Early Christian Studies Lecture, Fr. Columba Stewart, “Making Whole Again: Reuniting Cultural Heritage through Large-scale Digitization of Previously Unknown Manuscripts in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.”
When: June 10, 2021, 1:45 pm - Thursday
Where: Ezell 207
Session 4
Session Abstract
Modern knowledge of eastern Christian texts and traditions is almost entirely based on manuscripts taken to European libraries in the 18th-20th centuries. This lecture will tell the story of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), a Benedictine-inspired project that began in Cold War Europe to microfilm monastic manuscripts and now digitizes manuscripts across religious traditions in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, especially in locations where they are under threat of destruction or their communities are being dislocated by ethnic and religious conflicts. These digitized manuscripts, cataloged and available online, complement the well-known collections in European libraries, providing a fuller and more accurate understanding of ancient Christian cultures outside of Europe.
Speakers
- Fr. Columba Stewart, Saint John's School of Theology, Lecturer
- Trevor Thompson, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Co-Convener
- James E. Walters, Rochester University, Co-Convener
- Jeff Childers, Abilene Christian University, Co-Convener
