Τετάρτη 20 Οκτωβρίου 2010

Conference Announcement & Call For Papers: Family & Children in the Patristic Tradition, Brookline, Massachusetts, October 13-15, 2011

Source: NAPS
October 13-15, 2011
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
Brookline, Massachusetts

The Stephen and Catherine Pappas Patristic Institute of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology is pleased to announce its annual thematic conference on "Family and Children in the Patristic Tradition", which will be held next Fall on the school's campus in Brookline, Massachusetts beginning Thursday evening, October 13, and ending with dinner on Saturday, October 15, 2011. 

The Conference Theme: Children play a surprising role in several of the narratives in the canonical gospels. They are even viewed by Jesus as paradigmatic of the Kingdom of God, -"to such as these the Kingdom of Heaven belongs" (Mat 19:14). In other writings of the New Testament, and in the later patristic corpus, the treatment of children is more varied and complex, including shared viewpoints with the Graeco-Roman culture. The purpose of our conference is to engage those patristic writings, Greek, Latin, and Syriac, that treat the subjects of family and children; we will seek to examine both theological and socio-historical treatments of the family and children, attempting to deal with any gaps between the theoretical and the historical. Paper proposals that examine the use of "family" and "children" as metaphors will also be welcomed, including those treating monasticism. 

If you would be interested in presenting a paper related to the topic of the conference (approximately 20 minutes in length), please submit a one-to-two paragraph abstract of your paper between December 15, 2010 and February 15, 2011. Abstracts should: 1) present a clear thesis; 2) indicate knowledge of the sources; 3) show awareness of relevant methodological, historiographical, or philosophical issues; and 4) treat subject matter that falls within the parameters of Late Ancient and Patristic Studies. Please send your abstract, registration, or any inquiries, to Dr. Bruce Beck, Director, Pappas Patristic Institute (pappaspatristic@comcast.net). All papers will be considered for publication in our series Holy Cross Studies in patristic Theology and History published annually by Baker Academic. 

Please register at your convenience by email to Dr. Bruce Beck at pappaspatristic@comcast.net, with your name, institutional affiliation, address, and phone number. There is a $125 registration fee, which also includes all the meals and breaks during the conference. This fee is payable upon check-in. The registration fee for students is $40.00. The registration fee is waived for those presenting a paper. The conference hotel is the Sheraton of Needham. Shuttle service will be provided between the conference hotel and the campus. 

Funded in 2003 by a generous grant from the late Stephen Pappas and his wife Catherine, the goal of the Pappas Patristic Institute is the advancement and promotion of primarily eastern patristic studies and education in the service of the academy and the Church.

An interesting project



Lives of the Saints: The Medieval French Hagiography Project


Project Aims

The Lives of the Saints Project aims both to make easily accessible the information that is currently known about medieval French hagiography and to make evident the substantial holes in that knowledge.  By providing this information, and by demonstrating the central role of hagiography in medieval French culture and the inherent appeal of the works, we hope to stimulate and facilitate further research, especially the preparation of editions and translations that will make the Lives accessible to all readers.
The search tools we are developing will also permit more accurate and comprehensive comparative studies of hagiography.  Users will be able to find answers to questions such as
  • Into what types of manuscripts (size, expense, contents) were Lives of female virgin martyrs written before 1300 versus after 1300?
  • Is there a correlation between the choice of verse or prose and type of saint or of manuscript?
  • What changes are there in the terms authors use to refer to their works over the course of the Middle Ages, and is there a correlation to the type of saint about whom they write?
  • Which Lives were copied by identified scribes or in identified scriptoria? For which patrons?
  • In what manuscripts are there images of female-to-male transvestite saints?
  • How many versions are there of the Life of St. M__, what manuscripts contain them and what else do those manuscripts contain?
  • How do depictions of St. M__ in manuscripts compare to statuary representations of the saint?
  • In what regions was St. M__ particularly venerated? By what professions or groups of people?
This information will facilitate the identification of origins, dates and relationships of manuscripts; explorations of medieval poetics in popular literature; thematic studies of sanctity, gender and lay-ecclesiastic relationships; comparative studies of artistic and literary representations of saints; investigations into medieval modes of textuality; research into individual cults; and a wide array of interdisciplinary work.
In the second phase, the project will grow to include images and transcriptions of the full manuscripts of selected Lives, which will permit users to read and compare copies, and search for thematic, linguistic and rhetorical elements.
At a more theoretical level, we aim to explore the multidimensionality of the electronic medium as a means of conveying the transcendent character of hagiography. As the name "Lives" implies, these narratives exist in a complex relationship to the biological existence of their subjects: they are not static texts, but rather each manuscript copy is a prolongation of the saints' presence in the terrestrial world which records and solicits audiences' responses. The project will embody, in its very construction, this interactive quality and will articulate ways of representing the Lives that do not suppress their quintessential variability and do respect the inherent value of each unique manuscript.

About the Project


Contributors

Amy V. Ogden: Project Director & IATH Fellow
Worthy Martin: Database & interface design
Daniel Pitti: Database & interface design
Caroline Gates: Database & interface design, project construction
Robbie Bingler: Database design & construction
Felicia Johnson: Interface design
Research Assistants: Margaret Caldwell, Kate DeNeveu, Rachel Geer, Tiffany Stull

Funding & Support

Lives of the Saints: The Medieval French Hagiography Project is made possible by grants and support from the following sources:
  • The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities
  • The UVA Department of French
  • The Offices of the Dean of Arts and Sciences
  • The Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies

Project Practices

See a list of project practices here

Contact Information

Email Us or Contact us via the mailing address below:
The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities
Lives of the Saints
Alderman Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400115
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4115