Tag: Boston University

CFP: SEQUITUR @ Boston University

Fall 2026
https://www.bu.edu/sequitur

CFP: “Ephemera”
Deadline: September 28, 2026

The editors of SEQUITUR, the graduate student journal published by the Department of History of Art & Architecture at Boston University, invite current and recent MA, MFA, and PhD students to submit content on the theme of “Ephemera” for our Fall 2026 issue.

This issue invites submissions that consider material ephemera and its temporal connotations. “Ephemera” refers to the short-lived: fragments, traces, and remnants of material culture, survived in physical form or in memory alone. We encourage submissions that deal not only with physical objects, but with artworks, ideas, and texts that memorialize or reference things past.

Ephemera takes many forms, including letters, notes, doodles, waste, newspapers, trinkets, receipts, clothing, digital articles, or other transitory objects. It invites a consideration of fragmentary materials—pieces of ceramics, scraps of fabric or paper, archaeological remnants, among other parts of a whole. Ephemera also refers to short-lived events—pageants, parades, spectacles, and performances, whether unrecorded or reenacted—or it may be commemorative in its intertextuality, allusion, or indexicality.

In 1589, the Medici staged a mock sea battle—a naumachia—at the Palazzo Pitti as one of several events to celebrate the marriage of Christine of Lorraine to Ferdinando de Medici. The event is recorded in text but elaborated in an etching by Orazio Scarabelli, the only visual evidence from that grandiose celebration. While the event was a spectacle, it is preserved through a print, easily distributable and quotidian in comparison to the event. And yet, it is the print that indexes the performance.

Ephemera also relates to the temporal dimensions of memory that an object holds onto. As Andreas Huyssen argues, the past persists in the present like a palimpsest, meaning our access to the past is inevitably mediated by the present, even as traces of the past continue to shape how the present is experienced. Such temporal layering complicates any attempt to encounter an object solely through the historical moment of its production or from the perspective of the present. Ephemera are thus self-referential: their material or immaterial presence points toward what has passed, while the traces they accumulate make visible the distance between then and now. Remembering, in this sense, does not necessarily preserve the past intact. Whether oral, visual, material, digital, or embodied, it can reconstruct, fragment, or reactivate the past, at times pushing against the coherence and authority of official historical narratives.

This issue seeks to collect scholarship spanning antiquity to the present that investigates the traces, scraps, fragments, and mementos of daily life—extant or refuse, partial or whole, indexical or commemorative.

Potential subjects may include but are not limited to:

material culture, temporary materials, traditional or non-traditional archival materials, mementos, remnants, ruins, photographs, newspapers, notes, letters, cards, postcards, trinkets, tickets, receipts, stickers, organic matter, fabric, scraps, junk, compostable material, disposable/plastic/single use objects, waste, garbage, unpublished materials, advertisements, flyers, digital ephemera (texts, social media, emails), digital memory, database, preservation, conservation, fragmentary, partial, reconstruction, reenactment, tribute, memory, memorializing, remembering, mnemonic traces, commemorative, personal memory, collective memory, generational memory, legacy, heritage, referentiality, the picturesque, temporality, anachronism, palimpsest, forgetting, amnesia, post-memory

SEQUITUR welcomes submissions from graduate students in the disciplines of art history, architecture, archaeology, fine arts, material culture, visual culture, literary studies, queer and gender studies, disability studies, memory studies, and environmental studies, among others. We encourage submissions that take advantage of the digital format of the journal.

Founded in 2014, SEQUITUR is an online biannual scholarly journal dedicated to addressing events, issues, and ideas in art and architectural history. SEQUITUR, edited by graduate students at Boston University, engages with and expands current conversations in the field by promoting the perspectives of graduate students from around the world. It seeks to contribute to existing scholarship by focusing on valuable but often overlooked parts of art and architectural history.

Previous issues of SEQUITUR can be found here.
We invite full submissions in the following categories. Please submit your material in full for consideration in the publication:

Feature essays (1,500 words)
Content should present original material that falls within the stipulated word limit (1,500 words). Please adhere to the formatting guidelines available here.
Visual and creative essays (250 words, up to 10 works)
We invite M.Arch. or M.F.A. students to showcase a selection of original work in or reproduced in a digital format. We welcome various kinds of creative projects that take advantage of the online format of the journal, such as works that include sound or video.

Submissions should consist of a 250-word artist statement and up to 10 works in JPEG, HTML, or MP4 format. All image submissions must be numbered and captioned and should be of good quality and high resolution.

We invite proposals for the following categories. Please write an abstract of no more than 200 words outlining your intended project:

Exhibition reviews (500 words)
We are especially interested in exhibitions currently on display or very recently closed. We typically prioritize reviews of exhibitions in the Massachusetts and New England area.
Book or exhibition catalog reviews (500 words)
We are especially interested in reviews of recently published (1-3 years old) books and catalogs.
Interviews (750 words)
Please include documentation of the interviewee’s affirmation that they will participate in an interview with you.
Plan to provide either a full written transcript or a recording of the interview (video or audio).
Research spotlights (750 words)
Short summaries of ongoing research written in a more casual format than a feature essay or formal paper.
For research spotlights, we typically, but not universally, prioritize doctoral candidates who plan to use this platform to share ongoing dissertation research or work of a comparable scale.

To submit:

Email all material to sequitur@bu.edu
Include in the email:
Your proposal or submission
A recent CV
A brief 50-word bio
Your contact information in the body of the email: name, institution, program, year in program, and email
“SEQUITUR Fall 2026” and the type of submission/proposal as the subject line

Additional reminders:

All submissions and proposals are due September 28, 2026.
Please remember to adhere to the formatting guidelines available here.
Text must be in the form of a Word document, and images should be sent as .jpeg files.
While we welcome as many images as possible, at least ONE must be very high resolution and large format. All other creative media should be sent as weblinks, HTML, or MP4 files if submitting video or other multimedia work.
Please note that authors are responsible for obtaining all image copyright releases before publication.

Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their submission or proposal the week of October 16, 2026, for publication in January 2027.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the SEQUITUR editors at sequitur@bu.edu.

__
The SEQUITUR Editorial Team
Ada, Emma, Hamin, Hannah, Isaline, and Jenna

SEQUITUR. we follow art

CFP: The Archaeology of Identity in “Peripheries” of the Roman World, Boston University Emerging Scholars Symposium, Spring 2024

The Program in Archaeology and Department of Classical Studies at Boston University invite proposals for research presentations and a panel discussion on the topic of the archaeology of identity in “peripheries” of the Roman world. Presentations will be part of a three-hour symposium showcasing the work of emerging scholars, i.e., doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and nontenure-track assistant professors. All applicants should come from racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in the academy, which include people who are of Black/African American, Native American/Alaska Native, Latinx, Southeast Asian, and/or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander descent.

This panel will bring together emerging scholars and senior scholar discussants to discuss how archaeological methods can illuminate personal identity among “peripheral” communities of the Roman world. We position the concept of “periphery” in both the geographic sense (e.g., Roman Britain, Africa, and the Roman east) and the cultural sense, including communities systematically disadvantaged by Roman society (e.g., women, slaves, racialized populations). Emerging scholars will present their research as a conference-style talk of 15-20 minutes, followed by a keynote presentation from a senior scholar and a panel discussion led by that scholar and members of Boston University’s Archaeology Program and Department of Classical Studies.

The panel will be scheduled according to the availability of participants in late March or early April 2024. This will be an in-person event, though with permission of participants the session will also be simulcast for a hybrid audience. Travel costs, hotel and meals in Boston, and a modest honorarium for all emerging scholars is offered by Boston University.
What to Submit:

  • An abstract of 200-300 words describing your proposed research presentation.
  • A cover letter that summarizes your professional interests and goals; indicates progress toward completion of the dissertation (for doctoral students); and discusses one’s contribution to making the academy a more inclusive environment.
  • Current CV

Materials should be sent as a PDF to Maria Sousa, Archaeology Program Administrator (mhsousa@bu.edu) by December 11, 2023. Participants will be notified of acceptance by December 22, 2023.

Questions may be addressed to John Marston, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Archaeology Program (marston@bu.edu) or James Uden, Professor and Chair of Classical Studies (uden@bu.edu).

JOB: Assistant Professor in African American and/or Africa Diaspora Arts at Boston University

Boston University’s Department of History of Art & Architecture invites applicants for a renewable four-year tenure track position, beginning AY 2024-25, as Assistant Professor in African American and/or Africa Diaspora Arts, with a geographic focus on the United States, the Caribbean, and/or South or Central America. This is a joint position with Boston University’s African American & Black Diaspora Studies Program. We seek exceptional scholars and teachers, with expertise in modern and/or contemporary art and visual culture, whose work incorporates diverse perspectives and critical approaches. Boston University and the Department actively seek diversity in the student and faculty ranks, recognizing that pluralism of experience deepens the intellectual endeavor.

The successful candidate will offer graduate and undergraduate courses in History of Art and Architecture and African American & Black Diaspora Studies; conduct research in their area(s) of specialization; and advise and mentor graduate and undergraduate students. Salary competitive and commensurate with experience. PhD required and publications preferred.

Please submit in PDF or Word form to AcademicJobsOnline (https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25530) and addressed to Professor Ross Barrett, Search Committee Chair (rcb@bu.edu): 1) a curriculum vitae; 2) three recommenders’ contact information; 3) a cover letter that describes your research accomplishments and plans, your teaching principles, and approaches, and how your research, teaching, and/or other activities contribute to diversity objectives. Review of applications begins November 15, 2023.

Boston University expects excellence in teaching and in research and is committed to building a culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse scholarly community.

BU conducts a background check on all final candidates for certain faculty and staff positions. The background check includes contacting the final candidate’s current and previous employer(s) to ask whether, in the last seven years, there has been a substantiated finding of misconduct violating that employer’s applicable sexual misconduct policies. To implement this process, the University requires a final candidate to complete and sign the form entitled “Authorization to Release Information” after execution of an offer letter.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

SYMP: Present Coordinates @ Boston University

Boston University’s Department of the History of Art & Architecture is pleased to invite the Boston-area community to African American Art History: Present Coordinates, a symposium of research conducted by emerging scholars in the field of African American art history and architecture. Five advanced doctoral students from across the nation will present their research on BU’s Charles River Campus, on November 11th and 12th, 2022. Dr. Melanee C. Harvey (GRS ’17), Associate Professor of Art History, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, Howard University, will give the keynote lecture on Friday, November 11th. More information about this event can be found on the official webpage: https://www.bu.edu/haa/news-events/present-coordinates2022/

JOB: Historical Archaeology of the African Diaspora @ Boston University

The Department of Anthropology at Boston University invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure-track) with a focus on the historical archaeology of the African Diaspora in the Americas, beginning Fall 2023. We seek specialists in the material culture and history of African diasporic communities in North, Central, or South America, including the Caribbean. Temporal period and technical specialty are open; community and public approaches to archaeology are especially welcome. We will give greater consideration to archaeologists whose scholarship and teaching complement those of current Archaeology faculty and bridge cognate campus programs, including African American Studies, American and New England Studies, Latin American Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Successful applicants will have evidence of an ongoing research program (field, lab, and/or museum/archival), evidence of teaching effectiveness, and evidence of a commitment to increasing diversity and fostering inclusion in academia.

Boston University strives to create environments for learning, working, and living that are enriched by racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. We expect an active record of publication, teaching experience, a willingness to participate actively in undergraduate and graduate student advising, and a commitment to the department’s and university’s institutional values regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Application materials should be submitted through https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/22368 by October 10, 2022, and should include a cover letter, current CV, diversity statement, teaching portfolio, and contact information for three references. In the cover letter and teaching portfolio we invite candidates to explain how their teaching and mentorship activities work to increase student awareness of African Diasporic communities of the Americas and contribute to more inclusive intellectual discourse.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. 

CFP: African American Art History Symposium at Boston U

Boston University’s Department of the History of Art & Architecture is hosting a symposium featuring five late-stage doctoral candidates and recent postgraduates (within three years of defending) in the field of African American art history on November 11-12, 2022. The symposium will feature presentations on recent research, networking opportunities, and a concluding roundtable. This program is committed to advancing the connection and collaboration between diverse members of the Boston University community and emerging scholars of African American visual art, material culture, and architecture. The Present Coordinates: African American Art History symposium will provide honoraria and travel expenses for the panelists to travel to Boston.

Early-career scholars are invited to submit proposals for 45-minute research presentations on a topic of their choosing. Proposals may engage the current state of the field of African American art history; consider innovative and interdisciplinary methodologies; or investigate alternative frameworks and unstudied artists. Full details about proposals, which are due May 15, can be found here: https://www.bu.edu/haa/2022/03/31/call-for-papers-african-american-art-history-present-coordinates/

JOB: Asst Prof, Archaeology/Native Peoples @ Boston University

The Department of Anthropology and Program in Archaeology at Boston University invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure-track) with a focus on the archaeological study of Native peoples of the Americas, beginning Fall 2021. We seek specialists in the material culture of precolumbian or early colonial Native peoples of North, Central, or South America. Indigenous approaches to archaeology are especially welcome. Preferred technical specialties include geospatial and digital methods of archaeological analysis, or bioarchaeology. We will give greater consideration to archaeologists whose scholarship and teaching complement current faculty and bridge cognate campus programs, including American and New England Studies and/or Latin American Studies. Successful applicants will have evidence of an ongoing research program (field, lab, and/or museum/archival), evidence of teaching effectiveness, and evidence of a commitment to increasing diversity and fostering inclusion in academia.

Boston University strives to create environments for learning, working, and living that are enriched by racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. For full consideration in this position we expect an active record of publication, teaching experience, a willingness to participate actively in student advising, and a commitment to the department’s and university’s institutional values regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Application materials should be submitted through Academic Jobs Online academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/17095 by December 20, 2020, and should include a cover letter, current CV, teaching portfolio, and contact information for three references. In the cover letter and teaching portfolio we invite candidates to explain how their teaching and mentorship activities work to increase student awareness of the Indigenous cultures of the Americas and contribute to more robust and inclusive intellectual discourse.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/17095