Call for Papers: Connecting Constantinople
Call for Papers: Connecting Constantinople: Objects, Empire, and Inter-Civic Relationality. Deadline 16 March 2025
This workshop explores the role of objects in shaping Constantinople’s inter-urban connections, from Constantine’s transfer of the Palladium to Sultan Selim I’s symbolic acquisition of the keys to the Ka'aba. By analyzing the movement, accumulation, curation, and distribution of objects, it offers new insights into Constantinople’s development as a relational space, where material and symbolic objects reflected and influenced inter-urban networks. The workshop aims to deepen our understanding of Constantinople as a dynamic imperial city, not merely as a center or in direct comparison with other cities, but as a hub within complex networks of urban relations, with mobility and relationality at its core.
To assess these dynamics, we invite contributions addressing any aspect of the role of objects in the production of inter-civic connectivity between Constantinople and other cities. The deadline for abstracts is 16 March 2025.
The call for papers can be found here.