The Stephen and Catherine Pappas Patristic Institute of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology is pleased to announce its eighth annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Conference in Patristic Studies on March 8-10, 2012. The purpose of the conference is to bring graduate students together from the fields of Patristic Studies, Historical Theology, and the History of Christianity in Late Antiquity in a collaborative and theological setting to hear and discuss peer research. The conference will begin on Thursday, March 8, at 5:00 p.m., and ends with dinner on Saturday, March 10.
We now call for paper proposals. We encourage all doctoral and masters students with research interests in Patristic Studies, Historical Exegesis or Theology, or the History of Christianity in Late Antiquity, to submit a paper abstract of approximately 250 words. Topics relating to eastern Christianity, including Syriac-speaking Christianity, are particularly encouraged. Each presenter will have up to 20 minutes to present her or his paper, followed by a respondent’s prepared comments and group discussion.
Please send abstracts to the Institute’s Director, Dr. Bruce Beck, at pappaspatristic@comcast.net by February 8, 2012. Participants will be informed about the status of paper proposals by February 10th. The deadline for completed papers for distribution to the respondents is March 1st.
For those who live outside the Boston area that need financial assistance to attend the conference, partial financial aid is again available upon request to assist with your expenses. To request aid, please pre-register for the conference at your earliest convenience (but no later than February 8th) and please mention that you need financial assistance in order to participate. Note that due to economic conditions these last two years, we will be limited again in the amount of aid that we can provide each person.
To help with our planning, please pre-register at your earliest convenience. The registration fee is $25 to help offset the cost of meals during the conference, and will be collected at registration upon arrival. To pre-register, please send an email to Dr. Beck (pappaspatristic@comcast.net) with your personal information, including address, phone number, institution, degree program, area of study, and dissertation topic (if applicable).
Conference lodging will be at the Needham Sheraton. If you will need lodging, please register as early as possible to facilitate reserving a place for you to stay. We will make the reservation for you at the hotel in order to facilitate sharing of rooms. The discounted conference rate per night is $95 plus taxes, or $55 for those who wish to share a room. Let us know if you there is someone with whom you would like to share a room.