Two fantastic bits of news came in on the Hugoye List:

Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute will hold its First Hugoye Symposium on May 20, 2010 to celebrate the opening of the Beth Mardutho Research Library in Piscataway, NJ. The Symposium papers will focus on libraries in the Syriac tradition, and will be published in Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies

The speakers are:

Keynote Address: Sebastian P. Brock (University of Oxford): Kthobe Mphasqe: Some Examples, Ancient and Modern, from the Libraries of St Catherine’s Monastery Sinai and Dayr al-Suryan.

David Taylor (University of Oxford): Syriac Printing in the 19th and early 20th-Century Middle East: Tool of Western Propaganda or Local Resistance?

Andreas Juckel (Münster University): A Guide to Syriac New Testament Manuscripts and Editions.

Muriel Debie (CNRS, Paris): Cataloging a Syriac MS collection in the Middle East: the Case Study of Charfet.

Kristian Heal (Brigham Young University): Corpora, eLibraries and databases: Locating Syriac Studies in the 21st Century.

George A. Kiraz (Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute): The Beth Mardutho Research Library: A Modest Beginning.

The Symposium will begin at 10 AM and end at 5 PM. A dinner will follow at a local restaurant (for which there will be a fee for those who choose to participate).

Those who would like to attend the symposium are requested to register with helpdesk [at] gorgiaspress [dot] com (please have the subject line read “Hugoye Symposium Registration”). Please provide your name, affiliation, contact information, whether you request parking, and whether you would like to attend the dinner. Registration is free (donations to Beth Mardutho to support the library are appreciated). Deadline for registration is April 15th, 2010.

Those attending from afar are expected to arrange for their own accommodation. Information can be found at http://www.piscatawaynj.org/hotels.

And secondly:

Gorgias Press, an academic publishing firm based in Piscataway, NJ, is seeking applicants for a 3-month internship for the position of cataloguer in Syriac and Arabic. The candidate will be asked to catalogue books in Syriac and Arabic (mostly on Syriac topics) published in the Middle East during the 1800s and early 1900s. The cataloguing involves entering bibliographical information about the books (author, title, subject, etc.) in an Excel sheet, as well as writing a 200 word abstract in English for each of the books. A good command of Syriac and Arabic is required, as well as general knowledge in the field and literature. Strong writing skills in English are also required. The candidate is expected to catalog an average of 10 books a day. The candidate must be in residence in the area for the duration of the Internship (apart from weekends).

The candidate will receive free housing, a stipend totaling $2,250 payable in monthly installments (or $5,000 in Gorgias books), and up to $500 towards travel. The housing is in the same complex as the Gorgias office for female candidates, and 1 mile (20 minute walk, 2 minutes by car) for male candidates.

Piscataway is located 40 miles from New York City, and 30 miles from Princeton. The nearest train station is New Brunswick, 3 miles from Piscataway. The only public transportation available within Piscataway is taxis.

The position is open until filled. The candidate may start anytime between March and June, 2010. Interested applicants should send a CV, and letter expressing their interest to jobs [at] gorgiaspress [dot] com indicating their strength in Syriac and Arabic.

Peace,
-Steve