Source: Maijastina Kahlos blog.
Popular & Elite: Religious Practices in Late Antiquity
The XXI
Finnish Symposium on Late Antiquity will be organized on October 12-13, 2012.
The aim of the symposium is to bring together students and scholars with an
interest in Late Antiquity from a variety of universities and disciplines. This
year, we explore broadly the interaction between popular and elite religious
practices in Late Antiquity, but suggestions for papers dealing with other
topics will also be considered. Our main aim is to stimulate interdisciplinary
dialogue between philology, archaeology, history, theology, art history and
other disciplines that deal with Late Antiquity. Geographically, the focus of
the symposium is on the Mediterranean world.
The
symposium will be organized in the premises of a zoological research station
operated by the University of Helsinki at a beautiful location at Tvärminne on
the southern coast of Finland (http://luoto.tvarminne.helsinki.fi/english). It
is organized by Classical Philology (Department of World Cultures, University
of Helsinki) together with an interdisciplinary organizing committee (see
below).
This
year’s symposium features three specially invited speakers,
- Guy
Stroumsa (Oriental Institute, University of Oxford / The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem): “Reading practices in early Christianity and the individualization
process”. Prof. Guy Stroumsa is the specialist of intellectual and cultural
history of ancient religions, especially early Christianity with a focus on
esoteric traditions. He has published e.g., Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions
and the Roots of Christian Mysticism (1996), Barbarian Philosophy: The
Religious Revolution of Early Christianity (1999) and La fin du sacrifice:
Mutations religieuses de l’antiquité tardive (2005, in English The End of
Sacrifice: Religious Transformations of Late Antiquity (2009).
- Sarah
Stroumsa (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem): “Mass education and elite
formation: the Almohad version”. Prof. Sarah Stroumsa is the specialist of
ancient and medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophies. She has published e.g.,
Maimonides in his World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker (2009) and
Freethinkers of Medieval Islam: Ibn al-Rawandi, Abu Bakr al-Razi, and Their Impact
on Islamic Thought (1999).
- Reidar
Aasgaard (University of Oslo): “Childhoods A.D. 400: Three saints on Christian
upbringing”. Prof. Aasgaard is the specialist of ancient religions, esp.
Christianity and the history of childhood. Among his publications are The
Childhood of Jesus: Decoding the Apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Eugene
(2009) and My beloved brothers and sisters! Christian Siblingship in Paul
(2004).
There is
space for a maximum of eight more papers. If you wish to deliver a paper,
please send a short abstract (of less than 300 words) by June 1st, 2012 to Dr.
Ville Vuolanto (ville(dot)vuolanto(at)uta(dot)fi). Applicants will be informed
by late June whether they have been accepted. We have reserved 30 minutes for
each presentation, including discussion following the paper. Therefore, we
recommend limiting the papers to 15 minutes.
The
seminar is free. We will offer transportation from Helsinki to Tvärminne and
back, as well as accommodation, meals, coffee and sauna at Tvärminne. However,
we are not able to cover the costs for travelling to Helsinki first, or accommodation
there. Registration for the conference will start August 15th, 2012.
The
Finnish Symposium on Late Antiquity is organized annually since 1992. It
started as a Finnish-language seminar for postgraduate students. However, over
the years, more and more papers were presented by established scholars.
Moreover, in many years, a few well-known scholars were invited from abroad,
and the language of the symposium was changed to English, thus making it more
and more international. This year, for the second time, we do not only have a
few specially invited guests from abroad, but we invite suggestions for papers
from anyone who is interested. In keeping with the symposium’s traditions, we
encourage not only senior, but also junior scholars and postgraduate students
to participate.
The
organizing committee:
- Maijastina Kahlos (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies / Classics, University of Helsinki)
- Ulla Tervahauta (Biblical Studies, University of Helsinki)
- Ville Vuolanto (History, University of Tampere)