The Winter 2022 Mediterranean Seminar Workshop
Friday & Saturday, 11 & 13 February 2022
Fresno State University
“Sacred Space(s)”
In Antiquity, the Mediterranean was home to a an array of agnate pagan, mythic, and magical religious traditions while in late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, it came to be dominated by the “Abrahamic faiths.” Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all developed in the Mediterranean region. They shared a common scriptural and theological tradition yet in many contexts saw each other as illegitimate competitors. Whether real or imaginary, sacred space played a critical role in the self-definition and ideological toolkit of the religious traditions of the premodern Mediterranean. In the intense environment of Mediterranean cultural interaction, religious leaders, political elites, and believers of differing confessions and praxes continually negotiated, appropriated, and shared sacred spaces. Sacred spaces were used to more sharply delineate communities or to blur lines between them. Religious and political elites supported or destroyed sacred spaces to enhance their own status and legitimacy. Texts, images, and buildings also signaled to their readers what type of space they were about to enter or were forbidden from entering. This workshop will explore how sacred spaces helped shape, and were shaped by, inter-communal dynamics in the Mediterranean from prehistory to the modern era.
Program & Papers
All sessions will take place at the Viticulture and Enology Research Center (VERC) Conference Room, on the campus of Fresno State, at 2360 E. Barstow Avenue, Fresno, but see Practica, below, for important details.
All papers are copyright the author and are not to be copied, distributed or cited without express written permission by same.
To obtain a paper, contact the presenter directly. Click on the participant name to see their bio.
Friday 11 February 2022
10:00-10:30 Coffee and Registration
10:30-11:00 Introductions
• Sergio La Porta (Armenian Studies, Fresno State University)
• Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder) and Sharon Kinoshita (Literature, University of California Santa Cruz), The Mediterranean Seminar
• The Participants
11:00-12:10 Workshop Paper #1
”Diplomacy’s Sacred Space in the Eighteenth-century Mediterranean”
• Peter Kitlas (The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry: Emory University)
Respondent: Toby Yuen-Gen Liang (Institute of History and Philology: Academia Sinica)
12:10–1:30 Lunch (for speakers and registered participants)
1:30–2:40 Workshop Paper #2
“Sacred Spaces and Intercommunal Relations in Seventeenth-Century Istanbul”
• Ali Atabey (History: The University of Texas at San Antonio)
Respondent: Fariba Zarinebaf (History: UC Riverside) via zoom
2:40–3:00 Coffee break
3:00–4:40 Workshop Paper #3
“Dancing Spaces: Theorizing the Greek Chorus as Space”
• Alice Gaber (Classics: The Ohio State University)
Respondent: Honora Chapman (Classics, Fresno State University)
6:00-9:00 Dinner (see Practica, below)
Saturday 12 February 2022
9:45-10:00 Coffee and Registration
10:00-11:15 Keynote Presentation
“Sacred Spaces in the Medieval Middle East: Muslim Perspectives and Practices”
• Daniella Talmon-Heller (Middle East Studies: Ben Gurion University of the Negev) via zoom
11:15–11:30 Coffee
11:30–12:40 Round Table 1
“Did shared sacred spaces directly impact strategies of co-existence among religious communities? To what extent are they manifestations of a common Mediterranean culture?”
Moderator: Brian A. Catlos
1. Fariba Zarinebaf (History: UC Riverside)
2. Heather Badamo (History of Art & Architecture: UC Santa Barbara)
3. Valentina Grasso (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World: New York University)
4. Toby Yuen-Gen Liang (Institute of History and Philology: Academia Sinica)
5. Fred Astren (Department of Jewish Studies: San Francisco State University)
12:40–2:00 Lunch
2:00–3:10 Round Table 2
”How was a sacred space recognized? Was there a common vocabulary of words or images used to define sacred spaces and communicate their valence?”
Moderator: Sharon Kinoshita
1. David Williams (Interdisciplinary Studies: University of Saint Katherine)
2. Rebecca Wartell (Jewish Studies: University of Colorado at Boulder)
3. Daniel Gullo (Malta Study Center: Hill Museum and Manuscript Library)
4. Edward Holt (History: Grambling State University)
3:10-3:30 Coffee break
3:30-4:40 Round Table 3
“How and at what moment were sacred spaces converted?”
Moderator: Sergio La Porta
1. Johannes Makar (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations: Harvard University)
2. Antonio D’Amico (Film and Media Studies, Italian Studies; Yale University)
3. Elizabeth Terry-Roisin (History: Florida International University)
4. Karen Pinto (Religious Studies: University of Colorado Boulder)
5. Faedah Totah (School of World Studies: Virginia Commonwealth University)
4:40-5:00 Concluding Remarks
• Brian A. Catlos, Sharon Kinoshita, Sergio La Porta & participants
—6:30pm Reception hosted by Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, Ph.D, President of Fresno State University
at the Office of the President, 4111 N. Van Ness Blvd., Fresno
followed by (to be confirmed) an informal dinner/gathering at Gazebo Gardens, 3204 N. Van Ness Blvd., Fresno.
Participants:
• Henry Anderson (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder)
• Thomas Devaney (History: University of Rochester)
• Gary D. Farney (History, Rutgers University-Newark)
• Jesse W. Izzo (Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University)
• Matthew Lynch (Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University)
• Ignacio Navarrete (Spanish & Portuguese: University of California at Berkeley)
Practica
Meetings:
The Seminar will take place in the VERC room on the 2nd floor of the Vincent E. Petrucci Viticulture Building 2360 E. Barstow Ave. (see photo).
If you are taking Uber, please tell the driver that it is the building across the street from the Fresno State Water Tower. If you are driving, the parking code is 261319.
Sponsors , Organization & Support:
This workshop is organized by Sergio La Porta (Fresno State University), Sharon Kinoshita (University of California Santa Cruz), and Brian A. Catlos (University of Colorado Boulder).
The Winter 2022 workshop is hosted by Fresno State University with the support of the Armenian Studies Program. the College of Arts and Humanities, the Classical Studies Program, and the Jewish Studies Program at Fresno State, and the CU Mediterranean Studies Group.