Medieval Institute Ph.D. Candidate Awarded Post-Doctoral Fellowship at University of Tübingen

Medieval Institute Ph.D. Candidate Jeffrey Berland has been invited to join the University of Tübingen's Center for Advanced Studies for a six-month postdoctoral fellowship as part of their program "Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages."

Within the framework of the Center for Advanced Studies, scholars from different disciplines investigate the phenomenon of migration and mobility in the Mediterranean region and Europe in the period between 250 and 900 A.D. Its aim is to restructure the intensive research debate on this epoch-defining phenomenon by testing innovative approaches, methods, questions and explanations.

The program is directed by Mischa Meier, Professor of Ancient History; Steffen Patzold, Professor of Medieval History; and Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner, Professor of Ancient History. 

Jeffrey's research work within this project is entitled, "The Political Portrayal and Affiliation of 'Greek' Soldiers, Settlers, and Immigrants in Ninth-Century Italy." This project builds on some key conclusions of his doctoral research, that the second half of the eighth century saw a conceptual shift in the Western characterization of the Byzantine polity as 'Greek.' In this project he will shift the focus of his approach to ninth-century Italy by studying first the portrayal of Byzantine military and (re)settlement policies in the peninsula, and second the degree of political affiliation to Constantinople that was expected of the “Greek” immigrants living in Rome.