About the CMTC

The mission of the Centre is to promote the study of pre-modern manuscript and epigraphic traditions in a broad comparative perspective, relying on the strong multi-disciplinary community in Oxford while openly engaging with scholars in other institutions worldwide.

About the CMTC

ACTIVITIES

History image

The activities of the Centre are at once specialised and interdisciplinary, united by the common goal of enabling long-term research on how knowledge and meaning are shaped and sustained by material conditions, past and present. As a platform for international researchers to engage in close dialogue across their areas of expertise and inform each other about approaches and theories developed in their various subject areas, our goal is to generate discussions that cross subject boundaries and contribute to the theoretical understanding of material text cultures and their impact on knowledge production in global literate societies. With our multidisciplinary approach, crossing traditional academic divisions, we hope to cast light on the deep structures of human behaviours in material knowledge production, past and present.

HISTORY

The Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures was established as a research concentration at The Queen’s College, Oxford in 2018. CMTC began in 2012 as an initiative of a group of Fellows at Queen’s, led by Dirk Meyer, with common interests in manuscript and text cultures in literate societies. Since then it has drawn in academics and postdoctoral researchers from other colleges. It provides the nucleus of a research cluster for the humanities with a focus on knowledge production and text circulation which we hope will attract future graduate students.

Info image

The Centre holds a dedicated postdoctoral position in Manuscript and Text Cultures. The first postdoctoral fellow of the Centre was Dr Selena Wisnom, now Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East, University of Leicester. Our first doctoral student, the Jennifer and John Clay Scholar of Sanskrit, was Tara Hathaway. We are currently fundraising for an endowed doctoral studentship and other activities of the Centre.

CURRENT MEMBERS

Dirk Meyer
Dirk Meyer
Director | Senior Editor of Manuscript and Text Cultures | Chinese Philosophy

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Christelle Alvarez
Christelle Alvarez
Board Member | Egyptology

Freie Universität, Berlin

VIEW PROFILE
John Baines
John Baines
Board Member | Egyptology

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Amin Benaissa
Amin Benaissa
Board Member | Classics

Christ Church College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Angus Bowie
Angus Bowie
Senior Editor of Manuscript and Text Cultures | Classics

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Ramani Chandramohan
Ramani Chandramohan
Board Member | Medieval Languages and Cultures

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Charles Crowther
Charles Crowther
Board Member | Classics

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Vittorio Remo Danovi
Vittorio Remo Danovi
Seminar Convenor | Classics

Lincoln College – St Anne’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Almut Fries
Almut Fries
Board Member | Classics

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Yegor Grebnev
Yegor Grebnev
Senior Editor of Manuscript and Text Cultures | Chinese Studies

Beijing Normal University (Zhuhai), BNU-HKBU United International College

VIEW PROFILE
Henrike Lähnemann
Henrike Lähnemann
Board Member | Medieval Languages and Cultures

St Edmund Hall, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Anthony John Lappin
Anthony John Lappin
Board Member | Western Medieval Philology

University of Stockholm

VIEW PROFILE
Christopher Metcalf
Christopher Metcalf
Secretary of the Board | Classics and the Near East

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Owen Rees
Owen Rees
Board Member | Music

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Matthew Shaw
Matthew Shaw
Manager of Manuscript and Text Cultures | Librarian

The Queen’s College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Lesley Smith
Lesley Smith
Senior Editor of Manuscript and Text Cultures | Medieval Studies

Harris Manchester College, Oxford

VIEW PROFILE
Selena Wisnom
Selena Wisnom
Board Member | Assyriology

University of Leicester