Association canadienne des études patristiques (ACEP)/ Canadian Society of Patristic Studies (CSPS)

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Volume 25, no. 2 (November 2001)

In This Issue...

Our conference at Laval this year was notable for the large number of papers given, the number of students who gave papers, and for the number of international scholars and students, Australian, American, and British, who participated. The conference proper was preceded by a joint session the day before, organised by Theo De Bruyn, with the Buddhist Studies Group of the CSSR, on the topic of parallels between "naming" varieties of Buddhism in Canada and varieties of Christianity in antiquity.

Lucian Turcescu was the programme chair for the conference; and we are thankful also for the considerable work Lucian put in as our webmaster and editor of the Bulletin for the past four years. We are grateful that Tim Pettipiece graciously agreed in the Spring to take on these responsibilities.

The executive held its autumn telephone meeting on 2 November, 2001. We discussed a number of matters, including our participation in the next Learneds. We shall be meeting at the University of Toronto, 28-30 May, 2002. Joanne McWilliam graciously agreed to be our local representative, and Ritva Williams is programme chair. Catherine Conybeare has accepted our invitation to give a presentation on her book, Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola (OUP, 2000). Kevin Coyle and Mark Vessey will be the respondents. We shall be having a joint session with Tyndale College on the patristic interpretation of the Letter to Romans as part of their conference on the history of the interpretation of the Letter, which they have organised to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Papers are by invitation.

We voted at the AGM to increase the Society's fee for regular members by $10. It had not been raised for some years and it still is one of the lowest fees for an academic society. Last year I reported as a matter of concern that our membership numbers had dropped. They have significantly improved, now standing at 77. Nevertheless, we encourage you all to approach people whom you think might be interested in being members of the Society. Application forms are available at http://www2.ccsr.ca/csps/application.html or from Prof. Patrick T.R. Gray, CSPS Secretary, York University (Atkinson), 4700 Keele Street, North York, ON M3J 1P3 Canada

Peter Widdicombe
McMaster University

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I. CALL FOR PAPERS: THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF PATRISTIC STUDIES

PROGRAMME PROPOSALS

Annual Meeting: University of Toronto, May 28-30, 2002

The Canadian Society of Patristic Studies will hold its annual meeting at the University of Toronto from May 28th to 30th, 2002. Papers in English or French are invited for presentation in the form of short communications followed by discussion (time for presentation and discussion is usually 30 minutes). Proposed titles, along with an abstract of approximately 100 words, should be submitted by January 31, 2002 at the latest.  Please submit proposals in both digital format (e-mail attachment or diskette) and paper copy. The programme must be approved for printing in February; therefore, proposals that are not submitted in time cannot be accommodated within the schedule. Please send proposals for papers, communications or other events for the programme to the Programme Coordinator:
 

Dr. Ritva H. Williams
Department of Religion
Augustana College
639 – 38th St.
Rock Island, IL 61201
rewilliams@augustana.edu
 

APPEL DE COMMUNICATION: LA SOCIETE CANADIENNE DES ETUDES PATRISTIQUES

SOUMISSIONS AU PROGRAMME

Reunion annuelle: Université de Toronto, 28-30 mai, 2002
 

La societé canadienne des études patristiques tiendra sa reunion annuelle à l’Université de Toronto du 28-30 mai 2002 dans le cadre du Congres des sciences sociales et humaines. Vous êtes invités à presenter, en francais ou en anglais, une courte communications suivie d’échanges, le tout reparti sur une periode de trente minutes. On devra faire parvenir au plus tard le 31 janvier 2002 le titre de la communication et un bref résumé d’une centaine de mots au responsible du programme. On vous demande de soumettre les renseignements en forme digitale (courrier électronique ou disquette) et sur papier, à:
 

Dr. Ritva H. Williams
Department of Religion
Augustana College
639 –38th St.,
Rock Island, IL 61201
rewilliams@augustana.edu

II. CALL FOR PAPERS: CSBS RELIGIOUS RIVALRIES SEMINAR

This year, the Religious Rivalries seminar turns its attention to the area of North Africa, particularly the city of Carthage. Richard Ascough, the convenor, writes: "We are looking for papers that will provide a general orientation to aspects of religious life in that area. We are particularly interested in looking at conflict and cooperation among religious groups within this area and between groups in this area and groups elsewhere in the circum-Mediterranean world. We are attempting to discern the nature and levels of interactions among religious groups. We are also interested in papers that discuss the use of the New Testament in North Africa."

Please contact Richard for further information, either by email (rsa@post.queensu.ca) or by snail mail (Richard Ascough, Queen's Theological College, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6), or visit his Rivalries website. Proposed titles, along with an abstract of approximately 100 words, should be submitted to him; seminar convenors are also expected to submit their recommendations to the Programme Coordinator, so they need to hear from potential contributors by December 15, 2001 at the latest. Contributors should submit their proposals in both digital format (e-mail attachment or diskette) and paper copy. Copies of the papers selected for the Seminar will be available on this website in .pdf format about one month prior to the Conference. See  Religious Rivalries Website
 

III. CALL FOR PAPERS: "PROMISED LANDS"

The Committee for Medieval Studies at the University of British Columbia invites proposals for papers to be given at its Thirty-Second Medieval Workshop, to be held at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, UBC

24-26 October 2002

on the theme of

PROMISED LANDS:
THE BIBLE, CHRISTIAN MISSIONS,
AND COLONIAL HISTORIES IN LATIN CHRISTENDOM,
400-1700 AD

"Latin Christendom" is meant in a broad sense, so as to include Roman Catholic and Protestant missions to Asia and the Americas as well as the "conversions" of European peoples. Similarly, "mission" will be taken to embrace all forms of religio-political expansionism, including those involving armed force. The aim of the workshop will be to bring together scholars working on chronologically and geographically separated theatres of christianization, to address the complex of relations between

-narratives and theories of territory, conquest and settlement derived from or referred to the BIBLE,

-emergent histories of CHRISTIAN EMPIRE and of the MEDIEVAL or EARLY MODERN NATION, and

-ideas and stories of land-title, nationhood and empire among COLONIZED and/or CHRISTIANIZED peoples before, during and after exposure to Christian missions.

Contributions are solicited from specialists in all relevant fields. Comparative and/or interdisciplinary perspectives will be especially welcome.

Please send a short biography and proposal (max. 500 words) to:

Mark Vessey/ Christine Jones
Department of English
University of British Columbia
397-1873 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6T 1Z1

file:///C|/My%20Documents/CSPS/mvessey@interchange.ubc.ca
file:///C|/My%20Documents/CSPS/jonesc@interchange.ubc.ca

fax +604.822.6906

Deadline for submissions: 1 March 2002.
 
 

IV. CALL FOR PAPERS: Center for the Study of Early Christianity

        Conference on "The Early Christian Book"

to be held at The Catholic University of America

6-9 June 2002

1. INTRODUCTION

Christianity is assuredly a 'Religion of the Book'.  It is also quintessentially a religion of books.  From the eunuch in his chariot in Acts to the young Antony in his Egyptian village church, most converts to the new religion were stirred either by their own reading or by hearing others read and explain written texts.  To take perhaps the most famous example, even a casual reader of Augustine's Confessions will recognize how every step in his path to full belief was marked by the reading of a book—Cicero’s Hortensius, the libri Platonicorum, and the Letters of Paul.  More generally, Christianity's use of books to refute opponents, construct or contest orthodoxy, convince skeptics, and ensure organizational and doctrinal continuity makes Christianity strikingly different from other Greek or Roman religions.

Those aspects alone will be sufficient to stimulate debate among scholars from a variety of disciplines.  But there are a number of allied topics that invite discussion, including the development of the scriptural canon, the techniques of reading and writing, ideas about translation, the liturgical setting within which texts were so often deployed, and the material culture upon which book production and distribution depended.

2. THE FORM OF THE CONFERENCE

The conference will include a number of plenary papers, starting in the evening of the first day and ending in the morning of the fourth day.  Plenary speakers have been personally invited (see list below).  There will also be 20-30 minute time-slots for a limited number of other speakers, also devoted to different aspects of the conference theme.  There will be a generous amount of time available for discussion, a banquet, and information about places of interest in Washington.  We hope to publish the plenary papers and a selection of other papers in a single volume, with an editorial introduction.

Accommodation will be provided in comfortable, modern premises on the campus of the University, where all the proceedings will take place.  The registration fee will be US$45; but full-time graduate students working on their dissertation will be allowed to register for US$30, with a brief supporting letter from their dissertation director.  Maps and other details will be advertised and distributed in the coming Fall.  Meanwhile, those interested are invited to make a regular note of our website, http://arts-sciences.cua.edu/ecs/intro.html

3. INVITED SPEAKERS

(Described in greater detail on the website)

Earlier this year, having advertised our conference, we called for ‘expressions of interest’, and in particular, titles of papers that participants might like to present.

We have invited eight scholars to give substantial papers, and all have accepted:

Professor Daniel Boyarin, Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, Departments of Near Eastern Studies and of Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley: Professor Boyarin will speak on the fundamental difference in the nature of the books that Christians and Jews made in late antiquity.

Professor Gillian Clark, Professor of Ancient History, University of Bristol: ‘City of Books: Augustine and Commentary’.

Dr. Kim Haines-Eitzen, Assistant Professor of Early Christianity, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University: ‘Engendering Palimpsests: Gender and Text Transmission in Early Christianity’.

Dr. Caroline Humfress, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Law, Department of Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley: ‘Judging by the Book: Christian Codices and Late Antique Legal Culture’.

Professor Samuel Lieu, Professor of Ancient History, Macquarie University, Australia: ‘Books for Burning and Hiding: Manichaean Codices from Egypt to Central Asia’.

Dr John Lowden, Courtauld Institute of Art, Reader in the History of Art in the University of London: ‘Questioning the Role of the Visual in the Early Christian Book’.

Dr. Claudia Rapp, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles: ‘Books and Holiness: the Medium as Message in Late Antiquity’.

Professor Mark Vessey, Holder of a Canada Research Chair in Christianity and Culture in the Department of English, University of British Columbia, Vancouver: ‘On Codicology: the Early Christian Book between History and Theory’.

4.  REQUEST FOR ABSTRACTS

(Do not send Registration monies at this time)

We intend to publish the bulk of the papers presented at the conference, and we have eight slots available to other speakers for the presentation of twenty-minute papers (the whole conference will consist of plenary sessions).  In the interest of cohesion in the final volume, we are asking speakers to adhere very closely to the theme of the conference.

§ If you have already expressed an interest in presenting a paper, please send us an abstract (200 words) before

    1 December 2001.

§ If you have not, but would now like to, please send us, again by 1 December 2001, a title, together with an abstract and a brief explanation of how you intend your paper to fit into the conference theme.

§ All abstracts received by 1 December will be considered together, shortly afterwards, by the Conference Planning Committee, and eight papers will be chosen.  The speakers so accepted will be notified before Christmas.

§ Address for abstracts: Professor Philip Rousseau, Center for the Study of Early Christianity, Catholic University of America, P.O. Box 337, Washington, DC 20064, United States of America; or by Microsoft Word E-mail attachment to rousseau@cua.edu

We look forward to your response.

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Patricia Clements, the President of the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada (HSSFC) sent this letter recently to members of the Annual General Assembly of the HSSFC.  It provides an update on ongoing work at the HSSFC as well as information on a new initiative, a proposed Canadian Endowment for the Humanities and Social Sciences.  Theodore de Bruyn is CSPS's representative to the Annual General Meeting of the HSSFC, which will next meet on November 24-25, 2001.  If you have any comments or questions, please contact him at tdebruyn@cyberus.ca or (613) 730-7841.

Update from the President of the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada:

     In preparation for our meeting at the end of November, I am writing to bring you up to date on current activities of the Federation, and to tell you of a recent important decision of the Federation's Board of Directors relating to the financial future of the Federation.

     First, the update. As you will recall from our discussions at the Annual General Meeting in November 2000, we laid out a very ambitious plan of activity for this year. It's been busy:

     This year, the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme celebrated its sixtieth anniversary, and Judith Herz, who in November is completing her work as Chair of the Programme, together with the Management Board and Federation staff, produced an outstanding evening at the Congress in Laval. This was not only a splendid celebration, but also a clear demonstration of the effectiveness and importance of the ASPP in the creation of Canadian intellectual culture. This celebration of 60 years of support for research dissemination in the humanities and social sciences in Canada is not over: we will continue it at our Annual General Meeting in November.

     Our communications efforts ­ driven by the strategy presented at the AGM in November 2000, and managed by Denise Pelletier, our Vice-President for External Communications, with Douglas Lauriault, the Director in that area ­ continue to develop successfully. Later in October, we will be launching a major communication effort of promotion of the liberal arts in Canada. Watch for our brochure which will arrive as an insert in University Affairs in November.

     Michael Owen, Vice President Research Dissemination, has undertaken major work on behalf of the Federation in the area of Research Ethics. This is an issue on which he will report fully at the AGM. Within his portfolio are also other consultations on several areas crucial to our community, including our response to the SSHRC Humanities Report. The Congress at Université Laval ­ also in Michael's portfolio ­ was, by all accounts, an overwhelming success.

     A group comprised of Wendy Robbins, Vice-President for Women's Issues, Louise Forsyth, Past-President, Michael Owen, Vice-President Research Dissemination, with Judith Herz, Chair of the ASPP chairing, is looking into ways in which the Congress and the Federation more generally can actively encourage aboriginal participation.

     Our advocacy efforts in Ottawa have increased significantly. Recently, I met with the Director of Policy in the Prime Minister's Office to discuss issues related to research in the humanities and social sciences. On behalf of the Federation I presented a proposal to the Prime Minister for the establishment of on what we're calling the Canadian Graduate Research Fellowships. This is part of our plan for "Recruitment, Retention, and Recognition" in Canadian Universities: you will shortly receive a copy of this document. In August, I was invited to present a Federation brief to the House of Commons Caucus on Post-Secondary Education, which was meeting in Edmonton. This document is available on request from Jackie Wright.

     By the end of this month, I will, as Federation President, have addressed a conference on The Liberal Arts and the New Economy, spoken on targeted funding to the National Meeting of Vice-Presidents Academic, participated in the Association of Commonwealth Universities Canadian consultation on "Engagement" and in the meeting of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies, addressed the Board of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council on the subject of our central partnership with SSHRC, and presented a brief to the House of Commons Finance Committee. (See our website for the
document we submitted).

     We have been working to strengthen our key partnerships: with SSHRC, with the AUCC, with the CAUT, with other sister organizations in Ottawa and elsewhere. This work is bearing fruit: our brochure on the liberal arts is in part the outcome of our collaboration with the AUCC, which is launching a campaign for the arts and sciences on October 25th. And our key collaboration with the Council continues to be very positive.

     And finally, to bring all of this activity together in the light of our strategic goals, the Strategic Planning Committee, working with the Acting Executive Director, Paul Ledwell, is developing a strategic planning document to guide our work over the next few years. This document will be presented for consideration by members of the General Assembly in November.

Secondly, the financial future of the Federation:

     It is abundantly clear that, in the present circumstances, our disciplines need the strongest possible representation at the national level. Universities continue to be restructured; governments continue to fund programs in targeted areas. These issues alone require that the voice of the social sciences and humanities in Canada be strong. But these issues are not all. In our own disciplines, times are changing: new humanists and social scientists will be entering our universities in very large numbers
as the demographic shift enacts itself over the next decade. It will be absolutely essential for the health of our disciplines that the scholarly infrastructure, represented by the associations, and the voice of our disciplines, represented by the Federation, be strong and clear.

     As we have contemplated, planned and organized these essential activities, we have equally considered how to meet the challenge of representing our members. At current financial levels, the Federation's ability to deal with issues that affect our members is constrained. As we contemplate strategic and long-term goals for the organization, the question of resources and our ability generally to meet these goals is a central issue that requires careful assessment.

     As President of the Federation, I invited the Executive Committee to consider these issues, and I requested Dr Robert J. Merrett to help us analyse the potential for raising funds in support of the Federation's goals and mandate. Dr Merrett served as Associate Dean for External Relations and Fund Development during my term as Dean of Arts at the University of Alberta. Between 1997 and 1999, the Faculty of Arts conducted a fund-raising campaign that raised just over six million dollars.

     Professor Merrett provided a preliminary assessment of his findings to the Executive and the Board of the Federation last April. The Board passed a motion at this meeting requesting Dr Merrett, working with the Acting Executive Director, to develop a full proposal on a possible Fund Development Campaign for the Federation.

     On Friday, September 21, the Board met by teleconference to consider the plan Professor Merrett had prepared. The Board unanimously approved the plan to launch a five-year campaign in November of this year. It also unanimously approved a recommendation to create a term position of Vice-President for Fund Development, an item which will be soon sent to you
for ratification.

     The target of this plan is an endowment of $11.5 million in five years to be called The Canadian Endowment for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Income generated from this endowment of $550,000 annually, will allow us to sustain our existing activities and to develop newly vigorous support for the humanities and social sciences in Canada.

     This is a significant opportunity for the Federation, one that is crucial for the future of our disciplines and for the organization. It offers us the possibility of significantly strengthening the humanities and social sciences in this country. Our disciplines represent 53% of researchers in Canada, but, as is well known, only 12% of the research funding. We need an organization that is adequately resourced to speak for our disciplines in a strong, clear voice.

Of course, this means work. It also means renewal.

     I very much look forward to discussing all of these issues during our Annual General Meeting which is scheduled for the whole of Saturday, November 24, and the morning of Sunday, November 25. It will be a full agenda, and it will make a difference. On behalf of the Executive and Members of the Board, I want to tell you how much your participation in this meeting will matter. It will have impact on the future of the humanities and social sciences in Canada.

Yours sincerely,

Patricia Clements, DPhil, FRSC
President

Prix: Le gagnant ou la gagnante reçevra le status de membre-étudiant de l'association pour un an, ainsi que le choix entre un cheque de 100 dollars ou l'assurance de reçevoir des frais (jusqu'à concurrence de 200 dollars) de son voyage au Colloque Annuel de l'Association pendant les réunions des Sociétés Savants à l’Université de Toronto, le 28-30 mai 2002, dans l'objectif d'y présenter l'essai gagnant.

Date limite: le 15 janvier 2002
Notification: le gagnant/la gagnante sera notifié/e le 22 mars 2002 ou avant cette date.
Veuillez adresser les textes à:
Patrick Gray
School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario   M3J 1P3

Veuillez indiquer le nom, l’adresse, et le numéro de téléphone de l’étudiant.
 
 

Award: The winning essayist will receive one year of membership in the Society, as well as the choice between a cheque for 100 dollars or the assurance of receiving the costs (up to a limit of 200 dollars) of his or her travel to the Annual Conference of the Society during the meetings of the Learned Societies at the University of Toronto, 28-30, May, 2002, for the purpose of presenting the winning essay.

Deadline: January 15, 2002
Notification: The winner will be notified on or before March 22, 2002.
Please address submissions to:
Patrick Gray
School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario   M3J 1P3

Please include the name, address, and telephone number of the student.

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La base de donnée de la BIBP (http://www2.ccsr.ca/csps/www.bibl.ulaval.ca/bd/bibp/) a été mise à jour (upgrade) en octobre 2001. De plus, les principaux index de la BIBP sont maintenant disponible gratuitement sur le site en format PDF. D'autres index seront ajoutés dans le prochains mois.

The BIBP database (http://www2.ccsr.ca/csps/www.bibl/ulaval.ca/bd/bibp/) has been upgraded as of October 2001. Also, the principal indices of the BIBP are now freely available on the site in PDF format. Other indices will be added in the coming months.
 

Barbara Harrend
Mt. Angel Seminary
15039 S. Macksburg Rd.
Molalla, Or, 97038
USA
Phone: 503-829-3797
Fax: 503-829-3797
E-mail: barbara@molalla.net

Mr. Ihab Khalil
University of Waterloo
1408--10 Ruddington Dr.
Toronto, ON  M2K 2J7
Tel: 416-733-8676
Fax: 416-733-8676
the_hab@hotmail.com

For an up-to-date Membership Directory/ Annuaire de membres please check our Society's homepage www2.ccsr.ca/csps. Please send the Editor any address corrections or new homepages.

J. KEVIN COYLE's recent publications include: "Augustin et le manichéisme," Connaissance des Pères de l'Église 83 (sept. 2001), pp. 45-55; "Prolegomena to a Study of Women in Manichaeism," in Paul Mirecki and Jason BeDuhn (eds.), The Light and the Darkness: Studies in Manichaeism and Its World (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, 50), Leiden: Brill, 2001, pp. 79-92; "Memoriae Apostolorum: The Tombs and Remains of the Apostlesat Rome as Symbols in Augustine's Thought," in Pietro e Paolo: Il loro rapporto con Roma nelle testimonianze antiche. XXIX Incontro di studiosi dell'antichità cristiana, Roma, 4-6 maggio 2000 (Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum, 74), Rome: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, 2001, pp. 473-487; "Revisiting the Adversary in Augustine's Contra aduersarium legis et prophetarum" in M.F. Wiles and E.J. Yarnold (eds.), Studia Patristica XXXVIII. Papers presented at the Thirteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 1999, Leuven: Peeters, 2001, pp. 56-63; "What Did Augustine Know about Manichaeism When He Wrote His Two Treatises De moribus?" in  Johannes van Oort, Otto Wermelinger, and Gregor Wurst (eds.), Augustine and Manichaeism in the Latin West: Proceedings of the Fribourg-Utrecht Symposium of the International Association of Manichaean Studies (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, 49), Leiden: Brill, 2001, pp. 43-56.

MICHEL DESJARDINS: Publication: "Teaching with the Guide to the Study of Religion," in ARC 29 (2001) 139-150. Promotions, honours: Wilfrid Laurier University's Award for Teaching Excellence (2001); 3M Teaching Fellow (2001); Promotion to Full Professor. Research: On "Concept of our Great Power" (NHL VI,4).

To contact the Executive officers, please see the Membership Directory / Annuaire des membres

Président/President, Peter Widdicombe [2000-2002]

Vice-président/Vice-President, Pamela Bright [2000-2002]

Secrétaire/Secretary, Patrick Gray [2000-2003]

Trésorier/Treasurer, Tim Hegedus [2000-2003]

 Présidente du programme/Programme Chair, Ritva Williams [2001-2002]

Editeur du Bulletin & Webmaitre/ Bulletin Editor & Webmaster, Tim Pettipiece
[2001-2004]

Programme Committee:
Ritva Williams [2000-2002]
Lorraine Buck [2001-2003]
Andrei Brennan [2001-2004]

Nominating Committee:
Joanne McWilliam [2000-2002]
Nicola Denzey [2000-2003]
Donna Foley [2001-2004]

Representative to SSHFC AGM: Theo de Bruyn [1999-2002]
Representative to the CCSR Board of Directors: Harold Remus [2000-2003]

If you have not paid your membership fees for 2001, please do so. The fees are:

    $65 for regular members, with a subscription to Studies in Religion

    $40 for regular members, already receiving Studies in Religion through another society

    $48 for students or retired members, with a subscription to Studies in Religion

    $17 for students or retired members, already receiving Studies in Religion through another society

Contact: Tim Hegedus, Treasurer, CSPS/ACEP (file:///C|/My%20Documents/CSPS/thegedus@wlu.ca)

Contributions, new information on research and other scholarly activities in patristics, and corrections of addresses, etc., are always welcome. Please address all correspondence to the Editor: Tim Pettipiece (file:///C|/My%20Documents/CSPS/tpettipi@hotmail.com)

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