2012


PhD student Matthew Lootens presented the paper "Between Refutation and Commentary: The Development and Function of Fourth-Century Adversus Literature" at the conference "Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity X: The Transformation of Literary and Material Genres in Late Antiquity" at the University of Ottawa in March. He also recently contributed to the exhibition catalog Mount Athos in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries: Spiritual Life, History, Art, edited by Nikolaos Toutos (Thessaloniki: Mount Athos Center, 2012), by providing translations from modern Greek for the introductory material (13-27) and "The Spiritual Life on Mount Athos" (67-74). 

PhD student Allan Georgia presented "Translating the Triumph: Reading Mark’s Crucifixion Narrative against a Roman Ritual of Power" at the CUNY graduate student conference "Beyond Words: Translation and the Classical World" on Friday, March 8.

On Tuesday, March 5, PhD student Christine McCarthy, PhD student Krista Stevens, and visiting scholar Jeremy Cruz (Boston College, Fordham Center for Ethics Education) participated in a panel on Catholic Social Thought at Regis High School.  Attended by students at Regis and Dominican Academy the panel included a presentation on the principles of Catholic Social Thought, small group discussion, and a question and answer session.

Three members of the Fordham Theology Department are featured in the latest issue of the Center for Teaching Excellence's newsletter Enarratio. Associate Professor Maureen O'Connell contributed "Service Learning and Anti-Racist Pedagogy: Undoing Racism in the Classroom" (p. 7); PhD student Jennifer Illig contributed "The Vocation to Teach: The Road from Good Pedagogy to Jesuit Pedagogy" (p. 5); and PhD student Jon Stanfill contributed "Experiencing Byzantium with the Jesuits" (p. 6). Read the newsletter here.

On February 13, 2013, PhD student Lisa Holsberg presented “Race for the Sky and 9/11: Creating Form out of Chaos” at the Memories of Conflict, Conflicts of Memory International Conference hosted by the Center for the Study of Cultural Memory, the Human Rights Consortium, the Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies, and the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies at University College, London. Information on Race for the Sky may be found on their website. While in London, Lisa also taught two masterclasses on Elizabethan song for students at Fordham’s London Dramatic Academy. In December 2012, Lisa also published her essay “Beauty and the Unceasing Movement of Desire in St. Gregory of Nyssa’s On the Life of Moses” in The Concept of Beauty in Patristic and Byzantine Theology, edited by John Anthony McGuckin (Theotokos Press, 2012). In that same month, she presented her paper “All in the Family: Metanoia and ‘Living to God’ in The Shepherd of Hermas” at the December 2012 Sophia Institute Conference at Union Theological Seminary, New York.

During Summer Session II, Dr. Carolina Aznar of St. Louis University (Madrid campus) will direct an archaeological field school in Israel. Participants will excavate at the site of Tel Regev (near Haifa, Israel), learn about the history and archaeology of the region and the formation of the biblical texts, and travel during the weekends to many of the sites in the region (including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Dead Sea, Qumran, Herodion, Sea of Galilee, Capharnaum, Nazareth, Tel Dan, and St. John of Acre). Participants will be able to take 2 or 3 undergraduate or graduate credits in Theological Studies, Sociology, or Art History. The deadline to apply to join the project is February 28, 2013. Read the project description and email Dr. Carolina Aznar to request more information.

The Fordham Political Review is seeking politically engaged students to write short academic articles. Current editors are focusing on Domestic Politics, International Politics, Business and Economics, and the Middle East, but submissions don't necessarily need to conform to any section. Opinion is welcome, but proper evidence, argument, and citation are required. Articles should contain between 1,000 and 1,800 words and should be presented in a clear and concise form. Approved articles will be published at fordhampoliticalreview.org on a rolling basis. Submissions can be sent to dyoung2@fordham.edu.

The Woolf Institute, which specializes in the study of relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims from a multidisciplinary perspective, wishes to appoint a Junior Research Fellow for the duration of three years. The successful candidate will be expected to undertake original academic research in an area relevant to the Institute’s work and undertake a small amount of teaching. Applicants are expected to have completed their doctorate and be based in Cambridge for the duration of the appointment. The Junior Research Fellow will receive a salary of £26,000 p.a. and an annual research allowance of £1,000. The anticipated start date is 1 September 2013 but this is open to negotiation. A letter of application, CV including a list of publications, the names of two referees who may be approached, a project proposal (1,500 words max.), and a sample of academic work (8-10,000 words max.) should be sent to: Electors of the Junior Research Fellowship, Woolf Institute, Wesley House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge, CB5 8BJ, UK or e-mailed to Tina Steiner. Deadline for the submission of applications is March 1, 2013. Further information can be found at the Institute's website.

New Day Church (United Methodist) in the Bronx is seeking Sunday School Teachers. Commitment requires Sunday morning teaching and an interest in supporting the congregation's mission of "connecting with God, crossing boundaries, confronting injustice".  This is a paid position.  For more information on New Day Church visit their website or contact Dr. Jeannine Hill Fletcher.  Interested applicants can contact Pastor Doug Cunningham.

PhD student Michael Azar has accepted a full-time, tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Theology (New Testament) at the University of Scranton.

PhD student Andrew Ballard's review of John Kampen's Wisdom Literature has been published in the current issue of Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture 43 (Feb. 2013): 51-2.

PhD student Matthew Baker, together with assistant programs director of Princeton Theological Seminary Seraphim Danckaert, has organized a conference: "What is the Bible? The Patristic Doctrine of Scripture" (Friday, Feb. 15 - Saturday, Feb. 16), sponsored by the Fr Georges Florovsky Orthodox Christian Theological Society of Princeton University and the School of Christian Vocation and Mission at Princeton Theological Seminary. Plenary speakers include Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis, John McGuckin, Patrick Reardon, Kathleen McVey, Paul Blowers, Michael Legaspi, and George Parsenios.

PhD student Brendan McInerny’s article, “Sharing in Triune Glory: Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics and Deification,” has been published in Cithara: Essays in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition 52:1, 50-64.

The Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" at the University of Heidelberg is offering a three-year PhD Scholarship within the Research Project "Jesuits in Asia and Europe - Transcultural Christianity and the Narratives of Orthodoxy". The project will examine early modern history of conversion in Asia and Europe as shared and entangled history, understanding religions as a field where actors negotiated with each other. The PhD project should preferably concentrate on Jesuits in the Madurai or Carnatic Mission. The PhD candidate is offered a tax-free scholarship of EUR 1,200 monthly and access to travel funds, technical equipment and institutional support. The scholarship will start on 1st March 2013. Applications and letters of recommendation should be submitted to PD Dr. Antje Flüchter by December 31. Additional information is available here.

The National Board of Directors of TAK invites entries for the 2013 Annual Albert Clark Award Sponsored by Theta Alpha Kappa, given annually to one undergraduate and one graduate student for the best papers in religious studies or theology, as judged by a panel established by the board.  Each competition winner will receive a $500 award, and his or her essay will be published in the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa. The competition is open to any student currently enrolled in or graduated from a school with a TAK chapter, provided that the paper was written while attending that school.  It is also open to alumni members of TAK. Papers should be submitted through a TAK chapter moderator. Deadline for submission is January 10. For more information, contact Fordham theology professor and TAK chapter moderator Dr. Maureen O’Connell.

PhD student Daniel (Reg) Kim has accepted the position of Visiting Instructor of Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin.

The following Fordham theology PhD students participated in this year's joint annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature:
Michael Azar presented "The Jews of the Fourth Gospel according to Cyril of Alexandria" to the Bible in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Traditions Section (SBL)
C. Andrew Ballard presented "Tongue-Tied and Taunted - Renegotiating A Theology of Weakness and Leadership in 2 Corinthians 5:13" to the Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making Seminar (SBL)
Allan Georgia presented "Hellenizing Holiness: Jews Dying like Greeks in front of Romans in 4 Maccabees" to the Hellenistic Judaism Section (SBL)
Brianne Jacobs presented "Broken Horizon: Karl Rahner, Judith Butler, and Charles Taylor on Knowing God through Relationality" to the Theology and Continental Philosophy Group (AAR)
John David Penniman presented "Potent (Eucharistic) Potables: Pharmacology and Ancient Memory Reconsolidation in Cyprian of Carthage" to the Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity Section (SBL)
Catherine Petrany presented "Seen But Not Heard: The Silent Child and the Discourse of Proverbs" to the Children in the Biblical World Section (SBL)
Monica Schaap Pierce presented "The Social, Ecclesial, and Cosmic Dimensions of Schleiermacher’s Gefühl: An Ecofeminist Reading" to the Christian Systematic Theology Section and Schleiermacher Group (AAR)
Elizabeth Pyne presented "Benedict XVI’s 'Human Ecology' in the Context of Africa, Women, and Development: Words of Caution for an Environmentally Conscious Christian Mission" to the Roman Catholic Studies Group (AAR)
Kathryn Reinhard presented "Ecumenism as Pneumatological Recognition" to the Christian Systematic Theology Section (AAR); she also presented "The 'Archive' and the 'Repertoire': Re-membering the Forgotten in the Body of Christ" to the Religion, Memory, History Group (AAR)
Daniel Rober presented "Ressourcement or Aggiornamento, Reform or Rupture? How the Council’s Theological Context Sheds Light on Its Interpretation" to the Vatican II Studies Group (AAR)
Nathaniel Wood presented "Beyond the Fathers: Vladimir Soloviev and Sergei Bulgakov on Philosophy and Dogmatic Development" to the Eastern Orthodox Studies Group (AAR); he also presented "Political Liberalism, the Church, and the Politics of Theosis" to the Christian Systematic Theology Section (AAR)

The Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" at the University of Heidelberg is offering a three-year PhD Scholarship within the Research Project "Jesuits in Asia and Europe - Transcultural Christianity and the Narratives of Orthodoxy". The project will examine early modern history of conversion in Asia and Europe as shared and entangled history, understanding religions as a field where actors negotiated with each other. The PhD project should preferably concentrate on Jesuits in the Madurai or Carnatic Mission. The PhD candidate is offered a tax-free scholarship of EUR 1,200 monthly and access to travel funds, technical equipment and institutional support. The scholarship will start on March 1, 2013. Applications and letters of recommendation should be submitted to PD Dr. Antje Flüchter (fluechter@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de) by December 31. Additional information is available here.

Ph.D. student Jonathan Stanfill was recently named one of Fordham's two HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory) Fellows. HASTAC is an international organization of scholars interested in the use of digital technology to foster new forms of communications across communities and disciplines.

The graduate student conference "Sacred Topographies," sponsored by the TGSA and organized by John Penniman and Allan Georgia, was a rousing success on Saturday. Among the presenters were Fordham Ph.D. students Brendan McInerny ("Constructing the Kingdom: The Aesthetic Dimensions of Locating the Liturgy") and Lindsey Mercer ("No Place for Damaged Bodies: Imagining the Kingdom of Heaven in the 4th and 5th Centuries").

Ph.D. student Jennifer Illig contributed to the teaching tips printed in the latest edition of Enarratio, the bulletin from the Center for Teaching Excellence.

PhD student Nathanael L. Inglis's article "The Kinship of Creation: An Anabaptist Ecological Anthropology" was published in The Conrad Grebel Review 30, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 162-187.

American Research Center in Sofia Academic Program Fellowship Competition
The fellowships are of 9-month (September-May) or 3-month (September-November or February-April) duration. In addition to independent research, Fellows will participate in ARCS academic program which includes a series of lectures, seminars, and excursions designed to provide a broad thematic vision of Bulgarian and Balkan history and culture from prehistory to present. Eligible students are graduate and advanced undergraduate students enrolled at North American academic institutions (or academic institutions accredited in North America) engaged in research on ancient, medieval, or modern Bulgaria or the Balkan peninsula, in any field of the humanities and social sciences. Fellows receive a monthly cash stipend ($600/month), housing in Bulgaria, language instruction, travel expenses within the academic program, and up to $1,000 for travel expenses between North America and Bulgaria. Up to 10 fellowships are awarded. An application consists of the application form (available at http://arcsofia.org/en/page/8-ARCS-Fellowship); a project proposal describing how participation in the ARCS academic program will serve your research interests (not to exceed five double-spaced pages); a current CV; academic transcripts; and two letters of reference from scholars familiar with your work. For full consideration, these materials must be submitted by email to ARCS Fellowship Committee at office@arcsofia.org. Applications are due January 15, 2013. ARCS expects to notify applicants of the decision of the Fellowship Committee by March 1, 2013. Please direct any questions about ARCS academic programs, fellowships, or application procedures to Professor Eric De Sena (sofiadirector@arcsofia.org), Director of ARCS or Dr. Emil Nankov (emil.nankov@arcsofia.org), Archaeology Program Officer of ARCS.

PhD student Jon Stanfill published a review of Peter J. Leithart's Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom in Horizons 39 (2012), 140-1.

PhD student Matthew Baker has produced several recent publications: "Georges Florovsky (1893-1979) -- Agon of Divine and Human Freedom" was published in the volume Creation and Salvation, Vol. 2: A Companion on Recent Theological Movements, edited by Ernst Conradie (Studien zur Religion und Umwelt Bd. 6/Studies in Religion and the Environment, vol. 6, Münster: LIT Verlag, 2012). He also published (by invitation) a review of Boris Jakim's recent translation of Sergei Bulgakov's Relics and Miracles: Two Theological Essays (Eerdmans, 2011) in the Fall 2012 issue of Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. He published an invited article in Serbian,"In Ligno Crucis: Èñêóïšåœå ó áîãîñëîâšó î. Ãåîðãè¼å Ôëîðîâñêè," in the most recent issue of the journal öðêâåíå ñòóäè¼å (2011 -- the journal is one year behind). And finally, he gave a podcast on the theme of "Theosis" for the program "Come Receive the Light" broadcast by the Orthodox Christian Network, which can be heard online at http://www.myocn.net/index.php/201208294234/OCN-News/OCN-Programs-September-3-7.html?option=com_content&Itemid=59&catid=25&id=4234&lang=en&view=article&fontstyle=f-default.

The Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College in Dublin offers research degrees (M.Phil., M.Litt, PhD) in a variety of specialized research themes including: Religion and Politics, Interreligious Studies, Politics of Peace and Conflict, Intercultural Theology, International Relations, Ethics in International Affairs, Ecumenical Theologies, and Theologies of Reconciliation. For those interested in pursuing a degree at the Irish School of Ecumenics more information can be found at www.tcd.ie/ise or contact ‘02 Fordham Alumnus Fr. Joseph Redfield Palmisano, SJ and faculty member at the ISE at palmisaj@tcd.ie.

PhD student Krista Stevens participated in a curriculum development workshop on Catholic Social Teaching and Issues of Justice at Villanova University in June. In addition, her essay, "The Beauty of Abu Ghraib: Art Transforming Violence," will appear in the upcoming issue of ARTS (23:3).

PhD student Michael Azar published a review of Robert M. Frakes, et al., eds., The Rhetoric of Power in Late Antiquity: Religion and Politics in Byzantium, Europe, and the Early Islamic World (New York: Tauris Academic Studies, 2010) in Church History 81:2, 420-421.

All graduate students are invited to join the Fordham Graduate Student Digital Humanities Group. The first meeting will take place on September 11, in Dealy 101, from 3:00-5:00 PM. The development and use of digital tools by humanists has and will continue to become a significant part of academic life. The group will meet on a twice-monthly basis to study digital humanities practices and methodologies, including research, publishing, and pedagogy. Any student may attend, regardless of his or her experience in this important, emerging field. Computer Science students with an interest in humanities scholarship are strongly encouraged to join. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Cornell (English Department) or Patrick Burns (Classics) at FordhamGSDH@gmail.com. Check out the website at http://fordhamgsdh.wordpress.com/.

NAPS: The following presentations were given by graduate students at the annual meeting of the North American Patristic Society in May:
•    Andy Ballard, "Ignorance as 'the Other' in Wisdom of Solomon, Paul, and Macrina"
•    Emily Cain, "Gregory of Nyssa: Moses' Journey through the Mirror Darkly"
•    Allan Georgia, "Aitia and Legitimacy in Tatian's Against theGreeks"
•    Jennifer Jamer, "Fourteenth Century Navel Gazing? Palamas and the Omphalos in Patristic Tradition"
•    Matthew Lootens, "The Rhetoric of the 'Ordinary' in Gregory of Nyssa's Contra Eunomium"
•    Lindsey Mercer, "Castration as Heresy in the First Origenist Controversy"
•    Eric Meyer, "Holy Light, Sacred Life: Animality in Gregory Nazianzen's 39th Oration"
•    John Penniman, "Gregory of Nyssa at the Breast of the Bridegroom"
•    Ashley Purpura, "Divine Realization: Rites of Order in (Pseudo)-Dionysius' Ecclesiastical Hierarchy"
•    Zachary Smith,"Angels as a Rhetorical Typos in the Apophthegmata Patrum"
•    Jon Stanfill, "Rethinking the Audience(s) of John Chrysostom's Homily to the Goths"

Graduate Students: Free subscriptions to Commonweal Magazine are available to theology students. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Patrick Hornbeck (hornbeck@fordham.edu) or request one online at 

• Brianne Jacobs, "Rethinking Catholic Mission in a Secular Age"
• Scott MacDougall, "Anticipated Communion”: Revitalizing Our Ecumenical Ecclesiological Imagination"
• Christine McCarthy, "The Poor as Locus Ecumenicus"
• Malik Muhammed, "A Compromised Imagination: Underlying Problems of Religious Consciousness in the West"
• Kathryn Reinhard, "Conscience, Interdependence and Embodied Difference: What Paul’s Ecclesial Principles Can Offer the Contemporary Church"

PhD student Michael Azar recently gave a public lecture hosted by the Interfaith Congregational Laymen's Committee of Harrison,  "Jerusalem: A City of All Faiths (?)", in which he discussed the current state of inter-religious cooperation and religious freedom for Jews,  Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. The talk  was attended by members of Harrison's synagogues and churches as well as the the town's mayor

PhD student Erica Olson-Bang has accepted a full-time, tenure-track position at the College of New Rochelle. Congratulations, Erica!

Congratulations to PhD student Michael Azar, whose daughter Sophia Eleanor Azar was born on March 21.

PhD student Krista Stevens presented her paper "What Does Guadium et Spes Have to Say toward Contemporary Issues of Racism?" at the Boston College conference "Visions of Hope: Emerging Theologians Envision the Future of the Church, 50 Years After Vatican II" on March 9-11.

PhD student Elizabeth Pyne presented a poster, "Revisiting Christian Secularity, Finding a Future for the Church: Edward Schillebeeckx’s Theology As a Resource for Hope," at the same "Visions of Hope" conference.

PhD student Scott MacDougall's essay “Scapegoating the Secular: The Irony of Mimetic Violence in the Social Theology of John Milbank” has been published in Violence, Transformation, and the Sacred: “They Shall Be Called Children of God,” 2011 annual publication of the College Theology Society, vol. 57, edited by Margaret R. Pfeil and Tobias L. Winright (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2012), 85–98.

PhD student Matthew Briel has been awarded a 2012 Summer Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks in Byzantine Studies to work on Gennadios Scholarios's "Five Tracts on Divine Providence" this summer.

PhD student Dan Rober has been accepted to the 2012 Collegium Summer Colloquy on Faith and the Intellectual Life, to be held at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, June 15-22, 2012.

PhD student Jack Downey has accepted a position at La Salle University. Congratulations, Jack!

PhD student Matthew Baker presented a paper on the ecclesiology of Georges Florovsky at the second annual symposium in honor of Georges Florovsky, which took place February 10-11 at Princeton theological Seminary. The symposium title this year was The Body of the Living Christ: The Patristic Doctrine of the Church.

Call for Papers: The 38th Conference on Value Inquiry on "Free Will, Responsibility, and Science": Submissions that address the interplay of free will with moral responsibility and deliberation, as well as the role of science in giving scope to notions such as free will and responsibility, are particularly welcome. The conference will be held at Salem State University (MA) on April 18-20, 2012. Click here for the call for papers announcement.

Call for Papers: 4th Annual PACE EthicsConference "Bioethics: Health Care & Treatment in Education and Practice": Submissions are invited on any topic related to ethics and values in medicine, medical research, the ethical practice of medicine, medical humanities, medical education and biomedical ethics in general. University of Texas – Pan American/Edinburg, TX 20-23 March, 2012. Click here for more information.

PhD student Erica Olson-Bang has published her article "Edward Schillebeeckx's Creation Theology as a Resource for Ecological Ethics" in Horizons 38/2 (2011): 253-273.

PhD student Scott MacDougall has published his article "The Covenant Conundrum: How Affirming an Eschatological Ecclesiology Could Help the Anglican Communion" in Anglican Theological Review 94 (2012): 5–26.

PhD student Catherine Osborne has published an essay “Migrant Domestic Careworkers: Between the Public and the Private in Catholic SocialTeaching” in the Journal of Religious Ethics.

PhD student Matthew Lootens has published an essay on Augustine in a recent volume edited by Paul Gavrilyuk Sarah Coakley, The Spiritual Senses: Perceiving God in Western Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012), 56-70. Essays in this volume were subjected to peer review.

PhD student Daniel Rober will present "Grace After Nature? Translating Grace for Postmodernity with Kathryn Tanner" to the Contemporary Theologies Section of the College Theology Society Annual Convention this June at St. Mary's University in San Antonio.

PhD student Scott MacDougall is now contributing to the Huffington Post. Read his first piece, "What are Christians Talking about When We Talk about the End of the World?" here. Another piece is coming soon.