Tartu Cathedral, which today houses the University of Tartu Museum, will be the venue of an intensive seminar on the Middle Ages that focuses on the intersections of history, art history and archaeology. The seminar accompanies the exhibition Glory of the Cathedral, which will be housed in the treasury of the church. The objects on display in the exhibition – including textiles, human remains and archaeological material connected to the past of the city and the church – will form the basis of a number of the talks that will be given.

The point of departure for this interdisciplinary seminar is Tartu Cathedral, which was erected between the 13th and 15th centuries. It is the best example of brick gothic in the Baltics, serving as an embodiment of the city’s hanseatic past. However, the areas that will be covered in this seminar will be considerably more broad than the history of Tartu and its cathedral, looking outwardly from the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe. In this context, the seminar deals with the sacral and political space, material culture, written sources and contextualizes the relevant questions involved. The seminar features the latest information concerning the archaeological material. Rapid progress is being made in osteology, stable isotope analysis and the study of ancient DNA. In the midst of such developments and advancements in these fields as are currently occurring, it is difficult to communicate the importance of one field’s achievements to another. This intensive seminar will strive towards achieving a synthesis that would allow the comprehensive, multi-disciplinary discussion of objects, providing research that is of substance to several different areas of research as a whole.
Keynote speakers:

Kirsi Salonen (Turku University)

Alan V. Murray (University of Leeds)

Registration guide

Online registration opens on April 24th and closes on May 10th.

You will be notified of your participation/application by May 12, 2017.

– Graduate students who would like to present a paper related to the topic of the seminar can apply by sending an abstract (ca. 300 words) via the registration form.

– Graduate students interested in attending the intensive seminar without presentation can apply by sending a letter of motivation (ca. 200 words).

– Graduate students who are not members of GSCSA or GSLPS are required to add a short CV to specify their education and research interests.

Upon full participation in the programme a student will be awarded 2 ECTS points. Upon full participation in the programme with a presentation, a student will be awarded 3 ECTS points.

Participation in the seminar is free of charge.
Participation is free of charge; accommodation for GSCSA and GSLPS students will be reimbursed. Please notify the organizers promptly if you are not able to participate or the dates of your participation change! Booking your accommodation via organizers, please be informed that you agree to reimburse the cost of this accommodation, if you do not cancel your participation in due time. Thank you for your understanding.
The seminar is organised by the Estonian Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts (University of Tartu ASTRA Project PER ASPERA), the Institute of History and Archaeology and the Tartu University Museum – all attached to the University of Tartu.