Call for application: Art of the Crusades: A Re-Evaluation

Art of the Crusades: A Re-Evaluation

A Research Seminar Programme for Young and Early Career Researchers into Mediaeval Art and Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East funded by the Getty Foundation

Call for Applications

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new research seminar programme for young and early career researchers into the art and archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East entitled Art of the Crusades: A Re-Evaluation.

The research seminar programme will last two years from 2015 to 2016. During that time participants will attend four one week seminar and research events in Greece, Israel, Jordan and Turkey.

Led by Professor Scott Redford, Nasser D Khalili Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at SOAS University of London, Art of the Crusades: A Re-Evaluation will use various techniques developed by archaeologists and art historians in the study of the material culture of diverse Islamic, Christian, Jewish and other religious and ethnic groups in this region during the middle ages. The project aims to re-examine the connections between these groups and explore the shared social, cultural, political and economic relationships that existed.

The project is open to early career academic researchers and tutors, research students at an advanced stage of their studies and those working in historical research institutes (such as archaeology centres, museums, government and non-governmental agencies dealing with history, art or archaeology).

The target audience for this seminar programme is young professionals with advanced degrees (or equivalent work experience) in art history and/or archaeology of the period of the Crusades who are from the countries of the eastern Mediterranean or Middle East. We would therefore strongly encourage applications from art historians and archaeologists from the countries of the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.

On each research seminar trip the participants will hear lectures from leading academics on the art and archaeology of this period in the region, participate in seminars and visit key historical museums and sites of interest. In many cases they will gain unique access to areas not normally seen by members of the general public.

With this project we seek to encourage debate as to how we can develop a truly interdisciplinary examination of the artistic and archaeological history of the eastern Mediterranean region during the Crusader period. It is hoped this will allow us to consider the exciting possibility of a new approach to the various ethnic, religious, social and cultural groups that existed in the region at that time by taking as account of their interaction and similarities as much as any hostility and difference.

Organisers and Partners

Funding

The Getty Foundation
Lead Academic Organiser

Prof. Scott Redford, Nasser D Khalili Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at SOAS, University of London, UK.
Academic Readers and Confirmed Participants

Prof. Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Emeritus Professor, Department of History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS, University of London, UK.
Prof. Maria Georgopoulou, Director of the Gennadius Library, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece.
Prof. Eva Hoffman, School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University, Medford, USA.
Prof. Robert Ousterhout, Director of the Center for Ancient Studies, The University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Dr. Edna Stern, Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel.
Programme Officer

Dr Michael Paraskos, SOAS, University of London, UK.