Orthodox Christian Studies Center

Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary

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The Orthodox Christian Studies Center provides a space within a university setting for engagement with Orthodox Christianity by undergraduate and graduate students, participating faculty, and friends. It seeks to promote understanding of Orthodox Christianity in Western Culture; to preserve and perpetuate a vibrant Orthodox Christian tradition in America; to articulate the value and relevance of the Orthodox Christian tradition; and to promote ecumenical dialogue and relations, especially with Roman Catholicism. 

Explore Our Mission and History

Orthodox Christian Studies Center

The Orthodox Christian Studies Center facilitates, finances, and publishes scholarship on the history, thought, and culture of the Orthodox Christian world.

Research, Scholarship, and Events

Research Initiatives

The center's research initiatives advance Orthodox thought and offer policy makers resources for engaging Orthodoxy in the public square.

Distinguished Fellowships

Each year, the center invites applications for distinguished fellowships for dissertation completion and Coptic studies, as well as the Faculty Fellowship.

Center Events

From history to art to faith, the center’s events are far reaching. Join us for our next event and see a listing of our past lectures, conferences and seminars.

Student Life and Special Publications

For Students

Learn more about Fordham’s Orthodox Christian studies minor and Orthodox Christian Student Fellowship.

Public Orthodoxy

The center’s editorial forum, Public Orthodoxy publishes op-eds from international scholars on a wide variety of topics to bridge the ecclesial, the academic, and the political.

Publications

The Orthodox Christian Studies Center produces a wide range of publications on Orthodox Christian history and contemporary thought.

Free Access to Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies

For a limited time, Johns Hopkins University Press is providing free access to the digital editions of its journals, including the Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies. Read it online on Project Muse.

Public Orthodoxy

Casting the First Stone of HeresyLet's Leave God Out of This!

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The TikTok “Bishop”The Stabbing of Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney, Australia

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Stepping Up to Jesus in ParadiseFor the Sunday of St. John Climacus

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On “Heresy” and the Commemoration of Patriarch Kirill

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The Moscow Patriarchate and the “Struggle for War”

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When Theology Fuels the WarFalse Prophecy and State Policy in “The Present and Future of the Russian World” Document

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Thinking beyond the ParishThe Church as Chapel

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The Fear of Tomorrow in Religious Education in Greece

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In the Image and Likeness of GodLet’s Talk About Orthodoxy and Race

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The True Meaning of Fasting in the Orthodox Church

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From Fordham News

Scholar Calls for Wider Acceptance of LGBTQ Community in Eastern Orthodox Church

Scholar Calls for Wider Acceptance of LGBTQ Community in Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Christian tradition can be a resource for acceptance and affirmation of the experiences of the LGBTQ faithful, a guest speaker said at a March 6 Fordham event, addressing current disagreements about their participation in today’s Eastern Orthodox Church. Especially regarding the LGBTQ community, the Orthodox Church has consistently become “hung up on the …

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A Question of Unity in Orthodoxy Amidst the Ukraine Crisis

A Question of Unity in Orthodoxy Amidst the Ukraine Crisis

Last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine dramatically expanded long-festering divisions in the Orthodox Christian Church. In a lecture at the Lincoln Center campus on Monday, Oct. 30, Nadieszda Kizenko, Ph.D., will examine this problem from a historical perspective and consider how Orthodox Christianity can move forward. “What Russia’s attack on Ukraine did was expose the …

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Scholar to Examine Religious Connections to Ukraine War

Scholar to Examine Religious Connections to Ukraine War

The Russian invasion of Ukraine captured the biggest spotlight on the world stage in February, and eight months later, the war it ignited continues to rage on. But there’s more to the war than just missiles and economic sanctions, said Elizabeth Prodromou, Ph.D, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. To fully …

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With Donors’ Help, Orthodox Christian Studies Will Gain Its Own Home

With Donors’ Help, Orthodox Christian Studies Will Gain Its Own Home

Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center has a growing national and international reputation, a vibrant scholarly circle, a widely read academic blog, and an academic minor that is the first of its kind in the country. Now all it needs is a home. With help from two of the University’s most generous donors, the center is …

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Media alert: Orthodox Christian Scholars Available to Discuss Ukraine

Media alert: Orthodox Christian Scholars Available to Discuss Ukraine

The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University has a group of scholars on hand who are available to discuss the situation in Ukraine. The scholars and journalists are part of a multi-year $700K project seeking to understand the relationship between Orthodox Christianity and multiple forms of human rights that brings together historians, political scientists, …

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‘The Healing Power of Penance’: Armenian Bishop Offers Advice for Pandemic Times

‘The Healing Power of Penance’: Armenian Bishop Offers Advice for Pandemic Times

The time has come for a fuller understanding of penance and its ability to heal us, especially during the pandemic, said His Grace Bishop Daniel Findikyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who spoke at Fordham’s 2021 Economos Orthodoxy in America Lecture on Nov. 16.  “The time is right for a …

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Orthodox Christian Studies Center Welcomes 5 New Fellows

Orthodox Christian Studies Center Welcomes 5 New Fellows

Michele Watkins, Ph.D., is at least halfway finished with her first book, tentatively titled “Deification of the Desacralized: Critical Correlations Among Womanist & Orthodox Theologies.” Her project explores the ways Black women affirm their spiritual maturation and consider what it means to be one with God “while in flesh, in estranged bodies,” she said. This …

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Archbishop Addresses Orthodox-Catholic Reconciliation at Economos Lecture

Archbishop Addresses Orthodox-Catholic Reconciliation at Economos Lecture

Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center welcomed His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America for a wide-ranging Sept. 21 lecture on the future of Orthodox-Catholic relations. Speaking from the pulpit of the University Church on the Rose Hill campus, the archbishop traced the history of the Orthodox Christian and Catholic churches’ recent …

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Orthodox Christian Studies Center Welcomes Three New Fellows

Orthodox Christian Studies Center Welcomes Three New Fellows

As part of its commitment to supporting groundbreaking scholarship, Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center welcomed a new cohort of distinguished fellows into its ranks this month. Ashley Purpura, Ph.D., GSAS ’14, an assistant professor of religious studies at Purdue University, has been awarded the center’s NEH Faculty Fellowship. Elena Romashko, a Ph.D. candidate in religious …

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Orthodox Christian Students at Fordham Find Multiple Ways to Strengthen Their Faith

Orthodox Christian Students at Fordham Find Multiple Ways to Strengthen Their Faith

Art history drew Kassandra Ibrahim to Fordham’s Rose Hill Campus last year. But it was through Orthodox Christianity that she found true community. Ibrahim, a sophomore at Fordham College at Rose Hill, and Floriana Boardman, a junior political science major, have revived the Rose Hill chapter of Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), a student-led group …

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Theological Education in Focus at Orthodoxy in America Lecture

Theological Education in Focus at Orthodoxy in America Lecture

The theologians of tomorrow must be prepared to respond to ever-shifting contexts while contributing to the “ongoing symphony” of theology, a leading scholar told attendees at Fordham’s annual Orthodoxy in America lecture. “The task of theological education is not to enable students to answer questions that arise today, but to be able to respond to …

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