Funded by the University of California Office of the President, administered by the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Humanities Research, and directed by Brian A. Catlos (History) and Sharon Kinoshita (Literature) of UC Santa Cruz under the aegis of the Mediterranean Seminar, the University of California Multi-Campus Research Project (MRP) in Mediterranean Studies will bring together faculty and graduate students from 8 UC campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Santa Cruz) and outside institutions to collaborate on research and pedagogy across periods and disciplines. The core program will consist of quarterly workshops to be held at participating campuses. The MRP will also support a variety of Mediterranean Studies sessions, conferences and events to be held at the University of California and at participating institutions. Original scholarly work produced by MRP collaborators and members will be published in the Mediterranean Seminar series. Individuals and institutions interested in participating or presenting at our workshops or collaborating in other forms should contact the Directors; UC faculty should contact their local Campus Representative.

Program

The core activity of the Mediterranean Studies MRP will consist of a quarterly seminar/workshop (the venues to rotate among various participating northern and southern California UC campuses). Each meeting will include discussion of (1) a common article-length reading related to the special topic of that quarter’s seminar or to Mediterranean Studies more generally and (2) four pre-circulated works-in-progress. Of these, three will normally be by UC faculty or affiliated members of the MRP; where appropriate, these papers should in some manner address that seminar’s special topic. One slot will normally be reserved for an advanced graduate student, whose paper may but need not address that seminar’s special topic.

UC faculty and graduate students who have attended UC MRP workshops are encouraged to apply to our Travel Bursary program for support for travel to present Mediterranean-themed papers at conferences and colloquia.

Selected papers from the seminars will be published on an ongoing basis as part of the Mediterranean Seminar series published by the University of Valencia Press (Spain). Regular award competitions for graduate presentations and undergraduate essays are also planned.

Logistics

Workshops will be held on Fridays. Occasionally, these may be coordinated with related events such as a visiting lecture or a one-day conference held on the adjoining Thursday or Saturday. The Mediterranean Studies MRP will subsidize the travel expenses of up to 30 attendees per seminar (in addition to the paper presenters). We hope in this way to encourage the ongoing participation of as many UC Mediterraneanists as possible. Depending on the location of each quarter’s seminar, eligible attendees may, upon submission of receipts, be reimbursed up to $300 for transportation and lodging. Non-UC Mediterraneanists are welcome to attend, but we cannot guarantee that they will be eligible for reimbursement.

People

The UC Mediterranean Studies MRP is based at UC Santa Cruz and funded by the UC Office of the President. Staffing and administration is provided by the UCSC Institute for Humanities Research.

Directors
Brian A. Catlos, History, UC Santa Cruz / Religious Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder: Co-director
Sharon Kinoshita, Literature, UC Santa Cruz: Co-director / UC Santa Cruz Liaison

Campus Liaisons
Chris Chism, English, UC Los Angeles
Thomas Dandelet, History, UC Berkeley
Ed English, Medieval Studies, UC Santa Barbara
Katie Harris, History, UC Davis
Fariba Zarinebaf, History, UC Riverside
Nina Zhiri, Literature, UC San Diego

Advisory Board Members
Fred Astren, Jewish Studies, San Francisco State University
Marc Baer, History, UC Irvine
Claire Farago, Art & Art History, University of Colorado at Boulder
Claudia Rapp, Byzantine Institute, University of Vienna
Zrinka Stahuljak, French & Francophone Studies/CMRS, UC Los Angeles