The Virgin Beyond Borders: The Early Cult of Mary in Byzantium, Egypt, and Syria

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies is pleased to be hosting an international gathering of leading Marian scholars for a conference at SFU, running October 18-20th. The conference, entitled "The Virgin Without Borders: The Early Cult of Mary in Byzantium, Egypt, and Syria," seeks to bring together established and emerging academics for a multi-disciplinary event that will make connections across time periods, themes, and fields of inquiry.

October 18, 2018

Keynote Lecture 

• Female Deities of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Emergence of the Cult of the Virgin
  Dr. Niki Tsironis, National Hellenic Research Foundation

Lecture at 7pm, doors at 6:30pm

Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue
Salon 20, ICBC Concourse
580 West Hastings Street
Vancouver BC

*This event is free, but seating is limited. Please register online at eventbrite.ca

October 19, 2018

Conference Panels

Simon Fraser University
Halpern Centre, Room 114
8888 University Drive
Burnaby BC

*Open to the public - no registration is required

PANEL ONE: MANUSCRIPT TRANSMISSION AND THE VIRGIN IN CROSS-CULTURAL DIALOGUES (10 A.M.)

• On the Coptic Literary Tradition of the Virgin Mary
  Prof. Tito Orlandi (Sapienza University of Rome)

• Coptic Texts Related to the Virgin Mary: Literary Genres, Milieus of Productions, Places of Circulation
  Prof. Paola Buzi (Sapienza University of Rome)

PANEL TWO: THE MATERIALITY OF MARIAN VENERATION (1 P.M.)

• La conversion du Parthénon en église dédiée à la Vierge: témoignages littéraires et épigraphiques
  Dr. Maria Xenaki (UMR 8167, Orient & Méditerranée, CNRS Paris)

• Devotion to the Virgin Mary on the Crossroads of Coptic and Syriac Culture
  Dr. Karel Innemée (University of Amsterdam)

• Localizing Mary: The Physical Evidence for the Early Cult of the Virgin in the Eastern Mediterranean
  Dr. Sabrina C. Higgins (Simon Fraser University)

PANEL THREE: BOOKS ON MARY AND MARY IN BOOKS (3 P.M.)

• The 3D Virgin: Mary’s Tears Reflecting Greek and Jewish Laments
  Dr. Niki Tsironis (National Hellenic Research Foundation)

• Mary and the Book and the Ode Pictures in Early Christian Art
  Dr. Elena Papastavrou (Director of Ephorate of Antiquities (Pieria), Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports)