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Muhammadjon

Shakuri

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Workshop: China - The Cluster Expedition to the Tarim Basin, 25 September 2026

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Workshop: China - The Cluster Expedition to the Tarim Basin, 25 September 2026

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Dear Members of the CoE „EurAsian Transformations”,

This year many members of the Cluster undertook an important excursion to China, most prominently to the Tarim Basin. We have seen many objects, discovered new interests and could connect many of our theories with the sources viewed at the scenes. Now, we want to present our travels to you, as many of the participants were sponsored by the CoE and cordially invite you to the Cluster event Workshop: China - The Cluster Expedition to the Tarim Basin. You can also find the information written down here:

https://calendar.online/coe_members_interface

The Workshop will take place at the 25th of September at the venue of the Jura-Soyfer Saal in the Hofburg in Vienna, 1010 Vienna, beginning at 09:00.

There will be refreshments and we would be grateful if you could register under the following Link so that we can plan accordingly:

https://calendar.online/event_registration

We are very much looking forward to the Workshop and to seeing you there. If there are questions, please feel free to write to Clemens Steinwender under: Clemens.Steinwender@uibk.ac.at.

Best regards,

The Organizers

(Melanie Malzahn; Clemens Steinwender)

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Das Ende armenischer Kultur in Bergkarabach? by Jeanette Kilicci and Julius Vellenzer

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Das Ende armenischer Kultur in Bergkarabach? by Jeanette Kilicci and Julius Vellenzer

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"Wer könnte dich von mir trennen, wenn du doch die Seele des Ashugs bist, Kamança."

Wie ein beliebtes traditionelles Volkslied von nationalistischen Narrativen überschrieben und für politische Zwecke missbraucht wurde.

Im Gastblogbeitrag beschreiben Musikwissenschaftlerin Jeanette Kilicci und Politikwissenschaftler Julius Vellenzer an einem konkreten und aktuellen Beispiel diese Vorgehensweise, die häufig im Kontext autokratischer Regime angewandt wird, um sich die kulturelle Identität marginalisierter Gruppen anzueignen und sie damit zu eliminieren.

Read the full article here.

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armenien kultur kilicci vellenzer standard

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Good luck and have fun while playing the fifty-first edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 1 September):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/05593007

If you missed #50, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Vandalismus und die Mayflower

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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Here is our new CFF8, featuring a new, interesting funding format: the Big Idea Work Package!

Read up on research and training formats as well as fellowships!

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This is our social media flagship!

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Dear colleagues,

I would like to inform you about the attendance registration for our Annual Conference:

To help with the fine-tuning of some remaining parts of the conference planning, we kindly ask you to register ASAP. The registration and participation at the conference is free, as is participating at the town hall reception on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7.30 P.M.!

Please find the registration link here: https://forms.gle/Y7CWe6m5fyfANXSL6

You can find the conference's programme on the according ÖAW-Webpage, where you can find the registration link as well: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/eurasian-transformations/projects/projects/events/conferences/eurasian-transformations-annual-conferences/2026-bridging-eurasia

We very much look forward to seeing you at the conference!

On behalf of the Annual Conference 2026 Organizing Committee,

Mariya Kiprovska, Yavuz Köse, Melanie Malzahn, Nina Mirnig, Claudia Rapp, Robert Rollinger, Juliane Schiel

Alexander Sasonow

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Konrad II. begründete die Dynastie der Salier, die von 1024 bis zum Tode Heinrichs V. 1125 die römisch-deutschen Könige und Kaiser stellten.

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Konflikte im Grenzbereich des ostfränkisch-deutschen Kaiserreichs by Florian Maizner

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Konflikte im Grenzbereich des ostfränkisch-deutschen Kaiserreichs by Florian Maizner

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Wenn Glauben Nachbarn spaltet: Der Kampf zwischen christlichen Herrschern und "heidnischen" Anwohnern aus der Sicht eines Hof-Biografen

In seinem Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Florian Maizner, Doktorand am DK Entangled Antiquities der Universität Innsbruck, anhand eines konkreten Beispiels aus dem Mittelalter, wie die Berichterstattung über nachbarschaftliche Spannungenausgreifender Großreiche zwischen seriöser Geschichtsschreibung und Fake News balanciert.

Read the full article here.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the already fiftieth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 18 August):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/03601395

If you missed #49, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Quiz: Von der Westsahara bis Odyssey

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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Scientific project assistant (praedoc) | Deadline: 14 August 2026

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Scientific project assistant (praedoc) | Deadline: 14 August 2026

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To support the Cluster's digital research ecosystem, we are seeking a project staff member who will contribute to the coordination and further development of Digital Humanities activities, research data management, and digital research infrastructures across the Cluster. Working closely with the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (ACDH), the successful candidate will contribute to the development of sustainable infrastructures, interoperable workflows, and shared standards that support both current research and the long-term strategic development of the Cluster.

Further information here.

Deadline for application: 14 August 2026

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Japanisch-Österreichischer Workshop zur Netzwerkbildung im Rahmen des Cluster of Excellence „EurAsian Transformations“

Organisation: Christine Frank und Isabelle Prochaska-Meyer

Zeit: Dienstag, den 18. August 2026, 10:00 - 18:00

Ort: Abteilung für Vergl.Literaturwiss. der Universität Wien, Sensengasse 3a

Seminarraum 8 (5. Stock)

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Miniaturmalerei des 15. Jhs.: Chosrau entdeckt Schirin beim Bade

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Spätantike persische Königin als Role Model für iranische Frauen by Irene Madreiter

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Spätantike persische Königin als Role Model für iranische Frauen by Irene Madreiter

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Die Figur Schirin als Beispiel dafür, wie historische Stoffe in der Moderne neu gedeutet werden können.

Im Gastblogbeitrag beleuchtet die Historikerin Irene Madreiter die bedeutende historische und literarische Rolle der persischen Königin Schirin und erklärt, warum gerade der Mangel an belegten Fakten über sie Raum für vielfältige Interpretationen lässt.

Read the full article here.

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Click the image for a more adequate resolution.

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Dear Members of the CoE EurAsian Transformations,

After almost 3 years of widespread collaboration, research and field trips the 1st phase of funding is coming to a close.

In lieu of the oncoming 2nd phase and our efforts to let this wonderful cluster continue to exist, the Board of Directors has devised the following survey.

This survey was made to collect your thoughts, achievements, publications and workshops you have made/held helped produce in the last years, as a part of this cluster - and also to collect deliverables etc. that can be presented to the FWF as to persuade them for funding a 2nd phase.

We would very much appreciate your participation, every voice matters:

https://jeanette98.limesurvey.net/912118?lang=en&newtest=Y

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Alexander Sasonow

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-ninth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 4 August):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/03492576

If you missed #48, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Quiz: Von Marjane Satrapi bis zur Yakuza

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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In their new contribution, "Educating Girls, Reforming Society: An Armeno-Turkish Treatise from Ayntab and Ottoman Debates on Female Education in the late 19th Century," Hülya Çelik and Ani Sargsyan examine Mary
G. Hollister’s Armeno-Turkish work Kızların Talim u Terbiyesi (The Education and Upbringing of Girls), published in Istanbul in 1880. Written in Antep, the treatise presents a comprehensive programme for
female education, linking questions of upbringing and schooling to contemporary debates on family, religion, social progress, and reform. It also illustrates how such debates circulated across linguistic,confessional, and regional boundaries in the late Ottoman Empire.

Read the full article: https://atlas.univie.ac.at/?p=603

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Das Gemälde Ahasveros und Haman beim Fest der Esther von Rembrandt van Rijn.

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Der Schatten einer früheren Königin oder Geschichte als "Argument" by Ian Macgregor Morris

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Der Schatten einer früheren Königin oder Geschichte als "Argument" by Ian Macgregor Morris

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Die alttestamentliche Figur Esther und ihr Wirken werden bis heute unterschiedlich gedeutet.

In seinem Gastblogbeitrag beschäftigt sich Historiker Ian Macgregor Morris von der Universität Innsbruck mit der Protagonistin des Buches Esther und den unterschiedlichen Interpretationen über ihre Rolle im Laufe der Geschichte – je nachdem, aus welcher Perspektive sie erzählt wird.

Read the full article here.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-eighth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 21 July):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/0926891

If you missed #47, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Bergsteigen und Kommunisten

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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We are looking for a part-time (20 hrs/week) Cluster coordinator to be based at CEU. Please spread the word to people with administrative experience and good organizational skills who you think would like to join the EurAsia team at CEU!

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Coordinator for the Cluster of Excellence EurAsia (f/m/d)

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Coordinator for the Cluster of Excellence EurAsia (f/m/d)

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Neue Herrscher, alte Münzen by Jehan Hillen

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Neue Herrscher, alte Münzen by Jehan Hillen

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Das Bedürfnis nach Kontinuität im Münzsystem überwog häufig den Wunsch, eine neue Herrschaft zu demonstrieren

Im Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt der Historiker Jehan Hillen, wie die Anpassung der Motive auf Münzen abhängig vom jeweiligen Herrscher im spätantiken Ägypten funktionierte und welche Bedeutung mit diesen verbunden war.

Read the full article here.

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EurAsia Academy Keynote Lecture: Finnian Gerety, “Dividing OM, Shaping Mantra Systems”

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EurAsia Academy Keynote Lecture: Finnian Gerety, “Dividing OM, Shaping Mantra Systems”

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We cordially invite you to a keynote lecture as part of the EurAsia Summer Academy: Vienna Summer School on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia: “Mantras Between Language, Ritual, and Materiality”:

Finnian Gerety, University of  Oxford:

"Dividing OM, Shaping Mantra Systems"

The division of the sacred syllable "om" into the three sounds, a, u, and m is one of the most enduring ideas in mantra culture. Originating in Vedic thought, dividing OM offers a fertile framework for the development of mantra systems in premodern India. This talk shows how successive phases of religious thought adapted this idea to suit their own mantras and contexts, from Vedic recitation to Brahmanical dharma, from Purāṇic devotion to Yogic silence, from Śaiva resonance to Jaina karma. The division of the sacred syllable at once shapes and reflects the traditions which claim it: OM is the bedrock of mantra systems and their essential, most dynamic expression.

After the lecture, we invite you to a small reception.

Wednesday, July 8, 4 pm

Seminar room 1 of the ISTB, University Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.7, 1090 Vienna, or join us on Zoom: https://univienna.zoom.us/j/68497478566?pwd=bLpGjPBm6AiH5r9n0GpxhqAiZhtOhL.1

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Opportunity! PhD Completion Fellowships of the Cluster of Excellence "EurAsian Transformations"

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Opportunity! PhD Completion Fellowships of the Cluster of Excellence "EurAsian Transformations"

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The FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence (CoE) “EurAsian Transformations”—in cooperation with the Doctoral School of Historical Studies (University of Vienna), the Doctoral School of Philological and Cultural Studies (University of Vienna), and the Doktoratskolleg Entangled Antiquities (University of Innsbruck)—invites applications for PhD Completion Fellowships.

This program is specifically designed for highly qualified doctoral students whose dissertation projects align with the Cluster’s research profile, are nearing completion, and who do not currently hold another funded PhD position.

There is no fixed application deadline; the call is rolling and open from June 2026 onward. However, grants are strictly limited, so early application is highly encouraged.

You can find more information about the eligibility criteria and application requirements on the website.

For any inquiries regarding the fellowship or application process, please contact

Univ.-Prof. Melanie Malzahn (melanie.malzahn@univie.ac.at) for the University of Vienna and

Univ.-Prof. Robert Rollinger (Robert.Rollinger@uibk.ac.at) for the University of Innsbruck.

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PhD Completion Fellowships of the Cluster of Excellence

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-seventh edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 7 July):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/07611370

If you missed #46, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über den Islam und Shakespeare

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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Visiting Professor (Summer/Winter term 2026/27) Adam Catt

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Visiting Professor (Summer/Winter term 2026/27) Adam Catt

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Adam Catt will be teaching two courses at the University of Vienna from 31 August 2026 until 28 January 2027:

1. Lectures: Introduction to Japanese Linguistics

2. Seminar: Tocharian Abhidharma Literature

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Lecture: Dr. Carol Fan (University of Bonn) "'Ali Akbar Khata’i’s Book of China: Chinese qanun as a model of political reform in the Ottoman Empire" Monday 22 June 2026, 5 pm. Venue: Austrian Academy of SciencesPostsparkasse, Seminar room 6 (4th floor) Georg-Coch-Platz 21010 Vienna 

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Lecture: Dr. Carol Fan (University of Bonn) "'Ali Akbar Khata’i’s Book of China: Chinese qanun as a model of political reform in the Ottoman Empire" Monday 22 June 2026, 5 pm. Venue: Austrian Academy of SciencesPostsparkasse, Seminar room 6 (4th floor) Georg-Coch-Platz 21010 Vienna 

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South Asia before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept

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South Asia before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept

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This study critically examines the applicability of the concept of religion to premodern South Asian culture. I argue that premodern South Asia did not possess a concept equivalent to religion as understood today – neither as a distinct system of religious teachings and practices, nor as a fundamental cultural category separate from non-religious domains such as the secular, philosophy, or science. Using Āyurveda and philosophy as examples, I show that imposing anachronistic categories on past cultures risks misrepresenting their inner logics and social realities. I advocate deconstructing modern notions of religion and refraining from reconstructing the past with religion as a template. However, concepts of religion can serve a purpose when used as historicized objects of comparison or reference for premodern concepts and systems, in order to facilitate access to premodern cultures and contribute effectively to contemporary discourses.

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Der Tod, umgeben von seiner Armee, in einer Darstellung aus dem 3. Jahrhundert v. Chr.
© Biswarup Ganguly, North Gateway - Rear Side - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4480-4481, Zuschnitt von D. Haas, CC BY 3.0

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Der Mythos vom Yoga aus der Vorzeit by Dominik A. Haas

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Der Mythos vom Yoga aus der Vorzeit by Dominik A. Haas

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Yoga zwischen Ideologie, Vermarktungsstrategien und Authentizität

Der 21. Juni ist der internationale Tag des Yoga. Im Gastblogbeitrag macht sich Dominik A. Haas, Südasienforscher am Institut für Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, zu diesem Anlass auf die Spuren des Ursprungs von Yoga.

Read the full article here.

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Lecture on Vajrayāna Inner Alchemy and the Emergence of Haṭhayoga in Tibet

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Lecture on Vajrayāna Inner Alchemy and the Emergence of Haṭhayoga in Tibet

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Dear All, this may be of interest:

This lecture explores the emergence of early haṭhayogic practices within the Vajrayāna Buddhist milieu of medieval India and Tibet.

It examines how subtle-body physiology, the control and sublimation of bindu, and alchemical models of inner transformation provided the conceptual framework for the development of dynamic yogic techniques later associated with haṭhayoga.

Giacomella Orofino is Professor of Tibetan Studies at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”. Her research focuses on Vajrayāna Buddhism, the Kālacakra tradition, Indo-Tibetan tantric literature, and the early history of haṭhayoga.

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EurAsia Lecture Series: Dmitriev (19 June) and Gründler (26 June) on Two Medieval Bestsellers: The "Life of the Buddha" and "Kalila wa-Dimna"

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EurAsia Lecture Series: Dmitriev (19 June) and Gründler (26 June) on Two Medieval Bestsellers: The "Life of the Buddha" and "Kalila wa-Dimna"

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Dear colleagues,

As our EurAsia Lecture Series "Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road" is drawing to an end, it is our great pleasure to invite you to the last two lectures, which will focus on Islamicate literature and manuscripts:

Friday, 19 June 2026, 16:45

Dr. Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews)

From India to the Arab World and Back to India: Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būḏāsaf and Its Transmission in Arabic Sources

Friday, 26 June 2026, 16:45

Prof. Dr. Beatrice Gründler (Freie Universität Berlin)
Islamic Mirror and Interreligious Matrix: Kalīla wa-Dimna

The lectures will take place in the main university building (Universitätsring 1) in Hörsaal 32 (1st Floor, Stiege 9) and online via Zoom (registration link here).

Feel free to circulate the announcement and we look forward to welcoming you there!

Best regards,

Adrian Pirtea, Claudia Rapp and Florian Schwarz

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Call for Papers “From the East and Back: Manuscript Tradition, Translation and Reception of Historia trium regum by John of Hildesheim”

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Call for Papers “From the East and Back: Manuscript Tradition, Translation and Reception of Historia trium regum by John of Hildesheim”

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Dear colleagues,

We are delighted to invite you to participate in an international conference dedicated to the medieval tradition of the Three Wise Kings (Magi) and its Eastern roots, to be held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna in January 2027.

This tradition, which connects a large part of Eurasia, we hope will be of great interest to members of the Cluster.

For further details, please follow the link below:

https://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/veranstaltungen/detail/cfp-from-the-east-and-back

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Edhem Eldem (Columbia University) will be joining the new Vienna Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Vienna for the coming academic year. You may wish to include him in your COE-related activities.

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Columbia University, USA
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History and Archaeology

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Workshop: “OttomanCore: Conceptual, Spatial, and Actor-Centered Perspectives on Ottoman Governance”

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Workshop: “OttomanCore: Conceptual, Spatial, and Actor-Centered Perspectives on Ottoman Governance”

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Dear colleagues,

You are warmly invited to join the two-day workshop OttomanCore: Conceptual, Spatial, and Actor-Centered Perspectives on Ottoman Governance, which will take place at the University of Vienna on 2–3 July 2026. The workshop will be held in the Lecture Hall of the Department of East European History (IOG) (Spitalgasse 2, Hof 3, Eingang 3.2 (Campus).

The workshop aims to revisit Ottoman governance as a dynamic and negotiated field of interaction among diverse actors whose overlapping interests and spheres of influence shaped the empire’s capacity to rule.

For further details, please see the program:
https://www.ottomancore.org/_files/ugd/f5b16d_b9565f94810b44eda96870d435d13a75.pdf

The event is organized within the framework of the ERC-2024-CoG project “OttomanCORE.”

Organizers: Grigor Boykov and Mariya Kiprovska

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-sixth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 23 June):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/01333864

If you missed #45, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Opern und Elisabeth II.

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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It's here: the two-weekly online quiz, provided by Quizkultur (https://quizkultur.at/; qutopia.at/de), which aims to present the topics and research fields of the CoE EurAsian Transformations to a broad public in a low-threshold and entertaining way.

Taking part is very simple: click on the link, type in your (nick)name and start the quiz!
https://kahoot.it/challenge/03328792
If you would like to appear in the overall ranking for the year, you should always play und der the same (nick)name if possible, so that points can be added to your personal score. Work is still underway on the platform where the results can be accessed at any time.

The quiz consists of 20 questions (in English; the themes of the cluster serve as a starting point, but the question set itself covers all areas of knowledge/interest) and is accessible for approx. 13 days.

The link may and should be shared, yes please! Play alone, in a tandem or together with family or friends - it doesn't matter, as long as you are fair and don't cheat. And please forgive if a mistake does slip in. A quizmaster may not always be right, but he decides :)

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Tijana Krstić (Central European University)

9:45-11:15 Panel 1: Making the Corpus, Making the Community

Chair: István Perczel (Central European University)

Sinae Kim (University of Toronto): Cut, Paste, Preach: Communal Making and Circulation of Preaching Texts in Medieval Chinese Buddhism

Ephrem Ishac (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Medieval Research): Preaching and Communal Identity: Contextualizing Medieval and Early Modern Syriac Liturgical Homilies

Adrian Pirtea (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Medieval Research): Preaching in Medieval : The Arabic Homiletic Corpus attributed to Patriarch Athanasius of Jerusalem (Mid-15th Century)

11:15-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-13:00 Panel 2: Varieties of Preaching

Chair: Florian Schwarz (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Iranian Studies)

David Quinter (University of Alberta): Written Vows (Ganmon) as Preaching Texts in Medieval Japan:Eison's Vow for the Saidaiji Mantra of Light Assemblies

Rıza Yıldırım (University of Vienna): Beyond Preaching: Ritual, Narrative, and Religious Learning in Traditional Alevi Communities

Radu Mustață (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Scriptural Scarcity, Liturgy, and Preaching Practice in Malabar at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century

13:00-14:30 Lunch

14:30-16:00 Panel 3: Preaching to the Monks, Nuns and Clergy

Chair: Pavlina Rychterova (University of Vienna)

Claudia Rapp (University of Vienna/Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Medieval Research): Hearing and Reading Monastic Sermons in Byzantium

Anna Zajchowska-Bołtromiuk (Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN, Warsaw): Preaching Clerical Identity in the Middle Ages: Dominican Sermones ad clerum in the Cathedral of Wrocław

Maria Grazia Bartolini (State University of Milano): The Preacher and His (Female) Audience: Monastic Discipline, Female Spirituality, and Confessionalization in Stefan Iavors′kyi's Sermons to the Nuns of the Ascension Convent in Kyiv

16:00-16:15 Coffee Break

16:15-17:45 Panel 4: Rhetoric of Preaching

Chair: Birgit Kellner (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia)

Ryan Overbey (Skidmore College): The rhetoric of magic and the magic of rhetoric in the Great Lamp of the Dharma Dhāraṇī Scripture

Adinel Dincă (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca): Shaping or Being Shaped: Parish Preachers, Preaching, and Community among Transylvanian Saxons (1400-1500)

Meryem Yetkin (Sabanc ı University, Istanbul):Contestation from the Pulpit: Sultan's Preacher Atpazarî Fazıl Osman Efendi and Celvetî Preaching in the Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Cities

18:30 Dinner (at Stöckl im Park, Prinz Eugen-Straße 25)

9:30-11:00 Panel 5: Preaching and Brokering of (Inter) Communal Relations

Chair: Bruno De Nicola (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Iranian Studies )

Ottó Gecser (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest): Representations of Jews and Christian-Jewish relations in Latin sermons from the Kingdom of Hungary around 1500

Emese Muntán (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies): Franciscan preaching, accommodation, and Catholic community-building in 17th-century Ottoman Bosnia

Derin Terzioğlu (Boğaziçi University, Istanbul): Murder in the Great Mosque: Preaching, Violence and Public Opinion in Early 18th-century Bursa

11:00-11:15 Coffee Break

11:15-12:45 Panel 6: Preachers' Notebooks as Archives of Practice

Chair: Tijana Krstić (Central European University)

Patrick Koch (Hamburg University, Institute for Jewish Studies): Interpreting Scripture for the Sermon: A Sixteenth-Century Preacher's Notebook

Anna Ohanjanyan (Matenadaran Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Yerevan): Becoming a Preacher: Grigor K'ēōmiwrchean and his Pocket Sermon Book in Armeno-Turkish

Stauros Grimanis (Athens): Preaching Orthodoxy in Early Modern Venice: The Autograph Sermon Notebooks of Gavriil Seviros, First Bishop of Philadelphia in Venice

12:45-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Panel 7: Multilinguality and Vernacularization in Preaching

Chair: Walter Pohl (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Medieval Research)

Pavlina Rychterova (University of Vienna): Vernacular Preaching and Religious Education in Late Medieval Eastern Central Europe

Cristian Gașpar (Central European University): Reformation Through Preaching: Identity Building and the Dynamics of Vernacularization in the First Old Romanian Gospel Homiliary, the Tîlcul Evangheliilor (1567)

Ovidiu Olar (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies ): Preachers and Preaching in Early Modern Wallachia (16th - 18th Centuries)

15:30-15:45 Coffee Break

15:45-17:15 Discussion

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Preaching and Preachers as Brokers of Communal and Inter-Communal Dynamics across Late Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia

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Tijana Krstić (Central European University) 9:45-11:15 Panel 1: Making the Corpus, Making the Community Chair: István Perczel (Central European University) Sinae Kim (University of Toronto) : Cut, Paste, Preach: Communal Making and Circulation of Preaching Texts in Medieval Chinese Buddhism Ephrem Ishac (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Medieval Research):

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Schapur II. und sein Zug gegen Arabien by Clemens Steinwender

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Schapur II. und sein Zug gegen Arabien by Clemens Steinwender

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Die geografischen Herausforderungen der berühmten Offensive und ihre Auswirkungen auf Imperien und deren Politik.

Im Gastblogbeitrag gibt Clemens Steinwender, Dissertant am Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altorientalistik an der Universität Innsbruck, Einblicke in eine spannende Periode der persischen Spätantike – den Kriegszug Schapurs II. gegen arabische nomadische Konföderationen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel. Und er erklärt, wie diese Zeitspanne Niederschlag in historischen Quellen sowie religiösen Schriften des Sasanidenreichs fand.

Read the full article here.

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Cutting-edge research in DH, including languages and cultures that are relevant to our COE

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Cutting-edge research in DH, including languages and cultures that are relevant to our COE

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Schmidt Sciences awards $11M in grants to bring AI to humanities research - Schmidt Sciences

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Contact: Carlie Wiener; cwiener@schmidtsciences.org NEW YORK—Schmidt Sciences has awarded $11 million for up to 23 teams of researchers around the world to develop and apply artificial intelligence to archaeology, history, literature and other humanities disciplines, seeking to unlock new understandings of human history and culture, the organization announced today. “Our newest technologies may shed light on […]

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Join the EurAsia Lecture Today! "Jewish Book Culture in the Islamicate World" (Schwarb)

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Join the EurAsia Lecture Today! "Jewish Book Culture in the Islamicate World" (Schwarb)

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Dear colleagues,

A kind reminder to join today's EurAsia lecture by Dr. Gregor Schwarb, which will focus on Jewish manuscript culture in the Islamicate world!

Friday, 5.6.2026, 16:45 CET

Gregor Schwarb (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

Manuscripts Across Boundaries: The Transformation of Jewish Book Culture in the Islamicate World, 800–1100

The lecture will take place in the main university building (Universitätsring 1), in Hörsaal 32 (1. OG, Stiege 9) and on Zoom.

We look forward to welcoming you there!

Details:

https://www.oeaw.ac.at/eurasian-transformations/academic-training/eurasia-lecture-series/religious-communities-and-manuscript-cultures-on-the-medieval-silk-road

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-fifth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 9 June):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/0180742

If you missed #44, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Kunstausstellungen und Zoroastrismus

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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It's here: the two-weekly online quiz, provided by Quizkultur (https://quizkultur.at/; qutopia.at/de), which aims to present the topics and research fields of the CoE EurAsian Transformations to a broad public in a low-threshold and entertaining way.

Taking part is very simple: click on the link, type in your (nick)name and start the quiz!
https://kahoot.it/challenge/03328792
If you would like to appear in the overall ranking for the year, you should always play und der the same (nick)name if possible, so that points can be added to your personal score. Work is still underway on the platform where the results can be accessed at any time.

The quiz consists of 20 questions (in English; the themes of the cluster serve as a starting point, but the question set itself covers all areas of knowledge/interest) and is accessible for approx. 13 days.

The link may and should be shared, yes please! Play alone, in a tandem or together with family or friends - it doesn't matter, as long as you are fair and don't cheat. And please forgive if a mistake does slip in. A quizmaster may not always be right, but he decides :)

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Meeresstraßen, Seeblockaden und imperiale Macht – einst und jetzt by Robert Rollinger

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Meeresstraßen, Seeblockaden und imperiale Macht – einst und jetzt by Robert Rollinger

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Geografisch neuralgische Wasserstraßen waren schon in der Antike strategische Brennpunkte politischer Konflikte

Im Gastblogbeitrag blickt Robert Rollinger, Professor für Kulturbeziehungen und Kulturkontakte zwischen den Kulturen des Alten Orients und des mediterranen Raumes an der Universität Innsbruck, angesichts der aktuellen Situation an der Straße von Hormuz zurück in die Geschichte und beschreibt einen frühen Konflikt, der sich an anderen Meerengen zugetragen hat.

Read the full article here.

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Lecture by Diana Mishkova, THE USABLE PAST OF BYZANTIUM: NARRATIVES OF EMPIRE IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHIES OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

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Lecture by Diana Mishkova, THE USABLE PAST OF BYZANTIUM: NARRATIVES OF EMPIRE IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHIES OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

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DIANA MISHKOVA (CENTRE FOR ADVANCED STUDY SOFIA)

THE USABLE PAST OF BYZANTIUM: NARRATIVES OF EMPIRE IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHIES OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, 6 pm at the PSK-Building, 1010 Vienna, Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 5th floor and online via Zoom

Diana Mishkova will talk about her book, Rival Byzantiums: Empire and Identity in South-eastern Europe (CUP 2023), which explores how the “national historians” of the modern Balkan “successor states” to the empire – Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Turkey – have operated with the topos of Byzantium and how, in doing so, they have been shaping the national canons of history in these countries from the Enlightenment to the present day. All this means divulging the national stakes of Byzantine studies, how it partakes in changing the understanding and writing of history, national history in particular. Her approach to this theme, therefore, concerns the mirrored reflections, not the “historical reality” of Byzantium. These reflections are also historical facts, but they belong less to the history of the Byzantine empire than to that of modern historiography. In this sense the lecture should be seen as, on the one hand, an exploration of the politics of Byzantine studies– of the images, perceptions and understandings this field has been cultivating during the last two and a half centuries – and, on the other, a critical interrogation of “Byzantium” as a historiographical construct with considerable ideological potential in shaping national history and national identity.

Diana Mishkova has specialized in modern and contemporary history of Southeastern Europe. Having taught at the History Department of Sofia University and a number of European and US universities, since 2000 she has been the director of the Centre for Advanced Study in Sofia. Her recent publications include Beyond Balkanism. The Scholarly Politics of Region Making (Routledge, 2018) and Rival Byzantiums: Empire and Identity in Southeastern Europe(Cambridge University Press, 2022). She is the editor of ten international volumes and collective monographs, among them Balkan Historiographical Wars (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), European Regions and Boundaries. A Conceptual History (Berghahn Books, 2017), ‘Regimes of Historicity’ in Southeastern and Northern Europe, 1890-1945 (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2014); Entangled Histories of the Balkans, vols.2 and 4 (Brill, 2014, 2017). Foreign Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Doctor Honoris Causa of Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden, holder of the “Danubius Award” (2022) and the “Konstantin Jireček Medal” (2023), and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of our Cluster of Excellence.

See also: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/detail/veranstaltung/rivalisierende-perspektiven-auf-den-topos-byzanz

Zoom

https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/j/62408539099?pwd=CawmaAY4QBvIaOfbTb1eO8DwCzG2GH.1#success

Meeting-ID: 624 0853 9099

Kenncode: B2uZv8

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Mukashi, mukashi: "Es war einmal …" auf Japanisch by Christine Frank

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Mukashi, mukashi: "Es war einmal …" auf Japanisch by Christine Frank

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Märchenbücher als wertvolle Zeugnisse eines sich wandelnden Japanbilds in Europa

Im Gastblogbeitrag schreibt Komparatistin Christine Frank über die Bedeutung japanischer Märchen in europäischen Sprachen für die Vermittlung der Kultur eines über Jahrhunderte hinweg nach außen abgeschlossenen Landes.

Read the full article here.

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Lecture by Derin Terzioğlu @CEU, 10 June 2026, 17:30

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This lecture aims to contextualize a particular corpus of political advice works that flourished in the seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire and that exhibited the following three traits. Firstly, the texts in question were all written in simple Turkish, versified, and addressed to multiple constituencies, including the sultan and grandees, rank-and-file soldiers and seamen, and the Muslim community at large. Secondly, they all articulated a sharp critique of the Ottoman ruling establishment of their time, on religio-moral grounds, and frequently, in apocalyptic terms. Thirdly, they made use of some of the same tropes, turns of expression and sometimes even complete verses, indicating a high level of intertextuality as well as indebtedness to a larger realm of oral political discourse.

This lecture will not only highlight the shared features of this corpus but also unpack and analyze the distinctive utterances of identifiable authors in their specific contexts. Through a study of the dissemination and manuscript variants of several of the more popular versified nasihatname s, it will further show how their messages were altered as they were picked up by other interlocutors in other social and political contexts. Finally, this discussion will reveal the vital roles played by soldiers, sufis and preachers in disseminating and in diverse ways and to diverse ends, harnessing a discourse of critique and protest across the Ottoman lands.

Derin Terzioğlu is an associate professor of History at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Terzioğlu received her Ph.D. in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University in 1999. She specializes in the social and political history of religion, intellectual history and history of books and reading in the early modern Ottoman Empire. Her articles have been published in such journals as Past & Present , and Studia Islamica as well as in various edited volumes. She has also co-edited with Tijana Krstić two collective volumes titled Historicizing Sunni Islam in the Ottoman Empire, c. 1450-c. 1750, Islamic History and Civilizations Series 177 (Brill, 2020) and Entangled Confessionalizations? Dialogic Perspectives on the Politics of Piety and Community-Building in the Ottoman Empire, 15th-18th Centuries (Gorgias Press, 2022). Terzioğlu is one of the editors of Brill's Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage series and serves on the editorial board of Archivum Ottomanicum .

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Critique, discontent and protest: Political advice from military encampments, mosques and public squares in the Ottoman Empire during the seventeenth century

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This lecture aims to contextualize a particular corpus of political advice works that flourished in the seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire and that exhibited the following three traits. Firstly, the texts in question were all written in simple Turkish, versified, and addressed to multiple constituencies, including the sultan and grandees, rank-and-file soldiers and seamen, and the Muslim community at large.

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Aleksandar Anđelović (May 14, 2026). A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28. Membra Dispersa Sinaitica, https://doi.org/10.58079/167xe

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Blog entry: "A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28"

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Blog entry: "A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28"

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What can one folio tell us about medieval manuscript journeys? This 14th‑century Serbian Slavonic leaf travelled from Mount Athos to Sinai and eventually to the Vatican – read the full story behind its fate.

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A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28

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A guest post by Aleksandar Anđelović* 1. The manuscript Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. gr. 424 (Diktyon: 65667) is a 9th-century Greek manuscript, now in the Vatican Library, containing the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus. The manuscript was brought to the Vatican from Sinai,1 and its scattered fragments – some remaining on Sinai, one… Continue reading A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28

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Lecture by Jonathan Brack at CEU on May 20 @17:30.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-fourth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 26 May):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/06192741

If you missed #43, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Marathonrekorde und nackte Reiterinnen

To view the ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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It's here: the two-weekly online quiz, provided by Quizkultur (https://quizkultur.at/; qutopia.at/de), which aims to present the topics and research fields of the CoE EurAsian Transformations to a broad public in a low-threshold and entertaining way.

Taking part is very simple: click on the link, type in your (nick)name and start the quiz!
https://kahoot.it/challenge/03328792
If you would like to appear in the overall ranking for the year, you should always play und der the same (nick)name if possible, so that points can be added to your personal score. Work is still underway on the platform where the results can be accessed at any time.

The quiz consists of 20 questions (in English; the themes of the cluster serve as a starting point, but the question set itself covers all areas of knowledge/interest) and is accessible for approx. 13 days.

The link may and should be shared, yes please! Play alone, in a tandem or together with family or friends - it doesn't matter, as long as you are fair and don't cheat. And please forgive if a mistake does slip in. A quizmaster may not always be right, but he decides :)

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Buddhist Manuscript Culture in Dunhuang: EurAsia Lectures by Dr. Channa Li (15 May) and Prof. Imre Galambos (22 May)

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Buddhist Manuscript Culture in Dunhuang: EurAsia Lectures by Dr. Channa Li (15 May) and Prof. Imre Galambos (22 May)

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Dear colleagues,

The next two lectures in this semester's EurAsia lecture series are devoted to Buddhism and Buddhist manuscript culture in Dunhuang. You are all most welcome to join us in person or online!

15 May, 16:45

Dr. Channa Li (IKGA, ÖAW)

From ‘Library Cave’ to ‘House of Wisdom’: Dunhuang as a Centre of Buddhist Learning

22 May, 16:45

Prof. Imre Galambos (Zhejiang University)

The Materiality of Buddhist Manuscripts from Dunhuang

The lectures will take place in the main university building (Universitätsring 1, 1st floor, Stiege 9) in Hörsaal 32 (from 16:45) and online via Zoom.

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Organized by: Claudia Rapp, Adrian C. Pirtea, and Florian Schwarz

Contact: adrian.pirtea(at)oeaw.ac.at

Link to Uni Wien course directory here.
13 March - 26 June, Fridays, 16:45-18:15
Venue: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, 1. Stock, Stiege 9
ZOOM Registration Link: https://univienna.zoom.us/meeting/register/pK43kvviTDamB4TD-keqkg
This semester's EurAsia lecture series explores the intersection between religious history, interreligious encounters and manuscript cultures on the medieval Silk Road, using the concept of the "Silk Road" as a framework for studying networks of mobility, exchange, and interaction across pre-modern Eurasia. Focusing primarily on the period ca. 400-1200 CE, the course examines how major religious traditions (Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) spread beyond their regions of origin and interacted with one another. Particular attention is given to manuscripts as material witnesses to these processes, including the transmission, translation, and adaptation of religious texts, as well as the circulation of book cultures, book technologies, and scholarly languages such as Sanskrit, Sogdian, Middle Persian, Chinese, Tibetan, Old Uyghur, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Greek, Armenian, and others (knowledge of any of these languages is most welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attending the course).
The series brings together leading international and local scholars specializing in a wide range of linguistic, literary, and religious traditions, offering a transregional and multilingual perspective on Eurasian religious history. Drawing on major manuscript discoveries from sites such as Dunhuang or Turfan, or long-established repositories of manuscripts such as St Catherine's Monastery on Mt Sinai or the Matenadaran Institute for Manuscripts (Erevan, Armenia), the series provides a panoramic view of religious and cultural exchanges across Eurasia as reconstructed from manuscript evidence. Aiming at a close engagement with primary sources and at highlighting both the possibilities and the methodological challenges of studying religion and manuscripts along the Silk Road, the course is open to students of Byzantine Studies, History, Theology, Religious Studies and various disciplines within the fields of Oriental and East Asian Studies.

Friday, 17 April 2026
Jens Wilkens (Niedersächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen Uyghur Manichaean and Buddhist Manuscript Culture in Turfan and Dunhuang (9th-14th Centuries) )

Friday, 19 June 2026
Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews)

From India to the Arab World and Back to India: Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būḏāsaf and Its Transmission in Arabic Sources

Friday, 26 June 2026
Beatrice Gründler (Freie Universität Berlin) Islamic Mirror and Interreligious Matrix: The Kalīla wa-Dimna

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Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road

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Organized by: Claudia Rapp, Adrian C. Pirtea, and Florian Schwarz Contact: adrian.pirtea(at)oeaw.ac.at Link to Uni Wien course directory here. 13 March - 26 June, Fridays, 16:45-18:15 Venue: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, 1.

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Religious Philosophy in Medieval Armenia

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Religious Philosophy in Medieval Armenia

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Religious Philosophy in Medieval Armenia

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Auf der Suche nach Indiens jüdischer Erinnerung by Carsten Wilke

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Auf der Suche nach Indiens jüdischer Erinnerung by Carsten Wilke

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Im Bundesstaat Kerala erforschen Wiener Wissenschaftler hebräische Inschriften und Religionsvielfalt

In seinem Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Carsten Wilke vom Department of Historical Studies der Central European University in Wien die Spurensuche nach jüdischen Schriftdenkmälern in Südindien und Erkenntnisse, die daraus gewonnen werden können.

Read the full article here.

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Annual Conference 26: Preliminary Program now public

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Annual Conference 26: Preliminary Program now public

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Dear cluster members!

We present the preliminary program of this year's annual conference. The program is now close to being finished. (Last updated: 11-08-26)

A registration letter will be sent out and a link added to the ÖAW-Website.

For more information or to apply, please refer to: eurasian-transformations.linguistics@univie.ac.at

Best regards,

on behalf of the AC26 Organizing Committee,

Alexander Sasonow

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Source reading workshop of the series "Connectivist perspectives on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Buddhism: South Asia, Tibet, and Beyond" taking place on June 2-3, 2026

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Source reading workshop of the series "Connectivist perspectives on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Buddhism: South Asia, Tibet, and Beyond" taking place on June 2-3, 2026

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Dear colleagues, you are cordially invited to take part in the second workshop of this series, which will address changing interpretations in Buddhist Pramāṇa (the tradition of epistemology and logic) across the Himalayas. We will be reading texts in Sanskrit and Tibetan. Please register until May 19 by sending an email to office.ikga(at)oeaw.ac.at to receive a link to the reading materials. For more details, see https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ikga/veranstaltungen/event-detail/buddhist-pramana-across-the-himalayas

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Buddhist Pramāṇa across the Himalayas: Changing interpretations of the rules of inference

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International source reading workshop in the series: “Connectivist Perspectives on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Buddhism: South Asia, Tibet, and Beyond”

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Eurasia Lecture Series on Oil and Empire

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Eurasia Lecture Series on Oil and Empire

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Dear Colleagues,

In April of this year, we held an exciting cluster-funded conference on the topic of 'Oil and Empire', focusing on Galicia, in Vienna and Krakow. Building on this, we are planning a lecture series for the upcoming winter semester in Vienna and Innsbruck, which will expand this theme to other regions of Eurasia and discuss it in greater depth. If anyone is interested in participating by giving a lecture, we would very much appreciate it. Topics related to the Middle and Far East of Asia would be particularly welcome!

Please respond as soon as possible to Christine Frank at christine.frank@uibk.ac.at.

Thank you very much! Christine Frank

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From Syriaca.org to British Library and Beyond (2)

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From Syriaca.org to British Library and Beyond (2)

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Interview with Prof. David Michelson: From Syriaca.org to the British Library and Beyond (2)

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This post is the second part of a conversation between Ephrem A. Ishac and David Michaelson on the state of Digital Syriac Studies. The first part can be found here. 4. Enhancement of Wright’…

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Women of the Empire: Life and Labor in the Achaemenid Persepolis Archives

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Women of the Empire: Life and Labor in the Achaemenid Persepolis Archives

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New publication: Safaee, Yazdan. 2026. Women of the empire: Life and labor in the Achaemenid Persepolis Archives (Ancient Iran Series 20). Leiden: Brill.

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New publication: On Epidemics: a Preliminary Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Carakasaṃhitā 3.3

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New publication: On Epidemics: a Preliminary Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Carakasaṃhitā 3.3

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Vitus Angermeier. “On Epidemics: A Preliminary Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Carakasaṃhitā 3.3.” Asian Literature and Translation 13, 1 (2026): 1–41. doi.org/10.18573/alt.95.

A fictional conversation about epidemics from South Asia, probably composed around 150 CE, which, among other peculiarities, contains surprising similarities to a text from the Hippocratic corpus.

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2 YR Postdoc at CEU's Department of Historical Studies

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2 YR Postdoc at CEU's Department of Historical Studies

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2 YR full time (40 hrs/week) postdoc position at CEU's Historical Studies Department. Deadline May 30!

Regional and chronological specializations are open, but applicants should demonstrate the ability to engage in research on transregional phenomena in the history of Eurasia (with the focus on the areas from Central Europe to South Asia) between c. 800 and c. 1850, based on expertise in one or more languages used locally or regionally. Thematically, the proposed research project should relate to one (or more) of the Cluster Research Nodes and/or Transversal Working Groups, and the proposal should outline the connections and/or complementarity to ongoing Cluster projects. Candidates whose work incorporates tools in digital humanities and who can demonstrate potential to actively contribute to the Cluster’s developing digital infrastructure are particularly encouraged to apply. For full details and application procedure see: https://careers.ceu.edu/job/Vienna-Post-doctoral-Researcher-%28fmd%29-1100/1350726055/

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Call for Proposals: CoE Sourcebook for Comparative Research and Teaching

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Call for Proposals: CoE Sourcebook for Comparative Research and Teaching

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As an outcome of two CoE funded workshops of research node 1, this sourcebook project asks how coercion can be studied comparatively across premodern Eurasia without flattening historical difference. Bringing together edited sources, translations, and concise microhistorical commentaries, it aims to create a shared empirical foundation for interdisciplinary research and teaching. Rather than offering a collection of conventional research articles, the volume will assemble teachable cases that allow scholars and students to move from the emic language of historical actors to comparative analytical discussion of modes of coercion across time and space.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-third edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 12 May):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/03158473

If you missed #42, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Starfotografen und Wickelröcke

To view the new ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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It's here: the two-weekly online quiz, provided by Quizkultur (https://quizkultur.at/; qutopia.at/de), which aims to present the topics and research fields of the CoE EurAsian Transformations to a broad public in a low-threshold and entertaining way.

Taking part is very simple: click on the link, type in your (nick)name and start the quiz!
https://kahoot.it/challenge/03328792
If you would like to appear in the overall ranking for the year, you should always play und der the same (nick)name if possible, so that points can be added to your personal score. Work is still underway on the platform where the results can be accessed at any time.

The quiz consists of 20 questions (in English; the themes of the cluster serve as a starting point, but the question set itself covers all areas of knowledge/interest) and is accessible for approx. 13 days.

The link may and should be shared, yes please! Play alone, in a tandem or together with family or friends - it doesn't matter, as long as you are fair and don't cheat. And please forgive if a mistake does slip in. A quizmaster may not always be right, but he decides :)

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Call for applications: Summer Academy "Cultural Heritage at the Mountain Crossroads of Central Asia", Khorog, Tajikistan

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Call for applications: Summer Academy "Cultural Heritage at the Mountain Crossroads of Central Asia", Khorog, Tajikistan

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The call for applications for our Summer Academy "Cultural Heritage at the Mountain Crossroads of Central Asia" is open. The Summer Academy is supported by our Cluster and takes place in cooperation with the University of Central Asia. Please see the attachment for details on how and where to apply.

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“Tasting EurAsia” (Winter Semester 2027)

With the seventh funding call now open, we would like to explore interest within the Cluster of Excellence EurAsian Transformations in contributing to a lecture series provisionally titled “Tasting EurAsia,” planned for the winter semester 2026/27.

The series is intended to bring together perspectives on food and drink cultures across Eurasia, with a focus on their historical development, circulation, and social, religious, or political significance.

In addition, we are planning a two-day workshop centred on historical recipes from manuscripts and printed sources. The workshop will combine discussion and analysis with a practical component, culminating in a collective cooking session based on selected recipes.

We would be very pleased to hear from colleagues who might be interested in contributing to the lecture series and/or taking part in the workshop. A brief indication of your interest and possible topic would be most welcome.

Potential topics should be submitted by interested parties by 7 May. Email to: yavuz.koese@univie.ac.at.

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From Syriaca.org to British Library and Beyond (1)

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From Syriaca.org to British Library and Beyond (1)

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Interview with Prof. David Michelson: From Syriaca.org to the British Library and Beyond (1)

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Between October and November 2025, Prof. David Michelson served as a visiting fellow at the Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, within the framework of the …

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Dr. Rıza Nur, 1909, Salt Research, Feridun Fazıl Tülbentçi Archive

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Wien als Zufluchtsort für umstrittenen Politiker

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Wien als Zufluchtsort für umstrittenen Politiker

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Wie Rıza Nur, Mitbegründer der Türkei, im Jahr 1911 das Zentrum der österreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie erlebte.

In seinem Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Yavuz Köse, Professor für Turkologie an der Universität Wien, den Aufenthalt des osmanischen Politikers Rıza Nur Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts in Wien und dessen aus dieser Zeit gewonnene Sicht auf die Stadt. Anschließend wirft Köse auch einen Blick aus der Gegenwart auf Rıza Nurs Einschätzung.

Read the full article here.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-second edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 28 April):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/07303019

If you missed #41, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Flaggen und Vasco da Gama

To view the new ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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It's here: the two-weekly online quiz, provided by Quizkultur (https://quizkultur.at/; qutopia.at/de), which aims to present the topics and research fields of the CoE EurAsian Transformations to a broad public in a low-threshold and entertaining way.

Taking part is very simple: click on the link, type in your (nick)name and start the quiz!
https://kahoot.it/challenge/03328792
If you would like to appear in the overall ranking for the year, you should always play und der the same (nick)name if possible, so that points can be added to your personal score. Work is still underway on the platform where the results can be accessed at any time.

The quiz consists of 20 questions (in English; the themes of the cluster serve as a starting point, but the question set itself covers all areas of knowledge/interest) and is accessible for approx. 13 days.

The link may and should be shared, yes please! Play alone, in a tandem or together with family or friends - it doesn't matter, as long as you are fair and don't cheat. And please forgive if a mistake does slip in. A quizmaster may not always be right, but he decides :)

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(40 hours per week,starting assoon as possible) with a focus on “Himalayan Connectivities”.

Please spread the news!

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Postdoc (f/m/x) Position at the Department of Byzantine Research

 (full time / 40 hours per week)

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Postdoc (f/m/x) Position at the Department of Byzantine Research

 (full time / 40 hours per week)

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Please spread the news!

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Online Application Form for EurAsia Junior Fellowship (Outgoing)

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Online Application Form for EurAsia Junior Fellowship (Outgoing)

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This funding line is for COE affiliate and ordinary members of the Cluster of Excellence EurAsian Transformations who are PhD candidates or postdoctoral students no longer than four years after PhD completion. The fellowship should serve for extended research trips for archival or field research in the context of the individual case study. There has to be a demonstrable element of communication and scholarly exchange with local scholars and institutions. Funding may also be used to enable individuals to attend EurAsia Academies organized by the COE in conjunction with its partners in target countries.

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Online Application Form for EurAsia Junior Fellowship (Incoming)

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Online Application Form for EurAsia Junior Fellowship (Incoming)

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This funding line is for junior fellows who are PhD candidates or postdoctoral students no longer than four years after PhD completion, or holders of a comparable academic status. The funding line operates through a hosting model where a full COE member serves as a host who invites the fellow and serves as contact point for COE administration. The application is submitted by the host.

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Online Application Form for EurAsia Visiting Fellowships

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Online Application Form for EurAsia Visiting Fellowships

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This funding line is for incoming fellows of some seniority, at least four years after PhD completion. Cultural heritage experts from libraries or museums, who in some partner countries do not necessarily have PhDs, may also be invited. In this case the application should make the exception of the PhD requirement plausible through evidence of requisite professional experience.

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Online Application Form for Work Packages

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Online Application Form for Work Packages

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Work Packages:

Application deadline 11 May 2026. Decisions will be communicated by 27 June 2026, work packages may begin as early as July 2026.
Call 8 will go out in fall 2026.

These are the guidelines for the seventh funding call for work packages in the COE 8 EurAsian Transformations.

In putting together your applications, please actively look out for other COE members as suitable collaborators. The Padlet is recommended as a platform for launching ideas and discussing proposals. As you prepare your budget, please consult with your institutional coordinator for concrete advice.

Who can apply?

Funding applications can be submitted by ordinary cluster members, key researchers or members of the board of directors, who will usually cooperate with others outside or inside the cluster, including affiliate members. One person needs to be the main applicant, and their institutional affiliation will be the formal institutional affiliation of the work package. Every application must include members belonging to different disciplines and/or different participating institutions.

What can be applied for?

We are inviting applications for Research Work Packages, EurAsia Academies, and EurAsia Research Seminars, and EurAsia Lecture Series.

You can apply for defined work packages. A work package has a clearly defined goal and purpose. The work package abstract on the form below should state the steps required to complete it and specify the expected outcome. Cooperation across Research Nodes within the COE is especially welcome. You may choose freely which Transversal Working Group is the most appropriate for your work package. Co-financing with other institutions is encouraged to expand these work packages further and anchor them more strongly in institutional awareness of the COE's agenda.

Outreach component:

Research Work Packages funded by the Cluster of Excellence must participate in public outreach (i.e., transfer) activities. This includes at least one contribution to the Eurasia-Blog in the daily newspaper Der Standard. Each application must state which public outreach activities are planned. For all other funding applications, active participation in the COE outreach activities (blog, podcast) is strongly encouraged.

Research Work Packages:

Research work packages apply on the levels of transversal working groups, research clusters or nodes as well as individual case-studies as specified in the COE full proposal, or have been submitted by members who joined the COE after October 2023. Innovative measures beyond traditional academic formats are strongly encouraged, but such formats (conferences, workshops, lectures, publications, research stays incoming and outgoing), or meaningful combinations thereof, are also possible. Work packages can have various sizes, and we especially encourage smaller packages of up to 10.000 EUR, which in some contexts may well have larger benefits and greater impact. Larger work packages are reserved for more complex endeavours, usually on the level of transversal working groups, and of longer duration. Here we envision an upper limit of 50.000 EUR, so as to keep sufficient funds available for future funding rounds. Research Packages have a duration of max. 24 months. Funding will be available immediately upon approval.

The work package abstract should briefly address the following points:

Goals and purposes, in compliance with COE goals and purposes in research (and, if applicable, training and transfer), expected outcome as well as the steps required to obtain it.

Connection of the work package with individual case-studies, nodes, research clusters or transversal working groups (one or more of these levels may apply).

How the work package is situated in the current state of research on the topic, with indication of the main relevant research literature and sources, also with regard to theories, methods and core concepts, and how the work package contributes to new developments.

Activities in partner regions (e. g. in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South Asia ...) and involvement of persons or institutions in such regions (if applicable).

EurAsia Academy:

The label "EurAsia Academy" serves as an umbrella term for non-curricular, focused research-based and research-oriented training activities in Austria or abroad: summer academies, winter academies, etc. It is oriented towards an international circle of participants. It places emphasis on advanced language instruction, working and thinking with manuscripts and inscriptions, and aspects of cultural heritage preservation and management, extending into, but not limited to, tools and methods in digital humanities. This call is for Academies that take place from fall 2026 until winter 2027.

EurAsia Research Seminar:

The EurAsia Research Seminar is a combined research and training measure designed to serve as the basis for the development of courses eligible for registration and credit at the graduate level by students from participating universities. It is therefore oriented towards local COE members, PhD students and post-docs and consequently held within Austria, over the course of one semester at one (or more) of the participating universities, involving faculty from at least two of the participating institutions. It has a 'workshop' character and is designed to feature research in progress by COE members, students and partners, with emphasis on feedback, discussion and further research development. Intermittent sessions of the seminar will be reserved for the discussion of the relevant theoretical and methodological literature necessary for the training of the PhD students and postdocs as well as for focusing the conversations within the consortium. One research seminar per semester will be funded. The current call asks for seminars to be held between spring 2026 and summer 2027.
Applicable costs:

Travel and accommodation for external lecturers, with a maximum of two COE-financed participants from the US or East Asia.

Work contracts ("Werkverträge") for production and dissemination of teaching materials and organizational support.

Other costs for production and dissemination of teaching materials.

EurAsia Lecture Series:

The EurAsia Lecture Series is a curricular teaching activity at one or more of the participating universities, involving lecturers from at least two participating institutions. It also caters to COE members and in this respect serves to foster integration and cohesion within the COE; it may also attract a scholarly audience beyond the COE. The Lecture Series features lectures by prominent scholars with expertise in fields related to the COE who speak to the topic from the perspective of their field but with a view to a broader academic audience, as an introduction to the topic. Owing to the broad reach and methodological orientation of the COE, lecture series with a wider geographical or cultural frame of reference are preferred that also explicitly address comparative and/or connectivist aspects and research approaches. These lectures can, but do not have to be, integrated within a "Ringvorlesung". The series should be planned for fall/winter term 2026/27.
Applicable costs:

Travel and accommodation for external lecturers, with a maximum of two COE-financed participants from the US or East Asia

Work contracts ("Werkverträge") for production and dissemination of teaching materials and organizational support

Other costs for production and dissemination of teaching materials.

What kind of costs can be applied for?

The type of costs applied for should conform to the FWF guidelines ("Kostenleitfaden"). As these guidelines are under ongoing development, minor adjustments may have to be made. Please consult with your institutional coordinator as you plan your budget.

Please give a realistic cost breakdown of the required funding (e. g. number of participants/countries of provenance/travel, accommodation, other costs). Draw Inspiration for your application from the Guidelines for Work Packages.

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COE EurAsia at the ÖAW, 17 April, please come

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COE EurAsia at the ÖAW, 17 April, please come

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Dear Members of the EurAsia Cluster of Excellence,

this comes at short notice, but we have only recently received the final program for the presentation of our Cluster in the public part of the Gesamtsitzung of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, this Friday, 17. April, starting at ca. 18.00.

This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase out achievements in the Cluster and we would greatly appreciate your support in showing up for the event. The program of presentations (most of them in German) is attached.

The exact starting time depends on the duration of the confidential part of the Gesamtsitzung that takes place beforehand, so that all visitors who are NOT elected full members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences are invited to wait in the Anton Zeilinger Salon on the ground floor of the Academy from 17.30 onwards.

With kind regards,

Claudia Rapp

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Uyghur Manichaean and Buddhist Manuscripts in Turfan and Dunhuang (EurAsia Lecture by Jens Wilkens on 17 April)

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Uyghur Manichaean and Buddhist Manuscripts in Turfan and Dunhuang (EurAsia Lecture by Jens Wilkens on 17 April)

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Dear colleagues, you are all cordially invited to this week's EurAsia lecture. Jens Wilkens (Göttingen Academy of Sciences) will speak on "Uyghur Manichaean and Buddhist Manuscript Culture in Turfan and Dunhuang (9th-14th Centuries)". Join us in person or online on 17 April at 16:45 (Vienna time). For more details, see the link: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/eurasian-transformations/academic-training/eurasia-lecture-series/religious-communities-and-manuscript-cultures-on-the-medieval-silk-road.

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Organized by: Claudia Rapp, Adrian C. Pirtea, and Florian Schwarz

Contact: adrian.pirtea(at)oeaw.ac.at

Link to Uni Wien course directory here.
13 March - 26 June, Fridays, 16:45-18:15
Venue: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, 1. Stock, Stiege 9
ZOOM Registration Link: https://univienna.zoom.us/meeting/register/pK43kvviTDamB4TD-keqkg
This semester's EurAsia lecture series explores the intersection between religious history, interreligious encounters and manuscript cultures on the medieval Silk Road, using the concept of the "Silk Road" as a framework for studying networks of mobility, exchange, and interaction across pre-modern Eurasia. Focusing primarily on the period ca. 400-1200 CE, the course examines how major religious traditions (Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) spread beyond their regions of origin and interacted with one another. Particular attention is given to manuscripts as material witnesses to these processes, including the transmission, translation, and adaptation of religious texts, as well as the circulation of book cultures, book technologies, and scholarly languages such as Sanskrit, Sogdian, Middle Persian, Chinese, Tibetan, Old Uyghur, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Greek, Armenian, and others (knowledge of any of these languages is most welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attending the course).
The series brings together leading international and local scholars specializing in a wide range of linguistic, literary, and religious traditions, offering a transregional and multilingual perspective on Eurasian religious history. Drawing on major manuscript discoveries from sites such as Dunhuang or Turfan, or long-established repositories of manuscripts such as St Catherine's Monastery on Mt Sinai or the Matenadaran Institute for Manuscripts (Erevan, Armenia), the series provides a panoramic view of religious and cultural exchanges across Eurasia as reconstructed from manuscript evidence. Aiming at a close engagement with primary sources and at highlighting both the possibilities and the methodological challenges of studying religion and manuscripts along the Silk Road, the course is open to students of Byzantine Studies, History, Theology, Religious Studies and various disciplines within the fields of Oriental and East Asian Studies.

Friday, 17 April 2026
Jens Wilkens (Niedersächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen Uyghur Manichaean and Buddhist Manuscript Culture in Turfan and Dunhuang (9th-14th Centuries) )

Friday, 19 June 2026
Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews)

From India to the Arab World and Back to India: Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būḏāsaf and Its Transmission in Arabic Sources

Friday, 26 June 2026
Beatrice Gründler (Freie Universität Berlin) Islamic Mirror and Interreligious Matrix: The Kalīla wa-Dimna

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Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road

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Organized by: Claudia Rapp, Adrian C. Pirtea, and Florian Schwarz Contact: adrian.pirtea(at)oeaw.ac.at Link to Uni Wien course directory here. 13 March - 26 June, Fridays, 16:45-18:15 Venue: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, 1.

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Das Ölfeld von Wietrzno. Aus C. Forst: Auf den Oelfeldern Galiziens. Die Gartenlaube. Heft 45 (1893), S. 762–765.

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Öl, Macht und Geopolitik by Christine Frank

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Öl, Macht und Geopolitik by Christine Frank

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Technischer Fortschritt verändert die Weltordnung und wird zur kulturellen Herausforderung

Im Gastblogbeitrag schreibt Komparatistin Christine Frank darüber, wie die Verflechtungen von Ölgeschäft und imperialen Ansprüchen öffentlich vermittelt werden und zeigt diese Zusammenhänge auch anhand von Literatur und Film auf. Zudem wirft sie einen Blick in Österreichs Vergangenheit und die Ölgeschichte des Habsburger Reichs.

Read the full article here.

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Ansicht von Hormuz im 16. Jahrhundert

Frans Hogenberg - Georg Braun; Frans Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Band 1, 1572 (Ausgabe Beschreibung vnd Contrafactur der vornembster Stät der Welt, Köln 1582)

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Hormuz: Ein historischer Knotenpunkt zwischen See- und Landhandel by Florian Schwarz

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Hormuz: Ein historischer Knotenpunkt zwischen See- und Landhandel by Florian Schwarz

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Die Bedeutung der wichtigen Handelsrouten einst und heute als zentrale Verkehrsader der globalen Wirtschaft

In seinem Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Florian Schwarz, Direktor des Instituts für Iranistik der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, den Stellenwert der Straße von Hormuz als existenziellen Knotenpunkt für weltweite Lieferketten über die letzten Jahrhunderte hinweg.

Read the full article here.

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Lecture by Jonathan Brack @CEU on 20 May, 17:30

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Die Kraft der Wiederholung: Mantras im historischen und spirituellen Kontext by Dominik A. Haas

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Die Kraft der Wiederholung: Mantras im historischen und spirituellen Kontext by Dominik A. Haas

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Das fortwährende Rezitieren von Mantras und Gebeten ist keine natürliche Praktik, sondern ein historisches Phänomen

Dominik A. Haas, Südasienforscher an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, geht im Gastblogbeitrag den Ursprüngen dieser wirkmächtigen Formeln nach.

Read the full article here.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the forty-first edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 14 April):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/04436147

If you missed #40, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Militäroperationen und Stratosphärensprünge

To view the new ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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Bohrtürme für die Erdölförderung, Darstellung der Industrielandschaft um Boryslaw, Galizien. Öl auf Leinwand, gefirnisst. Signiert R. Völkel. Vermutlich Reinhold Völkel, um 1910.  © Technisches Museum Wien, Archiv

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"Oil and Empire: Historical, Cultural, and Political Dimensions of Petroleum in Galicia and Beyond" (14-17 April, 2026)

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"Oil and Empire: Historical, Cultural, and Political Dimensions of Petroleum in Galicia and Beyond" (14-17 April, 2026)

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The conference programme has now been finalised and everyone interested is cordially invited to attend at the two venues in Vienna (Tue, 14 Apr) and/or Kraków (Wed/Fri, 15/17 Apr)!

The conference responds to a significant gap in petrofiction scholarship, which remains dominated by Anglophone contexts. It seeks to re-center Galicia—and similar Eurasian sites—as crucial but overlooked regions in the cultural history of oil. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from environmental humanities, literary studies, and imperial history, participants will analyze both historical and literary texts that reflect on the transformations wrought by petroleum extraction.

Please, find the programme here:

https://universe.uibk.ac.at/s/AEwHDkb4iwbqFJH

Organised by Christine Frank and Ulrike Tanzer (UIBK) in collaboration with Florian Schwarz (ÖAW)

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EurAsia Lecture Today: Khodadad Rezakhani

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EurAsia Lecture Today: Khodadad Rezakhani

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Dear colleagues, you are all welcome to join today's lecture in the EurAsia lecture series: Our colleague Khodadad Rezakhani will speak on 'Religion, Text, and Anxiety: Writing Middle and New Persian in Zoroastrian and Islamic Contexts". The lecture starts at 16:45 CET in Hörsaal 32 (main university building, Stiege 9, 1st floor)!

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Lecture Series: Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road

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Lecture by Jonathan Brack @CEU on 20 May, 17:30

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Good luck and have fun while playing the fortieth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 31 March):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/04761994

If you missed #39, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über die Ölindustrie und Architektur

To view the new ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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EurAsia Summer Academy: Vienna Summer School on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia

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EurAsia Summer Academy: Vienna Summer School on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia

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This year’s Vienna Summer School on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia will introduce the participants to the subject of mantras or “potent formulas” in South Asia. The Summer School consists of a one-week intensive seminar that comprises expert-led Sanskrit readings and lectures that provide a comprehensive overview of the most important research approaches and theories in Mantra Studies. Participants will engage intensively with Sanskrit texts from various periods and traditions, including the Vedic tradition, Mīmāṃsā, Āyurveda, and Tantra. To round off the seminar, participants will also be introduced to non-textual and modern aspects of mantras by staff from the ERC-Synergy Project MANTRAMS, whose main host is the University of Vienna.

For more information, go to: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/ikga/events/event-detail/mantras-between-language-ritual-and-materiality

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Der nordweisende Kompass beeinflusst die moderne geographische Orientierung und damit unsere sprachliche und konzeptuelle Nordausrichtung.
©Yannay Levi CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55947442.

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Die Sonne als Kompass: Himmelsrichtungen in antiken Weltbildern by Alexander Steiner

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Die Sonne als Kompass: Himmelsrichtungen in antiken Weltbildern by Alexander Steiner

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Begriffe für Himmelsrichtungen und ihre Relevanz für antike Raumwahrnehmung.

In seinem Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Alexander Steiner, Doktorand am Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altorientalistik der Universität Innsbruck, wie sich die Begriffe für die Himmelsrichtungen und die Wahrnehmung des Raumes über die Jahrhunderte verändert haben.

Read the full article here.

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Friends, Romans, Persians, and Colleagues! Tomorrow, 18 March 2026, from 15:00-17:00, will be our officially second Jour Fixe.

The theme for this meeting is Edges and Encounters: a theme for both an academic discussion and for how the Cluster people relate. After an introduction and some discussion, we will then move on to a short documentary, A Detail in Cyprus, and a presentation to follow it, by Aliosha Bielenberg. The rest of the meeting will concentrate on the theme and include free discussion and socialisation and planning for the future les Joures Fixes.

Come to the PSK Building of the Academy, Fifth Floor, Conference Room 7-8 (same place as Jour Fixe I) to enjoy the company of friends, munch on snacks, listen to a couple of presentations, and discuss whatever you like!

For our friends from outside Vienna, please join us at

https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/j/64257079797?pwd=tJz7LOYYQyEheLkp2If99fGTDwvMz2.1

We will discuss where and how to hold subsequent get togethers in order to increase participation.

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CEST Summer School 2026

The Politics of Archives in Turkey and related Geographies

Naples, 20-28 September 2026

Deadline for applications: 9 April 2026

Participation in the Summer School is fully funded, covering accommodation and meals, as well as travel reimbursement of up to €350. Selected participants are expected to actively contribute to discussions, present their research, and fully participate in all sessions.

Conveners

The Summer School is convened by Lea Nocera (University of Naples L’Orientale), Yavuz Köse (University of Vienna), and Elise Massicard (Sciences Po – Paris/CNRS).

For further details see: https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/fachrichtungen/turkologie/veranstaltungen/cest-summer-school-2026-the-politics-of-archives-in-turkey/

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Lecture Series: Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road

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Lecture Series: Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road

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This semester's EurAsia lecture series, titled "Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road" (13 March - 26 June 2026), begins tomorrow with an inaugural lecture by Prof. Nicholas Sims-Williams: "Religious Literature in the Middle Iranian Languages of the Silk Road: 120 Years of Rediscovery"! (Friday, 13 March, 16:45, University of Vienna, Hauptgebäude, 1. OG, Stiege 9, Hörsaal 32).
Check the link for details. Online participation is possible!

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Organized by: Claudia Rapp, Adrian C. Pirtea, and Florian Schwarz

Contact: adrian.pirtea(at)oeaw.ac.at

Link to Uni Wien course directory here.
13 March - 26 June, Fridays, 16:45-18:15
Venue: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, 1. Stock, Stiege 9
ZOOM Registration Link: https://univienna.zoom.us/meeting/register/pK43kvviTDamB4TD-keqkg
This semester's EurAsia lecture series explores the intersection between religious history, interreligious encounters and manuscript cultures on the medieval Silk Road, using the concept of the "Silk Road" as a framework for studying networks of mobility, exchange, and interaction across pre-modern Eurasia. Focusing primarily on the period ca. 400-1200 CE, the course examines how major religious traditions (Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) spread beyond their regions of origin and interacted with one another. Particular attention is given to manuscripts as material witnesses to these processes, including the transmission, translation, and adaptation of religious texts, as well as the circulation of book cultures, book technologies, and scholarly languages such as Sanskrit, Sogdian, Middle Persian, Chinese, Tibetan, Old Uyghur, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Greek, Armenian, and others (knowledge of any of these languages is most welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attending the course).
The series brings together leading international and local scholars specializing in a wide range of linguistic, literary, and religious traditions, offering a transregional and multilingual perspective on Eurasian religious history. Drawing on major manuscript discoveries from sites such as Dunhuang or Turfan, or long-established repositories of manuscripts such as St Catherine's Monastery on Mt Sinai or the Matenadaran Institute for Manuscripts (Erevan, Armenia), the series provides a panoramic view of religious and cultural exchanges across Eurasia as reconstructed from manuscript evidence. Aiming at a close engagement with primary sources and at highlighting both the possibilities and the methodological challenges of studying religion and manuscripts along the Silk Road, the course is open to students of Byzantine Studies, History, Theology, Religious Studies and various disciplines within the fields of Oriental and East Asian Studies.

Friday, 17 April 2026
Jens Wilkens (Niedersächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen Uyghur Manichaean and Buddhist Manuscript Culture in Turfan and Dunhuang (9th-14th Centuries) )

Friday, 19 June 2026
Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews)

From India to the Arab World and Back to India: Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būḏāsaf and Its Transmission in Arabic Sources

Friday, 26 June 2026
Beatrice Gründler (Freie Universität Berlin) Islamic Mirror and Interreligious Matrix: The Kalīla wa-Dimna

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Religious Communities and Manuscript Cultures on the Medieval Silk Road

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Organized by: Claudia Rapp, Adrian C. Pirtea, and Florian Schwarz Contact: adrian.pirtea(at)oeaw.ac.at Link to Uni Wien course directory here. 13 March - 26 June, Fridays, 16:45-18:15 Venue: Hörsaal 32, Hauptgebäude, 1.

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Interdisciplinary Approaches and Current Research

4–6 June 2026

Mecmuas in the Ottoman World: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Current Research is dedicated to the study of manuscript miscellanies (mecmuas) as a key yet insufficiently theorised format of knowledge organisation across the Ottoman world and Eurasia.

Further information: https://mecmuaconference.univie.ac.at

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The volume includes several contributions of particular relevance for Ottoman studies, among them Deniz Armağan Akto’s article on the transformation of the tahrir–tımâr system in the sixteenth-century Niğbolu sancak, Maximilian Hartmuth’s reflections on the historiography of Islamic art in Greece, and Ani Sargsyan’s study on grammatical knowledge in early Persian–Turkish dictionaries.

The issue also contains a thematic focus on Rıza Nur (1879–1942), edited by Hans-Lukas Kieser and Yavuz Köse. The dossier approaches Rıza Nur from several complementary perspectives. Hans-Lukas Kieser and Yavuz Köse introduce the section with a critical reassessment of Rıza Nur as surgeon, minister, and race historian, drawing particular attention to his unpublished writings. In a subsequent article, Hans-Lukas Kieser further analyzes Rıza Nur’s intellectual and political profile within the context of the early Turkish Republic. Hülya Çelik focuses on Rıza Nur’s literary—and especially poetic—output. She undertakes a content-based and comparative analysis of selected poems, tracing the development of his poetry in relation to his writings on Ottoman, Turkish, and French literature. Petr Kučera examines Rıza Nur’s literary production through a critical reading of his unpublished novel Paçi ile Ançi, highlighting themes of moral and societal decline, sexual excess, greed, corruption, shifting gender relations, and an “alternative” interpretation of late Ottoman history. Yavuz Köse’s article introduces and critically examines Ermeni Tarihi (“History of the Armenians”), written by Rıza Nur between 1914 and 1923 and preserved in the Berlin State Library. Ellinor Morack also addresses Ermeni Tarihi, examining the work as an early example of post-genocidal anti-Armenian discourse in post-Ottoman Turkey. Together, these studies offer new perspectives on a complex and often controversial figure in the intellectual and political history of the late Ottoman Empire and the early Turkish Republic.

Click here to view the table of contents.

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The new ViHOPE newsletter has been released!

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The new ViHOPE newsletter has been released!

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We are pleased to share with you the first issue of the ViHOPE Newsletter for 2026. The wide range of lectures, workshops, conferences, summer schools, publications, and initiatives presented in this issue reflects the remarkable diversity and vitality of research conducted by members of the Vienna Hub for Interdisciplinary Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Studies.

Here is the link to the newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/c914a0318eb5/turkologie-newsletter-universitt-wien-18166511?e=d85a1ab4fb

To subscribe to the ViHOPE newsletter, please visit: https://vihope.univie.ac.at

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Premodern China: Reading Group: First Gathering 19 March 2026, 4-6pm, at Apostelgasse 23

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Premodern China: Reading Group: First Gathering 19 March 2026, 4-6pm, at Apostelgasse 23

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The Reading Group will begin with Chapter 1. You can find a full translation here: http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/mencius.html, or refer to the translation by Irene Bloom (2009).

Location: Dachgeschoß, Apostelgasse 23, 1030 Vienna.

Time: 4.00 pm - 6.00 pm

Students and scholars affiliated to the university of Innsbruck can register for the Zoom link by sending an email to Flaminia Pischedda (Flaminia.pischedda(at)univie.ac.at).

Any queries concerning the RG should be directed to the same address.

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Hermann Graf Keyserling und die Weisheit des Orients by Sebastian Fink

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Hermann Graf Keyserling und die Weisheit des Orients by Sebastian Fink

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Wie ein baltischer Adeliger um die Welt reiste, östliche Kulturen schätzen lernte und in Innsbruck eine "Schule der Weisheit" gründen wollte

Im Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Sebastian Fink, Senior Scientist am Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altorientalistik in Innsbruck, die innere Entwicklung und Selbstfindung eines estnischen Naturwissenschaftlers, der in Wien studierte, zwei Jahre lang die Welt bereiste und schließlich in Tirol die Philosophie des Westens mit Erkenntnissen aus dem Osten vereinen wollte.

Read the full article here.

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Before Heaven and Earth: Genesis 1:1 in Irenaeus between Jewish Exegesis and Early Christian Theology

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Before Heaven and Earth: Genesis 1:1 in Irenaeus between Jewish Exegesis and Early Christian Theology

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Before Heaven and Earth: Genesis 1:1 in Irenaeus between Jewish Exegesis and Early Christian Theology

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Writing History in Ottoman Europe (15th– 18th Centuries)  edited by  Ovidiu Olar and Konrad Petrovszky

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Writing History in Ottoman Europe (15th– 18th Centuries)  edited by  Ovidiu Olar and Konrad Petrovszky

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The various forms of history writing of Early Modern Ottoman Europe were never the object of a comprehensive or comparative approach. The aim of the present volume is to fill in this major gap.

https://brill.com/display/title/72167

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Good luck and have fun while playing the thirty-ninth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 17 March):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/05249429

If you missed #38, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Zigarettenmarken und Roadmovies

To view the new ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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Book launch: Polytropos: Papers on Philosophy, Religion and Eastern Christianities in Honour of Istvan Perczel's 65th Birthday

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Book launch: Polytropos: Papers on Philosophy, Religion and Eastern Christianities in Honour of Istvan Perczel's 65th Birthday

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Book launch: Polytropos: Papers on Philosophy, Religion and Eastern Christianities in Honour of Istvan Perczel’s 65th Birthday

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‘Another Athens and Second Jerusalem’: attempt of creation of a uniform philosophical-theological discourse in Gelati school of 12th century

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Music in the Ottoman Empire, Iran, Caucasus and Central Asia

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Music in the Ottoman Empire, Iran, Caucasus and Central Asia

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Ringvorlesung Turkologie Sommersemester 2026

This lecture series explores musical cultures across the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia, examining these regions as interconnected soundscapes shaped by mobility, devotional practices, and political transformations. Drawing on current work in ethnomusicology, sound studies, and historical musicology, the series highlights diverse traditions, ranging from Islamic recitation and liturgy to Armenian liturgical and choral music, shared Turkish–Armenia folk repertoires, and the courtly, urban, and Sufi musical cultures of the Turko-Iranian world. Further contributions address the historical and contemporary study of Ottoman music (including recent advances in the Corpus Musicae Ottomanicae), the musical traditions of Badakhshan and northern Afghanistan, Central Asian art music such as Shashmaqam, and modern genres from popular music to heavy metal in Turkey. The program also includes perspectives on musical life in Qajar and Pahlavi Iran.

Complementing the lectures, the series will feature a concert offering direct engagement with selected repertoires.

Further information https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/fachrichtungen/turkologie/veranstaltungen/ringvorlesung-turkologie/

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Programme of the International conference "The Archival Impulse:
Knowledge Production, Record Keeping, and Imperial Governance (15th-20th
Centuries)"

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International conference taking place on 18 March 2026- 20 March 2026 in the
Austrian Academy of Sciences "The Archival Impulse:
Knowledge Production, Record Keeping, and Imperial Governance (15th-20th
Centuries)"

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International Conference: "Sanctity and Ritual Remembrance: Christian Liturgy and Memory Practices from Medieval Iberia to Central Asia", Vienna, 5-6 March 2026

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International Conference: "Sanctity and Ritual Remembrance: Christian Liturgy and Memory Practices from Medieval Iberia to Central Asia", Vienna, 5-6 March 2026

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Dear colleagues,

we cordially invite you to the following conference, organized by the CoE in collaboration with the ERC project RevIdEM:

Sanctity and Ritual Remembrance. Christian Liturgy and Memory Practices from Medieval Iberia to Central Asia

Time: Thursday, 5 March 2026, 9 AM - Friday, 6 March 2026, 6 PM

Place: Austrian Academy of Sciences, Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna, Conference Room 1&2 (3rd floor).

Link to the programme: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/veranstaltungen/detail/sanctity-and-ritual-remembrance-christian-liturgy-and-memory-practices-from-medieval-iberia-to-central-asia

Best wishes,

Adrian Pirtea

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An international conference at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is examining Christian sources that illuminate the development of communal practices of memory from late antiquity through the medieval period.

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Good luck and have fun while playing the thirty-eighth edition of the EurAsian Transformations Quiz (open until Tue, 3 March):

https://kahoot.it/challenge/03817010

If you missed #37, don't worry: It has been adapted for an exclusive EURASIA QUIZBLOG on DerStandard.at (only 10 questions and in German). Have a look here:

Ein Quiz über Kaiser, Königreiche und aktuelle Ereignisse in Eurasien

To view the new ranking for 2026 you can visit the Qutopia website:

https://qutopia.at/rankings/eurasian-transformations

For the individual results per quiz, please check out EurAsian Transformations | ÖQV.

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"Blutrausch" von Edmunda Hartmann (Ei-Tempera 2006)

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Wenn Herrschaft zur Gewalt greift by Robert Rollinger

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Wenn Herrschaft zur Gewalt greift by Robert Rollinger

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Ein historisches – und doch so aktuelles – Beispiel, was Machthabende bereit sind zu unternehmen, wenn ihre Position bedroht ist

Im Gastblogbeitrag beschreibt Robert Rollinger, Professor für Kulturbeziehungen und Kulturkontakte zwischen den Kulturen des Alten Orients und des mediterranen Raumes an der Universität Innsbruck, den Aufstand eines zutiefst unzufriedenen Volkes gegen seinen Herrscher und die weitreichenden Folgen auch für diesen.

Read the full article here.

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"Blutrausch" von Edmunda Hartmann (Ei-Tempera 2006)

Privatbesitz, Copyright Robert Rollinger

Was veranlasst herrschende Eliten, mit unvorstellbarer, um nicht zu sagen barbarischer Rohheit gegen die eigene Bevölkerung vorzugehen, alle als zivilisatorisch erachteten Schranken fallen zu lassen und in einem wahren Blutrausch nur ein einziges Ziel zu verfolgen: die eigene Macht zu sichern?

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Ein historisches - und doch so aktuelles - Beispiel, was Machthabende bereit sind zu unternehmen, wenn ihre Position bedroht ist