CSMC News

2 June 2023|CSMC News

Abande Mohammed Shettima Succesfully Defends PhD Dissertation

Photo: CSMC

Abande Mohammed Shettima has passed his viva voce examination, thus completing his PhD in African Languages and Linguistics.

1 June 2023|CSMC News

Written Treasures of Hamburg

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

Starting in July, an exhibition on the ‘Written Treasures of Hamburg’ will show highlights from the holdings of the Hamburg State Library, demonstrating how research at CSMC employs individual objects to develop overarching approaches to understanding written artefacts of all eras and places.

31 May 2023|CSMC News

Secret Messages in a Miniature Qur'an

Photo: Bodleian Library

At the Bodleian Library in Oxford, two members of the Cluster made a remarkable find: written on the pages of a miniature Qur’an, they found an encrypted message from the 16th century. Patiently, they decoded the encrypted text. Yet, the solution of this puzzle confronted them with many new ones.

30 May 2023|CSMC News

German-Jewish Archives in the Digital Age

Photo: Sebastian Schirrmeister

The National Library of Israel and CSMC have digitised 24 written estates of German-Jewish intellectuals from the 20th century. A workshop now provides first insights into the possibilities this opens up for research. Special highlights from the archives are presented at an evening event.

23 May 2023|CSMC News

Written Artefacts of Nepal

Nepal is home to exceptionally diverse manuscript collections, both in terms of scripts and languages as well as materials used. In short videos, Bidur Bhattarai explains how these collections are preserved. This episode shows a Buddhist manuscript bearing witness to the cultural connection to Tibet

16 May 2023|CSMC News

The Digital Lunch Seminar Series is Back

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

This summer semester, the CSMC is hosting the third edition of the Digital Lunch Seminar Series. Two researchers, one hour, one topic: by bringing together different areas of expertise, the series brings the idea of cross-disciplinary research to life.

5 May 2023|CSMC News

Beyond Visualising Language

Photo: Uta Lauer

From 11-12 May 2023, a CSMC workshop at Deichtorhallen Hamburg revolves around the art of writing and writing as a form of art. Six artists present their works on site and, in conversation with researchers and the audience, explore the relationship between language, writing, meaning, and aesthetics.

27 April 2023|CSMC News

DESY and UWA are Jointly Breaking New Ground in the Material Analysis of Historical Written Artefacts

Photo: Marta Mayer/DESY

In two pilot studies, scientists from Hamburg investigate historical written artefacts at the X-ray radiation source PETRA III. The experiments revolve around Mesopotamian clay tablets and Tibetan artefacts belonging to the Bon tradition.

26 April 2023|CSMC News

Vacant Research Associate Position

Photo: CSMC

The Cluster of Excellence 'Understanding Written Artefacts' is looking for a Research Associate to pursue an independent research project that fits its overall comparative research profile, and to contribute to the collaborative research activities of the Cluster.

21 April 2023|CSMC News

Copying, Drafting, Taking Notes

Photo: De Gruyter

The new volume of the series 'Studies in Manuscript Cultures' is out now. 'Personal Manuscripts: Copying, Drafting, Taking Notes' provides a comprehensive survey, from Japan to Europe through the Middle East, of manuscripts that have been produced for the personal use of their scribe only.

20 April 2023|CSMC News

Markus Fischer Becomes a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

Photo: wildbild, EASA

Markus Fischer, spokesperson of the Research Field 'Artefact Profiling' at the Cluster of Excellence UWA, has been accepted as a member of the European Academy of Science and Arts (EASA).

17 April 2023|CSMC News

How Manuscripts Affect and Create Social Realities

Photo: CSMC

Volume 19 of the journal 'manuscript cultures' is out now. The new edition is dedicated the topic of written artefacts and agency and explores how manuscripts are perceived to influence reality and even create social relations.

6 April 2023|CSMC News

Elena Chepel Starts Visiting Professorship ‘Women in Manuscript Cultures’

Photo: Elena Chepel

This summer semester, Elena Chepel from the University of Vienna becomes the first researcher to take up the new Visiting Professorship ‘Women in Manuscript Cultures’ at CSMC. Here she talks about her plans for her time in Hamburg and explains the role gender issues play in her own research.

4 April 2023|CSMC News

Girls' and Boys' Day at CSMC

Photo: Girls' Day 2023

On 27 April, the centre is open to pupils who want to take part in the nationwide Girls' Day and Boys' Day.

3 April 2023|CSMC News

New Faces at CSMC

Photo: CSMC

At the beginning of the summer semester, we welcome two new Principal Investigators, a doctoral student, and our first guest professor for 'Women in Manuscript Cultures' at CSMC.

31 March 2023|CSMC News

CSMC Receives Visitors from Kyoto

Photo: Jakob Hinze

During her visit to Universität Hamburg, Mika Yokoyama, Vice-President for International Affairs at Kyoto University, met various members of the Centre and took a tour of the Artefact Laboratory.

30 March 2023|CSMC News

Vacant Research Associate Position

Photo: CSMC

The Cluster of Excellence 'Understanding Written Artefacts' is looking to recruit doctoral research associates to pursue their dissertation project.

29 March 2023|CSMC News

Launch of New Working Group on Asian Highland Manuscripts

Photo: Agnieszka Helman-Ważny

A new Working Group focuses on the multifaceted manuscript cultures of ethnic minorities in Southeast and Central Asia. ‘Asian Highland Manuscripts: Manuscript-Making Beyond the State’ brings together researchers who have been exchanging ideas in regular workshops since 2016.

23 March 2023|CSMC News

Vacant Research Associate Position

Photo: CSMC

We invite applications for a Research Associate to join a project on the 'Measurement of Paper Components', which is being carried out in cooperation with Deutsches Elektronen-Synchroton (DESY). The deadline for applications is 6 April.

20 March 2023|CSMC News

Philippa Sissis Wins Publication Award of the Bibliotheca Hertziana

Photo: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The art historian receives the prize for her PhD dissertation ‘Seeing Script? The Visual Aesthetics of Early Humanist Manuscripts’, in which she examines the works of the great Renaissance humanists Poggio Bracciolini and Niccolò Niccoli.

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