Public lecture

"But take courage, I have overcome the world": Christian Martyrs in Text and Image

Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America

4 mars 2025 7:00 PM

630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016

New York - United States

Armenian Christian witnesses and martyrs have uniquely shaped Christian history in Armenia over the past two millennia. Dr. Shahinian will examine Armenian martyrs through manuscript illuminations, texts, and artifacts to explore the history, the memory, and the meaning of martyrdom, with a particular focus on a famous Gospel manuscript by a 13th century Armenian Christian Artist, Toros Roslin. We will explore the role of martyrdom in shaping Christian identity and the development of the universal church in Armenia.

Dr. Ani Shahinian is the Assistant Professor in Armenian Christian Art and Culture, holder of the Grace and Paul Shahinian Lectureship, at the St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. She earned her doctorate in History and Theology at the University of Oxford. She holds an MA degree in Near Eastern and Languages and Cultures from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a diploma in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Oxford. She received her BA in Philosophy, Ethics, Public Policy, and Professional Writing from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Shahinian's doctoral research addresses the question of Christian martyrdom in the context of political, economic, and ecclesiastical history in Late Medieval Armenia. More broadly, Shahinian's research interests address questions of what it means to be human in a technological age, focusing on virtue-ethics and the freedom of the human will.