The formalization of sound changes as finite state transducers is implicit already in the Neogrammarians. For at least six decades scholars have recognized the potential of transducers for improving the speed and rigor of research in historical linguists, but almost no historical linguists actually use them. This article identifies the obstacles…[Read more]

Teaching the Holocaust in School. Greek particularities. The Why

Although the prohibition of avodah zarah (literally, “strange/foreign worship,” but more loosely translated as “idolatry”) is included in both the Torah’s 613 mitzvos for Jews and in the seven Noahide laws, many authorities maintain that the exact parameters of the prohibition differ when applied to Jews versus when applied to non-Jews. There is…[Read more]

Announcement for the opening of the exhibition “Eden and Everything After” at the University of Stavanger Archaelogical Museum and publication of attendant catalogue.

In the course, I give a basic introduction into some of the recent developments in the field of computational historical linguistics. While this field is predominantly represented by phylogenetic approaches with whom scholars try to infer phylogenetic trees from different kinds of language data, the approach taken here is much broader,…[Read more]

The weblog Computer-Assisted Language Comparison in Practice, published on the Hypotheses platform for scientific blogging (https://calc.hypotheses.org/), offers tutorials and discussion notes on computer-assisted approaches to the history and diversity of languages. A substantial part of its content is contributed as part of the ERC Starting…[Read more]

Syllabus for graduate seminar at McMaster University. In this seminar we will examine practices surrounding death in a variety of Chinese religions. We will explore the various understandings of the death process, preparation for death, and the afterlife. We will look at the post-mortem treatment of the body, changing funerary practices and…[Read more]

This course offers a survey of the archaeology of settled landscapes in the ancient Mediterranean world,
including both the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean basin. In particular, the course will focus on
city-country dichotomies in order to study the patterns of development, demography, and land use in
selected case study areas. While…[Read more]

This course provides an introduction to the visual culture and art forms of the Italo-Roman world from the
Early Iron Age to the beginning of Late Antiquity. The course examines the developmental arcs of art
forms in various spheres (public, private, sacred, funereal) and considers key media (sculpture, painting,
mosaic, decorative arts).…[Read more]

This course provides an introduction to the visual culture and art forms of the Italo-Roman world from the
Early Iron Age to the beginning of Late Antiquity. The course examines the developmental arcs of art
forms in various spheres (public, private, sacred, funereal) and considers key media (sculpture, painting,
mosaic, decorative arts).…[Read more]

प्रमोद रंजन द्वारा संपादित पुस्तक “महिषासुर एक जननायक” का उद्देश्य यह स्पष्ट करना है कि आखिर महिषासुर नाम से शुरू किया गया यह आन्दोलन है क्या? इसकी आवश्यकता क्यों पड़ी? इसके निहितार्थ क्या हैं? इस पुस्तक में प्रश्न उठाया गया है कि जब असुर एक प्रजाति है तो उसकी हार या उसके नायक की ह्त्या का उत्सव किस सांस्कृतिक मनोवृत्ति का परिचायक…[Read more]

महिषासुर से संबंधित बहुजन समाज के मिथकों व परंपराओं , पौराणिक मिथकों और आधुनिक युग में गढे़ गए मिथकों के अर्थों को खोलने वाली इस पुस्तक का संपादक प्रमोद रंजन ने किया है। इस पुस्तक में पहली बार महिषासुर शहादत/स्मरण दिवस की विस्तृत सैद्धांतिकी भी प्रस्तुत की गई है तथा इस संबंध में उठने वालो सभी सवालों के उत्तर प्रस्तुत किये गये हैं।…[Read more]

यह किताब बहुजन डाइवर्सिटी द्वारा 2007 से शुरू की गई भारत की ज्वलंत समस्याएं शृंखला की है। पुस्तक में समय समय पर उद्भव होने वाली कुछ ख़ास समस्याओं, जिनसे राष्ट्र का जीवन बुरी तरह प्रभावित होता है एवं जिन्हें मीडिया के अल्पकालिक प्रभाव के चलते लोग एक अंतराल के बाद विस्मृत कर समस्याओं के अम्बार में घिरे देश की दूसरी समस्याओं में खो जाते हैं, को यद…[Read more]

सच्ची रामायण, पेरियार ई. वी. रामासामी की बहुचर्चित और सबसे विवादास्पद कृति रही है। पेरियार रामायण को एक राजनीतिक ग्रंथ मानते थे। उनका कहना था कि इसे दक्षिणवासी अनार्यों पर उत्तर के आर्यों की विजय और प्रभुत्व को जायज ठहराने के लिए लिखा गया और यह गैर-ब्राह्मणों पर ब्राह्मणों और महिलाओं पर पुरुषों के वर्चस्व का उपकरण है। यह किताब हिंदी में 1968में ‘स…[Read more]

This essay focuses on territorial conflicts between European masonic bodies outside Europe, and on the impact of these conflicts on inner-European masonic relations. The period between c. 1870 and c. 1930 marks the height of the European expansion respectively the age of ‘high imperialism’. It also marks the first wave of decolonization. The tid…[Read more]

This paper uses the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of the original report on the Corbridge Hoard, together with the redisplay of the finds in the site museum at Corbridge, to review the findings of the original report. The ‘lorica segmentata’ armour is considered in the light of more recent finds from Carlisle (UK), Stillfried…[Read more]

This paper uses the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of the original report on the Corbridge Hoard, together with the redisplay of the finds in the site museum at Corbridge, to review the findings of the original report. The ‘lorica segmentata’ armour is considered in the light of more recent finds from Carlisle (UK), Stillfried…[Read more]

At the Fourth Roman Military Equipment Conference in Newcastle in 1987, I first explored the reconstruction of Roman cavalry harness, attempting to harmonise the evidence from sculptural representations and archaeological excavation. Much has been learned since then, and this paper attempts to review how some of the principles expounded back then…[Read more]

At the Fourth Roman Military Equipment Conference in Newcastle in 1987, I first explored the reconstruction of Roman cavalry harness, attempting to harmonise the evidence from sculptural representations and archaeological excavation. Much has been learned since then, and this paper attempts to review how some of the principles expounded back then…[Read more]

A select group of 1st-century AD ‘Totenmahl’ tombstones shows Roman auxiliary cavalry horses being long-reined. These same stones also provide the main sculptural evidence for the use of saddle plates. This paper begins by examining one set of privately owned horse harness and then broadens its focus to consider the wider implications of…[Read more]