SWEDISH RESEARCH INSTITUTES – FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

This is to provide some background information about the plans for closing the Swedish research institutes in Athens, Istanbul and Rome.

A few weeks ago, the Swedish people elected its new government. The new minister of Higher Education and Research is called Helene Hellmark Knutsson.

On Wednesday, 22.10.2014 the budget proposal for the next year was published. In the section on research it was briefly announced that the department would save 10 million Swedish kronor in 2016 and another 12 in 2017, consisting in the withdrawal of support for the three Swedish Institutes. The chairperson of the board of the Institutes was informed by telephone the day before the budget proposal was launched. This development, however, does not take take place without resistance from wide parts of the Swedish and the international society. It has been criticized that there was neither an adequate discussion, nor a proper analysis of the consequences.

Immediately, a petition was started; after only 24 hours the number of signatures was already over 3.000. The present number of 12.800 is constituted by subscribers from many different countries. All the major Swedish newspapers, including those not usually reporting on humanities and culture, showed interest in the subject. Carl Bildt, the former minister of foreign affairs in the government which just resigned, has signed the list and written an article in one of the largest Swedish newspapers. The minister in question was interviewed in a program where Ida Östenberg, who is an Ancient Historian and one of the most important supporters of the protest, was also interviewed. Consequently, the minister was put under pressure to consider re-evaluating the decision.

It is now possible or even likely that the government is going to withdraw the suggestion: The minister claims that “this was just a proposal, not a decision”.

The petition is still available online:

http://www.namninsamling.com/site/get.asp?Medelhavsinstitut#.VElipDs-IkA.facebook

SWEDISH INSTITUTES AT ATHENS, ROME, AND ISTANBUL THREATENED WITH CLOSURE

Today´s news concerns the plan of the Swedish government to stop funding the Mediterranean Institutes at Athens, Rome and Istanbul from 2017 onwards. This budget cut would force all three research Institutes to close down. As you will see, a number of classicists has called attention to the issue and you are asked to sign a petition if you think the institutes´ scientific as well as educational work is worth saving.

See below for further information! Also notice the instructions on how to sign the petition in Swedish.

Dear colleagues,

Yesterday [23.10.14] the Swedish Government announced that they will end all state funding for the Swedish Institutes at Athens, Rome and Istanbul from 2017. Our research Institutes have no private funding and will therefore have to close down and terminate their work within two years.

The decision has been made without any prior consultation or investigation of the consequences: the Institutes will not be able to fulfill their responsibilities of taking care of archaeological material or sites in the Mediterranean and providing education with the fields of Classical Archaeology, Classics, Art History, Architecture and Social sciences, nor to conduct and publish research, give conferences, host cultural activities, take part in heritage management or run our research libraries in the Mediterranean countries.

The decision would be a huge tragedy for Classical research and education in Sweden and we ask you to consider signing the petition against it:

http://www.namninsamling.com/site/get.asp?Medelhavsinstitut#.VElipDs-IkA.facebook

Please enter through "Skriv på listan" (Sign the list)

Add your "förnamn" (name), "efternamn" (surname), emailadress (for verification only), "postort" (city), and "ämne/titel" (title/subject). Press "spara" (save) and sign through the verification email.

Thank you for your support,

Jenni Hjohlman

Franco Montanari elected Treasurer of CIPSH

FRANCO MONTANARI ELECTED TREASURER OF CIPSH

Dear colleagues,
For your information, Franco Montanari was elected as Treasurer of CIPSH (Conseil International pour la Philosophie et les Sciences Humaines). For those who have forgotten what this stands for, it is a branch of UNESCO in charge of the Humanities; FIEC is one of the Federations affiliated to CIPSH. I take this opportunity to congratulate Franco for his election.
With best wishes to all,
Paul Schubert

Openings - Fellowships

Today´s news contains offers from two Universities, namely the University College Dublin as well as the Trinity College Dublin, to apply for Postdoctoral Fellowships funded by the Irish Research Council. The closing date for all applications is Thursday 27 November 2014. Furthermore, we would like to inform you of Franco Montanari´s election as Treasurer of CIPSH (Conseil International pour la Philosophie et les Sciences Humaines).
See below for further information!

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

The Irish Research Council has launched the 2015 round of its Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowships for all subject areas. The closing date for applications is Thursday 27 November 2014. Applications must be made in conjunction with a suitably qualified Academic Mentor at an Irish Higher Education Institution or Research Performing Organisation.

Please contact Dr Philip de Souza [ philip.desouza@ucd.ie ] as soon as possible if you are interested in applying for a Fellowship through the School of Classics at University College Dublin.

These are the research interests of members of the UCD School of Classics:
Martin Brady: Augustan poetry, esp. Ovid, and the ancient epic tradition.
Joanna Day: Aegean Bronze Age and Classical archaeology, early ceramic technology, iconography, palaeoethnobotany and ancient gardens, eating and drinking in antiquity, sensory and experiential archaeology, ancient perfume.
Helen Dixon: transmission and reception of Latin literature, Latin palaeography, history of classical scholarship.
Aude Doody: Ancient Scientific and Medical Writing, Pliny the Elder, History of Encyclopaedism, Classical Reception, Ancient Technical Writing, Roman Historiography.
Philip de Souza: Greek and Roman political, social and economic history, esp. warfare, piracy and seafaring.
Michael Lloyd: Greek epic and drama; sociolinguistic approaches to Greek literature, esp. politeness theory; Irish versions of Greek tragedy.
Alexander Thein: Roman Archaeology, esp. the topography of the city of Rome; Roman Republican History, esp. the Sullan Dictatorship.
Theresa Urbainczyk: Ancient slavery, late antiquity, Byzantine historiography Further details at: http://www.ucd.ie/classics/index.html

The fellowship schemes are outlined below. For the full terms and conditions go to: http://research.ie/scheme/government-ireland-postdoctoral-fellowship-2015

The Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme provides funding across all disciplines for early-career researchers for periods of between one and two years. These Fellowships can be held for either: one year, in order to prepare a doctoral dissertation for publication through a variety of high quality published outputs e.g. monographs, peer-reviewed articles, edited volumes; or two years, in order to develop either a new research project or a research project that demonstrates a significant development of the subject of the doctorate through a variety of appropriate, feasible and clear published outputs.

These Fellowships are highly competitive and the UCD School of Classics will only support applications that have an excellent chance of success.

To be eligible to apply to the scheme, applicants must have been awarded their doctoral degree within the five-year period from 28th February 2010 to 28th February 2015 (see the terms and conditions for full details).

Applications will only be accepted through the electronic submission system, which will be launched on the IRC website in due course. All electronic applications must be submitted via the e-system following the relevant deadlines: 1. The deadline for applicants to the scheme is exactly 16.00 (GMT) on Thursday 27th  November 2014. 2. The deadline for referees and mentors is exactly 16.00 (GMT) on Thursday 4th December 2014. 3. The closing date for endorsement by the research office of the proposed host institution is exactly 16.00 (GMT) on Thursday 11th December 2014.

IRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS AT TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

The Irish Research Council has launched its 2015 Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme, offering funding for 1- and 2-year postdoctoral research projects. For information, see http://research.ie/scheme/government-ireland-postdoctoral-fellowship-2015.

Ph.D. graduates interested in applying for an IRC Postdoctoral Fellowship through Trinity College Dublin should make contact with their intended Academic Mentor in the Department of Classics as soon as possible, keeping in mind that these applications require a significant amount of preparation and that internal vetting deadlines will fall before the IRC application deadline of 27th November 2014.

For the expertise available in TCD Classics see www.tcd.ie/Classics/staff/. If you are unsure who to approach, please contact the Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning, Dr Martine Cuypers, at cuypersm@tcd.ie.
The IRC's postgraduate scheme will be launched in November. For information about last year's scheme, see http://www.research.ie/funding/postgraduate-funding (fees at EU level, €16k stipend and research expenses for up to 4 years). If you are interested in applying to the IRC for Ph.D. study in Trinity College Dublin, please approach a potential supervisor in the Department of Classics to discuss your project and preparation.
For the range of postgraduate projects currently and recently supervised, see www.tcd.ie/Classics/postgraduate/degrees/current-students.php and www.tcd.ie/Classics/postgraduate/degrees/theses.php. For information about our Ph.D. programme, see www.histories- humanities.tcd.ie/postgraduate/research-degrees.php.

Today's news - job openings and call for paper

Today’s news includes the possibility to apply for a fellowship at the Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars Program at the University of Cincinnati, deadline January 15th, 2015, and the possibility to apply for a PhD or postdoc position at OIKOS, the National Research School in Classical Studies in the Netherlands, deadline end of October 2014.

Our colleagues in Gothenburg have issued a call for papers for a conference on healthcare in Antiquity, in May next year. Deadline October 31st 2014.

See below for further information!

UNIVERSITY  OF  CINCINNATI
Department of Classics

MARGO TYTUS VISITING  SCHOLARS  PROGRAM


The University of Cincinnati Classics Department is pleased to announce the Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars Program.  Tytus Fellows, in the fields of philology, history and archaeology  will ordinarily  be at least 5 years beyond receipt of the Ph. D. Apart from residence in Cincinnati during term, the only obligation of Tytus Fellows is to pursue their own research.   Fellowships are tenable  during the regular academic year (September to April).

There are two categories of Tytus Fellowships,  long-term and short-term.
Long Term Fellows will come to Cincinnati for a minimum of one semester and a maximum of two during the regular academic year.  They will receive  a monthly stipend of $1500 plus housing and a transportation allowance of $1500.
Short  Term Fellows will come to Cincinnati for a  minimum of one month and a maximum of two  months during the regular academic year.  They will also receive a monthly stipend of $1500 plus  housing  and a transportation allowance of $1500.
Both Long Term and Short  Term Fellows  will also receive office space and enjoy the use of the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College Libraries.  While at Cincinnati Tytus Fellows will be free to pursue their own research.

The University of Cincinnati Burnam Classics Library is one of the world's premier collections in the field of Classical Studies (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/classics/).  Comprising  270,000 volumes, the library covers all aspects of the Classics: the languages and literatures, history, civilization, art, and archaeology.  Of special value for scholars is both the richness of the collection and its accessibility -- almost any avenue of research in the classics can be pursued deeply and broadly under a single roof.  The unusually comprehensive core collection, which is maintained by three professional classicist librarians, is augmented by several special collections such as 15,000 nineteenth century German Programmschriften, extensive holdings in Palaeography,   Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies.   At neighboring Hebrew Union College, the Klau  Library, with holdings  in excess of 470,000 volumes, is rich in Judaica  and Near Eastern Studies.

Application Deadline:  January  15.

A description of the Tytus Program and an application form is available online at  http://classics.uc.edu/index.php/tytus. Questions can be directed to Prof. Getzel M. Cohen (getzel.cohen@uc.edu).

Anchoring Innovation is the new research agenda of OIKOS, the National Research School in Classical Studies in the Netherlands. This agenda was developed with the financial support of Leiden University, Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen. It looks at innovation processes in various domains, including politics, religion, architecture, literature, linguistics and technology, in classical antiquity. The concept of “anchoring” refers to the many different ways in which people connect new developments and initiatives in these domains with the old, the familiar and traditional. Discourse-cohesion, intertextuality, memory studies, architectural transitions can be considered examples of ‘anchoring innovation’. To help us implement this research agenda we are currently looking for 4 PhD students and 4 postdocs:

Radboud University Nijmegen

1 PhD candidate Greek / Latin

1 PhD candidate Ancient History / Classical Archaeology

1 Postdoc Latin, 1.0 fte, 3 years

1 Postdoc Roman Archaeology, 1.0 fte, 3 years

University of Groningen

1 Postdoc Greek / Latin, 1.0 fte, 3 years

1 Postdoc Ancient History, 1.0 fte, 3 years

Leiden University

1 PhD candidate Latin

University of Amsterdam

1 PhD candidate Greek

For a full description of the inidividual projects and their requirements, see https://www.ru.nl/oikos/anchoring-innovation. The deadline for submission of application to most of these projects is end of October, 2014.

Conference on Healthcare in Antiquity, May 2015 - call for papers

Healthcare: Supply and Demand in Prehistory and History

Gothenburg, 6-8 May, 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite colleagues to submit papers for an international interdisciplinary conference on the practice of medicine in the past, organised by the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg.

Topic may include, but are not limited to, the definition of physical and mental health and disease, the impact of class and/or gender on healthcare, the spread of epidemics and countermeasures, physicians and patients, power relations between practitioners or between practitioners and patients. Papers that deal with archaeological, osteological, and iconographical evidence are as welcome as those that rely on textual sources. Our timeframe spans from the Palaeolithic to the recent past.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Helen King (Open University), Charlotte Roberts (University of Durham), Lucinda McCray (Appalachian State University), and Julie Laskaris (University of Richmond).

The deadline for abstracts (max. 300 words) is 31 October, 2014. Abstracts should be sent to: Linnea Åshede (linnea.ashede@gu.se)

Notice of acceptance will be sent out before 15 November.

For further information contact: Maria Sjöberg (maria.sjoberg@history.gu.se) or Helène Whittaker (helene.whittaker.von.hofsten@gu.se). See also: www.healthinhistory.gu.se

Greek, Latin, Ancient History and Classical and Roman Archaeology - 4PhD and 4Postdoc Positions in the Netherland​s

OIKOS, the National Research School in Classical Studies in the Netherlands, is currently advertising for 4 PhD and 4 Postdoc positions to help implement its new research agenda Anchoring Innovation. This agenda was developed with the financial support of Leiden University,  Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen. It looks at innovation processes in various domains, including politics, religion, architecture, literature, linguistics and technology, in classical antiquity. The concept of “anchoring” refers to the many different ways in which people connect new developments and initiatives in these domains with the old, the familiar and traditional. Discourse-cohesion, intertextuality, memory studies, architectural transitions can be considered examples of ‘anchoring innovation’. The following positions are currently available:

Radboud University Nijmegen

1 PhD candidate Greek / Latin

1 PhD candidate Ancient History / Classical Archaeology

1 Postdoc  Latin, 1.0 fte, 3 years

1 Postdoc Roman Archaeology, 1.0 fte, 3 years

 

University of Groningen

1 Postdoc Greek / Latin, 1.0 fte, 3 years

1 Postdoc Ancient History, 1.0 fte, 3 years

 

Leiden University

1 PhD candidate Latin

 

University of Amsterdam

1 PhD candidate Greek

 

For a full description of the inidividual projects and their requirements, see https://www.ru.nl/oikos/anchoring-innovation. The deadline for submission of application to most of these projects is end of October, 2014.