We are pleased to announce that the COST Action CA23143 Participation through Prayer in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World (PRAYTICIPATE) has awarded its second Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) grant. This grant goes to Dr Emine Bilgiç Kavak, a historian based at Sakarya University, Turkey, whose research focuses on epigraphic sources from Late Antiquity.
During her STSM, Dr Bilgiç Kavak will be hosted by the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, where she will carry out a project titled “Epigraphic Traces of Participatory Prayer in Late Antique Anatolia: A Library-Based Approach.”
This study seeks to investigate the epigraphic evidence for participatory prayer practices in Late Antique Anatolia, with a focus on inscriptions that reflect communal religious rituals, commemorative acts, and the sacralization of space. While the central role of prayer in Late Antique religious life is widely recognized, its material and textual expressions—especially in epigraphy—remain comparatively understudied.
Utilizing the rich resources of the Bodleian Library and the digital epigraphic databases available at Oxford, Dr Bilgiç Kavak will identify and analyze inscriptions that illuminate how individuals and communities engaged in prayer, remembrance, and divine invocation in public and sacred contexts.
Supervised by Dr Ine Jacobs, the research stay builds on previous collaborative work and contributes a regionally grounded and methodologically integrative perspective to the study of the material culture of prayer. The results are expected to inform future publications and joint research initiatives related to prayer and devotional agency in the Late Antique eastern Mediterranean.
We are proud to support Dr Bilgiç Kavak’s project, which aligns with PRAYTICIPATE’s mission to foster interdisciplinary research on the lived experience of prayer in the premodern world.
Interested in applying for a COST Action Grant?
The COST Action Participation through Prayer in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World (CA23143) offers a range of funding opportunities for scholars working on topics related to prayer, devotion, and religious experience.
📌 Learn more: [COST Action CA23143]
For any funding-related inquiries, please contact our Grant Awarding Manager:
Dr Carolin Gluchowski (University of Hamburg)
✉️ carolin.gluchowski@uni-hamburg.de