Scholarship: Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain MA Scholarship, deadline 5 July 2023

The Master’s Bursary scheme, supported by the generous bequest of the Arnold Hayward Stevenson Educational Trust Fund, is now open for applications.

There are significant, often structural, barriers to postgraduate study, in particular in disciplines like architectural history. We are working to diversify our discipline and those who practise it. As part of the Society’s commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we very strongly encourage underrepresented communities to imagine their futures in architectural history and to apply for this bursary. Recognising that partial support often excludes those from non-traditional backgrounds for postgraduate study in the humanities, we are offering a £20,000 bursary to one candidate. 

Our intention is that this bursary will be transformational for the successful candidate, opening up the possibility of further study and career development in architectural history in higher education, heritage practice and/or museums and collections.

Further Particulars:

  • The bursary is for a sum of £20,000, to include fees and maintenance (1 year full-time or 2 years’ part-time study)
  • Candidates, who have already been accepted to a post-graduate taught or 1 year post-graduate research Master’s in Architectural History or related disciplines which will commence in Autumn 2023 are eligible to apply.
  • Candidates should be intending to study a course at a U.K. university.
  • The Society will not support candidates on MArch courses
  • Funds will be issued to the candidate directly, not via their university
  • Funds will be paid in two instalments over the academic year, subject to successful progress through the course
  • The recipient of the award will work closely with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Early Career Research networks, and take part in organising the SAHGB’s PhD / ECR Symposium.
  • All applications are welcome, though priority will be given to applicants who have SAHGB membership, as well as demonstrating eligibility through their responses to the areas we ask about.
  • The recipient will receive a year’s free membership of the SAHGB
  • Eligible candidates may self-nominate for this Scholarship by filling in the fields at the base of this page. Please complete all fields at the same time – we recommend that you plan your application offline and paste into the text boxes before making a submission.
  • Please send evidence of your place offer as directed, to arrive by the deadline below.

We are grateful to the trustees of the Arnold Stevenson estate for the generous bequest which has made this award possible.

The deadline for applications, including receipt of a copy of the offer letter to complete an entry, will be 5th July 2023. Please note the word count guidelines on each section of the online form.

Find out more information here: https://www.sahgb.org.uk/funding/sahgb-ma-scholarship

Lecture: ‘Analysis of Pigments on Painted Byzantine & Japanese Manuscripts’, Kate Fulcher, Bodleian Libraries Oxford, 26 June 2023, 1:00–2:00 pm (BST)

This lecture is an introduction to the analysis of painted Byzantine and Japanese manuscripts by the Bodleian Libraries’ new Heritage Scientist.

The post of Heritage Scientist at the Bodleian Libraries was re-instated at the beginning of 2023, enabling the analysis of manuscripts in the library’s collection. The focus so far has been on Byzantine manuscripts from the 10th to 13th centuries, and Japanese scrolls from the 17th century which contain painted pictures.

Kate Fulcher, Heritage Scientist at the Bodleian Libraries.

Registration is essential for attending this lecture, which takes place in person in the Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre. When you have booked your place the ticketing system will send you an automated confirmation.

Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, Weston Library, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG

Find out more information here.

Study day: ‘The Invention of Greek origins in the textual and visual cultures of pre-modern Europe (1100-1600)’, University of Lille, 30th June 2023

Maison de la Recherche, Université de Lille, France, 30th June 2023
Organised by Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas

The ERC AGRELITA organises the workshops “The Invention of Greek origins in the textual and visual cultures of pre-modern Europe (1100-1600)”. The AGRELITA project was launched on October 1st, 2021. It is a 5-year project (2021-2026), which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101018777).

ERC AGRELITA: The Reception of Ancient Greece in Premodern French Literature and Illustrations of Manuscripts and Printed Books (1320-1550) : how invented memories shaped the identity of European communities.

Programme:

-10h30 Welcome

-10h40 Introduction, Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas (Université de Lille, ERC AGRELITA)

-10h50-11h15 Elena Koroleva (Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale), « Les héros grecs à l’origine de l’humanité : Prométhée et Deucalion (re)peuplant la terre »

-11h15-11h40 Iolanda Ventura (Université de Bologne), « L’‛histoire de la pharmacologie et ses origines gréco-arabes dans les préfaces des imprimés du XVIe siècle »

-11h40-12h05 Discussion

Plenary conference:

-13h45-14h25 Lorena Lopes da Costa (Université Fédérale de Rio de Janeiro, chercheuse invitée en résidence ERC AGRELITA), « Chanter un Ulysse portugais : l’héroïsme maritime pour présenter le nouveau monde »

-2:25-2:40 p.m. Discussion
-2:40-2:55 p.m. Break

-14h55-15h20 Soizic Escurignan (Université de Poitiers), « Les origines grecques de l’Espagne dans la Estoria de España, un étrange paradoxe »

-15h20-15h45 Clarisse Evrard (Université de Lille, ERC AGRELITA), « La Grèce aux origines de la figure de l’artiste »

–3:45 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Discussion and closing

Find out more information here: https://agrelita.hypotheses.org/3462#more-3462

Download the programmeDownload

Invite to join the ‘Medieval Wall Paintings’ Research Group

Two PhD students (Florence Eccleston, Courtauld Institute of Art; and Katharine Waldron, University of Oxford and Hamilton Kerr Institute) are setting up a working group entitled the ‘Medieval Wall Painting’ Group to facilitate discussion, networking, and learning about wall paintings, and to promote research. They hope to be able to bring together both conservation and art historical approaches to encourage cross-disciplinary conversation and understanding. 

Please get in touch with them if you would like to be on the mailing list, and let others who might be interested know about this working group.

They are in the midst of organising future events on a biannual/ triannual basis with dates to follow soon, including a yearly workshop following on from Florence’s workshop ‘Researching Medieval Wall Paintings’ held at The Courtauld Institute of Art in May. 

In the meantime, please let them know if you have any ideas for future events or would like to be involved in planning in any way. They would love your help! 

Lecture: ‘The Conway Library: historiography, colour, and bibliography’, Anthony Hamber, Thursday 6th July, 17:30-18:30 (BST), Courtauld Vernon Square Campus

The Conway Library contains almost one million photographs of world architecture, architectural drawings, sculpture, decorative arts and manuscripts.  It has been constructed over a period of almost a century, though some of the photographs held are considerably older. This paper provides a focused evaluation of the historiography of the library’s origins, and how and why it was built upon Conway’s original donation.  A wide spectrum of issues and considerations are examined; the scale and scope of the market for, and availability of, architectural photographs from the time of Conway’s undergraduate career; Conway’s philosophy and approach; channels of distribution and acquisition; the physical constraints of the solander boxes and the range of photographic formats available; of colour photography; of image classification systems; and photographic print processes. There are also cultural and anti-semitic dimensions linked to the Warburg Institute and the role of pre-WW2 German emigrees to London. Cross-references between photographers and their photographs represented in the Conway help link this matrix together and provide further insights into the library’s significance and influence.

Anthony Hamber is an independent photographic historian, specialising in the 19th century.  He was the photographer and head of visual resources at the History of Art Department, Birkbeck College.  His PhD was published as A Higher Branch of the Art / Photographing the Fine Arts in England 1839-1880 (1996) and his recent book is Photography and the 1851 Great Exhibition (2018). He has published and lectured widely. His current research projects include an annotated bibliography of photographically illustrated publications 1839-1880. Anthony researches the historiography of art and architecture photographic collections, photographic print processes, and colour reprographics processes.

Organised by Dr Tom Nickson (The Courtauld) 

This is an in person event at our Vernon Square campus. Booking will close 30 minutes before the event begins.

Find out more information here.

CFP: British Archaeological Association post-grad conference 2023, deadline 31 July 2023

The BAA invites proposals by postgraduates and early career researchers in the field of medieval history of art, architecture, and archaeology. Papers can be on any aspect of the medieval period, from antiquity to the Later Middle Ages, across all geographical regions.

Proposals of around 250 words for a 20-minute paper, along with a CV, should be sent by 31st July 2023 to postgradconf@thebaa.org

The conference will take place online 29-30th November 2023

Funding: Klesch Collection (c.1400-1700), Deadline: 20th June 2023

The Klesch Collection offers grants towards the yearly cost of university fees to graduate students who have been accepted into a full-time Art History MA or PhD course of study worldwide, beginning the next academic year. PhD students are welcome to apply for any year in their programme.

Applications will be considered from students who will focus/are focusing their studies on European and British painting of the Renaissance and Baroque periods (c. 1400-1700).

The deadline to apply is 20th of June 2023.

More details on how to apply can be found through this link.

Fellowships: Call for Expressions of Interest from Postdoctoral Scholars, British School at Athens (Deadline 9th June 2023)

The British School at Athens invites expressions of interest from postdoctoral scholars who wish to apply for a range of fellowships schemes:

The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Leverhulme Trust international Fellowships

The deadline for the submission of expressions of interest to the School is Friday 9 June 2023.

Potential candidates are asked to check the eligibility requirements of the scheme they are interested in. Those interested should send a CV, a list of publications and an outline of the proposed research (no more than 2 pages) to the BSA Assistant Director at assistant.director@bsa.ac.uk. When appropriate, potential candidates are welcome to send a separate statement of any circumstances that may have impacted their research.

Candidates selected by the School will be contacted directly by the Research committee.
For any information please contact assistant.director@bsa.ac.uk

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024
The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships offers outstanding early career researchers the opportunity to pursue an independent research project at a host institution, towards completion of a significant piece of publishable research, for a period of 3 years. More information about the scheme is available on the British Academy website (https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/postdoctoral-fellowships/)

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024
These fellowships are open to excellent researchers of any nationality, who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers undertaking international mobility either to or between EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries or in a non-associated Third Country. The objective is to support researchers’ careers and foster excellence in research. These fellowships can last 1 or 2 years (European fellowship) or 2 or 3 years (Global fellowship).
More information about the scheme is available at https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/postdoctoral-fellowships

The Leverhulme Trust international Fellowships
The fellowship is open to researchers established in the UK to develop new knowledge, skills and ideas outside the UK. The scheme may be used for developing new lines of research through overseas collaboration, making ‘discipline-hopping excursions’ into new areas of research, developing
innovations in teaching, preparing for collaborative grant applications, or observing and sharing ground-breaking techniques or practices. Fellowships are tenable for between 3 and 24 months. More information: https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/international_fellowships

PhD Funding: “Dynamics of Conventionality (400-1550)”, University of Cologne (Deadline 3rd July 2023)

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Cologne has the following positions available:

4 doctoral positions for a period of three years starting on 1st October 2023 within the framework of the Research Training Group 2212 “Dynamics of Conventionality (400–1550)”. The monthly remuneration for the doctoral positions amounts to 65 % TV-L 13.

The Cologne research training group engages in a reorientation of interdisciplinary research regarding the Middle Ages both in terms of content and methodology. Using ‘conventionality’ as our key concept, we aim at reconstructing the dynamics of European societies and cultures for the time period between 400 and 1550. The hitherto neglected concept of conventionality will enable us to reframe the dynamics of change in medieval history, art, architecture, music, philosophy, and literature. Methodologically, we distance ourselves from the narrative of modernization that – operating with key words such as ‘revolution’ and ‘innovation’ – entails describing the Middle Ages as a deficient preliminary stage of modernity. Such narratives preserve rather static conceptions of an era and tend to justify them in alluding to the specific traditionalism and conventionality of the Middle Ages and its societal and cultural manifestations. In contrast, the Cologne research training group aims at reconstructing their complexity and variety by adopting the concept of conventionality that has been theoretically and philosophically developed within the field of cultural studies. Conventionality signifies all rule-based forms of common actions and practical knowledge that are based on social agreement and guarantee cultural and societal stability and are yet intrinsically apt to various forms of modification and adaptation. Thus, conventions are crucial to facilitate processes of transformation whose effects transcend the great narratives of modernization.

For the time period between 400 and 1550, the significance of conventionality is manifest in the pivotal and ubiquitous concept of consuetudo (custom, habit). Based on this concept, reasoning on social change and persistence was carried out, and a corpus of accepted social and artistic rules was developed. Even though these rules claimed to be normative, they were subject to a constant process of negotiation, modification, reformulation and fictionalization—or they could even be dismissed as bad habits. The Cologne research training group plans to investigate the dynamics of conventionality in different spheres of medieval society. It traces a type of practical knowledge that is not based on rational and controlled methods of the production of knowledge, but on rule-based forms of social agreement. Taking three sets of terms contrary to conventionality – norm, science, and originality – as a foil for comparison, we intend to explore a cluster of thematically differentiated configurations of conventionality in an interdisciplinary context.


The research training group conducts research from an interdisciplinary perspective into the dynamics of conventionality from late antiquity to the early modern era. Under the overarching motto of convention, phenomena such as custom, regularity, tradition, and habitualisation are examined in order to understand their inner dynamics. The disciplines involved are history, German philology, philosophy, art and history, medieval Latin philology, Byzantine studies and musicology. The research training group offers a structured doctoral programme that is integrated interdisciplinarily and internationally. More information on the thematic orientation: https://grk2212.uni-koeln.de

An excellent university degree in one of the subjects covered by the research training group and a clearly recognisable focus on medieval studies are prerequisite for applicants for the doctoral positions. Please submit the following documents in one pdf-file as part of your application:

– Curriculum Vitae and certificates

– a 4-page exposé on the planned doctoral project
– a 1-page letter of motivation
– a letter of recommondation by a professor

The University of Cologne actively supports equal opportunities and the research institute particularily welcomes applications from female candidates.

Please send your written application by email as one pdf-file by July 3, 2023 to:

Universität zu Köln
GRK 2212
Dr. Anica Schumann
anica.schumann@uni-koeln.de

Fellowship: Research Fellowship, DFK Paris and INHA (Deadline 30th June 2023)

The DFK Paris and the Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA) jointly offer a one-year fellowship, effective 1 October 2023. The fellowship is intended for outstanding art historians from France, Germany, or abroad who are at the beginning of their careers (doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers). The goal of this funding opportunity is to support scholarly work with innovative research approaches that open up new perspectives in art history. Not only should the theme and methodology of the project connect to the operative research orientations of each institute, but the fellow’s presence in Paris must also be necessary to the execution of the work. It is a condition of the fellowship that the selected candidate remains in close contact and exchange with both institutes during the funding period and resides predominantly in Paris.

The fellow conducts research for six months at the DFK Paris and six months at the INHA. The selected candidate can expect a stimulating working environment that will faciliate both archival access and the exchange of ideas with international experts.

The amount of the fellowship is 1,750 euros per month for a period of 12 months (plus a monthly allowance of 250 euros for material costs and, if applicable, a child supplement). The recipient will be funded as a scholar for six months at the DFK Paris and six months at the INHA. The award also includes a workspace and use of the infrastructural resources of both institutes.

Applications for the 2023 cycle must be submitted no later than 30 June 2023 to: stipendien@dfk-paris.org

Only applications received in this way will be considered in the selection process. The selection committee, consisting of Peter Geimer, Julia Drost, Éric de Chassey, and France Nerlich, will meet in July 2023.

Composition of the application dossier:
The application may be written in English, French, or German.
– a letter of application addressed to the director of the DFK Paris and the director of the INHA’s Département des études et de la recherche
– a CV
– a project description (max. 3 pages), supplemented by a bibliography with details on the sources to be consulted, as well as a schedule

The selection committee convenes once a year.

Further information and contact:
Secretary to the director of the Département des études et de la recherche
Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA)
Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 03 85 81
Email: der-dir@inha.fr

German Center for Art History Paris (DFK Paris)
Department for Grants, Internships, and Support
Tel.: + 33 (0)1 42 60 68 23
Email: stipendien@dfk-paris.org