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The 43rd Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies
Byzantium Behind the Scenes:
Power and Subversion
University of Birmingham
27-29 March 2010
(Revolt of the people of Constantinople against Emperor Michael V. Illuminated manuscript of John Skylitzes, 12th century)
The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman
and Modern Greek Studies, Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, of the
University of Birmingham is pleased to be welcoming back the Spring
Symposium of Byzantine Studies under the auspices of The Society for the
Promotion of Byzantine Studies.
Communications
The 43rd Spring Symposium
of Byzantine Studies welcomes communication papers (maximum 13
minutes) to be delivered during the symposium. Communications are
expected to make an original contribution to any field of Byzantine
studies. The abstracts will be published in the Bulletin of the
Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. Especially welcome
are communications on the theme of the symposium. As usual, the
organising committee will read all proposals. Please send proposals
for communications (title and 150-word abstract) from now until
7 February 2010
at the latest to Dr Dimiter Angelov,
Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, Arts Building, University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK,
d.angelov@bham.ac.uk.
Deliverers of communication papers
should register for the symposium either by submitting the
registration form or electronically (see the symposium website).
Symposiarch:
Dimiter Angelov
Symposium Assistants
Eve Davies,
Michael Saxby
Director of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman & Modern Greek Studies:
Rhoads Murphey With:
Anthony Bryer, Leslie Brubaker, Archie Dunn, Eurydice Georganteli, Ruth
Macrides, Joseph Munitiz
Introduction
The 43rd
Byzantine Spring Symposium addresses a theme of special significance for
the field of Byzantine studies. Byzantium has traditionally been deemed
a civilisation which deferred to authority and set special store by
orthodoxy, canon and proper order. Since 1982 when the distinguished
Russian Byzantinist Alexander Kazhdan wrote that 'the history of
Byzantine intellectual opposition has yet to be written', scholars have
increasingly highlighted cases of opposition to and subversion of
'correct practice' and 'correct belief' in Byzantium. The innovative
scholarly effort has produced important results, although has been
somewhat disjointed and has been hampered by the lack of dialogue across
the disciplines of Byzantine studies. The Byzantine Spring Symposium in
2010 addresses this situation by drawing together historians, art
historians, scholars of literature and religion, and philosophers who
will discuss shared and discipline-specific approaches to the theme of
subversion.
Programme
The symposium is organized in the
form of five sessions devoted to:
(i) history
(ii) art history
(iii)
religious and popular belief
(iv) philosophy and intellectual life
(v) literature
The dialectical relationship between authority and
subversion, and the distinction between dissidence and subversion, are
among the theoretical questions to be addressed. The conference comes at
a timely junction of the development of Byzantine studies, as interest
in subversion and generally in nonconformist attitudes has been rising
steadily in various disciplines in the humanities and the social
sciences.
Speakers
Speakers include Margaret Alexiou
(Harvard),
Michael Angold (Edinburgh), Leslie Brubaker (Birmingham),
Börje Bydén (Stockholm),
Béatrice Caseau (Paris),
Katerina Ierodiakonou (Athens),
Liz James (Sussex), Dimitris Krallis (Simon Fraser
University), Dirk Krausmüller (Cardiff),
Dimitris Kyritses (Crete), Marc Lauxtermann (Oxford),
Paul Magdalino (St Andrews),
Maria Mavroudi (Berkeley),
Neil McLynn (Oxford), Margaret Mullett (Dumbarton Oaks),
Bissera Pentcheva (Stanford),
Kostis Smyrlis (New York)
Registration
Registration fee:
£75
Reduced registration fee: £65
(members of SPBS)
£30 (graduate students)
The registration fee includes buffet
lunches on March 27 (Saturday), March 28 (Sunday) and March 29 (Monday)
and wine reception on Saturday. It does not include the Sunday feast
which is booked separately.
After February 15, the fees rise to £85
(full fee), £75 (members of SPBS), £35 (graduate students)
Registration fees are payable either by
credit card (the option will be available after 15 November 2009) or by
sending the registration form
and cheque payable to The University of Birmingham to the following
address: Byzantine Spring Symposium 2010, Institute of Archaeology &
Antiquity, Arts Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston,
Birmingham B15 2TT, England.
For Further information, please
contact: Dimiter Angelov |
