Call for papers

Fourth International Congress on Black Sea Antiquities

The Bosporus: Gateway between the Ancient West and East
(1st Millennium BC-5th Century AD)

Istanbul, 14th - 18th September 2009

Presented by the:

Eurasia Institute
Faculty of Letters
Istanbul University

and:

Centre for Classics and Archaeology
School of Historical Studies
The University of Melbourne

First Circular
Call for papers

The International and National Organising Committees of the 4th International Congress on Black Sea Antiquities extend an invitation to all interested scholars to participate in the forthcoming Congress, either by contributing a paper or by attending as a discussant in the proceedings. The official languages of the Congress are English, French and German. Its specific subject is the Bosporus as a gateway between the ancient West and East (1st millennium BC-5th century AD).

The Congress is composed of 7 working sessions (see list below), beginning on September 14th 2009 (participants to arrive on September 13th). It is intended that each session will be introduced by a 30-minute keynote lecture on the current state of relevant research. Leading scholars will be commissioned by the Organising Committees to prepare these lectures.

Since there will be no parallel sessions, the number of oral presentations will be limited to 8-10 papers (each of 15 minutes’ duration) per session. This means that not all submissions will be accepted for oral presentation but, to allow maximum participation, we are planning large poster sessions parallel to the oral proceedings, and scholars are strongly encouraged to offer their papers as posters. The main criteria for the selection of all contributions will be originality and quality of research. Results from recent or current projects, innovation in methodology, and the exploration of lesser known areas will be given a high priority. We wish to cover as large a geographical and chronological range as possible. We reserve the right to assign any accepted paper to a poster session. Participants will be notified well in advance of the Congress date. A Congress web-site will be set up in due course, with details given in the Second Circular.

Abstracts no longer than 300 words should be submitted by 30th November 2008 at the latest (this deadline is strict). No submission without an abstract will be given consideration. All accepted abstracts will be made available in print during the Congress and on a website before the Congress.

All sessions will be held at the Eurasia Institute, Istanbul University, Kimyager Dervis Pasa sok. 36 (next to the building housing the Faculty of Letters), Beyazit, Istanbul.

Planned Sessions:

• Opening Session and Opening Lecture

1. Nomads and semi-nomads of the Black Sea steppes and Anatolia
2. Greeks around the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the western, northern and eastern Black Sea, and relations with the Mediterranean world
3. Romans around the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the western, northern and eastern Black Sea, and relations with the Mediterranean world
4. From Byzantium to Trapezus: the southern Black Sea and its hinterland in the 1st millennium BC-5th century AD
5. Achaemenids and the Black Sea
6. The Black Sea and surrounding regions in late antiquity and the early Byzantine period
7. New excavations and projects

• Closing Session and Closing Lecture

Participation fee

The Participation fee will be €95 (Euros). This will include:

1. 4 lunches (in the staff dining room of the Faculty of Letters);
2. 8 coffee breaks;
3. welcome cocktail reception;
4. farewell cocktails and canapes;
5. congress folder;
6. all printed material (programme, summaries, etc.);
7. city map;
8. a full-day city excursion around Istanbul (including guide, all entrance fees, transport), September 16th

Information on how to pay will be given in the Second Circular.

Excursions

Download excursion information sheet (pdf 85kb)

Accommodation

A range of hotels will be available at prices from 20-25 Euros (including breakfast) upwards. Information will be given in the Second Circular.

The excursions, hotel bookings and non-academic events will be organised by Tachda Tours, Istanbul

Participation Form (Word doc 42kb)

To register your interest, please complete and return the participations form by 30th November 2008, to:

Gocha R. Tsetskhladze
Centre for Classics and Archaeology
University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010 AUSTRALIA
E-mail: g.tsetskhladze@unimelb.edu.au
Fax: (+61 3) 8344 4161

International Organising Committee

Sir John Boardman (UK) - President, P. Alexandrescu (Romania) - Vice-President, G.R. Tsetskhladze (Australia) - Secretary General, N. Theodossiev (Bulgaria), J.-P. Morel (France), Y. Garlan (France), K. Zimmermann (Germany), A. Podossinov (Russia), A. Avram (Romania/France), J. Bouzek (Czech Rep.), A. Wasowicz (Poland), S. Burstein (USA), J. Carter (USA), J. Hind (UK), S. Atasoy (Turkey), Y. Gagoshidze (Georgia), A. Sagona (Australia)

National Representatives: B. D’Agostino (Italy), A. Dominguez (Spain), L. Loukopoulou (Greece), M. Tiverios (Greece), A. Rathje (Denmark), B. McGing (Ireland), M. Kerschner (Austria), Jan de Boer (Netherlands)

National Organising Committee

Prof. K. Tuna (Dean, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University); Assoc. Prof. H. Tüfekçioglu (Head, Eurasia Institute, Istanbul University); Prof. S. Atasoy (Thrace University, Edirne); Assoc. Prof. S. Donmez (Istanbul University); Research Assistant D. Sari (Istanbul University); Assoc. Prof. D. Burcu Erciyas (Middle East Technical University, Ankara); Research Assistant M. Sait Türkhan (Eurasia Institute, Istanbul University); Research Assistant G. Usar (Eurasia Institute, Istanbul University)

Contact

Please address all correspondence and enquiries about the Congress to:
Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, Secretary General of the Congress (g.tsetskhladze@unimelb.edu.au).