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The Center for the Study of World Religions invites the Harvard community and beyond to the launch of The Pearlsong. This ancient, mystical poem tells the unforgettable story of a prince who journeys to Egypt, falls asleep, and forgets his mission, only to be awakened by a letter from home.
This launch event brings the ancient text to life through scholarly presentations exploring The Pearlsong within the broader traditions of ancient Mediterranean literature, followed by an original musical composition inspired by the poem, performed by CSWR Artist-in-Residence Jane Sheldon.
Whether you study ancient texts, love live music, or are simply drawn to stories of spiritual awakening, join us for this unique celebration.
Reception to follow.
CHARLES STANG joined the Faculty of Divinity in 2008. He specializes in Christianity in late antiquity and the intersection of philosophy and religion in the ancient Mediterranean. His recent books include Theosophy and the Study of Religion (2024), The Gnostic Trilogy of Evagrius Ponticus (2023), and Invitation to Syriac Christianity (2022). Earlier works include Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite (2012), winner of the Manfred Lautenschläger Award, and Our Divine Double (2016). His current projects range from a study of daemons in ancient philosophy to translations of Evagrius Ponticus and Henry Corbin, as well as an edited volume on “Platonism as a Living Tradition.” Since 2017, he has served as director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.
ADAM BREMER-MCCOLLUM completed his PhD in 2009 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Cincinnati), where he studied Semitic languages and Greek and Latin. His academic research experience includes five years as a cataloger of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts (Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) and time on a research project at the University of Vienna on Syriac, Greek, Arabic, Armenian, and Georgian logic and philosophy texts from the ninth century. For four years, he taught languages and texts of Late Antiquity at the University of Notre Dame. More recently, he has taught various Aramaic languages, Gəʕəz, and Greek at Stanford and translated various Syriac texts. His research focuses on grammar, lexicography, and editing and translating texts in regional and transregional languages of antiquity from the Caucasus and the eastern Mediterranean to the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. He has over two decades of experience studying, teaching, translating, and editing texts in Syriac and other Aramaic languages, Arabic, Hebrew, Gǝʕǝz, Coptic, Old Georgian, Old Armenian, and Old Turkic/Uyghur.
ERIN G. WALSH is a scholar of ancient and late antique Christianity whose work focuses on biblical interpretation, asceticism, and gender with a specialization in Syriac literature. Her current book project explores the reception of biblical women in Syriac and Greek liturgical poetry, with a second project comparing the poetic and interpretive practices of Narsai and Jacob of Serugh. Walsh teaches at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and she is affiliated faculty with the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies. She was a Junior Fellow in Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks (2018–2019) and serves as Editor-in-Chief at Ancient Jew Review.
JANE SHELDON is an Australian-American soprano, composer, and sound designer who has established an international reputation for performing and creating highly specialized contemporary opera and art music for voice. Described as “riveting” (The New York Times), Jane’s compositions focus on the experience of altered or transformative states. Her body of work includes chamber music, opera installations, electronic music, works for dance companies, and large-scale sound installations for museums and other public spaces. Jane regularly collaborates with visual artists, dancers, and architects. Recent works also incorporate aroma, informed by residencies in Australia and Japan.
For more information, please see the original event posting.
LOCATION:Williams Chapel, Swartz Hall STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20251020T213000Z DTEND:20251020T230000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR