January 20, 2025
International Conference “Rituals of War in Byzantium, the Islamic World and the Latin West”.
The DFG Research Training Group 2304 “Byzantium and the Euro-Mediterranean Cultures of War” and the Centre for Medieval Arts & Rituals (CeMAR) of the University of Cyprus are organising an International Conference entitled “Rituals of War in Byzantium, the Islamic World and the Latin West”.
January 3, 2025
CeMAR marks yet another Success, securing funding for two proposals under the call “Excellence Hubs” of the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation
The Centre for Medieval Arts and Rituals (CeMAR) of the University of Cyprus has secured funding for two projects under the highly competitive call of the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) “Excellence Hubs” (RESTART 2016-2020 – Thalia 2021-2027) which aims to promote scientific excellence that is a fundamental part for the sustainable development of the European Research, Technological Development, and Innovation (RTDI) System, through the funding of pioneering research projects in cutting-edge fields.
December 19, 2024
New Publication: “History in Hagiography: Writing and Rewriting Byzantine Rulership and Imperial Ideology in Miracle Stories”
CeMAR is excited to share a new publication authored by Stavroula Constantinou, entitled “History in Hagiography: Writing and Rewriting Byzantine Rulership and Imperial Ideology in Miracle Stories”. The chapter is available in open access by V&R Unipress
November 12, 2024
CeMAR shares the new publication “The Other Mother: Ancient and Early Byzantine Approaches to Wet-Nursing and Mothering”
CeMAR is pleased to share the new publication co-authored by Stavroula Constantinou and Aspasia-Skouroumouni-Stavrinou. “The Other Mother: Ancient and Early Byzantine Approaches to Wet-Nursing and Mothering”, available in open access from the Journal of Hellenic Studies, published online by Cambridge University Press (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075426924000053), explores mothering practices from Late Antiquity to the Early Byzantine era. Focusing on the understudied figure of the wet-nurse, the study sheds light into the various discourses that defined, controlled and regulated the behaviour and work of wet-nurses in premodern societies.
November 5, 2024
The director of CeMAR presents at the Byzantine Studies Colloquium at Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, DC) on the 15th of November 2025
The director of CeMAR will give a paper at the Byzantine Studies Colloquium at Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, DC) on the 15th of November 2025. Her paper has the title “Narrative Prosthesis: Disability in the Byzantine Greek Lives of Holy Fools”.
October 25, 2024
CeMAR’s Inauguration Ceremony Marked a Great Success
The Inauguration Ceremony of the Centre for Medieval Arts and Rituals (CeMAR) of the University of Cyprus (UCY) was marked with great success. It took place at the Ceremonial Hall of UCY took place on October 19, 2024. The well-attended event was joined by members of CeMAR’s partners and international networks, dignitaries and faculty members of UCY and local universities, students, and the general public.
October 21, 2024
Open Access publication of the collective volume Storyworlds in Short Narratives: Approaches to Late Antique and Early Byzantine Tales
The open access volume Storyworlds in Short Narratives: Approaches to Late Antique and Early Byzantine Tales is now available. Edited by Stavroula Constantinou and Andria Andreou, it offers a new perspective on ancient Greek and Byzantine tales. Download it here.
April 26, 2024
International symposium CeMAR – ZeMas: “Storytelling as Pharmakon in Antiquity and the Middle Ages”
In the framework of the European MSCA-DN project entitled ‘Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond’ (StoryPharm), the director of CeMAR organizes with Ingrid Bennewitz from the Centre for Medieval Studies (ZeMas, Univ. of Bamberg) an international symposium. The symposium, which will take place on the 17 of May 2024 at the University of Bamberg, turns to ancient and medieval healing stories to establish premodern Health Humanities as an important field with a long history and as a basic attitude to human care throughout time.
April 15, 2024
CeMAR secures the largest funding for Humanities in Cyprus with a budget of 4.1 million euros – MSCA DN “StoryPharm”
Following the successful evaluation of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie – DN project with a budget of 4.1 million euros, the Centre for Medieval Arts & Rituals of the University of Cyprus has secured the largest funding for Humanities in Cyprus. The proposal entitled "Storytelling as Pharmakon in Premodernity and Beyond: Training the New Generation of Researchers in Health Humanities" (StoryPharm) was submitted within the framework of the competitive action "Marie Skłodowska-Curie: Doctoral Networks" (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-DN-01) which is part of the Horizon Europe 2021-2027 programme.
April 8, 2024
Call for Submissions Special Issue of the Diamond Open Acces Journal Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts & Rituals
Call for Submissions: Special Issue of the Diamond Open Access Journal Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts & Rituals “The Arts and Rituals of Medieval Mothering” Deadline for Submission: 31 December 2024. Contact: Stavroula Constantinou ([email protected])
March 28, 2024
The director of CeMAR presents NetMAR during the CYBC radio programme entitled “The Latin Community of Cyprus” (in Greek)
Η διευθύντρια της ΕΜοΜεΤ παρουσιάζει στη ραδιοφωνική εκπομπή του ΡΙΚ «Οι Λατίνοι της Κύπρου» το ευρωπαϊκό πρόγραμμα NetMAR
January 25, 2024
Open lecture by the Director of CeMAR, Stavroula Constantinou, on “Bodily Suffering and Divine Healing in Byzantine Hagiography”
The Research Training Group on “Early Concepts of Humans and Nature: Universal, Specific, Interchanged” at the University of Mainz (Germany) organises an open lecture by the Director of CeMAR, Stavroula Constantinou, who will talk on “Bodily Suffering and Divine Healing in Byzantine Hagiography”
December 13, 2023
NetMAR Formally Concluded During a Well-Attended Conference on 04 December 2023
The Concluding Conference of the “Network for Medieval Arts & Rituals” (NetMAR) took place in a hybrid mode, at the Ceremonial Hall of the University of Cyprus and online on the 4th of December 2023. The conference featured welcomes from several dignitaries; the launch of the network’s journal; a round table presenting the experiences of NetMAR Early Stage Researchers (ESRs); a musical performance; presentations by the EU partners’ Team Leaders; and two keynote lectures.
October 2, 2023
Lecture invitation in the context of the promotion process of Assoc. Prof. Stavroula Constantinou
The Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies invites you to the lecture that the Associate Professor Stavroula Constantinou will present as part of her promotion process, with the title:  Of Woman Nursed Wet Nursing as Mothering in Ancient and Early Byzantine Cultures
September 25, 2023
Release of the international diamond open access journal Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts & Rituals
The Centre for Medieval Arts and Rituals (CeMAR) of the University of Cyprus is delighted to announce the publication of the inaugural issue of its annual international interdisciplinary diamond open access journal, Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts and Rituals.
June 19, 2023
NetMAR Reception at International Medieval Congress – University of Leeds
The Network for Medieval Arts & Rituals (H2020 project, grant agreement no.951875) cordially invites all IMC delegates for a glass of wine or non-alcoholic drink. Hosted by the Centre for Medieval Arts & Rituals (https://www.ucy.ac.cy/cemar/), University Of Cyprus
June 13, 2023
University of Pisa, Project on Female Holiness (Divino Al Femminile) – Stavroula Constantinou (UCY) will give a lecture entitled “Maternal Saints and Lay Mothers in Byzantine Hagiography”
CeMAR Director, Assoc. Prof. Stavroula Constantinou, will give a lecture entitled "Maternal Saints and Lay Mothers in Byzantine Hagiography" in the framework of a research project on female holiness (Divino Al Femminile) which is coordinated by the Department of Culture and Forms of Knowledge of the University of Pisa.
May 29, 2023
NetMAR at the International Medieval Congress (IMC) 2023
NetMAR is pleased to invite medievalists to attend the presentations of the network's researchers at the International Medieval Congress (IMC), the Europe’s largest forum for sharing ideas in medieval studies, hosted by the University of Leeds. IMC 2023 will take place from Monday 03 July to Thursday 06 July 2023.
May 8, 2023
NetMAR is Celebrating Two Years of NetMAR BLOG
The Network for Medieval Arts & Rituals is celebrating its second year of NetMAR Blog! The NetMAR Blog, which has published twenty four texts so far, is committed to finding exciting and interesting ways of communicating expert and original research into medieval arts and rituals to wider audiences.
April 6, 2023
NetMAR International Conference: Rituals of Gender Staging and Performance in the Middle Ages, University of Bamberg, 03-04 May 2023
NetMAR is organizing an International Conference on "Rituals of Gender Staging and Performance in the Middle Ages" that address the role of rituals in the staging and performance of medieval gender roles. The conference will be held at the premises of the University of Bamberg between the 3rd and 4th of May 2023.
February 28, 2023
Hybrid Interdisciplinary Conference 11-3-2023: ”Emotions in History and Psychology”: Time, Gender and Society
The Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (IHR/NHRF), the Center for Hellenic Studies of Harvard University in Greece, the Laboratory for the Study of Human Relations, the Marie Blanche Library and the AINOS Cultural Society, are organizing on Saturday, March 11, 10:00-18:00 CEST, a hybrid interdisciplinary conference entitled: "Emotion in History and Psychology". The colloquium investigates aspects of emotions in psychology, but also in history, with special emphasis on Byzantium. They focus on time, gender, and society and to the ways in which emotions influence and are themselves influenced by them. In particular, we explore the endurance of emotions, their relevance and dependance to historical circumstances, their relation to ideological, religious, societal, family and personal frameworks.
February 8, 2023
Workshop: “Constructing and Performing Hope in the Premodern World” – April 13-14, 2023, Tampere University
This is a workshop concentrating on the ways in which the future of individuals, their families and communities were negotiated in ancient, Byzantine and Western medieval Europe, with special focus on the practices and practicalities of everyday life. If you wish to join as a listener, please contact the organisers before 1st April 2023.
November 18, 2022
Sixth International Byzantine Seminar Lecture Series (2022) “Realism in Hagiography”
at the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations (IHAC), Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China, in cooperation with the Department of Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies, University of Cologne and the Department of Historical and Classical Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NUST)
November 10, 2022
Press Release: 2nd NetMAR Stakeholders Workshop ‘Cyprus Cultural Heritage as a Path to Sustainable Development’
The 2nd NetMAR Stakeholder Workshop with the title ‘Cyprus Cultural Heritage as a Path to Sustainable Development’ took place on Wednesday 09 November 2022 at the Learning Resource Centre – Library ‘Stelios Ioannou’ of the University of Cyprus. The workshop brought together researchers with experts in tourism and cultural industry, policy makers, and key actors of local and governmental agencies who had the opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas in an informal and friendly environment.
October 31, 2022
NetMAR International Conference: The Arts and Rituals of Pilgrimage
The religious practice of pilgrimage constitutes the predominant ritual of the Middle Ages. This NetMAR international conference, which will be held at the premises of the University of Cyprus between the 01 and 02 December 2022, sets out to explore the multifarious facets of the interaction of arts and rituals in the complex and transformative experience of pilgrimage, both in the Middle Ages and beyond.
October 13, 2022
NetMAR 2nd Stakeholders Workshop, 9 November 2022
Members of the NetMAR consortium have planned workshops and meetings with interested stakeholders (industry, policy makers and public agencies) to define targets, limitations and prospects of collaboration. The 2nd NetMAR Stakeholders Workshop will be held between 9:00 am and 12:30 pm in the morning of 9th November 2022 at the at the ‘Stelios Ioannou’ Learning Resource Centre – Library of the University of Cyprus. This workshop will focus on mobilizing the living heritage of medieval arts and rituals. The keynote speaker will be Ms Patricia Alberth, Director of the Bamberg World Heritage Office. Ms Alberth will share her views on cultural heritage management and will suggest actions for using living heritage for sustainable development.
July 25, 2022
NetMAR Summer School
The NetMAR summer school is dedicated to medieval arts and rituals through the prism of education and will be led by world-renowned scholars working in the broad field of medieval studies. Students attending the summer school will interrogate the proliferation and function of rituals (religious, profane, occupational, gender-specific, and magical) in the context of education and knowledge transfer in the medieval period and beyond more broadly.
July 1, 2022
NetMAR at the International Medieval Congress (IMC) 2022
NetMAR is pleased to invite medievalists to attend the presentations of the network's researchers at the International Medieval Congress (IMC), the Europe’s largest forum for sharing ideas in medieval studies, hosted by the University of Leeds. NetMAR young scholars will present their exciting research on the 5th and 7th of July. NetMAR leaders Bennewitz and Constantinou will be also presenting on the 6th and 7th of July respectively.
April 30, 2022
“Echoes of the City”: Cultural Interactive guiding tour action organized by the Cultural Centre of Ayioi Omoloyites, Nicosia, Cyprus
CeMAR proposes the participation in the "Echoes of the City, Ayioi Omoloyites" cultural action, organized by the Cultural Centre of Ayioi Omoloyites, in Nicosia, Cyprus. This is an interactive guiding tour with stations in the historical core of Ayioi Omoloyites. Visitors will be able to move freely, in groups and families by holding a map (printed or digital) that will lead them to stations in the neighborhood of Ayioi Omoloyites.