Oxford Forgotten Christianities Seminar, Oxford University via Zoom, Mondays in June 2022, 5:00–6:30 pm (BST)

For the purposes of this project, ‘Forgotten Christianities’ are defined as those Christian linguistic and ethnic self-defined groups which traditionally have been overlooked by mainstream academia including, Georgian, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopic, Coptic, and Arabic Christianity. The “Forgotten Christianities” seminars will explore critical theories of identity formation, communal memory, and intellectual exchange in the history of the Eastern and Oriental Churches.

Each session will bring together doctoral students from various fields such as history, archaeology, theology, and the social sciences. Spanning Late Antiquity, the early Islamic era, and the Middle Ages, they will provide a diachronic and kaleidoscopic view of these historical communities and their self-representation. Participants are invited to engage critically with a range of theoretical frameworks and methodologies, such as postcolonial studies, memory studies, the history of ideas, and the development of cultural, religious, and social identity. Through exploring Christianities outside of Western Europe, the seminars aim to contribute to the paradigm shift which decentralises academic interest from a Eurocentric perspective, while showcasing the interconnectedness of societies.

Conveners: Bogdan Draghici (DPhil in Oriental Studies - Syriac, Wolfson College), Alexis Gorby (DPhil in Classical Archaeology, St John’s College), Dan Gallaher (DPhil in History - Armenian/Byzantine Studies, Balliol College)

This seminar series is funded by the Ancient World Research Cluster at Wolfson College, Oxford and supported by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH).

Seminars will be held on Zoom. Advance registration required.

Part II: Monday, June 13

Learning Ascesis in Three Steps: Training Novices in the Reform Monastic Tradition of the Church of the East
Dr Peter Miller, University of Iowa

The Rebuke Homily: Collective Trauma and the Christianization of the Syriac Speaking Peasantry
David Gyllenhaal, Princeton University