SPBS Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies
XLIV Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies
Universities of Durham and Newcastle
8th-10th April 2011
Experiencing Byzantium
44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies
Newcastle University - City Centre Campus
Our vision for the event is to facilitate a dialogue that will encourage engagement with the affective and emotive aspects of life in Byzantium. From the reception of imperial ekphraseis in Hagia Sophia to the sounds and smells of the back streets of Constantinople, the sensory perception of Byzantium is an area that lends itself perfectly to an investigation into the experience of the Byzantine world. What was it like for a person to experience not only the monuments and places of Byzantium, but also Byzantine ideas? How are we to appreciate an experience of Byzantine landscapes, stories or of self?
The theme of experience embraces all aspects of Byzantine studies so the symposium will not be weighted in favour of any one particular discipline, rather we hope that historians, art historians, archaeologists and palaeographers will meet on a theme that crosses interdisciplinary boundaries.
The plenary sessions will each focus on one of several themes which will be
• Experiencing Landscape
• Experiencing Art
• Experiencing Stories
• Experiencing Faith
• Experiencing Self in Byzantium
We have invited papers which consider these themes in terms of the experience of real people in the Byzantine world. We very much hope that the result will be an engagement with the challenge of discovering answers to the question of what is was actually like to experience the Byzantine world.
Speakers include: Paul Magdalino, Jim Crow, Liz James, Warren Woodfin, Leslie Brubaker, Margaret Mullet, Alexander Lingas, Beatrice Caseau, Scott Ashley, Dion Smythe, Andrew Louth, Nikolaos Karydis, Nikolas Bakirtzis
Symposiarchs: Claire Nesbitt (Durham University) and Mark Jackson (Newcastle University)
Communications
We invite communications (maximum 13 minutes) to be delivered during the symposium. We invite communications on the theme of ‘Experiencing Byzantium'. Please send offers of communications (title and 150 word abstract) to Dr Claire Nesbitt by Monday 10th January.
Conference information and details
