pleased to announce the organization of its fourth Byzantine Greek Summer School to be held online, from 29 July to 18 August, 2021. Students will have the chance to participate in an intensive program in Medieval Greek with Prof. Niels Gaul and Dr. Foteini Spingou. There is no fee for participation in the program, thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Application Deadline:  31 May 2021 

Format

The program is designed for students who have completed at least two semesters of college-level Classical Greek or its equivalent. Students are expected to have knowledge of basic Greek grammar and to be able to read simple texts from ancient Greek or Byzantine literature. Daily classes are devoted to the reading of Byzantine texts with a focus on Constantinopolitan monuments and/or events that happened in the city; they will be held in two groups, at lower intermediate level and upper intermediate/advanced level, and last three hours Monday to Friday (15 hours per week). Students will be assigned to one of the two groups based on their performance in a prognostic test. The daily classes will be supplemented by shorter tutorial sessions (two to three per week) that offer revisions of grammar or a brief introduction to Greek paleography. The language of instruction is English, and the classes will be held online. The exact schedule will be agreed with those admitted to the course; no activities will be scheduled on weekends. Students will receive a certificate of participation upon successful completion of the program.

Instructors

Niels Gaul is A. G. Leventis Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently interested in the socio-political functions of (classicizing) learning in medieval polities – inter alia as the PI of an ERC-funded project that explores such issues in the Byzantine and Tang/Song empires from a cross-cultural vantage point – and pursues various smaller projects on the side, e.g. on the often unexpected connections between Byzantium and Scotland from the early middle ages to the present day, or relic translations in the age of Leo VI and Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos.

Foteini Spingou is currently a Research Fellow in Byzantine Cultural/Intelletual History at the University of Edinburgh; in 2022, she will take up an Associate Professorship in Medieval Greek Philology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Her long-standing interest in the intersections of word and image led to the publication of a major edited volume on sources for Byzantine art and aesthetics (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and the completion of the first edition and annotated translation of the Anthologia Marciana, a vast anthology of twelfth-century Constantinopolitan poetry (Oxford University Press, forthcoming). Dr. Spingou is currently writing a cultural history of beauty in Byzantium, and she has previously published on various topics related to the general themes of cultural memory, collections and collecting, and scientific knowledge in middle and late Byzantium.

Organizer

The Byzantine Studies Research Center of Boğaziçi University, in Istanbul, fosters the development of education in Byzantine studies by offering scholarships at the MA, PhD, and postdoctoral levels, “tools of the trade” seminars, and language programs since 2015. Boğaziçi University was established as Robert College in 1863, and is one of the leading institutions of higher education in Turkey.

For more information on the Center and the University, please see:

http://www.bogazici.edu.tr/en-US/

http://byzantinestudies.bogazici.edu.tr/

Eligibility

Graduate students and advanced undergraduates, as well as individuals with an academic interest in or a career relevant to Byzantine studies can apply, granted that they meet the requirements mentioned above. Priority will be given to graduate students in the field of Byzantine studies.

Application Procedure:

Candidates should submit their application to the Boğaziçi University Byzantine Studies Research Center before 31 May 2021. The application file should be in English and include a statement of purpose, a detailed CV, and proof of having completed at least two semesters of college-level Classical Greek or its equivalent. Applicants should indicate in the statement of purpose their background in Classical or Byzantine Greek and the relevance of attending this summer program for their future studies or career development. Applicants currently enrolled as students in a higher education institution should also submit a transcript (as well as previous record of the study of Greek, if applicable) and two reference letters (one of which must be written by an instructor of Greek). The referees should send their letters directly to the Byzantine Studies Research Center.

Applications and reference letters should be sent to: byzantinestudies@bogazici.edu.tr