Happy Midsummer! I hope all of your bonfires were burning brightly, and that you celebrated the season appropriately.
Even though it is only June, the AAASS convention is almost upon us. The preliminary program suggests that we have much to anticipate. Our membership will be extremely well-represented in November, and the wide range of panel topics reflects the energy and lively curiosity of Early Slavs. The unfortunate, but probably inevitable aspect of our expanding offerings is the problem of conflicts. We do have more panels than there are time slots in the program. Still, there are three sessions in the preliminary schedule without any "early" choices, so I have written to the association to request changes, if possible. I have not been notified of any rescheduling thus far, but it would probably be good to consult the list of changes as soon as you receive it. There will be hard choices to make. As it stands now, there are a few sessions which offer not two but three or even four panels of potential interest to our members. However many presentations you may be forced to miss, you will still be able to attend many more than was the case twenty years ago, when there were often only two or three early panels on the entire program and they were invariably scheduled for the same time slot.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive summer and special envious regards to all of you who are going to Helsinki.
Ann Kleimola
Treasurer's Report
Balance 8/31/98 $964.25
Dues
$309.00
Postage $389.88
Interest
$18.54
New Balance 10/16/99 $901.91
The annual meeting of the Early Slavic Studies Association took place at the Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis on November 19, 1999 at 4:15 pm. The meeting was opened by outgoing president Daniel Kaiser. Following the treasurer's report which was accepted unanimously, Janet Martin, the chair of the ESSA nominating committee, which besides Janet included Priscilla Hunt and Daniel Collins, made a motion to accept David Prestel as the next Vice-President of ESSA, Robert Romanchuk as the new Newsletter editor, and Isolde Thyrêt as the continuing Secretary-Treasurer. Sandy Levy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. After Daniel Kaiser proclaimed the election results, Ann Kleimola assumed her new position as president of ESSA. Don Ostrowski, the chair of the ESSA Technology Committee, asked for feedback on the use of the ESSA website for which Cynthia Vakareliyska is serving as webmaster. He also urged the ESSA members to make use of the electronic version of the ESSA newsletter to reduce costs. Ostrowski encouraged the ESSA members to consider participating in the technology committee. A discussion of the electronic Newsletter ensued. Marshall Poe reported on the ESSL listserve. Lindsey Hughes conveyed greetings from the Slavonic and East European Studies Group in the UK. The new president then raised the issue of how to increase ESSA's visibility, particularly regarding scheduling at AAASS meetings. Eve Levin urged ESSA to ask the AAASS scheduling staff for larger rooms for ESSA sessions. Norm Ingham shared his past experience regarding the scheduling. The discussion then turned to the potential establishment of one or several ESSA prizes (monetary or otherwise). It was decided to add a new line in the Newsletter asking for additional donations. Ann Kleimola proposed to establish a committee to investigate the issue of prizes and to check on the corporate status of ESSA. As a result, a committee, consisting of George Majeska, David Goldfrank, and Isolde Thyrt, was charged with investigating the use of accumulated surplus funds in the ESSA treasury and drafting a statement before the next ESSA meeting. Marshall Poe then raised the issue of how ESSA can support its junior members to be competitive with modern Slavicists in the job market. A lively discussion of this question ensued. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm and members gathered for dinner at the Morgan Street Brewery later that evening.
Respectfully submitted
Isolde
Thyrêt, Secretary Treasurer
Meeting of the Slavonic and East European Medieval Studies Group
The Slavonic and East European Medieval Studies Group (SEEMSG) met in Cambridge on Mar. 18, 2000. The following talks were scheduled:
For further information, contact Dr. Jonathan Shepard at nshepard@easynet.co.uk
On this side of the Atlantic, Norman W. Ingham recently organized another very successful workshop at the University of Chicago, on May 12, 2000. The following papers were given:
The participants looked forward to meeting again at this venue, while hopes are also high for another winter workshop at UCLA in 2001. Stay tuned. For more information on the Chicago workshop, contact Prof. Norman W. Ingham at n-ingham@uchicago.edu
May 3-6, 2001
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo,
Michigan
Over the years, Slavic topics have been almost nonexistent at this prestigious congress (the official printed program of the 35th Congress, which met in early May, lists no fewer than 562 panels), a fact that suggests, in a sense, that the Slavs and Slavic cultures are a non-presence in the larger medieval picture. In an effort to redress somewhat this situation, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University has proposed the two sponsored sessions listed above.
Given the history of the Congress, scholars are encouraged to submit proposals for papers of a more general nature than might be given, for example, at the AATSEEL conference, since one is not able to presume an audience that is knowledgeable in things Slavic; in fact, the real point of these sessions is to provide what for many would be their first real exposure to the richness of the medieval Slavic cultures. The sessions are open to all disciplines; papers can focus on topics within a given Slavic culture, across Slavic cultures, or on the relationships between Slavic and non-Slavic cultures, during the period roughly 600 - 1400 AD.
One-page abstracts of papers designed for delivery in 20-25 minutes should be sent to the address provided below by September 1, 2000.
Interested scholars are encouraged to submit very brief (one paragraph) descriptions of possible papers as soon as possible, in order for Dr. Murphy to convey to the Congress organizers a sense of how much interest in participating on these panels actually is "out there."
For more information contact:
David T. Murphy, Ph.D., Director Phone: (314) 977-7180 Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Fax: (314) 977-1602 Saint Louis University Email: cmrs@slu.edu 3800 Lindell Boulevard, Suite 317 murphydt@slu.edu PO Box 56907 Home: (314) 664-6068 St. Louis, MO 63156-0907
Fr. Enzo Bianchi, prior of Bose, has kindly informed us of the Eighth International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, which will be held at the Monastery of Bose, Italy, this September. The conference, organized by the Monastic Community of Bose in collaboration with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Moscow Patriarchate, and the University of Turin, is part of a series of conferences at Bose devoted to distinguished figures of Orthodox spirituality. This year's conference will be in two sessions, addressing the following themes:
Bishops, monks from Mount Athos and from other countries, eminent representatives of the Orthodox Churches, and representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and of Protestant Churches are expected to take part in the conference. For both sessions of the conference simultaneous translation from Italian, French, Greek, and Russian will be provided. A guided excursion will be provided for conference participants to see the Holy Shroud at the Cathedral of Turin and the principal Romanesque sites (churches and monasteries) of the Piemonte region. The program of the second session, "Forms of Holiness in Russia," follows:
O. Clment, Paris
"'Fools for Christ' in the Eastern Church"
N.V. Ponyrko, St. Petersburg
"The Holy 'Fool for Christ' in Seventeenth-Century Russia"
V. Putsko, Kaluga
"Iconography of Russian Saints"
S. S. Averintsev, Vienna
"Holiness and Beauty in the Spiritual Tradition of Russia"
A concert of sacred music (Vivaldi, Corelli, Boccherini, Franck) with
Maestro Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti will follow the conference.
The Secretariat of the Conference (br. Adalberto, br. Salvatore) will be
pleased to provide any further information you require, and hope to hear
>from you regarding the details of your participation in the conference. For
more information on this or other Bose conferences, contact the brethren at
+39 015.679.185, fax +39 015.679.290, or e-mail convegni.bose@infinito.it
Call for Papers: Conference on Medieval Medicine in Sofia
The Department of Medieval Slavic Studies at the University of Sofia
(Bulgaria), the Institute of History of the Croatian Academy of Sciences,
Zagreb (Croatia), and the Faculty of Theology at the University of Veliko
Turnovo (Bulgaria) announces an international interdisciplinary conference
on the topic of "Medieval Medicine: Texts, Practices, Institutions," on
Aug. 29-31 at the Rila Monastery in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The conference aims at uniting scholars working in the fields of medieval
medicine and history of healing institutions, cultural history, archeology,
linguistics, and anthropology. Both learned medical practices and popular
healing devices will be topics of discusssion. Special panels will be
organized on:
medical terminology
the distribution of medical texts and their translations
healing practices
magic and divination
healing prayers and amulets
medieval dietology
medival baths
the role of monasteries as healing places; monastic medicine and
hospitals
cults of saints-healers
exorcism
medieval understanding of the human body and illness
the status of the doctor and the healer
Papers concerning the Slavic and Byzantine worlds, Central and Western
Europe, Latin, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, and Armenia and Georgia are
equally welcome. Abstracts should be up to 200 words, preferably in
English or Russian. Contact Dr. Adelina Angusheva (Sofia) at
ady@slav.uni-sofia.bg; Dr. Tatjana Buklijas (Croatia) at
tatjana.buklijas@public.srce.hr; Rossina Kostova (Veliko Turnovo) at
rosina@vali.bg; or Dr. Margaret Dimitrova (Sofia) at marg@bgnet.bg. See
also web pages at
http://www.rdlab.carnet.hr/u/azaluski/t/mm and http://public.srce.hr/~tabukli/mm.
Staraia Ladoga Conference on Northwestern Rus' in the Middle Ages
The Staraia Ladoga Museum held its eighth conference, on the topic of
"Northwestern Rus' in the Middle Ages," on May 29-31, 2000. Paper titles of
interest included:
G.S. Lebedev. "Peredol, Ladoga, the Original Petersburg"
B.G. Vasil'ev. "Towards the History of the Wall-Painting of the
Assumption Cathedral in Staraia Ladoga"
Iu. Korpela. "St. Stefan of Perm' Missionary or Politician?"
D.G. Khrustalev. "Metropolitan Ephrem's Seals"
A.A. Panchenko. "The 'Strange Religion' and the Blood Libel"
E.V. Markasova. "The Stylistic Concept of the Sermon (Russian Rhetoric of
the 17th-18th c.)"
M.S. Zueva. "'Neo-Vikings': Intonation Spheres of the Late 20th c."
S. Todorova. "Harald's Stone at Jelling: Pagan and Christian traits"
A.A. Selin. "New Sources on the Historical Geography of Church Building
in the Novgorod
Land in the 16th-17th c."
K.V. Sutorius. "The Second Scholastic in Northwestern Russia"
V.B. Panchenko. "The Epigraphy of Medieval Stone Crosses of the Novgorod
Land: Styles
and Functions"
M.E. Vorozheikina, I.S. Ielchin. "An Attempt at the Reconstruction of the
16th-c. Boring
Pickle-Elevating System According to the 16th-17th-c. Instruction
'Rospis' kak zachat' delat' novaia truba na novom meste," and
Archaeological Data from Industrial Zones"
Z.D. Bessarabova. "The Results of Archaeological Observation of Trench
XVIII in the Northern Part of Staraia Ladoga in 1999"
N.I. Milutenko. "'Austrvegr' to Jerusalem (Why did the Jotunheim Hill,
the lborg Town and the Odense Island Appear in Gardariki?)"
M.V. Pankratova. "The Particularities of 'God's Trial' in Norway and Iceland"
V.O. Kazanskii. "Once More on Jaroslav the Wise's Marriage Gift to
Ingigerd, Olof Skstkonung's Daughter"
N.I. Milutenko, S.V. Beletskii. "Comments on the Treaty of 944"
Iu.M. Lesman. "The Ancient Russian Stream in the Development of Circular
Pendants in Borre Style"
S.Iu. Kargopol'tsev. "The Kurgolovo Archaeological Site: A Puzzle with
Three Unknowns (Preliminary Report)"
I.I. Tarasov. "Fishing Tools from the Staraia Ladoga Excavations"
V.Iu. Sobolev. "The Zastoron'e Archaeological Site: The History of Its
Study and Some Results"
K.A. Zhukov. "The 14th-c. Russian Lamellar-Scale Mail"
For further information contact Adrian A. Selin at adrian@mail.admiral.ru
Notes on Two Obituaries of D. S. Likhachev and on A.A. Zimin's Book
Prof. Robin Milner-Gulland (University of Sussex) wishes to comment on the
two obituaries of D.S. Likhachev by Daniel Kaiser and Daniel S. Waugh in
the ESSA Newsletter 12 #2, regarding the role that the late Dmitrii
Sergeevich played in the case of Aleksandr A. Zimin during the debate on
the Igor Tale and its relationship to the Zadonshchina. Prof.
Milner-Gulland notes: "For the record, I heard him [D.S. Likhachev] in
lectures (1967) calling repeatedly and clearly for the proper publication
of Zimin's views, and he followed this up in completely unequivocal terms
in print (Oxford Slavonic Papers XIII: 46): 'In paying my tribute of
respect to those who deny its [the Igor Tale's] authenticity, I would also
express my hope that they may be able to make their views fully and
satisfactorily known,' adding in a footnote: 'As a first step A.A. Zimins
book [published in mimeograph: "Slovo o polku Igoreve": Istochniki. Vremia
napisaniia. Avtor. T. 1-3 (Moscow: 1963)] should be properly published.'"
The editor of this Newsletter notes further that O.V. Tvorogov restated
this goal in a publication for a domestic audience (Entsiklopediia "Slova o
polku Igoreve" (St. Petersburg: 1995), s.v. "Zimin, Aleksandr
Aleksandrovich"). Tvorogov's article also gives full bibliography of
Zimin's available publications on the question of the Igor Tale and the
Zadonshchina.
Miscellany Izb;rano Izb|rano
A four-week course on "Issues and Resources in Central Europe for
Research on the Middle Ages" will be held at the CEU in Budapest, Hungary,
Jul. 17-Aug. 10 2000, as this year's Summer Institute on Medieval Central
Europe. For information contact medstud@ceu.hu, (+36-1) 327-3024, or
(+36-1) 327-3055 (fax).
A conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on the topic of "Medieval Christian
Europe, East and West: Tradition, Values, Communications," has been
announced for Sept. 2-5, 2000. For information contact anmilten@bas.bg or
(+359-2) 981-38-84.
Viacheslav V. Ivanov and Dean S. Worth, both of UCLA, were recently
presented with Festschrifts (both containing articles of interest to
medievalists): Essays in Poetics, Literary History and Linguistics, Moscow,
1999, and In the Realm of Slavic Philology, Los Angeles, 2000.
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The Early Slavic Studies Association
Ann Kleimola, President
David Prestel, Vice President
Isolde Thyrt, Secretary-Treasurer
Robert Romanchuk, Newsletter Editor
Early Slavic Studies Association
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Webpage maintained by Scott A. Malec; Last Modified 11.02.2000