The Dorushe Graduate Conference in Syriac Studies is the sole conference dedicated to promoting graduate student research in the field of Syriac Studies. It connects graduate students across a wide range of disciplines—history, theology, religious studies, linguistics, philosophy, archaeology, sociology, classics, digital humanities—who utilize Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic that became the primary liturgical and literary language of Christians living in the Middle East. Presenters have come from not only some of the top institutions in the United States, but also Canada, Israel, Belgium, Germany, and beyond.

Past Conferences

Saint Louis University (2021)

Keynote: Christine Shepardson (University of Tennessee-Knoxville

“Monumental Lives: Sixth-Century Memorials of a Community in Exile”

Brown University (2015)

Keynote: Ute Possekel (Harvard University)

"'Go, and set up for yourselves excellent laws...':

The School of Nisibis and Institutional Autonomy in Late Antique Education "

Keynote: Adam Becker (New York University)

"What is Syriac Christian Tradition? (Is it any of the three?)"

Duke University (2014)

Keynote: Lucas Van Rompay (Duke University)

“Studying Syriac Christianity in 2014: Sources, Transmission, and New Challenges”

Yale University (2009)

Keynote: John Healey (University of Manchester)

"Early Syriac Legal Documents in Context : epigraphic, linguistic and literary"

University of Notre Dame (2008)

Keynote: Sidney Griffith (Catholic University of America)

"Syriac and the Arabic Qur'an: Reflections on Current Developments in Early

Islamic Studies"

Princeton University (2007)

Keynote: David Taylor (University of Oxford)

Catholic University of America (2006)

Keynote: Susan Ashbrook Harvey (Brown University)

"Syriac and the Academic Life: Reflections and Suggestions"