Academic staff in GKM
The academic staff is represented on the GKM board by Dr. Monnica Klöckener and Matthias Sandberg.
Spring School 2023: Manuscript Cultures. Interdisciplinary. Digital.
From March 28-31, 2023, Dr. Paraskevi Toma, Dr. Monica Klöckener, and Dr. Nikola Moustakis offered the Spring School "Manuscript Cultures. Interdisciplinary. Digital." Experts from Münster, Hamburg, Göttingen, Würzburg, Durham and Cambridge were invited to give lectures on the blocks "Handwriting and Power", "Handwriting and Ritual" and "Handwriting and Space" and to provide insight into their research material.
In the afternoon blocks, the staff of the SCDH (Service Center for Digital Humanities) introduced digital tools and methods. In small groups, texts were scanned, transcribed and subjected to network analysis.
On one day the group went to Hamburg to the cooperation partner "Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures". There the group was shown scientific methods for the study of manuscripts.
The spring school was a great success - a continuation is being planned.
Eva Baumkamp and Ludger Hiepel re-elected chairmen of the Senate
In its constituent meeting on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the Senate of the University of Münster elected the ancient historian Dr. Eva Bumkamp as chairperson and the Old Testament scholar Dipl. Theol. Ludger Hiepel as deputy chairperson.
With the re-election, the two GKM members take office for the current election period from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024.
We warmly congratulate them on their election!
Paraskevi Toma new Petra Kappert-Fellow
Byzantinist Dr. Paraskevi Toma is the new Petra Kappert Fellow at the "Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures" (CMSC) at the University of Hamburg since April 2022.
Since its foundation in 2012, the CSMC has created an international research environment for the study of manuscript artifacts and global manuscript cultures. Here, around 200 young researchers work on a variety of projects that combine the humanities and natural sciences. The largest ongoing project is the Cluster of Excellence "Understanding Written Artifacts" with 55 research projects from more than 30 disciplines.
Alexa Rickert solicits symposium on ancient staircases at the Volkswagen Foundation
Stairs are a convenient and safe way to overcome differences in height. It is impossible to imagine our everyday life without staircases made up of steps. In addition to their practical use, staircases also have a symbolic character. In ancient times, they were often associated with rituals and festivities.
Dr. Alexa Rickert, research associate at the Institute of Egyptology and Coptology at the University of Münster, and Sophie Schlosser from the Friedrich Mielke Institute for Scalalogy at the East Bavarian Technical University Regensburg, are researching ancient staircases to find out how people from the Ancient Near East to Egypt and the late Roman Empire used and perceived stairs. With their interdisciplinary symposium "Design, Function and Meaning of Ancient Staircases," the two have filled a research gap. The proceedings of the symposium was published in May 2023 by Zaphon-Verlag under the title "Design, Function and Meaning of Ancient Staircases" in the Kasion series. Symposium and publication was funded by the "Volkswagen Foundation".
Working group "Sealing”
Münster Ancient Studies Talks
An offer by junior researchers for junior researchers to exchange, discuss, network.
Archive: Program of the I. MAG from February 4, 2022
Archive: Program of the II. MAG from July 15, 2022
Project group "Encourage”
Cooperation between GKM, Integration Council and Immigration Office of the City of Münster
Byzantinist Dr. Paraskevi Toma and her husband Dr. Orestis Kazasidis came across a very special book in their home country of Greece: "Ftou Kselypi" ("Spit out the sorrow"). In it, author Marietta Kontou tells the encouraging story of Nour, who escapes the war in Syria. After a true odyssey, she makes it to the Olympic Games as part of the team of refugee athletes thanks to her indomitable will and her talent as a swimmer. The book has since been translated into Arabic.
Inspired by the book, the project group "Encourage" was formed in Münster in 2018 from representatives of the Integration Council, the Foreigners Authority and the University of Münster. Its leading members are: Dr. Orestis Kazasidis, Dr. Nikola Moustakis, Helga Sonntag, Dr. Paraskevi Toma, Jennifer Wahlbring, Dr. Ömer Lütfu Yavuz. They joined forces to bring 500 Arabic copies to Münster in order to distribute them to Arabic-speaking children and young people through targeted campaigns.
In 2021, the book was translated into German by Nikola Moustakis. A Ukrainian translation is currently being worked on.
The group's aim is to raise awareness of interculturality and multilingualism and to stimulate interaction through events.