Byzantine Greek Summer School, 8 - 26 July 2019, Turkey

The Byzantine Studies Research Center is pleased to announce the organization of its third Byzantine Greek Summer School program to be held at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, from July 8 to July 26, 2019. Students will have the chance to participate in an intensive program in Medieval Greek with Prof. Niels Gaul and Dr. Athanasia Stavrou, while enjoying various attractions of the Bogazici University campus on the Bosphorus and the Byzantine sites of Istanbul.

Format

The program is designed for students who have completed at least two semesters of college-level Classical Greek or its equivalent. Students are expected to have knowledge of basic Greek grammar and to be able to read simple texts from ancient Greek or Byzantine literature. The morning classes, devoted to the reading of Byzantine texts with a focus on Constantinopolitan monuments/sites or events that happened in the city, will be supplemented by tutorial sessions in the afternoons. Classes will be held in two groups, at lower intermediate level and upper intermediate/advanced level. Students will be assigned to one of the two groups based on their performance in a prognostic test. The language of instruction is English. The program will offer weekend excursions to the sites/monuments of Constantinople discussed through original texts in the sessions. Students will receive a certificate of participation upon successful completion of the program.

Instructors

Niels Gaul is A. G. Leventis Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is the Principal Investigator of an ERC-funded project that explores the function of classicizing learning in the Byzantine and Tang/Song Chinese empires from a cross-cultural vantage point, and is currently writing a socio-political history of classicizing learning during the Byzantine period. In addition, he pursues various smaller projects, e.g. on court culture and processions in the middle and late Byzantine Empire.

Athanasia Stavrou holds a PhD degree in Byzantine History from the University of Birmingham. She also studied Greek Palaeography and worked as a research assistant for the International Greek New Testament Project in the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing (University of Birmingham). She has long experience in teaching Classical, Medieval and Modern Greek in various educational institutions in the United Kingdom, and taught at the International Byzantine Greek Summer School for three years. She is currently the Onassis Visiting Instructor of Ancient and Modern Greek at the Department of History, Bogazici University.

Location

Classes will be held at the Byzantine Studies Research Center, located on the main campus of Bogazici University. Established as Robert College in 1863, Bogazici University is one of the leading institutions of higher education in Turkey. Its Byzantine Studies Research Center, founded in 2015, is the first Turkish institution attached to a state university that is dedicated to academic research on Byzantine civilization. The Center fosters the development of education in Byzantine studies by offering scholarships at the MA, PhD, and postdoctoral levels, “tools of the trade” seminars, and language programs.

Eligibility

Graduate students and advanced undergraduates, as well as individuals with an academic interest in or a career relevant to Byzantine studies can apply, granted that they meet the requirements mentioned above. Priority will be given to graduate students in the field of Byzantine studies.

Scholarships

Thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, all the successful candidates who are accepted to the program will attend the courses free of charge. Additionally, we offer:

• 4 scholarships to foreigners from outside Turkey that will cover accommodation, airfare to/from Istanbul, and a meal plan for the duration of the program.
• 4 scholarships to Turkish citizens from outside Istanbul that will cover transportation expenses to/from Istanbul and a meal plan for the duration of the program.
• 6 scholarships to Turkish students resident in Istanbul that will cover a meal plan for the duration of the program.

Application Procedure

Candidates should submit their application to the Byzantine Studies Research Center at Bogazici University before February 15, 2019. The application file should be in English and include a statement of purpose and a detailed CV. The applicant should indicate in the statement of purpose his/her background in Classical or Byzantine Greek and the relevance of attending this summer program for his/her future studies or career development. Applicants currently enrolled as students in a higher education institution should also submit a transcript (as well as previous record of the study of Greek, if applicable) and two reference letters (one of which must be written by an instructor of Greek). The referees should send their letters directly to the Byzantine Studies Research Center.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://byzantinestudies.boun.edu.tr/index.php?page=events&id=36&fbclid=IwAR2VhEi8CvASY_diOcq42wH6TnpbZ7_bgnsG0vjAQp0WSRvHuAtYR3Zx0BY