Looking for a good excuse to visit Australia? September 27–28, 2013 at Macquarie University: “Observing the Scribe at Work: Knowledge Transfer and Scribal Professionalism in Pre-Typographic Societies.” If I were in Sydney this Fall, I would attend. More about the conference:
‘Observing the Scribe at Work’ will bring together specialists in pre-modern societies of the Mediterranean world and adjoining cultures, from the ancient Near East, through the Egyptian and Classical worlds to Byzantium and Renaissance Europe. The papers will contribute to a deeper understanding of the processes that drive the operation of pre-printing cultures, and transmit knowledge and traditions forward in human societies.
(I once gave some thought to doing my doctoral work at Macquarie and working with epigraphy–Just couldn’t bring myself to celebrate Christmas in the Summer.)