See schedule for the seminars below
The Newman Seminar in Late Ancient and Byzantine Cultures aims to create a forum for open discussion about Christian history and cultures.
This by providing an opportunity for informal peer review of articles in preparation, book and thesis chapters, project proposals and conference papers on any topic pertaining to this field, broadly defined.
Expertise of core members includes Greek and Latin languages, biblical and patristic studies, ancient philosophy, early church history, art history, palaeography, and Byzantine/Medieval studies.
The seminar has a collaboration with the New Testament Studies research seminar at Uppsala University and with the Lund Patristic Seminar. We also welcome the possibility of organizing joint conferences.
Human culture is never solely fact, nor solely fiction, but includes whatever the human mind and spirit produce, including texts, images, liturgies, manuscripts and material culture. A critical analysis and contextualization of late ancient and medieval arts and literatures should underpin our understanding of the history of Christian traditions, and can provide apt connections to our experience of the present world. Inter-cultural perspectives are encouraged, demonstrating exchanges between classical and biblical worlds, as well as encounters among different faiths in the first millennium.
Participation
The seminar convenes on Wednesdays 4:00-5:30 PM CET (Swedish time) in hybrid format, via Zoom and at The Newman Institute in Uppsala (Hopkinssalen).
Papers can be circulated confidentially one week in advance in order to permit a thorough discussion concerning contents, analysis, and formal presentation of the materials. Collegiality and support across traditional subject boundaries are priorities.
To present a paper during the academic year 2025/26, for participation or for any questions concerning the seminar, please contact the chair, Barbara Crostini.
Autum Schedule 2026
For Zoom-link, contact Barbara Crostini
9 september
Yanxiao He, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
“How Did John Chrysostom Defeat Pantomime Dancers?: Journeys of the Mind from Antioch
to Constantinople”
Respondent: Florian Wöller, University of Copenhagen
30 September
Marta Serra Marì, PhD student, Departamento de Filología Clásica e Indoeuropeo
Universidad de Salamanca
“Masquerades and Parades of the Kalendae Ianuariae. Homiletic Testimonies of a Return
Journey from East to West”
7 October – Joint Seminar with Theology & Philosophy
Note: Different place and time: 3:00–5:00 PM in the ”Atéljen” att the Newman Institute.
Jayne Svenungsson, Professor in Systematic Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion at
Lund University
“On the Violent Theology of the Secular”
This seminar will not be on the usual Zoom link. If you would like to receive a link,
plaese contact marten.bjork@newman.se
4 November
Giulia Beccaria
“The Barlaam and Josaphat as a Modular Text: Rewritings and Transformations from
Manuscript to Italian Print”
2 December
Thomas Draghetti, PhD student, Stanford University
“Sensorial Experience and Interpersonal Perception in Late Antique Coptic Hermitages”
13 January
Andrei Dumitrescu/Barbara Crostini, Proposal on monograph on the Widow of Zarephath