PSCO
Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins
an Interdisciplinary Humanities Seminar
in its fiftieth-eighth year under the auspices of
The University of Pennsylvania
Department of Religious Studies
201 Cohen Hall, Philadelphia PA 19104
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Presentation: 15 April, 2004
Traditions involving the
Virgin Mary
Vasiliki Limberis, Temple University
Ann Matter, University of Pennsylvania
THE FIFTH MEETING OF THE 2003-04 YEAR will be held on Thursday, 15 April 2004, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Second Floor Lounge, Logan Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. For some background on the topic ("Parabiblical Prosopography: Personal Names Associated with Parabiblical Literature," which is a continuation of the previous year's topic), see the PSCO web page for Year 40 and especially Bob Kraft's page, Parabiblical Literature (with links to electronic versions of M.R. James' Lost Apocrypha and similar materials with early Christian focus).
Persons wishing to dine with other participants prior to the meeting should meet at 6 pm at Logan Hall, Second Floor Lounge (southeast of Locust Walk and 36th Street Walk) or go directly to the Food Court in the basement of Houston Hall (just east of Logan, along Spruce Street), where an international variety of food choices is available at reasonable prices.
Program
Ann Matter (University of Pennsylvania) and Vasiliki Limberis (Temple University) will focus our attention on traditions (including texts and art) relating to Mary, mother of Jesus, in the late-antique and early medieval worlds, east and west.
For those who like to browse the web, there is an astounding amount of material relating to "virgin Mary," "Mary mother of Jesus," "Dormitio Mariae" (= Koimesis Theotokou) and the like — use google.com for such phrases and/or terms — including lots of "images of Mary," from various contexts (search on that phrase, but also use the "image" option at the top of the google.com menu with any of the searches).
For an early tradition with biographical claims, see the "Protevangelium Jacobi" (Book of James, Infancy Gospel of James) &mdash online information is collected at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/infancyjames.html.
In the "New M.R. James" project, Bob has begun to gather relevant information on Mary, and other early Christian figures connected with parabiblical literature; see http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/735/Parabiblical/NTParabib.htm (search for Mary) -- your suggestions and contributions to this material would be most welcome!
For some backgrounding on the topic (which is a continuation of the previous year's topic), see the PSCO web page for the topic and especially Kraft's Introduction to Parabiblical Literature (with links to electronic versions of M. R. James' Lost Apocrypha and similar materials with early Christian focus).
Looking Ahead
If you have suggestions for the coming year (2004-2005) -- including attention to organization and leadership -- please let Bob Kraft know.
- Howard Kee has mentioned exploring connections between early Christianity and Stoic thought.
- There has also been some interest in pursuing areas often labelled "magic" and "astrology."
- And a project to update Harnack's Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the first Three Centuries, taking account of his 1924 revisions as well as new developments, has appeal (and is already underway) -- similar to the Bauer project three decades ago!