Jesse W. Torgerson Profile picture
Jan 26, 2022 7 tweets 4 min read Read on X
A little #ByzantineHistory and #DH thread.
One project this semester is returning to data & visuals students & I pulled from chronicle of Theophanes.
Potentially can show a lot.
My interest: how ninth-century Constantinople saw the space of #Roman history. Image
Images all Jesse Simmons (superstar Res Assistant!).
This shows all cities/settlements in Chronicle of Theophanes.
One obvious thing (expected): East/West discrepancy.
One obvious thing (p'haps NOT expected): interest in Syria/Palestine over Greece! Image
We made the data sensitive to *when* (under what date) a city/settlement is mentioned.
Differentiates the "space" of different eras or emperors' reigns in the Chronicle.
Blue is "space" of Constantine's Rome (ca. 310-35)
Yellow is "space" of Irene & Nikephoros (ca. 780-810). ImageImage
I LOVE seeing the manifestation of the granularity (and vacancy) of places in the different regions of Asia Minor/Anatolia--"Rum".
This map shows all the cities/settlements in this region mentioned over the entire chronicle (AD 284-813) overlaid on a map of the Themata ca. 815. Image
Anyway, all of this is just to remind myself that I need to make progress on the project this semester.
Here is what my amazing team of undergrad researchers wrote about the project, just before the pandemic hit in March 2020.
travelerslab.research.wesleyan.edu/2020/03/27/rew…
ALSO: a caveat!
Part of what needs to be worked on (unto the ages of ages) is data cleaning.
Those who are in the know will be able to spot places on here that are NOT in the right spot!!
OK, a final gratuitous pearl.
The group's favorite site to finally decide WAS a location and then PLACE as a location was "the Oak, which is now called Rufinianae (Ῥουφινιαναι)" where Theophilos plotted against John Chrysostom in 404/405. Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Jesse W. Torgerson

Jesse W. Torgerson Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JWTorg

Sep 5, 2022
#LaborDay thread on #academic labor.
Renewed @AAUP chapter at #Wesleyan @WesleyanAAUP has compelling hist of fac/admin relations & negotiations ca 1916-2000
TL;DR
--AAUP key but not strongest tool for labor
--instead Junior fac self-org & info sharing
1/
static1.squarespace.com/static/62d6fa6…
2/
Acc. to this hist, key contexts for #Wesleyan’s AAUP:
-- a rich lib arts college into #highered “experimentation”
-- a “Little Uni” w/ PhD progs in sciences
-- square circle: low tenure density & high contingency
-- longstanding Junior Faculty Org (JFO) addressed contradiction
3/
@WesleyanAAUP hist notes contradictions in 1915-17 statements of @AAUP prez John #Dewey & co-found Arthur Lovejoy:
profs + trusteees collab on everything to do w/ education (curriculum to budget to donations);
admin there to "implement".
Nonetheless: profs salaried employees.
Read 15 tweets
Jan 29, 2022
What do we teach when we teach "Medieval Europe"?
Do we teach Europe to set up Historical #Comparison?
OR to teach a Global (or, Alex West @siwaratrikalpa's much more coherent Hemispheric) #MiddleAges?
Here's how I see the two options...
(obvs others, I'm a Byzantinist after all)
My students discuss CWickham's intro in
Medieval Europe (2016; Review: I like the book)
CW argues for "Medieval Europe" as artificial category with value in setting up historical #comparison.
There's a cleverness to that.
But here's my problem, as explained to my students...
There is no comparison.
Practically speaking.
To do a comparison, you don't need to just find a region with some big similar stats (geog, pop, resources), you need to find something similarly studied, with comparable bibliographies.
MAYBE, in not too long, "Medieval China"?
Read 10 tweets
Jan 27, 2022
Arguing that 1) legal case is settled that #ExecutiveBranch has right to forgive student debt.
2) need is urgent: 89% of debtors will be in financial insecurity if required payments resume.
@SenWarren makes the point that $50k forgiven would release 36m citizens completely from debt.
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(