Phase III
Founded in 2004 as a modest in-house venture at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Mediterranean Seminar – currently with over 1,900 associated scholars worldwide – continues to be the leading initiative in Mediterranean Studies. June 2015 marked the end of our five-year Multi-Campus Research Project Initiative (MRPI), funded by the University of California Office of the President. Beginning in July 2010, this grant enabled us to organize fifteen workshop/conferences at six different University of California campuses and various collaborating institutions. In addition, we organized panels at the conferences of a number of scholarly associations (the Medieval Academy, the American Historical Association, the Middle East Studies Association, the Modern Language Association, the Society for the Study of the Medieval Mediterranean), as well as four NEH Summer Institutes for University and College Professors. We have launched a book series, Mediterranean Perspectives, with Palgrave Macmillan, a listserver, annual book prize competitions, article prizes, a podcast, a book review journal and a syllabus repository. Finally, and most importantly, we have continued to function as a forum for interdisciplinary collaboration and as a clearing house (via our email notifications) for projects relating to Mediterranean Studies, and we are proud of having contributed to the consolidation of what has become a very collegial and stimulating scholarly community.
Although our funding from the University of California has expired, we are supported by donations and by departments and program at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and look forward to continuing our quarterly workshops with the support of our collaborators and their institutions. We also look forward to building new collaborations with institutions across North America and Europe as well as North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. If you are interested in hosting a Mediterranean Seminar Workshop, contact the Co-Directors at mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org
Mediterranean Seminar Workshops
For upcoming workshops click here.
For past workshops click here.
If you are interested in sponsoring and co-organizing a workshop, please contact the Co-Directors at mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org
Panels at Professional Meetings and Conferences
The Mediterranean Seminar is happy to co-organize Mediterranean-oriented panels at academic conferences and meetings of professional societies. Contact the Co-Directors at mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org for further information.
Book Series
We are proud to announce that our book series, Mediterranean Perspectives, published by Palgrave Macmillan is now up and running. We are interested in publishing Mediterranean-related scholarly monographs, editions, and collections of essays. Inquiries may be made to the Co-Directors at mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org
Book Prizes
The Mediterranean Seminar convenes three annual book prizes on rotating basis: a best book award, a best first book award, and a best edition, translation or collection of esssays award.
The Mediterranean Seminar Review (TMSR)
Our online review forum features full length review of scholarly monographs relating to the Mediterranean history, society and culture. Source translations and collections of essays are featured in capsule reviews. All reviews include paginated tables of contests. Authors are granted an opportunity to respond to reviews.
Let’s Talk Mediterranean
Our occasional podcast features co-Directors Brian A. Catlos and Sharon Kinoshita converse with scholars of the Mediterranean, including authors of “articles of the month” and of books published in our book series, Mediterranean Perspectives.
Article of the Month
Each month a five-member jury selects one article to feature from among recent essays nominated by members of our advisory board.
The Mediterranean Syllabi Index
This database features Mediterranean-related undergraduate and graduate course syllabi submitted by Mediterranean Seminar associates.
Undergraduate Textbook
With the sponsorship of the Mediterranean Seminar, Thomas Burman, Brian Catlos & Mark Meyerson are writing an undergraduate course book The Sea in the Middle: The Mediterranean World, 650—1650CE, together with a source anthology, Texts from the Middle: Documents from the Mediterranean, 650—1650CE, to be published in February 2002 by the University of California Press. Suitable for lower- and mid-level college courses, this textbook surveys the history and culture of the Mediterranean world in the medieval and early modern periods, emphasizing the interaction of the three Abrahamic faiths and integrating key developments in European, African, and West Asian histories. An accompanying source reader will be published simultaneously.
Summer Skills Seminars
Hosted by CU Boulder and the CU Boulder Mediterranean Studies Group, the Mediterranean Seminar organizes four or five-day intensive skills seminars, featuring world-class instruction in technical aspects of Mediterranean Studies, normally in early May. The 2016 Skills Seminar, "Reading Aljamiado" featured Prof. Nuria Martínez-de-Castilla, and the 2017 Skills Seminar, "Reading Ladino/Judezmo," featured Prof. David Bunis. In 2020 with the pandemic, we switched to Zoom, holding the 3rd and 4th Skills Seminars, both titled “Introduction to the Archive of the Crown of Aragon (documents in Latin to ca. 1350),” in 2020 and 2021. We look forward to more offerings in 2022. If you have an idea for a future Skills Seminar, please contact Brian Catlos at brian.catlos@colorado.edu.
Mediterranean Studies Orientation Seminars
Brian Catlos and Sharon Kinoshita offer 1- or 2-day orientations on Mediterranean Studies pedagogy and research for faculty and graduate students. If you are interested in hosting an Orientation Seminar, contact the Co-Directors at mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org for further information.
