Summer School 2023

Inspired by the long-established series of Summer Schools organized by the  Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies , several Hamburg-based projects are joining their efforts to offer a Summer School in Manuscript Studies. 

The Summer School is carried out with the generous support of the VolkswagenStiftung, the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg, and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures.

The majority of the classes of the Summer School will be referring to the manuscript tradition of Ethiopia and Eritrea (and presented by the members of the long-term project of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg, Beta maṣāḥǝft: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and their associates). Thanks to the cooperation of the other two long-term projects of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg, Etymologika. Ordnung und Interpretation des Wissens in griechisch-byzantinischen Lexika bis in die Renaissance. Digitale Erschliessung von Manuskriptproduktion, Nutzerkreisen und kulturellem Umfeld, and Formulae-Litterae-Chartae, a comparative perspective is introduced, with classes offered on new research perspectives from classical (Greek and Latin) studies.

Manuscripts are among the cornerstones of cultural heritage, both as means of communication, containers of texts and art, and as objects of material history. The past years have seen a steady and growing interest in manuscript studies from a wide array of cultural areas. In Hamburg, this has culminated in the creation of the Cluster of Excellence 'Understanding Written Artefacts', currently hosting 56 research projects.

Many of the achievements in manuscript studies (Ethiopian/Eritrean, but also Greek, Latin, as well as from other cultural areas) from the last few years have been the result of work of scholars based in Hamburg, who are joining their efforts in this two-week introductory Summer School.

Students of Ethiopian/Eritrean, Semitic, oriental, classical, mediaeval, or religious studies, or other related fields, will be able to profit from the unique expertise and also have the rare opportunity to get a hands-on experience in cataloguing, digitization, and using advanced digital humanities tools and approaches.

The school aims at training graduate students and junior scholars in methods used in manuscript studies. Lectures and seminars in topics ranging from History to Philology to Codicology to Cataloguing shall cover the most central aspects of research and help in developing skills necessary for theoretical and practical tasks in the study of manuscripts. 

Much space shall be offered for discussion as well as for group and individual excercises. Practical exercises will include manuscript digitization, codicological and philological description of manuscripts, palaeographic and art historical analysis, as well as an introductory workshop in digital humanities (particularly XML annotation).

The school focuses on Christian Gəʿəz manuscript tradition, but also provides insights into the other manuscript cultures of Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as state-of-the-art research in Classical (Byzantine Greek and Mediaeval Latin) manuscript studies.

It is open to students and scholars of all disciplines of humanities, but some background in such fields as (Christian) oriental studies, Semitic studies, Classical studies, mediaeval, religious studies, or other related subjects is expected. 

The knowledge and skills taught in this Summer School are meant to benefit participants both in their own research and towards a further transfer of knowledge at their research institutions.

The programme is available here.

The Summer School shall be conducted in English. Good command of the English language is expected from all participants.

Classes taught on site will take place Monday through Friday of two consecutive weeks, from Sept. 4th (commencing in the afternoon)
until Sept. 15th.

Active participation in - and some preparatory work towards - the classes is expected from all students.

In addition, four public evening lectures will take place between 5 pm and 6 pm CEST.

24 participants shall be selected on a competitive basis from all qualified applications that will reach us before the deadline (15 March 2023). 

We welcome applications from anywhere in the world. Provided equal qualifications, applicants from Africa shall receive preference. Female candidates are in particular encouraged to apply.

A limited number of travel grants will be made available to excellent Summer School applicants (with preference given to applicants from Ethiopia and Eritrea). The grants shall cover the travel, the accommodation costs in a shared room* for up to 13 nights (3.9.2023-16.9.2023), and provide a subsistence contribution of 25 Euro per day for the duration of the school.

^{* Upgrade to a single room may be possible at the student's expense (c. 40 Euro), provided the availability of rooms. Successful grantees are also welcome to seek their own accommodation, in which case they may receive a partial reimbursement of accommodation costs; in this case please contact the organizers for details.}

 Please indicate on the application form if you wish to apply for a grant. Please also consider exploring other sources of financial aid. Your home institution might be able to advise you on financial aid possibilities. 

Students will receive a certificate of participation.

Convenors 

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Bausi (for HLCEES and the Academy Project Beta maṣāḥǝft, Universität Hamburg)

Ass. Prof. Dr. Mersha Alehegne Mengistie (Addis Ababa University)

Prof. Dr. Christian Brockmann (Academy Project Etymologika, Universität Hamburg)

Prof. Dr. Philippe Depreux (Academy Project Formulae-Litterae-Chartae, Universität Hamburg)

Organizing team Hamburg

Dorothea Reule

Eugenia Sokolinski

Contact address: aethiopistik"AT"uni-hamburg.de