Program in Medieval Studies

Faculty and graduate students are invited to join a discussion of work-in-progress by Craig Perry (Emory University): “Slavery, Abyssinian Diaspora, and the Civilian Elite in 15th-Century Mecca.” Lunch will be provided. Please contact Carol Symes if you would like to attend: symes@illinois.edu.

Prof. Elias Petrou will explore the evolution and transmission of the Greek book from East to West, beginning with an overview of the Byzantine educational system, the preservation and transmission of classical Greek knowledge through manuscripts, and how this inherited book culture was transformed through the new technology of print.

A new history of slavery and the slave trade in the medieval Middle East based on the Cairo Geniza archive, with attention to such crucial topics as the slave trade in state diplomacy, the entanglements of gender and household slavery, and the lives of the enslaved.