PETITION TO SAVE THE BASEL CAST COLLECTION

Today´s news, once more, contains information related to the preservation of archaeological material. We would like you to consider signing the petition against a budget cut designed by the Governing Council of Basel, Switzerland, which would lead to the closure of the Skulpturhalle Basel. This institution of international reputation displays 2.200 casts of Greek and Roman art and is thus the third largest collection of its kind. Please follow the link in order to sign the petition.

PHD FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE: UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN, NORWAY

The University of Bergen would like to inform you of six PhD Research Fellowships which are available at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion from the 1^st of August 2015.

The deadline for applications is the 9^th of February 2015; please follow this link for further information.

DARMSTÄDTER DISKUSSIONEN: CALL FOR PAPERS

The first part of today´s news is the announcement of the “Darmstädter Diskussionen”, an interdisciplinary conference primarily aimed at PhD students and Post-docs in the field of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology which will be held in September 2015 at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. See below for more information and for the Call for Papers (abstracts should be submitted until the 1^st of March 2015).

Secondly, we would like to share with you the new and comprehensive database of UK doctoral theses being written in the field of Classical Studies.

“We are pleased to announce the 7th international and interdisciplinary conference “Darmstädter Diskussionen”, which will take place in Darmstadt from 23rd to 26th September 2015.

“Darmstädter Diskussionen” is an interdisciplinary conference for PhD students and Post-docs which is organised annually by the Department of Ancient History and the Department of Classical Archaeology at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. The growing popularity of the conference over the last years has highlighted the importance of an academic event specifically designed for highly qualified young researchers. Contrasting conferences with a strict thematic or chronological avenue, “Darmstädter Diskussionen” deliberately pursues an interdisciplinary and diachronic framework not only to provide young scholars with a platform to discuss their research appropriately and to build up their own networks but also to facilitate general intra- and interdisciplinary communication in Classical Studies. Participants will find ample room for the exchange of knowledge within their own peer group and beyond.

Qualified PhD students and Post-docs in the fields of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology are invited to present their latest research results. Presentations will embrace research on the languages and literature, history, civilization, art, and archaeology of the ancient world, placing strong emphasis on aspects such as archaeological fieldwork, philology, theory and material approaches. The official language of the conference is German. However, presentations in English will also be accepted.

Application:

Please send an abstract (including up to five keywords) of not more than 300 words and your CV (personal data sheet) to the Organizing Committee by 1st March 2015. Please send all files in pdf-format to: anmeldung@darmstaedter-diskussionen.de

For further information please visit: www.darmstaedter-diskussionen.de

With best regards,

Anabelle Thurn, Marion Bolder-Boos, Dominik Maschek, Sven Page”

UK DOCTORAL THESES IN PROGRESS

“The Institute of Classical Studies is pleased to announce the publication on its website of a database of UK Doctoral Theses at http://www.icls.sas.ac.uk/students/uk-doctoral-theses. The database is designed to provide up-to-date information on current doctoral research in the field of Classics, as broadly defined, and to act as a permanent record of theses as they are completed. The database is searchable by keyword, area of study, department, University or date of commencement or expected completion. A complete list of theses may also be viewed.

Additions or corrections to the database may be submitted at any time to valerie.james@sas.ac.uk. It is envisaged that requests to update the information contained in the database will be sent to each Department on an annual basis.

Valerie James

Institute Manager, Institute of Classical Studies”

DIGITAL HUMANITIES: THE EXAMPLE OF ANTIQUITY

Today´s news deals with the field of Digital Humanities in general, and with a related 2015 conference in particular. Digital Humanities, in the broadest sense standing for the use of digital technology in studying objects of (traditional) Humanities, has been gaining importance throughout the last couple of decades. It is worth mentioning the umbrella organization Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (http://adho.org/) which, apart from representing major international associations, funds the Digital Humanities Quarterly, a magazine that will keep you up to date with the most recent developments in the area. The special significance for the field of Antiquity can be seen in Gregory Ralph Crane´s professorship of Digital Humanities at the University of Leipzig. The US-American philologist´s position has been funded by the Alexander von Humboldt-Professur, a programme designed to bring prominent international scholars to Germany.

 

For more information on this specific field of interest, see e.g.:

Schreibman, Susan and Siemens, Ray and Unsworth, John (eds.): Companion to Digital Humanities. Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture, Oxford: Blackwell 2004.

 

Please read the following information about the conference of Digital Humanities at Grenoble from the 2^nd to the 4^th of September 2015 including a Call for Papers. The deadline for abstracts is 15^th of January 2015:

 

“The University ‘Stendhal’ of Grenoble 3, the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme-Alpes, L’Université Grenoble 2, the Humboldt Chair for Digital Humanities and HISOMA  organise the conference “Digital Humanities: the example of Antiquity”. The conference will take place in Grenoble, from the 2nd to the 4th of September 2015.

The goal of this conference is twofold: at the same time an assessment of existing methodologies and a looking forward to new ones. It also has the objective of evaluating current practices of the application of Digital Humanities to the study of antiquity, practices which are quite numerous but also sometimes disconnected from each other and without an overall understanding. The conference also aims to contribute toward the design of new projects and the opening new paths, by establishing a dialogue between scholars for whom the Digital Humanities are already familiar and those wishing to acquire knowledge and practice in this domain.

The confirmed Keynote speakers are Gregory Crane (Tufts University & University of Leipzig) and Charlotte Roueché (King’s College London). The conference will be preceded by a workshop, particularly aimed at doctoral students, but open to everybody.

 

The study of Antiquity encompass very large geographical, historical and linguistic domains: from the Mediterranean to the borders of Europe and Asia, from the end of Prehistory to the Middle Ages, and from Greek and Latin to the languages of the Near and Middle East. This study is also distributed among different disciplines: Linguistics, Philology, Literary Criticism, Philosophy, History, Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, etc. In all these disciplinary traditions, the application of computational techniques has been employed for several decades now, an application that has left quite a strong mark on the study of Antiquity. The employment of digital methods has also enabled substantial changes of methodology, the extent of which remains to be assessed.

 

Considering the diversity of such approaches in a context of research which is more and more internationalised, it seems worthwhile to present to scholars and PhD students an overview of current research in order to develop future endeavours.

 

The conference will be organised around four key topics: Editions of literary texts; Study of scholia and commentaries; Archaeology and Epigraphy; Prosopography and historical geography. Papers will focus on methodological questions and/or discuss general issues emerging within such topics. We also encourage proposals of posters presenting work in progress.

 

Please send your proposals of up to 300 words, in French or English (which will be the languages of the conference) by the 15th of January 2015 to the organisers:

icogitore@msh-alpes.fr

elena.pierazzo@u-grenoble3.fr

NB: In order to encourage the participation of young researchers, we will provide a limited number of bursaries. If you wish to be considered for one of these then please include a letter of motivation with your application.”

 

Besides, those responsible for the FIEC-Blog would like to take up the opportunity to wish you all the best for 2015. Thank you for reading.

FEBRUARY 2015: GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF ANTIQUITY IN PARIS

Two French Associations working in the field of Antiquity, the APLAES (Association des Professeurs de Langues Anciennes de l'Enseignement Supérieur) and the SOPHAU (Société des Professeurs d’Histoire Ancienne de l’Université) will be holding a media-centred conference on Antiquity on the 28^th of February 2015 at Paris:

 

Les États généraux de l’Antiquité : quels enjeux pour demain ?

(“General Assembly of Antiquity: What are the challenges of tomorrow?”)

 

The following three topics will be debated in round-table discussions:

1)      Antiquity and education

2)      Antiquity and European culture

3)      Antiquity and research

 

For all details, please visit the APLAES-SOPHAU blog concerning the États généraux de l’Antiquité

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MOMMSEN CONFERENCE 2015

The German Mommsen-Association is pleased to announce that its annual conference will take place from the 16^th to the 18^th of April 2015 in Würzburg. The overall topic will be “Forms of Communication by means of images, words, and texts in Antiquity”.

On the occasion of this meeting the Mommsen-Association has issued a Call for Papers as well as a Call for Posters. The deadline for abstracts (of no more than 250 words) is 31.12.2014; proposals for posters will be accepted until February 2015.

 

For more information, please visit the association´s website.