Inaugural Graduate Conference on Early Christian Studies: Memories
May 23-25, 2022





Conference Program
Monday, May 23
9:15-9:45 a.m. Opening remarks
- Timothy Matovina, Chair, Department of Theology
- Luca Grillo, Chair, Department of Classics
- Hildegund Müller, Director, Program of Early Christian Studies
9:45-11:00 a.m. Session 1: New Testament (chair: James Whitaker)
- Kendall Davis, The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Christianity as Revelatory Religious Experience: Faith, Christology, and Israel’s Scriptures in the Gospel of Luke
- Lilly Davis, The Independent Works of Luke: Further Evidence on the Early Christian Reception of Luke and Acts
- Eric E. Richter, The Father of the Church and the Woman Apostle: (Pseudo)Epiphanius of Salamis and his Interpretation of Rm 16:7 in Light of the Current Debate (on Zoom)
11:00-11:15 a.m. Coffee break
11:15 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Session 2: Testimonies of Christian Life (chair: Susan Francino)
- Madeline Link, A Woman with a Plan: Female Agency and Leadership in the Itinerarium Egeriae
- Melissa Yorio, An Analysis of Early Christian Graffiti found in Smyrna and Aphrodisias
- Maddie Hoaglund, Remnants of Feminine Power: An Examination of Epigraphy in Ankara (on Zoom)
12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30-3:15 p.m. Session 3: Latin Fathers (chair: Melissa Yorio)
- Marissa Swan, Reading the Body, (re)reading Lactantius’ De Opificio Dei
- Elise Abshire, “Trophies of Glory”: St. Augustine on Martyrs, Disability, and Resurrected Woundedness in Late Antiquity
- Michael Durant, United Bishops and the Boundaries of Communion: The Mediating Role of the Bishop-Priest in Cyprian of Carthage
- Karl Berg, Augustine of Hippo and Late Roman Slavery
3:15-3:30 p.m. Coffee break
3:30-4:45 p.m. Session 4: Poetry and Art (chair: Rachel Edney)
- Domenico Praticò, Cosmopoiesis and Ideology in Late Antique Greek Poetry (on Zoom)
- Kyle Dillon, The Aqedah in Late Antique Liturgical Poetry
- Lauren Beversluis, Martyrdom and Communion in the Mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale
4:45-5:00 p.m. Coffee break
5:00-6:00 p.m. Keynote Lecture: Robin Jensen (Department of Theology), Visual Typologies: Prodigies of the Passion in Early Christian Art
6:00-7:30 p.m. Dinner reception at Jenkins-Nanovic Hall (Atrium)
Tuesday, May 24
9:00-10:45 a.m. Session 5: Latin Poetry (chair: Theresa Crnkovich)
- Christine Ascik, Haec Opulentia Christicolis: Prudentius and the Christian Diet
- Susan Francino, Violence in Prudentius’ Peristephanon
- Bramwell Atkins, Desire and Documents in the Consolation of Boethius
- Hannah Resnick, Riddles in the Dark (Ages)
10:45-11:00 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Keynote Lecture: Éric Rebillard (Cornell University), Early Martyr Narratives as Living Texts: The Case-Study of North Africa
12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00-2:15 p.m. Session 6: Origen (chair: Luísa Portilho Andrade)
- Christopher Enabnit, Interpreting Traces of Divine Power in Origen of Alexandria’s Contra Celsum
- Hilary O. Nwainya, Apokatastasis and Eternal Suffering: Can there be a Dialogue between Origen and Augustine? (on Zoom)
- Adam Wyatt, Origen’s City of God
2:15-2:30 p.m. Coffee break
2:30-4:15 p.m. Session 7: Christians and Ancient Culture (chair: Karl Berg)
- John Ladouceur, ‘Dicta ex te et per te’: The Apocryphal Letters of Paul and Seneca and Fourth-Century Christian Debates About Rhetorical Eloquence (on Zoom)
- Regina Nagan, The Parallel Lives of Cornelia and Macrina: Mothers and Subversive Femininity
- Ben Moon-Black, Allegory, Education, and Quotation in Julian’s Seventh Oration
- Reed J. Morgan, Exegetical Encyclopedism: Isidore of Seville’s Scriptural Writing as Memory Aid, Spiritual Pedagogy, and Cosmic Theology
4:15-4:30 p.m. Coffee break
4:30-6:15 p.m. Session 8: Greek Fathers (I) (chair: Adam Wyatt)
- Andrew Kneeland, The Council of Nicaea and the Changing Function of Creeds
- Hayden Hagerman, Symbolizing Virginity: The Hermeneutics of the Symbol in Gregory of Nyssa’s On Virginity
- Milanna Fritz, Monastic Ascent as Paschal Anamnesis: Reception of Nazianzus’ Oration 45 in Maximus the Confessor’s Ambigua 45-60
- John Reilly, Peace Surpassing Understanding: The Strategic Christology of Pseudo-Dionysius
6:30 p.m. Dinner
Wednesday, May 25
9:00-10:45 a.m. Session 9: Syriac and Anti-Chalcedonian Writers (chair: John Reilly)
- Rachel Edney, The Eucharist in John Rufus’ Plerophories
- Michelle Freeman, Body and Senses in Ephrem’s Madrashe contra haereses and Madrashe de fide: Polemics and Epistemology (on Zoom)
- Maroun El Houkayem, A Syriac Orthodox Community of Discourse: From Timothy Aelurus to Daniel of Ṣalaḥ (on Zoom)
- Cana Kanda, Faith as Mother in the Discourses of Philoxenos of Mabbug
10:45-11:00 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. -12:45 p.m. Session 10: Greek Fathers (II) (chair: Milanna Fritz)
- Joshua Wong, The Death of Christ in the Thought of St Maximus the Confessor
- Samuel Korb, Configuring Divine Transcendence: Origen, Athanasius, Maximus
- James Whitaker, The State of Scholarship on St Nilus of Ancyra
- Luísa Portilho Andrade, Remembering the ἐνυπόστατον — Chalcedonian Christology and its Modern Remembrance
1:00-2:00 p.m. Lunch reception at Jenkins-Nanovic Hall (Atrium)
We look forward to welcoming you at our next event!
Hildegund Müller, Director
The students of the Program of Early Christian Studies:
- Bramwell Atkins
- Karl Berg
- Theresa Crnkovich
- Rachel Edney
- Tess Fitzsimmons
- Susan Francino
- Lucy Grinnan
- Gabriel Parlin
- James Schetelich
- Adam Wyatt
- Melissa Yorio