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2008 Byzantine Studies ConferenceLocal ArrangementsWelcome LetterJune 13, 2008 Dear BSANA member: To register for the conference, go to the conference website: www.byzconf2008.rutgers.edu, where you can download and print a registration form. Address queries about local arrangements to bsc08@rci.rutgers.edu Address queries about program to nevillel@cua.edu . The rest of this letter highlights a few events and details that may not be obvious from the preliminary program, which is also enclosed. Please read carefully! Accommodations: A block of rooms has been reserved for the conference at the Hyatt-Regency, New Brunswick. All events of the conference, except for the Saturday night concert, will also be held at the Hyatt. You may reserve rooms for Thursday through Saturday nights at the conference rate of $129.00/night for single or double occupancy, $154 for triple occupancy, or $179.00 for quadruple occupancy. All reservations must be made individually through the hotel’s Reservation Department: call 732-873-1234, or 800-233-1234 and mention the Byzantine Studies Conference when you make your reservation. Performance of the Prokypsis Ceremony: On Saturday, October 18, at 8 p.m. the Romeiko Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Yorgos Bilalis will present a recreation of the imperial Byzantine ceremony of Prokypsis. Romeiko is a choral group, comprising musicians from several countries, which has become famous for its authentic recreations of Byzantine and Ottoman choral works. The performance will take place in the Nicholas Music Center, a gorgeous concert hall that seats 740 people and is renowned for its acoustics. Tickets for the event cost $20 with registration. For more information about Romeiko and the Prokypsis, please visit the conference website. The Greek Book from Papyrus to Printing, exhibit and one-day conference: On Thursday, October 16, before the BSC begins, the Index of Christian Art, Princeton University, will hold a one-day conference to celebrate the publication of the Catalogue of Byzantine Manuscripts in Princeton University (due September 2008). An exhibition of these manuscripts, “The Greek Book from Papyrus to Printing”, will also be held in Firestone Library, Princeton University during the Byzantine Studies Conference. All BSC delegates are invited to attend the Princeton conference which will include papers by Slobodan Ćurčić , Anthony Cutler, Helen Evans, Catherine Jolivet-Levy, Sofia Kotzabassi, Eunice Maguire, Henry Maguire, Nancy Sevčenko, Don Skemer, Robert Ousterhout, and Gary Vikan. (Note how many of these people are BSANA members!) It is easy to get from New Brunswick to Princeton by train, so come early and enjoy this extra event at Princeton. The full program is available on the Index of Christian Art website, and Colum Hourihane, Director of the Index, has extended a warm welcome to all BSC members. Performance Free-for-All: The 2nd Annual BSC Theatron, Friday October 17, 7:30 p.m. to whenever it ends…. Organizer: Andrew W. White (American University, Washington, D.C.). Among Byzantium’s many pleasures was the theatron, an informal salon where the Empire’s literati would entertain each other with poems, character monologues, letters and fanciful speeches on a wide variety of subjects. Last year in Toronto the BSC revived this tradition, with readings from English translations of Byzantine works. This year the BSC will set aside time during Friday’s reception for you to read your favorite pieces from Byzantine literature, sacred or secular. The atmosphere will be informal; the selections need not be long; and although we cannot promise an ambo you will be free to sermonize as the spirit moves you. There have been special requests for readings from the original Greek, so please consider offering readings from manuscript facsimiles and critical editions of Byzantine works (Medieval pronunciation optional). Memorization is not necessary; you are free to read from hand-held materials, and translations (in English or other tongues) need not be original. The chief purpose is to celebrate and enjoy the rich legacy of Byzantine writings. To allow for the broadest participation among attendees, we would ask that pieces be no longer than 5 minutes. If you are interested in reading for this year’s theatron please contact Andrew White at your earliest convenience, so that he can prepare a tentative program for the event: Andrew W. White, Ph.D., 4347 37th Rd. N., Arlington, VA 22207 U.S.A. email: awhite1058@peoplepc.com Jannic Durand, Conservateur (Curator) in the Départment des Objets d'art of the Louvres and an expert on Byzantine art, will deliver a talk concerning his research on Byzantine reliquaries. This talk will take place Friday, October 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus, in the 12th-floor lounge. The talk is sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art and will be aimed at a scholarly audience, although the general public is welcome to attend. Coordinating this event so that it does not overlap with the BSC has proved impossible, but the Local Arrangements Committee assumes that some BSC attendees will want to skip the last session on Friday afternoon in order to attend this event. BSC attendees who wish to go to Fordham for the 6:30 talk will be able to catch a train in New Brunswick after sessions that end at 4:30, which will get them to Manhattan on time. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Some of you may have never visited Rutgers’ home city. Others of you may have been here in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was, frankly, a bit down-and-out. You’re in for a pleasant surprise! New Brunswick is a city of 50,000 and growing; in fact, we’re the fastest growing urban center in New Jersey. Not only the home of Rutgers University and Johnson & Johnson’s world headquarters, New Brunswick also features a population of remarkable diversity. From the original Dutch and English settlers in the 17th century to the Hungarians who built much of the town in the early to mid-20th century to the Mexican and Central American immigrants of the last 20 years, New Brunswick has consistently shown how vital and enriching a polyglot and multi-ethnic environment can be. The city is also considered a model of private-public partnerships for revitalizing a downtown core and beyond; almost written off for dead in the 1980s, New Brunswick is now a center for theatre, dining, cultural events, and more. Whatever your taste—jazz or Byzantine chant, Mexican or Italian or nouvelle cuisine, cheap or expensive—New Brunswick will have something to satisfy it. Your Local Arrangements Chair has been known as something of a New Brunswick booster for some years now, and she’s thrilled to have a chance to introduce all of you to some of the wonders of the city. If you want to see more, consult our website. Enclosed are a preliminary program (subject to some changes before October) and directions for traveling to New Brunswick. I hope to see you in October! Tia Kolbaba Address queries about local arrangements to bsc08@rci.rutgers.edu TravelGetting to Hyatt-Regency, New Brunswick, NJ Site of the 34th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference October 16-19, 2008. From Newark Liberty International Airport to New Brunswick: Airtrain: Newark Airport is serviced by the AirTrain, a monorail service that takes travelers from the airport to the New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor line. The Northeast Corridor line runs directly to New Brunswick. The New Brunswick train station is only four blocks from the Hyatt Regency Hotel. There is a taxi stand behind the station for those who choose not to walk. Your Local Arrangements Chair recommends this route; the Airtrain is her chosen method of getting to the airport every time. See the timetables. Driving: If you are renting a car, follow airport signs to the NJ Turnpike south (looking for America all the way) and then follow the directions below. Shuttle: The State Shuttle will take you from the airport to the Hyatt, door-to-door; currently the fare is $38.00. We all know that fuel prices may change that. Check their fares and make a reservation at http://www.stateshuttle.com/ Taxi: If you take a cab, which will cost you around $60.00 from the airport to New Brunswick, they will deliver you directly to the Hyatt. By train: The New Brunswick train station is only four blocks from the Hyatt Regency Hotel. There is a taxi stand behind the station for those who choose not to walk. Amtrak: Some Amtrak trains stop in New Brunswick itself; others do not. If your Amtrak train does not stop in New Brunswick, you can get off in either Trenton or MetroPark and transfer to the New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor line, which runs from Penn Station, New York, through New Brunswick to Trenton. See the NJ Transit timetables. By car: From the NJ Turnpike, take Exit 9. Bear right after the toll booths and follow signs for "Route 18 North - New Brunswick." Stay to the left to continue on Route 18 North. Proceed along Route 18 North to the “New Street” exit. At the first light turn right onto Neilson Street. The hotel will be two blocks down on your right. Parking in the hotel lot will cost $6.00 per car per day (discounted from the usual $13). Queries about local arrangements, travel plans, can be e-mailed to bsc08@rci.rutgers.edu .
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