We have a release date! According to the publisher, our volume on late antique Syriac homilies will be released on Sept. 23. The website doesn't have a pre-order option, so mark your calendars! @philipforness.bsky.social @degruyterbrill.bsky.social

On behalf of the entire editorial board of the Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, I am happy to announce a new and timely special issue in open access: "Orthodox Reforms in the 'Long Seventeenth Century': The Kyivan Model," edited by Liliya Berezhnaya. Enjoy reading! brill.com/view/journal...

Call for Papers: TransLATINg the Bible: the Creation, Transmission, and Reception of the Latin Bible, conference at KU Leuven April 7-9, 2027 @kuleuventheology.bsky.social tinyurl.com/2rej975v

Very cool to see that this translation of the Syriac Chronicle of Seert is now out as I think its going to be very useful for late antique studies! www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978088...

The Chronicle of Seert, ca. 580–660 — Harvard University Press

The Chronicle of Seert, a Middle Arabic history written in the late tenth or eleventh century, draws on earlier Syriac sources from the Church of the East dating back to the sixth and seventh centurie...

hup.harvard.edu

Today @philipforness.bsky.social and I submitted the second corrected proof and all indices for this volume. Hope to see it in print some time soon! @degruyterbrill.bsky.social

I am happy to announce the publication of a new English translation of Jacob of Serugh's four homilies on Cain and Abel. It was wonderful to work on this project with Jeff Wickes! The homilies are fascinating theological and literary works: svspress.com/verse-homili...

Verse Homilies on Cain and Abel

Founded in 1968, St Vladimir's Seminary Press is the largest and most active publisher of Orthodox Christian books in the English language.

svspress.com

I have had such productive exchanges, including major grant writing, with colleagues from Exeter. If you have not already done so, consider signing this petition for theology and religious studies (docs.google.com/document/d/1.... ) and for the humanities (c.org/JFDSQr2WYV).

Sign the Petition

Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter

c.org

Just over a week left to apply! www.kuleuven.be/lectio/event...

Philip Forness@philipforness.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Come join us in Leuven for our Summer School on translations!

It's true! Villanova is hiring a tenure-track position in Eastern Christianity! Please share far and wide. aarsbl.org/job/tenure-t...

Heute ist Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften #lndw @bbaw.bsky.social Bei uns gibt es eine Führung (21:30/22:30 Uhr): Was machen wir eigentlich, wenn wir spätantike Texte edieren? Welche Methoden wenden wir an? Und welche Rolle spielt moderne Computertechnik? www.tagesspiegel.de/themenspezia...

Geschichte zwischen den Zeilen: So entschlüsselt eine Berliner Forscherin spätantike Handschriften

Zur Langen Nacht der Wissenschaften am 6. Juni zeigen Experten in der Staatsbibliothek, wie sie tausend Jahre alte Schriften neu herausgeben – und warum das wichtig ist.

tagesspiegel.de

📖New book! Edited by John-Paul Ghobrial, Michael A. Reynolds, Christian C. Sahner & Jack Tannous, it reimagines the history of the region by integrating Christian experiences and sources📖 edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-christi...

Come work with the CLAIM team in the new ERC project in Vienna! Apply here: jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Postdoct... Details CLAIM.univie.ac.at/ @erc.europa.eu | @univie.ac.at | @etf-univienna.bsky.social

Come join us in Leuven for our Summer School on translations!

LECTIO Institute@lectio-institute.bsky.social · 3mo ago

V LECTIO Interdisciplinary Summer School “Translations in the Premodern and Early Modern World” 8-9 September 2026, Old Abbey of Kortenberg. Masterclasses, research pitches, and a lot of conversations across disciplines! Program and registration (until 30 June): www.kuleuven.be/lectio/event...

Our team at KU Leuven is organizing a Workshop on Letters & Epistolary Culture in Syriac Christianity at the Oxford Patristic Studies Conference (2–6 Aug 2027). We will be happy to receive proposals for papers by 30 June 2026 (marion.pragt@kuleuven.be). Details in the attached file.

Christians in Middle Eastern History Ghobrial, John-Paul, Michael Reynolds, Christian C. Sahner & Jack Tannous (eds.). 2026. Christians in Middle Eastern history: Strangers no more (Edinburgh Studies in Middle Eastern Christianity). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. The dazzling array of…

Christians in Middle Eastern History

Ghobrial, John-Paul, Michael Reynolds, Christian C. Sahner & Jack Tannous (eds.). 2026. Christians in Middle Eastern history: Strangers no more (Edinburgh Studies in Middle Eastern Christianity). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. The dazzling array of languages and religions in the Middle East, from Late Antiquity to the present, has long made the region a source of fascination. But the specific features of pluralism in the Middle East have also made writing its history a difficult enterprise, as scholarly specialisation has often meant that this or that religious group becomes invisible.

biblioiranica.info

Proofs have arrived. Looking forward to the end product in early July!

Tomorrow!!!

TeTra | Text and Transmission Research Seminar@tetraseminar.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Next Thu 28 May, 10 AM Karolina Tomczyszyn (KULeuven) •Approved Teachers and Insignificant Rhetoricians: Literary Curation in the Letters of Jacob of Edessa, George, bishop of the Arabs, and John of Litarb• Don't forget to register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social to receive the Zoom link

Free access link to my own contribution - on why Gregory of Nyssa has quite so much to say about cinnamon: online.ucpress.edu/SLA/article/...

Great project (Women in Syriac Christianity, 1500-1800) directed by Lucy Parker (Oxford), looking for a postdoctoral researcher interested in Arabic manuscripts my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

The Call for Papers for the 2026 Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, has been extended to 11:59PM ET on March 9. Don't miss this chance to engage the global community of biblical scholarship. buff.ly/4hRL28M

Annual Meeting Call for Papers

Impexium Association Management Software

members.sbl-site.org

Last day to submit a proposal!

Philip Forness@philipforness.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Still a few days to submit a proposal for the Syriac Studies program unit at SBL, including a joint session with the Religious World of Late Antiquity program unit!

Still a few days to submit a proposal for the Syriac Studies program unit at SBL, including a joint session with the Religious World of Late Antiquity program unit!

Come work with some of my fantastic colleagues in @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social! A full-time, four-year PhD vacancy in Latin Patristic Literature/Theology KU Leuven. Please spread the word! theo.kuleuven.be/apps/joboppo... @kuleuventheology.bsky.social

PhD Scholarship in Theology, Religious Studies or Slavic Studies at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of KU Leuven: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

PhD Scholarship in Theology, Religious Studies or Slavic Studies

PhD History Catholic Ecumenism

kuleuven.be

I have been informed by the good folks at @gorgiaspress.bsky.social that my translation of the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (aka 2 Baruch) is officially in print, though I don't have a hard copy yet. Here's a link: www.gorgiaspress.com/maccabees-3-...

3-4 Maccabees and the Apocalypse of Baruch According to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation

This volume is part of a series of English translations of the Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars.

gorgiaspress.com

We have extended the call for applications to July 30th for a post-doc position in the Frankfurt-Leuven Project “Commentary on the Ecclesiastical History of John of Ephesus.” The successful candidate would not necessarily need to move to Frankfurt to take up this position.

Philip Forness@philipforness.bsky.social · last yr.

I am happy to share an advertisement for a post-doc position in the Frankfurt-Leuven project "Commentary on John of Ephesus's Ecclesiastical History." The deadline is 23 July 2025, and the position is to be filled from 1 October 2025. Please feel free to contact me or Hartmut Leppin with questions.

One more week to apply!

Philip Forness@philipforness.bsky.social · last yr.

I am happy to share an advertisement for a post-doc position in the Frankfurt-Leuven project "Commentary on John of Ephesus's Ecclesiastical History." The deadline is 23 July 2025, and the position is to be filled from 1 October 2025. Please feel free to contact me or Hartmut Leppin with questions.

I am happy to share an advertisement for a post-doc position in the Frankfurt-Leuven project "Commentary on John of Ephesus's Ecclesiastical History." The deadline is 23 July 2025, and the position is to be filled from 1 October 2025. Please feel free to contact me or Hartmut Leppin with questions.

For about the last five years, I have been working on the translation and translation cultures of Christian communities in late antiquity, seeking especially to bring together the Latin and Greek evidence with that found in eastern Christian languages. The first two articles have finally appeared.

Next week in Palermo!