The Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies co-sponsors with the Department of Middle East Studies free educational events around cultural programs at the University of Michigan and at other locations across the State.
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2024-2025 AY
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Christianity in Culture Series. “Where Faith Meets Fashion: 5 Fascinating Intersections of Christianity and Style.” September 23, 2024. Professor Lynn S. Neal examined the relationship between fashion and Christianity, illuminating the complex and multifaceted relationship between the two.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Christianity in Culture Series. “MAGA Bible: How a National Icon became a Partisan Weapon” October 17, 2024. Professor Jason von Ehrenkrook explored the varied uses of the Christian Bible within the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies. “Jewish Law and Gentile Hearers: The Goals of Paul the Apostle.” October 22, 2024. Professor Paula Fredriksen.
Handel’s Messiah Pre-Performance Lecture Series. “Handel’s Messiah: Fortunate the Eyes that See and the Ears that Hear” December 7, 2024. The UMS Choral Union Director, Mr. Scott Hanoian, presents another lecture and performance-based examination of Handel’s Messiah.
A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy. “The Meaning of Life Together: What Are We Trying to Do?” January 21, 2025. Dr. Reggie Williams speaks in a free online event co-sponsored by the Department of Middle East Studies, the Frankel Institute, and the Enoch Seminar.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Christianity in Culture Series. “Christianity and Comics” March 10, 2025. Dr. Blair Davis spoke on the relationship between Christianity and comics throughout history.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Christianity in Culture Series. “Rapture Ready: The Rapture in the American Imagination” April 14, 2025. Dr. Tina Pippin will speak on the concept of The Rapture in public imagination.
2023-2024 AY
A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy. “2024 MLK Day Virtual Lecture.” January 22, 2024. Dr. Vincent L. Wimbush speaks in a free online event co-sponsored by the Department of Middle East Studies, the Frankel Institute, and the Enoch Seminar.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Christianity in Culture Series. “Holy Hollywood! What Movies Teach Us About the Bible” March 7, 2024. Professor Adele Reinhartz and Prof. Richard Walsh discussed the use and misuse of the Bible in Hollywood and what can be (and what should not be) learned about the Bible from these films.
2022-2023 AY
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies and Department of Middle East Studies Lecture Series. “Resistance, Resilience, and Remembrance: Flipping the Script about Jewish and Christian Women in Antiquity.” October 20, 2022. In a hybrid lecture and book question-and-answer session, Professor Meredith J.C. Warren, with colleagues Professors Shayna Sheinfeld and Sara Parks, addressed the question, “How do we remember Jewish and Christian women in the ancient world?” The lecture explored Jewish and Christian women’s resistance against patriarchy, imperialism, and their own families.
A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy. “Glimpses of Resistance: Snapshots of Prophetic and Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr.” January 25, 2023, 7-8:30 PM. Professor Lisa Bowens of Princeton Theological Seminary speaks on Dr. King’s writings in a free online event co-sponsored by the Department of Middle East Studies, the Frankel Institute, and the Enoch Seminar.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies and Department of Middle East Studies Lecture Series. “Christianity, Judaism, and the Roman World: Contested Cures” March, 2023. Professor Megan Nutzman spoke on Christianity, Judaism, and the Roman World from her recently published book, Contested Cures.
2021-2022 AY
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Conference. “Christianity and Science Fiction: A Virtual Event.” October 11-12, 2021. The Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies, in partnership with the Department of Middle East Studies (University of Michigan), presented a two-day virtual conference exploring the symbiotic relationship between Christianity and science fiction. The meeting was chaired by James McGrath, Gabriele Boccaccini, Jason von Ehrenkrook, Deborah Forger, and Joshua Scott. The conference keynote speaker was Maurice Broaddus, who spoke of his spiritual journey as a science fiction writer.
A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a Black King in Duke Ellington’s Symphonic Triptych ‘Three Black Kings’” January 27, 2022. Professor Luca Bragalini of the Conservatory of Bescia, Italy, in an event sponsored by the International Center for American Music, presented lecture about and performance of Duke Ellington’s last major work, a ballet in three movements. The three black kings are Balthazar of Christian tradition, Solomon, King of Israel, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ellington’s personal friend.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies and Department of Middle East Studies Lecture Series. “Reproducing the Resurrection: From European Prints to Armenian Manuscripts.” May 12, 2022. Dr. Sylvia Merian of The Morgan Library and Museum presented representations of the Resurrection in Armenian manuscript illuminations from Holy Women at the Tomb and the Harrowing of Hell from western Europe by the 11th-12th centuries. The illuminations appeared in the Armenia tradition in the early 17th century in many forms.
2020-2021 AY
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “Treasures of Religious Art of the Detroit Institute of Arts” February 25, 2021. Dr. Shelley Perlove, Professor Emerita of the History of Art of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, highlighted selected works at the DIA, focusing on the diverse and ever-changing images of Jesus Christ and his mother Mary from the 14th through the 17th century in Italy, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “The Past, Present, and Future of Christianity in Science Fiction” April 15, 2021. Professor James F. McGrath, the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature, at Butler University, presented a lecture on Science Fiction’s engagement with religious issues and topics throughout its history, especially Christianity with its strong historical focus.
2019-2020 AY
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “Recent Discoveries of Ancient Manuscripts” November 4 & 5, 2019. Holland and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Rev. Dr. Lynne Alcott Kogel related how Biblical and extra-Biblical materials were discovered in to Mt. Sinai, the Nile, and the Dead Sea, and what those manuscripts and documents have meant to our understanding of the Christian Church’s development.
Handel’s Messiah Pre-Performance Lecture Series. “Fortunate the Eyes that See and the Ears that Hear” December 7, 2019. Scott Hanoian, Music Director of the UMS Choral Union, presented a conductor’s inside-look at Handel’s treatment of Charles Jennens’ libretto, joined by local soloists to bring insight through illustration of the music and text.
A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy. “Echoes of the Exodus in Dr. King’s Work” January 23, 2020. Dr. Aaron Chapman, Professor in Homiletics, Ashland Seminary, and Professor Brian Roby, University of Michigan, discussed Dr. King’s work from the perspective of Judaic understanding of the Biblical Exodus and an examination of the pastoral and social implications of Dr. King’s use of Exodus imagery in his writing.
2018-2019 AY
Handel’s Messiah Pre-Performance Lecture Series. “Fortunate the Eyes that See and the Ears that Hear” December 1, 2018. In conjunction with the annual Handel’s Messiah performances, Scott Hanoian, Music Director of the UMS Choral Union, and local soloists gave an insider’s look and live demonstration of Handel’s treatment of Charles Jennens’ libretto. MCECS Board Member Emerita, Lynne Alcott Kogel presented “Jennens’ Libretto in Light and Color: Handel’s Messiah in 1,000 Years of Stained Glass”.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “Britten’s War Requiem: War, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation” February 16, 2019 The Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies and the University of Michigan Department of Middle East Studies co-sponsored a presentation on Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Mr. Scott Hanoian, UMS Choral Union Director of the evening’s performance, and the Rev. Dr. Lynne Kogel, Emerita member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Center, and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan gave a presentation on the historical events that led to the Requiem and the interplay of music and text throughout the composition.
2017-2018 AY
Handel’s Messiah Pre-Performance Lecture Series. “Musical Text Painting in Handel’s Messiah” December 2, 2017. UMS Choral Union Director, Mr. Scott Hanoian, was accompanied by four soloists (Soprano Meredith Hanoian, Alto Kristin Clark, Tenor Benjamin Boskoff, and Bass Edward Pember) as he described how composers like Handel created musical portraits of well-known texts of their time. Soloists sang portions of the Messiah to illustrate Mr. Hanoian’s lecture. The public lecture was given prior to the University Musical Society’s performance of the Handel’s oratorio in the Michigan League.
A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy. “A Lecture by Professor Mitzi Smith” January 25, 2018. The annual Noel Freedman Lecture sponsored by the Noel Freedman Lectures, the University of Michigan’s Department of Near Eastern Studies, and the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies, presented Mitzi Smith, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Ashland Seminary in Southfield, Michigan. Dr. Smith’s lecture was followed by a panel of Marvin McMickle, President of Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, Kenneth Harris, President of the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Larry Smith, Senior Pastor at New Saint Mark Baptist Church, and Dr. Aaron Chapman, Senior Pastor of Dedicated to Christ Baptist Church, who provided additional perspectives on Dr. King’s Biblical legacy.
2016-2017 AY
Handel’s Messiah Pre-Performance Lecture Series. “Looking inside Handel’s Messiah: A Director’s Perspective” December 3, 2016: The University Choral Union’s Director, Mr. Scott Hanoian, gave his perspective on the composer, the music, and the text. The public lecture was given prior to the University Musical Society’s performance of the famous oratorio.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “Biblical and Classical Influences in the Bayeux Tapestry” October 11, 2017: Rev. Dr. Lynne Kogel spoke about the 1,000-year-old embroidered account of the 1066 CE conquest of England by William the Conqueror of Normandy, sharing rare photography and intriguing insights into the origins of the tapestry and its connections to Biblical and Classical Greek literature. The free public lecture was given at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art’s Stern Auditorium.
2015-2016 AY
Handel’s Messiah Pre-Performance Lecture Series. “Handel’s Messiah: A Visual and Cultural Presentation” December 4, 2015: Professor Gabriele Boccaccini, Professor Ralph Williams, and Rev. Dr. Lynne Kogel examined the historical, literary, and artistic context of Handel’s Messiah in an education event held prior to the University Musical Society’s performance of the famous oratorio.
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “St. John’s Passion in Context” March 15, 2016. A panel of scholars (Professor Gabriele Boccaccini, Doctoral Candidate Deborah Forger, and Professor J. Harold Ellens) examined the nature of the text, controversies about anti-Semitism in John’s text, and the importance of the text to Christian origins of Bach’s St. John Passion. The panel was followed by Apollo’s Fire performance in St. Francis of Assissi Roman Catholic Church.
2014-2015 AY
Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies Lecture. “Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Context.” February 14, 2015: A panel of scholars (Professor Gabriele Boccaccini, Professor Shelley Perlove, and Professor Ralph Williams) presented lectures about the Biblical character Elijah and the art his story inspired, including Mendelssohn’s epic oratorio. The panel was presented prior to the University Musical Society’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijahˆ.