{"id":841,"date":"2021-08-03T14:20:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T18:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/fcurta\/?page_id=841"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:58:07","slug":"invited-lectures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/fcurta\/invited-lectures\/","title":{"rendered":"Invited lectures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Invited lectures<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife in the garrison of the imperial frontier on the Lower Danube, 6th and 11th centuries,\u201d lecture for the Archaeological Institute of America, Gainesville society (Gainesville, Florida, November 20, 2025)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Balkans during the ‘Dark Ages’ (7th to 9th centuries),” lecture for the online conference “ABC of European Heritage. Archaeology of the Byzantine Commonwealth (part I)” (Rzesz\u00f3w, February 28, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The early Slavs in the Balkans (500-620),” lecture for the online conference “ABC of European Heritage. Archaeology of the Byzantine Commonwealth (part II)” (Rzesz\u00f3w, May 14, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Life as a soldier on the northern frontier of Byzantium, 6th and 11th century,” keynote address for the online international conference “War in Byzantine and Mediterranean Contexts (9th-16th Centuries) – History, Archaeology, Philosophy” (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, December 8, 2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The rise of Wal(l)achia and Moldavia: new viewpoints,” online lecture for the ISTROS\/AISEES “Nicolaus Olahus – Connecting History” conference, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University (Ia\u015fi, April 26, 2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To beard the lion: male identity in East Central Europe (6th to 9th century),” online lecture for the International Graduate Student Conference “‘Wer bin ich?’ Kulturkontakt und Identit\u00e4t (Entstehung, Pflege und Ver\u00e4nderung) in der Antike,” doctoral program of the Department of Antiquity (Altertumwissenschaft), University of Basel (Basel, November 28, 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Common legacy? Roman nostalgias in Near Barbaricum (6th to 7th centuries),” online paper presented at 10th International Scientific Symposium on Byzantine Studies and Medieval Studies “Days of Justinian” (Skopje, November 10, 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Coins, trade and modes of production: a view from Eastern Europe,” keynote address for the FLAME conference “Networks in transition. Monetary exchange from Antiquity to the Middle Ages,” Princeton University (March 18, 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe early Slavs in the Balkans (500-620),\u201d online lecture for the Department of Linguistic and Literary Studies, University of Padova (March 14, 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Where have all the Avars gone? A comparative view,” online lecture for the series “Nicolae Olahus–conect\u00e2nd istoria” organized by Societatea de \u015etiin\u021be istorice “Istros” together with the American Institute of South-East European Studies (April 13, 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Gesta Hungarorum<\/em> ca parodie de gen,” keynote address for the National Congress of Romanian Historians (Alba Iulia, September 9, 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Casting light on the ‘Dark Ages’ in Byzantium: the Velestino hoard,” online lecture for the Archaeological Institute of America, Jacksonville society (November 20, 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Slavii timpurii \u015fi etnogeneza lor \u00een arheologia sovietic\u0103 \u015fi post-sovietic\u0103,” online lecture for the international conference “Cercetarea \u015fi valorificarea patrimoniului arheologic medieval,” Pedagogical State University “Ion Creang\u0103”, Chi\u015fin\u0103u, November 4, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProfilul economic \u015fi social al zonei Dun\u0103rii \u00een secolele VI-VII. Un demers comparativ,\u201d online lecture for the Department of History, Patrimony and Protestant Theology, \u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu (May 13, 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCu g\u00e2ndul la b\u0103rba\u021bii adev\u0103ra\u021bi, sau arheologia b\u0103rbilor din bazinul carpatic \u015fi regiunile \u00eenvecinate (sec. VI-IX),\u201d lecture for the online Colloquia Archaeologica, Institutul de Arheologie \u015fi Istoria Artei, Cluj-Napoca (April 14, 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe early Slavs and their ethnogenesis in Soviet and post-Soviet archaeology,\u201d lecture for the Early Slavic webinar, Oxford University (February 23, 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMonede, castre \u015fi schimburi comerciale \u00een Peninsula Balcanic\u0103 (secolul al VI-lea-\u00eenceputul secolului al VII-lea),\u201d lecture in the \u201cVasile P\u00e2rvan\u201d Institute of Archaeology (Bucharest, June 8, 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEtnicitate \u00een zona M\u0103rii Negre \u00een secolele VI-VII,\u201d lecture in the Department of History, Patrimony, and Protestant Theology (\u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu, May 31, 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSf. Sava din Serbia (o not\u0103 biografic\u0103, cu accent pe rolul s\u0103u ca om al Bisericii),\u201d lecture for the \u201cSerile Sibiului\u201d series (Caf\u00e9 Wien, Sibiu, May 24, 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPozi\u0163ia mormintelor de copii \u00een cimitirele medievale din Ungaria \u015fi Polonia \u00een secolele XI-XII\u201d (together with Matthew Koval), lecture in the Institute for Social and Human Studies (\u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu, May 23, 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMigra\u0163ii \u00een arheologia Europei de est \u015fi sud-est \u00een Evul mediu timpuriu,\u201d lecture in the Department of History, Patrimony, and Protestant Theology (\u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu, May 22, 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn uneasy relation: Byzantium and the nomads,\u201d Byzantium Studies public lecture, Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, D.C., October 13, 2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClay pans and pita bread in early medieval Europe, from Spain to Eastern Europe,\u201d lecture for the Archaeological Institute of America, Jacksonville society (Jacksonville, Florida, September 17, 2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMobile warriors in the 6th<\/sup>-century Balkans,\u201d lecture for the Archaeological Institute of America, Gainesville society (Gainesville, Florida, September 14, 2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemarks on coins, forts, and commercial exchanges in the 6th<\/sup> and early 7th<\/sup>-century Balkans,\u201d lecture for the FLAME conference \u201cCoins, minting, and economy in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages\u201d (Princeton University, April 29, 2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEthnicity in medieval archaeology,\u201d lecture for the seminar on theory in archaeology (University of Reading, November 30, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Vlachs in the French Chronicles of the Fourth Crusade, Constantinople, and the echo chamber,\u201d lecture for the Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Seminar (Ioannou Center for Classical and Byzantine Studies, Oxford, November 25, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Vlachs and the Fourth Crusade,\u201d lecture for School of History, Archaeology, and Religion seminar series (University of Cardiff, November 17, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrade and settlement in al-Andalus and Volga Bulgharia (10th<\/sup>-11th<\/sup> c.),\u201d lecture for the School of Archaeology research seminar series, Institute of Archaeology, Oxford (Oxford, November 2, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAvar Blitzkrieg<\/em>, Bulgar and Slavic raiders, and Roman special ops: mobile warriors in the 6th<\/sup>-century Balkans,\u201d lecture for the Department of Archaeology seminar series on \u201cMobility\u201d (University of Reading, October 29, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Enisala grave: bioarchaeology, social status, health care, and ethnicity in early 7th<\/sup>-century Dobrudja (Romania),\u201d lecture for the Department of Archaeology research seminar series (University of Exeter, October 16, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWas there a Byzantine reconquista<\/em> in Greece between the 8th<\/sup> and the 11th<\/sup> century?\u201d lecture for the international seminar \u201cEl Mediterr\u00e1neo oriental en \u00e9poca medieval\u201d at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados of the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Valpara\u00edso (Santiago de Chile, June 10, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reinvention of the Middle Ages in the Romanian rock music, 1960-1975,\u201d lecture at the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Chile (Santiago de Chile, June 5, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current state of research on the earliest Slavs in the Balkans,\u201d lecture at the Institute of History of the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Valpara\u00edso (Vi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile, June 2, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEthnicity, archaeology, and nationalism. Remarks on the current state of research,\u201d lecture at the Institute of History of the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Valpara\u00edso (Vi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile, June 1, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe making of the Slavs, 14 years later. New remarks on the history and archaeology of the early Slavs in the Balkans, 6th<\/sup> to 7th<\/sup> centuries),\u201d lecture at the American Research Center in Sofia (Sofia, Bulgaria, May 11, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPostcards from Maurilia, or the historiography of the Dark-Age cities of Byzantium,\u201d keynote address for the American Research Center in Sofia conference \u201cTown and Country in the Byzantine World. Social and Economic Perspectives\u201d (American Research Center in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 7, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe coming of the Dark Ages to Europe: the case of the Balkans,\u201d lecture in the Department of History (University of South Florida, Tampa, March 20, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApari\u0163ia slavilor, 14 ani mai t\u00e2rziu. Considera\u0163ii privind slavii timpurii \u00een Europa central-r\u0103s\u0103ritean\u0103,\u201d lecture in the Department of History, Patrimony, and Protestant Theology (\u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu, March 3, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEtnicitate, arheologie \u015fi nationalism. O privire asupra cercet\u0103rilor din ultimul deceniu,\u201d lecture in the Institute for Social and Human Studies (\u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu, March 2, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEuropa central-r\u0103s\u0103ritean\u0103 ca poart\u0103 spre Bizan\u0163 (p\u00e2n\u0103 la mijlocul secolului al XIII-lea),\u201d lecture in the Department of History, Patrimony, and Protestant Theology (\u201cLucian Blaga\u201d University, Sibiu, March 3, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImaginea vlahilor la cronicarii cruciadei a IV-a: p\u00e2n\u0103 unde r\u0103zbate ecoul discu\u0163iilor intelectuale de la Constantinopol?\u201d lecture for the \u201cSerile Sibiului\u201d series (Caf\u00e9 Wien, Sibiu, March 4, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuaestura exercitus<\/em> \u015fi avarii: o leg\u0103tur\u0103 neb\u0103nuit\u0103?\u201d lecture at the Museum for Transylvanian Ethnography (Cluj-Napoca, March 5, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2014<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEast Central Europe: the gate to Byzantium,\u201d keynote address for the international workshop \u201cA Forgotten Region? East Central Europe in the Global Middle Ages\u201d (Central European University, Budapest, March 27, 2014)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome remarks on the Byzantine reconquista<\/em> in Greece,\u201d public lecture for the Center of Greek Studies (University of Florida, February 15, 2014)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting into the heads of the medieval people,\u201d lecture for the University of Florida History of Medicine (University of Florida, January 17, 2014; again on February 18, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans,\u201d series of five lectures for the 16th<\/sup> Ohrid Summer University (Ohrid, August 15-19, 2013)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA historian\u2019s look at climate change,\u201d lecture for the conference of the Institute of Gainesville, \u201cChallenges for Florida in the 21st<\/sup> Century. Understanding Energy and Growth\u201d (Gainesville, April 19, 2013)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2012<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2019Slavic\u2019 bow fibulae and the migration of the Slavs,\u201d lecture for \u201cSlavic origins. A Linguistic-historical workshop,\u201d Wolfson College (Oxford, December 10, 2012)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome remarks on borderlands, border lords, and \u2018borderlanders\u2019,\u201d discussant report presented at the symposium \u201cPower at the limits of authority in pre-modern polities\u201d organized for the 77th<\/sup> Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (Memphis, April 18-22, 2012)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn line with Omurtag and Alfred: linear frontiers in the ninth century,\u201d lecture at the Institute for Historical Research (London, March 29, 2012)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans. The \u2018short\u2019 Dark Ages (ca<\/em>. 620 to ca<\/em>. 680),\u201d master lecture at the University of Nottingham (Nottingham, March 28, 2012)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTransitions,\u201d lecture for \u201cByzantine Archaeology in North America. Conversations on Archaeology II. The Role of the American Overseas Research Centers\u201d symposium, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (Washington, January 14, 2012)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2011<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA conspicuous absence: Charlemagne\u2019s peculiar reception in medieval East Central Europe,\u201d Reece Kelly lecture at Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colorado, March 30, 2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDistant elites: contacts between eastern Lithuania and the Carpathian Basin (ca. 380 to ca. 630),\u201d lecture for the Archaeological Institute of America, Gainesville society (Gainesville, Florida, March 15, 2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2009<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe other Adriatic coast between the eighth and the ninth century,\u201d lecture for the international conference Da un mare all\u2019altro. <\/em>Luoghi di scambio nell\u2019Alto Medioevo Europeo e Mediterraneo<\/em> (Comacchio, Italy, March, 27-29, 2009)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEthnicity in the archaeology of the early Middle Ages: the case of the early Slavs in the Adriatic region (Croatia, Slovenia, Italy,\u201d lecture for Archaeology and Ethnicity. Methodology in a Central Question of Archaeology<\/em>, a giornata di studi<\/em> organized by the German Archaeological Institute and the Austrian Institute of Historical Studies in Rome (Rome, Italy, March 30, 2009)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2007<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe archaeology of early medieval service settlements in Eastern Europe,\u201d lecture for the Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Masaryk University in Brno (Brno, Czech Republic, December 6, 2007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe making of the Slavs (with special emphasis on Bohemia and Moravia),\u201d lecture for the Institute for Prehistory and Early History, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Charles University in Prague (Prague, Czech Republic, December 4, 2007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe northwestern region of the Black Sea during the sixth and early seventh century,\u201d lecture for the Late Antique and Early Byzantine Studies Seminar, University of Oxford (Oxford, United Kingdom, November 28, 2007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver fifty years later: the Setton-Charanis controversy and the \u201cSlavic problem\u201d in Greece,\u201d lecture for the Program in Hellenic Studies, Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey, February 28, 2007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTenth-century cave monasticism and fortified frontiers,\u201d lecture for the Historical Studies Lunch Colloquia, Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, New Jersey, February 12, 2007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe stirrup controversy revisited,\u201d lecture for the Medieval Wednesday Table, Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, New Jersey, February 6, 2007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2006<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cByzantium between 843 and 1204,\u201d lecture at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Foreign Service Institute George P. Shultz (Washington, October 13, 2006)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is Europe? A Historical Perspective,\u201d lecture for the Center of European Studies, University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida, September 27, 2006)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreece in the Dark Ages,\u201d lecture for the students of the American-Italian archaeological team in Muro Leccese (Salento, Italy, August 24, 2006)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2004<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe making of the Slavs in Greece: the Setton-Charanis controversy revisited,\u201d guest lecture in the 2004-2005 Byzantino-Slavic lecture series \u201cArchaeology and the Medieval Balkans\u201d at the Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, November 8, 2004)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMerovingian gift-giving,\u201d lecture at the invitation of the Medieval Institute and the Department of History, Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 17, 2004)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2003<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe making of the Slavs reconsidered,\u201d lecture for the International Workshop \u201cSlawische Urspr\u00fcnge\/Slavic Origins\u201d of the Forschungsstelle f\u00fcr Geschichte des Mittelalters of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna, Austria, January 17-18, 2003)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2002<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRock monasteries on medieval frontiers,\u201d lecture for the archaeological summer school, Granard, Co. Longford (Ireland), June, 28, 2002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrontier ethnogenesis in Late Antiquity: the Danube, the Tervingi, and the Slavs,\u201d lecture for the Program in Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, Rice University (Houston, Texas, April 18, 2002)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2000<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBasarabi: a rock monastery on the tenth-century frontier of medieval Bulgaria,\u201d lecture in the Florida Museum of Natural History Archaeology Brown Bag Series (Gainesville, Florida, February 9, 2000)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cByzantine Dark Ages,\u201d lecture for the Department of Classics at the University of Florida (Spring 2000; again in Spring 2001)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1999<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPots and Slavs: archaeology, ethnicity and the construction of national identities,\u201d lecture at the invitation of the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Russian and East European Studies, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, April 2, 1999)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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