On Friday, February 28, 2025, the Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Graduate Student Colloquium (LABS) hosted the 4th Annual Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Graduate Workshop at Central European University campus (Quellenstraße 51, 1100 Vienna | D001).
Jointly organized by CEU’s Department of Historical Studies and the Ancient, Byzantine, and Medieval Studies Cluster of the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna, the workshop provided a collaborative forum for graduate students from both institutions. This year, a PhD candidate from the University of Innsbruck also participated, marking an exciting step toward expanding the event’s reach. We hope to open next year’s workshop to graduate students from all Austrian institutions.
The workshop brought together students working on a diverse range of topics within Late Antique and Byzantine studies. Across four thematic sessions, presentations covered political and religious history, archaeology, art, and social networks. Speakers explored subjects such as Persian sacred history, free will in late antique Christian thought, and Byzantine cultural influences in medieval Flanders. Other topics included Cassiodorus’s Variae and its depictions of nature, the dating of Byzantine buildings, and the destruction of Egyptian temple reliefs. Additional discussions focused on church politics in Late Antiquity, the emergence of the worship of the Three Hierarchs, imperial imagery, and elite titles in papyri and epigraphy. The final session featured studies on twelfth-century Byzantine networks and the diplomatic role of Georgian royal brides. The day was filled with engaging conversations, offering participants a valuable opportunity to share ideas and connect with fellow researchers.
The workshop was generously funded by the Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies (CEMS) at Central European University and the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies (DSHCS) at the University of Vienna.
Looking ahead, LABS will host the 3rd International Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Graduate Conference, “Receiving Byzantium, Byzantium Receiving,” on May 16–17, 2025, in Vienna. This conference will bring together graduate students to explore themes of transmission, reception, and exchange in Byzantine studies. Our goal is to attract participants not only from Byzantine studies but also from a range of chronological and cultural contexts that engage with perceptions of Byzantium.
Written by Olga Vlachou
Photos taken by the Graduate Workshop organization team