The Voice of the Syriacs is an Annual Lecture series hosted by the Institute of Christian Oriental Research. It explores aspects of the rich literary, religious, and cultural contributions of Syriac-speaking peoples throughout history, promotes the appreciation of this field, and introduces avenues for further research. The lecture is presented by the generous support of an anonymous donor.

  • The 2026 Voice of the Syriacs Lecture Program

    Sacred Taste in the Syriac Tradition

    Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent

    Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Marquette University

     Poster for 2026 Voice of the Syriacs lecture

    Where: McMahon Hall room 200 (on the campus of the Catholic University of America)
    When: Monday, February 16 at 5:30 pm with a reception to follow the lecture.

    This lecture is free and open to the public. 

    The lecture is presented by the generous support of an anonymous donor.

    For disability accommodations, please contact Paul Cooper (cooperp@cua.edu).

    RSVP here.

     

    Graduate student seminar with Dr. Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent
    Dr. Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent, the 2026 Voice of the Syriacs lecturer, will discuss a set of texts being used in her current book project on gluttony, fasting, feeding, and taste in the Syriac tradition.

    Where: The Philip and Thérèse Rousseau Memorial Library (McMahon Hall 209)

    When: Tuesday, February 17 from 10am to 11:20pm. 
    There will be a breakfast with Dr. Mellon Saint-Laurent before the seminar at 9:15am.

    RSVP here.

  • The 2023 Voice of the Syriacs (Inaugural) Lecture Program

    Lending to Lazarus: Wealth, Poverty, and Death in Syriac Christian Thought

    Dr. Maria Doerfler
    Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University


    Wealth and poverty are two of the ethical topoi that most preoccupied early Christian authors. Inspired by biblical mandates, Christians wrote, preached, and otherwise sought to motivate their audiences to eschew riches, embrace privation, and provide aid for the needy. Unsurprisingly, given the New Testament’s own preoccupations, death and the literary genres that accompanied it constituted a central locus for these disquisitions. This lecture traces didactic themes surrounding materiel possessions in the context of a collection of funerary hymns ascribed to Syriac Christianity’s most celebrated writers, Ephrem “the Syrian.” Three motifs appear with particular prominence: that of wealth’s indifference, a topic apparent in a series of ekphrastic “tours of tombs”; its detriment, as evidenced by concomitant “tours of hell”; and the occasional opportunity it represented for both the deceased and their survivors. The ethical vision that emerges is, perhaps surprisingly, one of moderation: tolerance for a modicum of personal wealth, combined with an emphasis on the subject’s dependence — on divine mercy, on ecclesiastical leaders, even on the community’s poorest members.


    5PM Wednesday 26th April 2023

    Keane Auditorium (106 McGivney)

    The event is free and open to the public. A buffet dinner will follow the lecture. 

    In order to get an accurate headcount for the dinner, please rsvp here. 


    To request disability accommodations, contact cua-semitics@cua.edu or 202-319-5084

    The lecture is presented by the generous support of an anonymous donor.