Dear Members

This newsletter, like the last, contains information in a number of sections:
1. Conferences
2. Positions vacant
3. Miscellanea
Thanks to those who have contributed items of interest, and please forward me anything you would like included in the next issue.

Regards,
Dr Bronwen Neil
Burke Lecturer in Ecclesiastical Latin
Centre for Early Christian Studies, Australian Catholic University

PATRISTICS NEWSLETTER

24.3.06

I. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

1. WESTERN PACIFIC RIM PATRISTICS SOCIETY will hold its annual meeting at Nanzan University , Nagoya , Japan from 29 September – 1 October 2006 . The theme of the conference is The Use of the Gospels in Early Christianity. Papers may be offered in languages other than English, as all papers will be circulated in hard copy.

Please go to the Centre for Early Christian Studies website, and click on the links for the call for papers and registration form. Other links will be added eventually with information about the university, accommodation options, the abstracts, the programme, and a report about the conference. The programme of papers will start at 4pm on Friday and finish on Sunday afternoon. There will be a walking tour of Nagoya for visitors on the morning of Friday 29.

2. Pontificio Ateneo S.Anselmo The Monastic Institute in collaboration with the Centro Studi S.Anselmoannounces an international symposium M ay 31 - June 3, 2006 (Wednesday to Saturday) on Church, Society and Monasticism

First Call for Papers

The second international monastic symposium at Sant’Anselmo will focus on the relationships between monasticism, the Church and society. Inter-disciplinary study may serve to illuminate the meaning of the monastic phenomenon by locating it within its wider social, political and ecclesial contexts.

Possible areas for contributions include: the ecclesiological implications of the movement, monasticism and the sacraments, the place of monasticism in the social and ecclesiastical hierarchies of Late Antiquity and Medieval Europe (Byzantine, Oriental and Latin), monastic reform movements, social and ecclesiastical criticisms of the monastic phenomenon itself, the influence of monastic spirituality on the wider Church, the imagery of monastic life in mediating that spirituality within a culture, the contribution of monasticism to social development within societies (Europe, America, Africa and Asia), monasticism and the intellectual community, monasticism and the academy, the re-emergence of monasticism in the churches of the Reformation, the contribution of monasticism to the re-unification of Christians, and monastic involvement in Christian openings to non-Christian religions.

The twelfth international Regulae Benedicti Studia Congress (see below) will form an integral part of the symposium and papers concerning the Rule of Benedict will form a separate section.

Papers offered may be of two types: communications (15 minutes) and lectures (40 minutes).Those interested in presenting a paper at the symposium should send the title and a brief description (100 words) no later than October 1, 2005 . Papers may be presented in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Information should be sent to:

Symposium2006@santanselmo.org
or to:
Prof. Gregory Collins, OSB
Pontificio Anteneo S.Anselmo
Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, 5
I-00153 Roma
ITALY
fax: (39)06574.8312

3. PRAYER AND SPIRITUALITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH IV, January 2008. Theme: Poverty and Riches. Presented by the Centre for Early Christian Studies incorporating the Western Pacific Rim Patristics Association, at St Patricks Campus, Australian Catholic University , Melbourne , Australia . The call for papers will go out shortly. Please keep your eye on the website www.prayerspirit.com for further details. Papers may be presented in languages other than English since hard copies of all papers will be provided.

4. DE AMICITIA ? SOCIAL NETWORKS AND RELATIONSHIPS: PASSAGES FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE AGES III, 17-19 August 2007

Department of History
33014 University of Tampere, Finland

CALL FOR PAPERS

Abstract deadline: 1.8.2006
E-mail: passages@uta.fi

In different cultures people experience the bond between them and the other people differently. They re-create their self image and their identities according to the family background, social group, gender and religion. The experience of the unity and the bond between the people is a strong cultural and social factor.

As a continuation to the already well established tradition of Passages from Antiquity to the Middle Ages -conferences (I, Family, Marriage and Death, in 2003, and II, Aging, Old Age and Death in 2005) the third conference focuses on the networks and relationships in society,

relations between individuals, families and different social groups. The aim is to bring together scholars from various fields of study to discuss the continuities and changes in experiencing and constructing networks and relationships. We warmly welcome contributions with a comparative and/or interdisciplinary perspective.

We invite submissions on the following topics:
- friendship relationships
- relations and networks based on gender
- kinship as a social and cultural construction
- intellectual/religious brother- and sisterhoods
- patron-client relations
- relationships and networks of different social groups

Please submit your abstract (300 words) as an email attachment with your name, academic affiliation, mailing and email address to passages@uta.fi. The deadline for abstracts is August 1, 2006 . The Registration fee for all those attending or participating is 50 euros, with a post-graduate student rate of 30 euros (includes conference material).

Christian Krötzl, Professor, Katariina Mustakallio, Assistant Professor, Jussi Hanska, Dr.Phil., Senior Researcher
Department of History, 33014 University of Tampere , Finland
http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/historia/sivut/english/medieval.htm

5. CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR PATRISTIC STUDIES

For information about the 2006 meeting of the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies, to be held at York University in Toronto on 28-30 May, please see the following websites: www.fedcan.ca (for registration and travel info) or www.ccsr.ca/csps (the CSPS website where updates will be posted).

II. POSITIONS VACANT

1.LECTURESHIP IN CLASSICS

Ancient Philosophy, Department of Classics & Ancient History, Durham University
Closing date: 10 March 2006 (sorry about late posting)
Full details are available at: http://jobs.ac.uk/jobfiles/KD052.html

2. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS, 10 POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS

The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Fritz Thyssen Foundationand the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin invite scholars to apply for ten postdoctoral fellowships for the program

EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST; THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE

This research program seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that divide Europe from the Middle East. The project draws on the international expertise of scholars in and outside of Germany and is embedded in university and extra-university research institutions in Berlin. It supports and rests upon the following four interconnected research fields:
- Cities Compared: Cosmopolitanism in the Mediterranean and Adjacent Regions - directed by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi (both Center of Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin) - contributes to the debate on cosmopolitanism and civil society from the historical experience of conviviality and socio- cultural, ethnic, and religious differences in the cities around the Mediterranean;

- Islamic Discourse Contested: Middle Eastern and European Perspectives - directed by Gudrun Krämer (Institute for Islamic Studies, Free University Berlin) - analyzes modern Middle Eastern thought and discourses in the framework of theories of multiple or reflexive modernities;

- Perspectives on the Qur’an: Negotiating Different Views of a Shared History - directed by Angelika Neuwirth (Seminar for Arabic Studies, Free University Berlin) and Stefan Wild ( Bonn University) - situates the foundational text of Islam within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity and combines a historicization of its genesis with its reception and perception in Europe and the Middle East;

- Travelling Traditions: Comparative Perspectives on Near Eastern Literatures - directed by Friederike Pannewick ( Oslo University) and Samah Selim (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) -reassesses literary entanglements and processes of canonization between Europe and the Middle East.

The fellowships are intended above all for scholars of History, Literature, Philology, Political Philosophy, Religion and Sociology from the Middle East who want to carry out their research projects in connection with the Berlin program. Fellows gain the opportunity to pursue research projects of their choice within the framework of one of the above-mentioned four research fields and connected to the program ' Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe' as a whole. In Berlin, they will be integrated in a university or non-university research institute.

Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of Eurp 1,800 (supplement for married Fellows: Euro 250) and are obligated to work in Berlin and to help shape the seminars and working discussions related to their research field.

As a rule, the fellowships begin on 1 October 2006 and end on 31 July 2007. The applicant's doctorate should have been completed no earlier than 1998. An application should be made in explicit relation to one of the four research fields and consist of a curriculum vitae, a 2 to 4-page project sketch, a sample of scholarly work (maximum 20 pages from an article, conference paper, or dissertation chapter) and an evaluation by one university instructor. It should be submitted in English and received by 10 April 2006, sent to:

Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe,
c/o Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
Attention: Georges Khalil
Wallotstraße 19, 14193 Berlin
Fax +49 30 - 89 00 12 00
Email: khalil@wiko-berlin.de.

For further information on the program ' Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe' and detailed information on the four research fields please see: http://www.wiko-berlin.de/kolleg/projekte/AKMI?hpl=2

 III. MISCELLANEA

 1. NOVUM TESTAMENTUM PROJECT

A network is being set up through Faculteit der Theologie, Raboud Universiteit Nijmegen, to publish patristic commentaries on the New Testament. Several NT books are still looking for collators of commentaries. For further information, please contact tobias.nicklas@theologie.uni-regensberg.de at Faculteit der Theologie, Raboud Universiteit Nijmegen, NL.

2. NEW POSTGRADUATE JOURNAL

The School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI), at the University of Sydney, is pleased to announce the establishment of "Foregone Conclusions". This is the School's new online, historical journal for postgraduates.

Foregone Conclusions is administered and edited by a committee of postgraduates who are affiliated with SOPHI. We are now calling for papers for the journal's first issue, to appear in mid-2006. Papers are invited from postgraduates and early career researchers, on any historical subject or theme. The journal is a refereed publication, and each article will be assessed by two academic referees. The Foregone Conclusions website, for more information, is:http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/publications/fc/

Style and submission guidelines for papers are also available here, by clicking on 'Submission and Contact Information'. Please submit papers by February 1, 2006. Enquiries can be sent to foregone.conclusions@arts.usyd.edu.au. For students, we look forward to receiving your papers soon. For staff, we would be grateful if you could pass this on to your research students.

Catherine England
(Co-Editor, Foregone Conclusions)