CSMC News (2023)

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.

14 March 2023|CSMC News

More Letters from Mesopotamia

Assyrian rock reliefs discovered in Iraq

Photo: C. Michel

In her blog 'Mesopotamian Bulletins', Cécile Michel reflects on the significance of Mesopotamian culture for the present and addresses the manifold dangers facing its preservation today. A new batch of English translations of selected entries is now available.

10 March 2023|CSMC News

Unraveling the Secrets of Ancient Inks

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

Research on written artefacts is sometimes like a detective story: with modern methods, writing that had been erased or faded for centuries can be made legible again. In four sessions at Schülerforschungszentrum Hamburg, CSMC researchers will show pupils in grades 8 to 10 how this can be done.

8 March 2023|CSMC News

Summer School: An Interdisciplinary History of Writing

Photo: CSMC

How has writing shaped human societies and cultures and how have these, in turn, adapted writing to their needs? This July, a two-week summer school gives students from various disciplines the chance to explore central questions of the Cluster of Excellence UWA under the guidance of leading experts.

7 March 2023|CSMC News

Summer School on Ethiopian and Eritrean Manuscript Traditions

Photo: Ethio-SPaRe

From 4-15 September 2023, a summer school introduces graduate students and junior scholars to various methods used in manuscript studies, with a focus on the Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition. Applications can be submitted until 15 March.

6 March 2023|CSMC News

With Stylus, Brush, or Quill

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

What does writing look like across cultures? Which writing tools did people use to write in the past? And what role did and do manuscripts play in people’s everyday lives? A new CSMC programme for primary schools introduces children to the cultural diversity of writing in a playful way.

1 March 2023|CSMC News

Stelios Aspiotis Succesfully Defends PhD Dissertation

Photo: CSMC

Stelios Aspiotis has passed his viva voce examination, thus completing his dissertation project in Mineralogy.

28 February 2023|CSMC News

Between Preserving and Selling Literary Heritage

Photo: Universität Erfurt

From the late 19th century, private scholars took on vital role in the preservation and transfer of manuscripts and manuscript collections from the Middle East, West Asia, and North Africa to Europe and America. The spring series of the Gotha Manuscript Talks explores their backgrounds and motives.

27 February 2023|CSMC News

A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Pre-Modern Genealogies

Photo: Markus Friedrich

Starting on 1 August, a compound of four research projects at Universität Hamburg and Universität Bonn embark upon a comparative investigation of how lineages were presented, documented, and instrumentalised in early modern Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

23 February 2023|CSMC News

Libraries in the Manuscript Age

Photo: De Gruyter

There is a wealth of research on the history of libraries, but comparative studies on different traditions and periods are rare. The new volume of ‘Studies in Manuscript Cultures’ contributes to filling this gap. The juxtaposition of case studies brings out contrasts but also suggestive similarities

21 February 2023|CSMC News

Workshop on Computational Paleography in San José

Photo: Adam Schultz

From 21-26 August 2023, the 17th International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition will take place in San José, California. The prestigious conference also includes the 2nd Workshop on Computational Paleography, which is co-organised by Hussein Mohammed.

20 February 2023|CSMC News

Vacant Research Associate Position

Photo: CSMC

We invite applications for a Research Associate to join our raduate School as a PhD student and to participate in the Research Fields 'Multigraphic Written Artefacts' or 'Multilingual Written Artefacts'.

15 February 2023|CSMC News

Application Period for MA Programme Starts Today

Photo: UHH/vonWieding

From today, students can apply for our one-year MA programme 'Manuscript Cultures' again. The programme is open to students from a wide range of backgrounds. Applications must be submitted until 31 March.

13 February 2023|CSMC News

Bon and Naxi Manuscripts

Photo: De Gruyter

The first primarily object-based study on the cultural history and technology of books from the Tibetan Bon and Naxi Dongba traditions discusses the relationship between text and image, writing materials, and the historical and archaeological context of the manuscripts’ places of origin.

3 February 2023|CSMC News

Artificial Intelligence and Ancient Writing Cultures

ENCODE conference in Bologna, 26 January

Photo: Hussein Mohammed

As part of the ENCODE network, a conference on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Ancient Writing Cultures’ brought together leading experts on the digital transformation in the humanities in Bologna. Among them was Hussein Mohammed, who presented his work on pattern analysis in written artefacts.

31 January 2023|CSMC News

The Materiality of Dance

Photo: Evgen Rom

What role do written artefacts play for an ephemeral art like dance? At a CSMC conference at Kampnagel, lectures, audience discussions, and performances revolve around the relationship between the ephemeral and the permanent in the performance arts.