Online Lecture: Inheritors of Christ: Christian Pilgrimage in Early Islamic Palestine, c.750–c.1099

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce the next lecture in our 2026–2027 lecture series.

November 18, 2026 | Zoom | 12:00–1:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time, UTC -5)
Inheritors of Christ: Christian Pilgrimage in Early Islamic Palestine, c.750–c.1099
Daniel Reynolds, University of Birmingham

At the opening of the seventh century, historic Palestine and Transjordan were among the most densely occupied ritual landscapes of the Late Roman world. Over the course of the early Islamic period, that landscape transformed as local Christian communities adapted to the shifting political and social realities of Muslim rule. While pilgrimage to the region from Byzantium and the post-Roman Latin kingdoms continued throughout this period, it was far exceeded by the vibrant, diverse practices of the region’s locally-rooted Christian population. Drawing together evidence from archaeology, epigraphy, graffiti, and texts, this lecture examines how Christians living within the Caliphate experienced the spaces and stories of the Biblical and early Christian past, and how their practices intersected with the visits of pilgrims from beyond the region.

Daniel Reynolds is Senior Lecturer in Byzantine History at the University of Birmingham

Advance registration required. Register: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/inheritors-of-christ

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Opportunity for Graduate Students & ECRs: GIS Tools for Byzantinists: Visibility Analysis

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Byzantine Studies Association of North America are pleased to offer a GIS visibility analysis workshop for graduate students and early career researchers in collaboration with Becky Seifried of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

GIS Tools for Byzantinists: Visibility Analysis, workshop by Becky Seifried (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Zoom, December 11, 2026, 12:00 AM–2:00 PM EST (UTC -5)

Visibility analysis is a common geospatial technique for investigating the visual interconnections across past landscapes, as well as for exploring questions about why people existed where they did. This intermediate-level workshop will introduce a group of visibility analysis tools available in QGIS, a free and open-source Geographic Information Systems (GIS) desktop software. It will begin with a quick review of core concepts, including vector and raster data types, coordinate reference systems, and how to find and create data. Using a dataset we create together, we will then use QGIS to experiment with line-of-sight, viewshed, and cumulative viewshed tools. Participants will come away ready to apply visibility analysis to their own case studies.

Registration closes November 19.

For a full description of the workshop and to register your interest, please visit https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/visibility-analysis.

Contact Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, with any questions.

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Online Lecture: Re-excavating Antioch: The First New Publication of Princeton’s Excavations of the 1930s

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtot Chair of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the next lecture in the 2026–2027 East of Byzantium lecture series.

November 6, 2026 | 12:00 PM (EST, UTC -5) | Zoom
Re-excavating Antioch: The First New Publication of Princeton’s Excavations of the 1930s
A. Asa Eger, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Antioch is an invisible city, assumed to have faded out after the Islamic conquests in the early seventh century. Indeed, this perspective carries in scholarship until today. The Princeton archaeologists of the 1930s set Byzantine Antioch as their prize and documented extraordinarily little of the excavated remains of the medieval city. Synthetic analysis of urban transformations was not a priority. Recent research is beginning to demonstrate that the city did indeed have a rich afterlife and experienced meaningful change. This paper will present the first new publication of the Princeton excavated material of sector 17-O.

Excavated in 1937, 17-O was designated as a pilot area of the larger project and thus was not published. The area did not possess any mosaics and is supposedly located at the crossroads of the city, at the edge of the Forum of Valens. It also has a long stratigraphic record of the city’s occupation and therefore acts as a microcosm of larger urban transformations. 17-O began as a public space in the Early Roman period with a nymphaeum that was restored twice and continued until the 5th century when it and the entire area were destroyed by fire (and likely earthquake). Between the 5th and 7th centuries, a courtyard house with a series of shops on a side street off the cardo appeared and grew into three courtyard houses with attached shops by the 8th century. In the Middle Byzantine and Crusader periods, 10th–12th centuries, these houses were reused, subdivided, and fitted with kilns for ceramic production. The publication project harnesses recent studies on ceramics, glass, and small finds and situates these back in stratigraphic context using the archived notebooks, maps, and photographs. The transformations of this area are representative of shifts in Antioch and follow the trajectory documented in other Greco-Roman cities.

Asa Eger is Professor of the Islamic World in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.

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Jobs For Medievalists

Assistant Professor – Medieval Studies – Comparative Literature and Spanish & Portuguese

Position overview

Position title: Assistant Professor
Salary range: The current salary range for this position is $84,100–$132,900 (9-month academic year salary), however, off-scale salary and other components of pay, which would yield compensation that is higher than this range, are offered to meet competitive conditions.
Anticipated start: July 1, 2027

Application Window

Open date: October 13, 2026

Next review date: Sunday, Nov 15, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Sunday, Nov 15, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date.

Position description

The Departments of Spanish & Portuguese and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley seek applications for an Assistant Professor specializing in Medieval Literature and Culture.

The successful candidate will have a rigorous grounding in Medieval Studies, with specialized training in Spanish and another language and the ability to work across languages and traditions. This broad, interdisciplinary field can include the study of literary history, social history, intellectual history, religious history, or linguistic history. Additional areas of specialization that would be welcome are Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Catalan, Occitan, Mediterranean Studies, gender studies, race studies, and material culture studies.

The successful candidate will teach a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses that are central, both to the majors and to general education in the Division.

The appointee will also advise undergraduates and graduates and supervise student research, develop a successful and original research program, and provide service contributions. The appointee will be encouraged to contribute to the department’s diverse and inclusive community through their research, teaching, and/or service.

In addition to a strong grounding in literary and/or cultural history, we would welcome secondary training in areas such as gender studies, historical linguistics, critical race studies, material culture studies, classical reception studies, or Mediterranean Studies. The Iberian peninsula in the Middle Ages was characterized by a rich and fascinating intersection of cultures using Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic. Work that takes this complexity and diversity into account would be of special interest to us. Beyond that, we are looking for creativity, rigor and distinction in the candidates’ written work and oral presentations—and, not least, their ability to develop new strands of research that will continue to shape the field going forward.

To apply, visit https://apptrkr.com/9900866

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Call for Papers – The Medieval Reception of Greek Antiquity

The Medieval Reception of Greek Antiquity (CfP)

The Annual Conference of the Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies at the University of South Florida, April 22-24, 2027.

This interdisciplinary conference, to take place in person on the USF campus in Tampa FL,  will explore the reception of ancient Greek texts in the Middle Ages (roughly, 500–1400 CE). We seek contributions treating the influence of Greek texts on, e.g., medieval philosophy, theology, science, historiography, education, literature, and art. Contributions may fall into the following (non-exhaustive) categories:

1.     The reception of ancient Greek thought in medieval philosophy.

2.     The place of classical sources in medieval education and curricula.

3.     The medieval historiography of ancient Greece, and the impact of ancient Greek historians on medieval ones.

4.     Ancient Greek themes and influences in medieval art.

5.     The influence of Greek culture, religion, and thinkers on medieval theology.

Please send an anonymized abstract of 200-250 words, by January 5, 2027, to morsegev@usf.edu. Presentations are expected to be approximately 45 minutes long (30 minutes for the paper itself, followed by 15 minutes of q&a).

Keynote speaker: Jessica Rosenfeld, Washington University in St. Louis

This event is hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies and the Department of Philosophy, University of South Florida.

PhilEvents link: https://philevents.org/event/show/153805

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Call for new ATBL Trustees

The American Trust for the British Library (ATBL) is looking to expand its Board of Trustees. This board service is an opportunity to get involved in active support of the British Library here in the United States. From collections to exhibitions to public outreach to librarianship, the British Library remains an unparalleled leader in the library sector. Service on the ATBL Board gives you a “behind-the-scenes” glimpse into the workings of this extraordinary institution.  Click here <https://atbl.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Call-for-New-ATBL-Trustees.pdf> for more information.

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IMS-Paris New Grad Position

IMS–Paris New Grad Position

The International Medieval Society-Paris is pleased to announce the creation of two positions for graduate students on our board. We hope the two new graduate board members will bolster our efforts to support graduate students and early career scholars whose work brings them to France. Board members are required to attend Zoom board meetings and general assemblies. Graduate board members will also be encouraged to organize graduate sessions at the ICMS in Leeds and Kalamazoo.

We invite applications from students at any stage of their graduate studies, as long as you have at least two years remaining. Students of all disciplinary backgrounds are invited to apply. In keeping with IMS–Paris’s bilingual and international membership, we plan to bring on one francophone representative. The second position will be open to a student of any background. As board meetings are largely in English, applicants should have working knowledge of both French and English.

Interested applicants should send their statement of interest and CVs to Gabriela.Chitwood@gmail.com by October 15.

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Jobs For Medievalists

Assistant or Associate Professor – Mediterranean and its Hinterlands, 500-1500 CE – Department of History

Position overview

Position title: Assistant Professor or Associate Professor
Salary range: The current salary range for this position is $84,100.00 – $154,600.00(9-month academic year salary). However, off-scale salary and other components of pay, which would yield compensation that is higher than this range, are offered to meet competitive conditions
Anticipated start: 07/01/2027

Application Window

Open date: September 10, 2026

Next review date: Thursday, Oct 15, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Thursday, Oct 15, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date.

Position description

The University of California at Berkeley invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty appointment at the level of Assistant or Associate Professor in the Department of History.

The Department of History is one of the largest and most distinguished units in UC Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science. The Department’s faculty ranges across virtually all of the major geographical and chronological fields recognized by the discipline and includes experts in many areas of pivotal thematic significance.

To learn more about the department, please visit our https://history.berkeley.edu/about.

The position is defined as the History of the Mediterranean and its Hinterlands, 500–1500 CE. All subfields within the history of the Mediterranean in this period will be considered. Work that explores connectedness and interactions between the Mediterranean and its hinterlands, whether to the south (Africa), east (Asia), north (Europe), or west (Iberia and the Atlantic world) is of particular interest.

The normal teaching load is currently three courses per year, two of which should be lectures.

The Department of History is committed to addressing the family needs of faculty, including dual career couples and single parents. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths or who have taken time off for family reasons, or who have achieved excellence in careers outside academia. For information about potential relocation to Berkeley, or career needs of accompanying partners and spouses, please visit http://ofew.berkeley.edu/new-faculty.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

PhD (or equivalent international degree), or enrolled in PhD or equivalent international degree-granting program at the time of application.

Preferred qualifications

Ph.D. or equivalent international degree is preferred by date of hire.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

Curriculum Vitae – Your most recently updated C.V.

Cover Letter – The cover letter should inform the committee about the candidate’s research, teaching experience and methods, and service (whether to their department, university, or field), as relevant to career stage.

Research Statement – Please discuss research accomplishments and proposed plans. This can include, for example, your publication record, awards, presentations, inclusive research practices that promote the excellence of your research, and areas for future research.

Teaching and Mentoring Statement – Please discuss prior teaching experience, teaching approach, and future teaching interests. This can include, for example, specific efforts and accomplishments, and future plans to support the success of all students through inclusive curriculum, classroom environment, and pedagogy. Please also discuss your mentoring experiences and approach. This can include, for example, past efforts and future plans to support the success of all students, and to foster an inclusive research environment that removes barriers and promotes equitable access and advancement of the research program.

Service Statement – Please discuss specific prior and proposed academic, professional and/or public service activities. In describing your service, we are interested in your prior and proposed academic, professional and/or public service activities that align with our School’s public mission. This could include, for example, efforts to build an equitable, diverse, and interdisciplinary learning environment for all students, participating in professional organizations, serving on committees that advance the goals of the School or institution, or conducting outreach activities that remove barriers and support increased participation of individuals from all backgrounds.

Published and/or Unpublished Scholarly Work – Three samples of scholarly work, totaling not more than 100 pages. These may be dissertation chapters (whether submitted or still in draft form), chapters of a book or book manuscript, journal articles, stand-alone chapters written as part of an edited volume, or any combination of the above.

Authorization to Release Information Form – An institutional reference check will be completed only if you are selected as the candidate to whom the hiring unit would like to extend a formal offer. Download, complete, sign, and upload the https://apo.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/authorization_release_of_information_form.pdf

Reference requirements

– 3 required (contact information only)

The candidate will be asked to provide the names and email addresses of three persons who can address the candidate’s research, teaching experience, and qualities as a colleague. Letters may be solicited from referees directly by the search committee only at a later date. All letters of reference will be treated as confidential in accordance with University of California policy and California state law.

Apply link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05501

Help contact: mailto:history-ap@berkeley.edu

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Online Lecture: Decoding the Enigma of the Daphni Monastery: Landscape and Identity in Middle Byzantine Attica

Online Lecture: Decoding the Enigma of the Daphni Monastery: Landscape and Identity in Middle Byzantine Attica

The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce the next lecture in our 2026–2027 lecture series.

October 29, 2026 | Zoom | 12:00–1:30 pm (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC -4)
Decoding the Enigma of the Daphni Monastery: Landscape and Identity in Middle Byzantine Attica
Justin Mann, Eastern Michigan University

Despite the considerable popular and scholarly attention devoted to it, the monastery of Daphni, on the western outskirts of Athens, remains an enigmatic monument. It is a site about which much is celebrated, but almost nothing is known for certain. However, when one looks beyond discussions of typology and chronology, the Daphnian enigma begins to unravel. Daphni thus represents a key site through which to explore the ways in which natural and cultural landscapes shaped the formation of monastic identity and memory. In this lecture, I aim to decode, in part, the enigma of Daphni through a multidisciplinary study of the monument that examines the ways in which the monastery integrated mountains, cityscapes, and pilgrimage networks into a distinctively Daphnian landscape. By doing so, it sheds new light on the monastery and reveals how Daphni articulated a sense of identity through its surroundings and its deep connection to regional Attic history.

Justin Mann is Assistant Professor of Art History at Eastern Michigan University.

Advance registration required. https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/decoding-the-enigma-of-the-daphni-monastery

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.

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Jobs For Medievalists

The Department of Art and Art History at the University of Colorado Boulder welcomes applications to the 2027 University’s Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. We especially encourage applications from specialists in Early Modern European art whose research and teaching include a significant international and/or transcultural component. We also strongly encourage applications from specialists in Native North American art working in any period, from ancient to contemporary.

For more information, visit the university’s Postdoctoral Affairs website. For information about the Department of Art and Art History’s requirements and its October 20, 2026 deadline for submission of application materials, visit the department’s Postdoctoral Fellowship page.

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