Mary in the Coptic Tradition (DL3330A)

Content

This unit will explore the understanding of the Virgin Mary in ecclesiology, Christology, iconography, and liturgy within the Coptic tradition. A critical engagement with scripture through a patristic lens will be developed to understand the Virgin Mary’s position in the Christian tradition throughout the centuries. Students will examine Marian doctrines as observed and expressed in Copto-Arabic literature as well as reappraise the liturgical tradition and practice surrounding Mary in the ancient, medieval, and modern Coptic tradition.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Prerequisite: 1xCT or DL unit.

Pedagogy

Asynchronous and synchronous lectures and tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

• Awad, Magdi Rashidi Beshai. Untersuchungen zur koptischen Psalmodie: christologische und liturgische Aspekte. Vol. 41. LIT Verlag Münster, 2007. (Excerpt translation provided in lecture material)
• Arentzen, Thomas, and Mary B. Cunningham, eds. The Reception of the Virgin in Byzantium. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
• Cunningham, Mary B., trans. Wider than Heaven: Eighth- Century Homilies on the Mother of God. New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2008.
• Cyril of Alexandria. Against Those Who Are Unwilling to Confess That the Holy Virgin Is Theotokos. Edited by George Dion Dragas. New Hampshire: Orthodox Research Institute, 2004.
• Gambero, Luigi. Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999.
• Himmelfarb, Gertrude. Mary Through the Centuries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017.
• Farkasfalvy, Denis M. The Marian Mystery: The Outline of a Mariology. St Pauls, 2014.
• Maunder, Chris, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Mary. Oxford University Press, 2019.
• Shoemaker, Stephen J. Mary in early Christian faith and devotion. Yale University Press, 2016. (Available in library hub)
• Vassilaki, Maria, ed. Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium. Routledge, 2017.

Assessment