Stephanie Balkwill, McMaster University
“The Social History of Female Renunciation in Early Medieval China”
My research is primarily concerned with the domestication of Indian Buddhist practices of
religious renunciation within the Chinese early medieval context (3rd – 8th centuries CE).
Specifically, I seek to understand how Buddhist practices of institutionalized monasticism
affected the lives of early medieval Chinese women, as the ability to “leave home” was not a
path open to them prior to the transmission of Buddhism to China. My dissertation thus has two
aims: first, to provide a comprehensive survey of Chinese women’s practices of renunciation
during their formative stage in early medieval China and second, to analyze the Chinese social
context that simultaneously supported and regulated the rise of female renunciation.
Steeve Bélanger, Université Laval
« La construction de l’identité chrétienne aux IIe et IIIe siècles dans la littérature apologétique »
Ce projet de thèse propose une analyse de la littérature apologétique chrétienne afin de cerner certains processus de construction de l’identité chrétienne entre le début du IIe et la fin du IIIe siècle abordés à travers deux axes principaux de recherche : l’identité religieuse en autodéfinition et l’identité dans le miroir de l’Autre. Les apologies chrétiennes s’avèrent de précieux témoignages sur les relations entre les chrétiens et l’Altérité, mais également sur la réflexion d’un groupe émergeant sur sa propre identité. Minimisant les singularités, l’analyse portera une attention particulière sur les terminologies employées et sur les constantes culturelles et religieuses entre ces œuvres afin de vérifier quels éléments, communément partagés par les apologistes, peuvent être considérés comme étant constitutifs des assises de l’identité chrétienne durant cette période.
Leah McKeen, Wilfrid Laurier University/University of Waterloo
“The Politics and Religiosity of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada”
The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP), a federal political party, claims approximately 5,000 members and, as of the 2011 general election, is the largest party in Canada without an elected official in parliament. My research seeks to understand: 1) how the CHP is related to the maintenance of party members’ Christian identity and worldview, and 2) how various social networks and characteristics (i.e., denomination, ethnicity, education) correlate with individuals investing themselves in this religious political party. The bulk of my data is derived from interviews with party members across Canada, as well as party-produced text, such as newsletters and books written by members, and observation of party events.
Andrew B. Perrin, McMaster University
“The Dynamics of Dream-Vision Discourse in the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls”
Of the 900 plus fragmentary Scrolls discovered in the Judaean Desert, between 10 and 13% were penned in the Aramaic language. The majority of these contain narratives pseudepigraphically associated with characters from the antediluvian and patriarchal ages or figures in the exilic, eastern Diaspora. The authors of the Aramaic Scrolls often present such characters as experiencing dream-visions in which they are granted ‘new’ revelation. This project has a tandem interest in articulating the literary-linguistic form of such accounts/allusions and exploring the rhetorical functions they serve. The findings of the dissertation will result in a deeper understanding of individual Aramaic texts as well as has implications for how we conceive of the Aramaic Scrolls as a group.
