Monthly Archives: September 2014

University of Sydney: Lecturer in English (Medieval Literature and Language)

University of Sydney, School of Letters, Art and Media, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Lecturer in English
Reference No. 1712/0814

Opportunity for a scholar with expertise in medieval literature and/or language
Full-time, fixed-term for 4 years, remuneration package: $110K – $131K p.a. (including salary, leave loading and up to 17% superannuation)

Applicants for this position will need to have:

  • a PhD in an area of Medieval literature and/or language
  • ability to teach Old English language and literature, and Middle English literature. Ability to teach Old Norse may also be desirable
  • teaching experience at tertiary level
  • an established research profile and detailed and achievable research plans
  • academic administration skills
  • excellent teamwork and communication skills.

Closing Date for Applications: 19 October 2014

For full information and to apply, please visit this link.

Poly-Olbion And The Writing Of Britain – Call For Papers

Poly-Olbion And The Writing Of Britain
Royal Geographical Society, London
10-11 September, 2015

Confirmed speakers include Alison Chapman, Andrew Hadfield, Bernhard Klein, Sara Trevisan, and Angus Vine. The conference will also feature presentations by the Poly-Olbion Project Team: Andrew McRae, Philip Schwyzer, Daniel Cattell, and Sjoerd Levelt.

Hosted by the Poly-Olbion Project, the conference will explore Michael Drayton’s Poly-Olbion within the wider context of early modern British discourses of space, place, nationhood, and regional identity. The conference will coincide with the opening of a major exhibition and series of public-facing events devoted to Poly-Olbion, derived from the AHRC-funded project and the associated HLF-funded ‘Children’s Poly-Olbion’. Papers dealing with aspects of Michael Drayton’s poem, John Selden’s commentary, William Hole’s maps, or the wider context of chorography and cartography in early modern Britain will be welcome. Please send abstracts or full papers to Andrew McRae (a.mcrae@exeter.ac.uk) and Philip Schwyzer (p.a.schwyzer@exeter.ac.uk) by 5 January 2015.

Catastrophe, Gender and Urban Experience, 1648–1920 – Call For Papers

Catastrophe, Gender and Urban Experience, 1648–1920

Editors: Deborah Simonton and Hannu Salmi

The history of catastrophes is an emerging field of research. Its interests range from natural and environmental disasters to social, industrial and technological accidents, from local hazards to global threats with a plethora of cultural ramifications. This volume concentrates on the shift from premodern to modern, from the perspective of the increasing presence of catastrophes in European imagination and everyday life. In 1820, the Brockhaus encyclopaedia in Germany defined a catastrophe as “a particularly decisive change, a surprising turn that changes the course of events.” Catastrophe had been a concept of drama theory since classical antiquity. It referred to the final resolution of a narrative. In tragedy, this happened often with sinister consequences. It seems that the notion ‘catastrophe’ became used outside drama theory from the seventeenth century onwards, and it became to be employed in connection to a disaster or a fatal turn of events in the lives of an individual or a community. Perhaps an element of dramatic theory remained through the ways in which emotions, fear and pity, could be attached with drastic events.

This book aims at addressing the history of catastrophes in Europe during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries especially from the urban point of view. How disaster changed urban experience, and how urban communities conceived, adapted to, and were transformed by catastrophes, both natural and human-made. How was gender involved in the events and cultural corollaries around catastrophes, and how gendered practices were negotiated during and in the aftermath of disastrous incidents in European towns and cities. The book will be the fifth to emerge from the Gender in the European Town Network.

We are seeking additional chapters and especially would welcome proposals that fall within this description, especially examining British or Southern European towns, but all catastrophes in any European town will be considered. The deadline for proposals is 1 October 2014, and we anticipate publishing in late 2015/early 2016. Please feel free to contact either of us with regard to ideas or questions you may have prior to submitting a proposal.

Third Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies – Call For Papers

Third Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri
June 17-19, 2015

Symposium Website

The Third Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies is a convenient summer venue in North America for scholars to present papers,  organize sessions, participate in roundtables, and engage in interdisciplinary discussion. The goal of the Symposium is to promote serious scholarly investigation into all topics and in all disciplines of medieval and early modern studies.

The plenary speakers for this year will be Kenneth Pennington, of Catholic University of America, and Ingrid Rowland, of the University of Notre Dame.

The Symposium is held annually on the beautiful midtown campus of Saint Louis University. On campus housing options include affordable, air-conditioned apartments as well as a luxurious boutique hotel. Inexpensive meal plans are also available, although there is a wealth of restaurants, bars, and cultural venues within easy walking distance of campus.

While attending the Symposium participants are free to use the Vatican Film Library, the Rare Book and Manuscripts Collection, and the general collection at Saint Louis University’s Pius XII Memorial Library.

The Third Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies invites proposals for papers, complete sessions, and roundtables. Any topics regarding the scholarly investigation of the medieval and early modern world are welcome. Papers are normally twenty minutes each and sessions are scheduled for ninety minutes. Scholarly organizations are especially encouraged to sponsor proposals for complete sessions.

The deadline for all submissions is December 31, 2014. Decisions will be made
in January and the final program will be published in February.

For more information or to submit your proposal online go to: http://smrs.slu.edu

ANZAMEMS PATS 2014: Applications Now Extended to 22 Sept.

ANZAMEMS PATS 2014: Political Ideas and Medieval Texts: Methodologies and Resources

Date: Sat. 25 October 2014
Time: 9:30am-4:30pm

The convenors are pleased to report that this PATS (with Kriston Rennie, Chris Jones and Clare Monagle) is shaping up as an exciting opportunity for graduates and early career researchers whose work impinges on questions of political identity in relation to art, literature, society and religion in the medieval and early modern period.

We congratulate those already offered bursaries. There is still opportunity for two more bursaries to assist with travel ($500 from WA or NZ; $350 from elsewhere). The deadline for application for these two further bursaries is now extended to 22 Sept 2014. There is also space for three further non-bursary applicants to participate in this PATS.

For more information regarding this PATS, please visit: http://anzamems.org/?p=3865

SMFS Foremother’s Graduate Student Prize 2015

The Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship is now accepting applications for the 2015 Foremother’s Prize for Graduate Students.

Funded through the generous gift of royalties from the editors and authors of the Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (Judith Bennett and Ruth Mazzo Karras, eds.), the grant provides $2,000 for a graduate student to undertake a significant professional development initiative. The winner will be partnered with a senior medieval feminist scholar whose guidance and association can assist her in developing and executing the project.

Such projects might include:

  • Travel to a conference relevant to medieval feminist scholarship, for instance, the annual Gender and Medieval Studies Conference in the U.K.
  • Travel to visit archives, research libraries, museums, manuscript collections, or archeological or architectural sites
  • Travel to conduct other forms of on-site research
  • Development of a digital humanities project related to feminist research
  • Organizing of a medieval feminist conference or colloquium
  • Travel to allow sustained work with a mentor

SMFS is especially interested in assisting students whose projects are not otherwise funded. The winner must be willing to write a reflective report describing the outcome of the project that will appear on the SMFS public website.

Applicants should provide: a completed application form (to include existing funding sources and advisor signature), a 500-word description of the project including its scope and development, proposed timeline, and a potential budget.

Application Deadline: January 1, 2015
The winner will be announced by February 15, 2015.

For full instructions on how to apply, please visit: http://smfsweb.org/smfs-2015-foremothers-prize

 

Univ. of Groningen – Two PhD positions: “Early Modern Social and Economic History”

Applications are invited for two three-year fellowships (36 months) to undertake doctorates in the context of ForSEAdiscovery, a large research project funded by the European Union (Call identifier: FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN) with fourteen participating academic institutions from nine countries (see forseadiscovery.eu). Two PhD candidates will be based at the University of Groningen.

ForSEAdiscovery (in full: Forest Resources for Iberian Empires: Ecology and Globalization in the Age of Discovery) focuses on the construction of ocean-going ships of the Iberian Empires during the Age of Discovery and European Expansion. Large-scale shipbuilding made unprecedented demands on Iberian forests for the supply of construction timber. Forestry and sea power became inextricably linked, creating new geopolitical tensions, alliances and forest regulations. Key questions in this context are: could Iberian forest resources sustain the increasing demand of sound timber, or was the wood imported from elsewhere? If so, how were the trade networks organized? And did the lack of raw material force the technological changes that occurred in shipbuilding in the 16th century, or were they a result of exchange between Mediterranean and Atlantic shipbuilding traditions?

The candidates will work in an international and interdisciplinary environment involving regular participation in workshops and courses abroad.

In the course of the fellowship the candidates will be seconded for a few weeks at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal, and at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain.

The candidates will use the Danish Sound Toll Registers and Dutch sources such as the Amsterdam notarial archives. Alternatively, we welcome the study of similar sources kept in archives in other countries, for instance in the Baltic and North Sea regions, depending on the applicant’s language skills.

Applicants are requested to briefly outline their specific research proposals. For further details see below under ‘application.’

One PhD candidate will:

  • collect in the historiography, existing databases and archival sources quantitative information concerning the timber trade and transport between Northern Europe and Atlantic Iberia (1500-1800) and analyze and explain that information
  • produce (1) a database containing information about the volume of timber trade and transport between Northern Europe and Atlantic Iberia (1500-1800) and about Northern European areas supplying timber for shipbuilding in Atlantic Iberia (1500-1800) and (2) a dissertation in which this information is studied

The other PhD candidate will:

  • collect in the historiography, existing databases and archival sources information about networks of merchants involved in the timber trade and transport between Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula serving the Atlantic Iberian shipbuilding industry (1500-1800) and analyze and explain the mechanisms of these networks
  • produce (1) a database containing information about the merchant networks in the timber trade and transport between Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula serving the Atlantic Iberian shipbuilding industry (1500-1800) and about Northern European areas supplying shipbuilding timber to Atlantic Iberia (1500-1800) and (2) a dissertation in which this information is studied

Qualifications

  • MA degree in Early Modern (Economic or Social) History, History of the European Expansion, Global History or World History
  • languages: English is indispensable, Dutch an asset, a basic working knowledge of Spanish and/or Portuguese useful, any other language necessary depending on the sources you propose to use
  • basic ability to read early modern handwriting
  • ability to work independently and as part of a team

In accordance with the criteria set out by Marie Curie Innovative Doctoral Program, the candidates must not have resided or carried out main activity (work, study, etc.) in The Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to taking up the fellowship. At the time of recruitment the candidates must not yet have been awarded the doctoral degree and must not have worked for longer than four years in scientific research.

For full details and to apply, please visit: http://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S00047TP

Applications close 3 October 2014.

Shakespeare Magazine – Issues 1-4 Available For Free Online

The fourth issue of Shakespeare Magazine is now available to read online:

Highlights include Shakespeare’s London (with guest appearances from Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Shakespeare in Love), Shakespeare in the mountains of California, New York’s Shakespeare rapper and a plethora of Shakespeare Disasters.

Shakespeare Magazine is a completely free online magazine. You don’t have to ‘Follow’ or sign up – just click or swipe to start turning the pages.

Website: http://www.shakespearemagazine.com

Previous issues:

Twitter: @UKShakespeare

Max Planck Institute – PhD in History Scholarships

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin offer six scholarships for a PhD in History at the International Max Planck Research School for Moral Economies of Modern Societies (IMPRS Moral Economies).

The PhD program of the IMPRS Moral Economies supports research projects that investigate the values, emotions, and habits that informed and inspired modern social formations, particularly in Europe, North America, and South Asia. The relationship between modern history of emotions and the development, consolidation and transformation of morals stands at the center of the research focus.

Highly motivated M. A. (respectively M. Phil. or equivalent) graduates in History or a related field (e.g. Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Literature) with an outstanding academic record and a strong interest in the relevant topics are encouraged to apply.

Application deadline: December 1, 2014.

Please see www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/imprs-mems for details regarding the application process and admission. For further queries please contact Monika Freier at moral.economies@mpib-berlin.mpg.de

The PhD scholarships will commence on October 1st, 2015. Candidates admitted to the IMPRS Moral Economies receive a monthly grant to cover their living expenses, presently set at 1,365€. The funding is initially for two years, with consecutive extensions up to a maximum of four years, pending successful progress evaluations.

Digital Humanities 2015: Global Digital Humanities – Call For Papers

Digital Humanities 2015: Global Digital Humanities
Sydney, Australia
29 June–3 July 2015

Conference Website

The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) invites submission of abstracts for its annual conference, on any aspect of digital humanities. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • humanities research enabled through digital media, data mining, software studies, or information design and modeling;
  • computer applications in literary, linguistic, cultural, and historical studies, including electronic literature, public humanities, and interdisciplinary aspects of modern scholarship;
  • digital arts, architecture, music, film, theatre, new media, digital games, and related areas;
  • creation and curation of humanities digital resources;
  • social, institutional, global, multilingual, and multicultural aspects of digital humanities; and
  • digital humanities in pedagogy and academic curricula.

For the 2015 conference, we particularly welcome contributions that address ?global? aspects of digital humanities including submissions on interdisciplinary work and new developments in the field.

Presentations may include:

  • posters (abstract maximum 750 words);
  • short papers (abstract maximum 1500 words);
  • long papers (abstract maximum 1500 words);
  • multiple paper sessions, including panels (regular abstracts + approximately 500-word overview); and
  • pre-conference workshops and tutorials (proposal maximum 1500 words)

The deadline for submitting poster, short paper, long paper, and multiple paper session proposals to the international Program Committee is midnight GMT, 3 November, 2014. Presenters will be notified of acceptance by 6 February, 2015.

Full CFP and submission details can be found here: http://dh2015.org/cfp