Winter Lecture – Prof Mikhail
St Cyril’s was thrilled to host Professor Maged (Deacon Severus) S. A. Mikhail for our 2018 Winter Lecture. It was open to the public, faculty, and students and was held at our new campus in Carlton, which has become something of theological hub, with lecture theatres, offices, student common areas, library, bookstore, and chapel.
His Grace Bishop Daniel opened the night with Thanksgiving prayers, and afterwards gave a speech about the future of St Cyril’s. Afterwards the Dean of St Cyril’s, Fr Daniel Fanous, spoke of the need for history to inform our incarnation of the Gospel today. Prof. Deacon Severus then presented a fascinating lecture: “How Coptic Egypt Became Islamic Egypt: What Really Happened in the Islamic Invasion of the 7th Century?”
The lecture was attended by over one hundred scholars, priests, students, and the public—all of whom were enthralled by the lecture. During his time in Australia, Deacon Severus is also teaching a Winter Intensive at St Cyril’s on “Coptic History in the Middle Ages.”
Professor Maged S. A. Mikhail is and Adjunct Professor at St Cyril’s, as well as Professor of History at California State University at Fullerton, USA. He has authored several books in including The Legacy of Demetrius of Alexandria 189-231 CE: The Form and Function of Hagiography in Late Antique and Islamic Egypt, Routledge Studies in Early Christianity (London and New York: Routledge, 2017), From Byzantine to Islamic Egypt: Religion, Identity, and Politics after the Arab Conquest (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2014), and The Holy Workshop of Virtue: The Life of John the Little by Zacharias of Sakha, with Tim Vivian. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press/Cistercian Publications, 2010).
See Photos of the night below:
