Maximilian Lau（マクシミリアン　ラウ）

1. Educational History

Oxford University MSt 2011 in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
Oxford University DPhil 2016 in History

2. Working & research experience

- Grant Funded Visiting Scholar, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Oxford University, March 2017-September 2018
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Short Term Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo March 2016-March 2017
- Guest Lecturer at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, lectures include Globalisation before the Age of Discovery, March 2016-March 2017.
- Extensive Fieldwork experience in Turkey, Serbia, Kosovo and Iran 2013-8 Supported by the awards below and the British Institute at Ankara.
- Tutor at the Middlebury College-Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Oxford Humanities Program - Byzantium, 2015-Present
- Tutor at Scholarship & Christianity In Oxford Institute - The Crusades
- Oxford University History Faculty Tutor - The Crusades, 2015-Present
- Oriel College, Oxford Tutor - Academic Writing, 2011-2016
- Teacher at Oxbridge Summer Programs - War in World History, British History, Summer 2014-Present
- Assistant Curator - Guernsey Museums and Galleries Summer 2010 - Research and Organisation of Guernsey Military Museums

3. Teaching at Hitotsubashi

A. Lectures

(a)Undergraduate program
English for Economists; Introduction to Medieval History;

B. Seminars

Undergraduate: The Crusades and Byzantium

C. Messages to students

My teaching compliments my research, and thus focuses on both the medieval world itself and how the legacies of that would still affect us today. My Medieval History lectures open up that world for beginners, focusing upon Europe and the Islamic world. My seminar series is an in depth look at the eleventh-thirteenth centuries, and both courses will contain how globalized systems: political, economic and religious, develop and how those systems in earlier centuries relate to us.
The English for Economists course is modelled upon my own experiences working at the European Parliament, and will involve aspects of academic writing as presentation giving in English as well as knowledge of current affairs.

4. Major research themes

My research currently consists of a mixture of three themes, namely:

- Teaching Medieval and Global History, along with Anglophone Current Affairs
- Archival Research and associated publishing
- Fieldwork Research (for example Turkey, Iran, Russia, Serbia, Kosovo, Japan) and associated publishing.

I aim to write the major study on the mid-twelfth century world of the Emperor John II Komnenos, together with shorter pieces over the next few years. These are both scholarly articles and media pieces. The latter often relate to how legacies of the medieval world are still with us today.

5. Research activity

A. Publications

(a) Books, including edited books
Editor: Landscapes of Power - Selected Papers from the XV Oxford University Byzantine Society International Graduate Conference, ed. M. Lau, C. Franchi and M. Di Rodi, (Peter Lang : Oxford, 2014).

(b) Journal articles (add * to publications in refereed journals)
- M. Lau, "Rewriting the 1120s: Chronology and Crisis under John II Komnenos" Making and Remaking Byzantium, Limes Plus Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences : Belgrade, 2016), pp. 87-108. *
- M. Lau, "The Naval Reform of Emperor John II Komnenos: A Re-evaluation" Mediterranean Historical Review 31.2 (2016), pp. 115-138. *
- M. Lau, "Immigrants and Cultural Pluralism in Twelfth-Century Byzantium" Seiyo Chusei Kenkyu 9 (Medieval European Studies - Byzantine Empire and the Medieval Christian World Special Issue) 2018 [Forthcoming] *
- M. Lau and Roman Shlyakhtin, "Mas'ūd I of Ikonion The Overlooked Victor of the Twelfth-Century Anatolian Game of Thrones" Byzantinoslavica LXXVI 2018*

(d) Others
- M. Lau, "The Power of Poetry - Portraying the expansion of the empire under John II Komnenos", in Landscapes of Power, see previous, pp. 195-214.
- M. Lau, ""Ioannoupolis: Lopadion as 'City' and Military Headquarters under Emperor Ioannes II Komnenos," From Constantinople to the Frontier: The City and the Cities ed. N.S.M. Matheou, T. Kampanaki and L.M. Bondioli, (Brill : Leiden, 2016), pp. 435-464.
- M. Lau, "Multilateral Cooperation in the Black Sea in the Late Eleventh and Early Twelfth Centuries: The Case for an Alliance between Byzantium, Kiev and Georgia," Cross Cultural Exchange in the Byzantine World, c.300 - 1500 A.D.: Selected Papers from the XVII Oxford University Byzantine Society's International Graduate Conference, ed. K. Stewart and J. Wakeley, (Peter Lang : Oxford, 2016), pp. 19-36.
- M. Lau, "Piroska-Eirene, the First Western Empress in Byzantium: Power and Perception," Saint Piroska 880: Holiness and Power in Komnenian Constantinople, ed. M. Sághy, (Central European University Press : Budapest, 2018)
- M. Lau, "A Dream Come True? Matthew of Edessa and the Return of the Roman Emperor" Dreams, Memory and Imagination in Byzantium, ed. B. Neil and E. Anagnostou-Laoutides (Brill : Leiden, 2018)
- M. Lau, "Rewriting History at the Court of the Komnenoi: Processes and Practices," Rewriting History in the Twelfth Century, ed. E. Winkler and C. Lewis, (Brepols : Turnhout, 2018) [Forthcoming]

B. Recent research activity

(a) Presentation at academic association meetings(add * to keynote speeches and invited speeches)
- "Control of Southern Italy - the Sine Qua Non for Byzantine Rule over Crusader Antioch" Oxford University Crusades Workshop 2012
- ""Will I be known as the philosopher? The warrior? The tyrant...?" - The Image of John II Komnenos in Constantinople" XIV Oxford University Byzantine Society International Graduate Conference 2012
- "The Suspicious Case of the Death of Emperor John II Komnenos - Cui Bono?" Leeds International Medieval Conference 2012
- "The Integration of Conquered Territory in the 10th and 12th Centuries - A Continuation of Imperial Policy by other means?" Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies Spring Symposium, Oxford 2012
- "Heroic History: Interpreting the Portrayal of Emperor John II Komnenos" Leeds International Medieval Conference 2013*
- " Piroska-Eirene: An Empress from the West" Piroska and the Pantokrator: Dynastic Memory, Healing and Salvation in Komnenian Constantinople Conference, Budapest May 2015*
- ""Grand Alliance" or "Marriages of Mayhem and Convenience": Byzantium, Hungary, Kiev and Georgia against the Nomadic Hordes" XVII Oxford University Byzantine Society International Graduate Conference, February 2015
- ""Prince of Sicily, the Triremes Lie in Wait for You..." Re-evaluating the Naval Reform of John II Komnenos" XVIII Oxford University Byzantine Society International Graduate Conference, February 2016
- " Emperor John II Komnenos and the Imperial Crisis of 1126" 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Belgrade 2016
- "From Crisis to Consolidation: Migration and Imperial Authority under John II Komnenos" Hospes eram et collexistis me: Crisis and Migration in Late Antique and Early Medieval Europe and Byzantium Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 4th/5th November 2016
- "From Usurpers to Unquestioned Autokrators: The Construction of Komnenian Authority under Emperor John II Komnenos" Authority beyond the Law: Traditional and Charismatic Authority in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Ioannou Centre, Oxford, 3 December 2016*
- "'The Dream That Was Rome': Memory of Empire during the Komnenian Restoration" Dreams, Memory and Imagination in Byzantium, 19th Australian Association of Byzantine Studies Conference, 24th-26th February 2017
- "Emperor John II Komnenos and Sultan Ahmad Sanjar Contact and Comparison" BSANA Conference, San Antonio 2018, 4th-7th October 2018

(d) Organization of conference and symposiums
- Principal Organiser of 'Landscapes of Power' Conference, Oxford University 2013, as President of the Oxford University Byzantine Society

C. Awards

Colin Matthew Fund 2014
E.O. James Bequest 2013
Dacre Graduate Research Prize 2012
Oriel College Travel Research Grants 2011-2016
Deans List Prize 2008-10, University of St. Andrews

7. Activities outside of Hitotsubashi

(b)Membership to academic associations
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Oxford, 2015
- Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies
- Byzantine Studies Association of North America
- British Institute at Ankara

9. General publications and journalistic activities

- M. Lau, "Trumpus Andronicus? What the Byzantine Empire can tell us about the rise of populist leaders" The Conversation Global Edition, 17th January 2017: https://theconversation.com/trumpus-andronicus-what-the-byzantine-empire-can-tell-us-about-the-rise-of-populist-leaders-70779 Reprinted in the Huffington Post US, 20th January 2017: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-conversation-global/trumpus-andronicus-what-t_b_14232606.html and other news sites.
- M. Lau, "Back for our Future: Lessons from the Crusades about Peace in Syria Today" co-authored with E. Jarrett, https://theconversation.com/back-for-our-future-lessons-from-the-crusades-about-peace-in-syria-today-73375 Reprinted in the Huffington Post US 28th April 2017: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/back-for-our-future-lessons-from-the-crusades-about_us_59009687e4b06feec8ac9216 and other news sites.