Lydia Bremer-McCollum

I purchased an Oxford paperback and Every. Single. Entry. of the bibliography is missing ALL or a portion of the last name. Some of the footnote citations are also missing whole chunks of text.

Green yellow and grey book cover for the title "Coptic Studies from Egypt to Los Angeles".

📕 New Release - 'Coptic Studies from Egypt to Los Angeles'
This volume, a Festschrift in honor of Hany N. Takla, presents a collection of essays–many of which contain unpublished archival material–showcasing historical and liturgical aspects of Coptic Christianity.
🔗 brill.com/display/ti...

Next Tuesday, at Harvard and on Zoom, is the book launch for the second installment in our 4T series. Fabien Muller and Aaron Johnson will discuss Fabien's new book on Porphyry's /Letter to Anebo/ and /Philosophy from Oracles/. Please join us in-person or online!

Poster providing information for a lecture to be given by Lydia Bremer-McCollum titled "Meeting Thekla in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Silk Road." The lecture will be held online via Zoom and in-person at Saint Louis University's Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Center on Thursday, February 26 at 3:30-5:00pm CST. The blurb for the talk reads: "Legends about Thekla survive in over eight languages, including Syriac, Ge'ez, Armenian, and Old Turkic. This talk analyzes the diverse linguistic manuscript traditions of the stories about Thekla contained in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thekla, using this text as a case study to think about the value of variation and linguistic diversity. Through examination of manuscripts from the Caucasus and across the Silk Road, we reflect on how these artifacts serve as crucial sites for thinking about justice, marginalization, and the richness of ancient Christianity."

I will be giving a lecture titled "Meeting Thekla in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Silk Road" later this month as part of The Silk Roads Lecture Series: People, Objects, and Stories on the Move at SLU's AMES Center. | February 26, 2026 at 3:30-5:00pm CST | Zoom: slu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

‘A Moment of Reckoning’: After Epstein, Higher Ed Faces Hard Questions About Its Proximity to Power Weeks after the release of a new cache of files about Jeffrey Epstein, the fallout on campuses nationwide is coming into focus.

“…universities are becoming more reliant on wealthy benefactors. But the networks that fund research and programs can also entangle top universities with morally compromised figures… complicity and compromised institutional integrity.”
www.chronicle.com/article/a-mo...

Leeds Institute for Medieval Studies Research Seminar poster that says Elaine Treharne (Stanford): Small Details, Big Data: Male and Female Scribal Communities in a Thirteenth-century Mortuary Roll Key words: Professional scribes in the Middle Ages. Women scribes and women’s literacy. Handwriting. Layout, punctuation, abbreviation, style, and decoration. Digital tools for ‘everyday writing’. Communities of literacy. Tuesday 10 February, 5.30 pm, Laidlaw Library, University of Leeds, Level 1 Seminar Room (hybrid) To attend both online and in-person please register at https://forms.office.com/e/iP5qRb5GSk

All welcome to our next research seminar. Elaine Treharne (Stanford) on handwriting, women scribes, digital tools and manuscripts. 10 February 5.30 pm GMT, Laidlaw Library (hybrid). To register: forms.office.com/e/iP5qRb5GSk #medieval #manuscripts #palaeography #digitalhumanities

AJR's forum, "Secondary Scholarship," closes today with a reflection from Religious Studies scholar Elena Dugan, who shares how her journey to and through a private secondary boarding school has made her a "braver, more curious scholar." www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2026/1/...

Announcement: Saints Outside Hagiography Winter-Spring Series 2026 Where do saints appear outside the classic genre of the hagiography? How do they show up in art, literature, teaching texts, and everyday religious practices? This group brings together scholars interested in saints and sanctity across global history and culture, to explore how they are constructed in forms other than the single-text hagiography or ‘sacred biography’. In our online workshop sessions, we discuss two pre-circulated short excerpts from historical sources, briefly presented by scholars working on them. Friday March 6 – Saints on a Roll (or Two) Alicia Smith: Reclusive Saints as Models on the Throckmorton Layman’s Prayer Roll Laura Gisseleire: The Mortuary Roll of Lucy of Hedingham Friday March 27 – Saints in Images and Murals Marianne Kupin-Lisbin: The Miraculous St Mary of Olovo Maia Man-Abramiuc: The Transylvanian Mural of St Margaret Friday April 24 – Representations of Saints in Prayers Jenny Bledsoe: Prayers to Quiricus and Julitta in the Medieval Birth Girdle Tradition Iliana Kandzha: A Prayer to St Apollonia from De Speghel der Sammiticheyt Friday May 15 – Saints in Unlikely Places Fawaz Abdul Salam: The Sultan as a Saintly Figure in Early Ottoman Poetry Heather Blurton: William of Norwich Keystone in Girona, Spain Friday June 26 – Saints in Annals and Anti-Hagiographies Hope Doherty-Harrison: Extracts from Biographies of Judas Steffen Hope: Annalistic Hagiography? The Case of Margareta of Roskilde Friday July 31 – Saints in Teaching Texts and Epigraphs Mary Channen Caldwell: St Nicholas in the Musical Hand Kshitij Jain: Monastic Figures and Sacred Places in Jain Ritual Texts All meetings take place on Zoom, at 4pm-5:30pm CET / 3pm-4:30pm GMT / 10am-11:30am EST unless otherwise indicated. If you would like to attend these sessions, please email Laura Moncion (laura.moncion@philosophie.uni-tuebingen.de) or Alicia Smith (alicia.smith@uib.no).

Saints Outside Hagiography starts next month! A new workshop-style series, discussing work in progress on saints in unusual sources. Come and join us ❤️‍🔥 drive.google.com/file/d/1-BPc...

A student just wrote to follow up about textual criticism after a mini-lecture I gave in my survey of xtianity course. I can. barely. contain. my enthusiasm!! I'm going to take some deep breaths and try my best not to freak them out with my unfiltered joy.

Oh, I love that! I am definitely going to build toward that practice for future teaching! I think you are right that there is something about it feeling low-stakes and outside of an environment of grading/assessment. More thinking and reading for me to do about CB's!

Honestly, I have been thinking about this idea for a while but the purchasing of the notebooks was a barrier for me (I don't have access to institutional funds). BUT the cost has already been worth it. I look forward to and enjoy reading and responding to their ideas. (Canvas fills me with dread.)

I assigned handwritten reflections as one de-tech my teaching strategies. I provided cheap notebooks and ask students to write a weekly entry. Already so much better than I imagined! I love seeing their handwriting + the quality across the board is far better than my usual digital discussion posts.

Photo of an art installation. The room is dark with one single small light source on a podium in the center of the room. Projected on the walls are 1) Genesis 1:26-28 translated into genetic code (via morse code) on one side of the room, 2) a microscope project of bacteria entangling with the genetic code of Genesis 1:26-28--blue background with green illuminated bacteria visible on another wall, and 3) a projection of Genesis 1:26-28 in English standard translation on the third visible wall. The podium at the center includes the petri dish with bacteria that is projected on the wall (barely visible to the viewer). Photo shows a spectator-patron closely examining the petri dish and light at the center of the frame. Two others stare at the other walls. Spectator-patrons--both physical and digital--could manipulate and change the light source (e.g. changing from white to red light) and move the light source. These in turn manipulated the bacterial environment and led to bacterial re-writing of Genesis.

Teaching eco-criticism my intro to the bible course today. Excited to talk about one of my all time favorite things: Eduardo Kac's trans-genic installation, "Genesis" (c. 1999-2001). Gen. 1:26-28 translated as genetic code and bacteria writing back! | www.ekac.org/genesis.html

So much joy and love!!!

Screen shot from an email, which reads: PHEN 11.1–2: Special issue "The Critical Edition in the Infrastructure of Philology," edited by J. Gregory Given and Daniel Picus. 1. J. Gregory Given and Daniel Picus: "The Critical Edition as Technology: A View from Biblical Studies." 2. Gregory Fewster: "Edition as Communication: David Wilkins's 3 Corinthians in the Eighteenth-century Republic of Letters." 3. Kristine Palmieri: "Philology and the Politics of Self-Promotion: F. A. Wolf's Symposium (1782) as Critical Edition and School Text." 4. Andrew S. Jacobs: "'A Clear Account of the Codex Simonideios:' Ideological Infrastructures of Biblical Vulnerability in the Nineteenth Century." 5. Isaac Landes: "Our Most Pressing Need is the Critical Edition: J. N. Epstein and the Rise of Talmudic Philology." 6. Jennifer Knust: "The New Testament Apparatus and the Rise of the American Cold War." 7. Mark Vessey: "Afterpiece - Roads, Bridges, Precincts, Thresholds: The Critical Edition in the Infrastructure of Philology since Late Antiquity."

Very pleased to be able to finally announce "The Critical Edition in the Infrastructure of Philology," a special issue of Philological Encounters edited by me and @danielpicus.bsky.social out this Spring.

“Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as the cooperation with good.”

Beginning my Coptic lecture today with a bit of MLKjr:

ⲧ-ⲁⲧ-ⲙⲛⲧ-ϩⲱⲛ ⲉ-ⲡ-ⲉⲧ-ϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲡⲉ ⲟⲩ-ⲙⲟⲩⲣ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉϥ-ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩϥ ⲉϥ-ϣⲏϣ ⲉ-ⲧ-ⲙⲛⲧ-ϩⲱⲛ ⲉ-ⲡ-ⲉⲧ-ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩϥ.

Martin Luther King Jr., “Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience” (1961) tinyurl.com/5d2sxe8r

excitedly awaiting!!

Education in Religious Contexts of Late Antiquity Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Education in Religious Contexts of Late Antiquity

coming March 2026! @monikaamsler.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org

www.cambridge.org/core/element...

huge congratulations!!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

For anyone interested in learning Austronesian languages spoken in Taiwan, all courses are offered online :)

Promotional image for UCL Press featuring their new open access eTextbook "Sahidic Coptic: An Introductory Textbook" by William Manley, set against a background of ancient Egyptian statues.

#OutNow: Sahidic Coptic by Bill Manley 📖

This new textbook offers students a clear and concise introduction to the grammar of Sahidic Coptic, as well as essential historical and cultural context.

Download the eTextbook for free.

Find out more: uclpress.co.uk/book/sahidic...

A bit of Bobby's "One more Saturday Night," ϩⲛ̄-ⲧ-ⲙⲛⲧⲣⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲉ:

ⲁⲓ̈-ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ ⲛ̄-ⲡ-ϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲛⲧ-ⲁⲓ̈-ⲥⲟⲩ-ⲏⲣⲡ
ⲁⲓ̈-ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ̈ ⲛ̄-ⲧ-ⲡⲉ, ⲱ ⲡ-ϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ, ⲉⲓ̈-ϭⲱϣⲧ ⲛ̄-ⲟⲩ-ϭⲟⲙ ⲙ̄-ⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ
ⲁⲩ-ⲥⲁϩⲧ-ϥ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̄-ⲧ-ⲡⲉ ⲉ-ⲟⲩ-ⲡⲁⲛⲇⲏⲗⲟⲛ ⲡⲉ ϩⲱⲥ ⲉϣϫⲉ ⲉϥ-ⲥϩⲁⲓ̈ ⲛ-ⲕⲁⲙⲉ ⲙⲛ-ⲁⲗⲁⲩ
ⲥⲟⲃⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ-ⲕ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ϫⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ-ⲟⲩ-ⲥⲩⲙⲡⲟⲥⲓⲟⲛ ⲛⲁ-ϣⲱⲡⲉ ϩⲛ-ϭⲱⲣϩ ⲛϭⲱⲣϩ

A try in (non-metrical) Syriac:

ܢܚܬ̇ܬ ܠܛܘܪܐ ܟܕ ܫ̇ܬܐ ܐ̄ܢܐ ܡܢ ܚܡܪܐ
ܚܪܬ̇ ܠܥܠ ܒܫܡ̈ܝܐ ܚܙܝ̇ܬ ܗ̄ܘܝܬ ܢܝܫܐ ܥܙܝܙܐ
ܕܟܬܝܒ ܗ̄ܘܐ ܒܢܘܪܐ ܒܓܘ ܫ̈ܡܝܐ ܟܠܗ ܢܗܝܪ ܐܝܟ ܐܘܟܡܐ ܘܚܘܪܐ
ܐܬܥܬܕܘ ܗܐ ܗܘܝܐ ܡܫܬܘܬܐ ܒܗ ܒܠܠܝܐ܀

(transcription below)

Admittedly not a bobby lyric but it was just played on the GD station: ⲙⲁⲣⲉ-ϥⲧⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̄-ⲛⲓϥⲉ ⲛⲟϣⲡ-ⲕ ⲛ̄-ⲡⲉⲕ-ⲏⲓ̈ ϩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩ-ⲧⲟⲩϫⲟ

A bit of Bobby's "One more Saturday Night," ϩⲛ̄-ⲧ-ⲙⲛⲧⲣⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲉ:

ⲁⲓ̈-ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ ⲛ̄-ⲡ-ϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲛⲧ-ⲁⲓ̈-ⲥⲟⲩ-ⲏⲣⲡ
ⲁⲓ̈-ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ̈ ⲛ̄-ⲧ-ⲡⲉ, ⲱ ⲡ-ϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ, ⲉⲓ̈-ϭⲱϣⲧ ⲛ̄-ⲟⲩ-ϭⲟⲙ ⲙ̄-ⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ
ⲁⲩ-ⲥⲁϩⲧ-ϥ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̄-ⲧ-ⲡⲉ ⲉ-ⲟⲩ-ⲡⲁⲛⲇⲏⲗⲟⲛ ⲡⲉ ϩⲱⲥ ⲉϣϫⲉ ⲉϥ-ⲥϩⲁⲓ̈ ⲛ-ⲕⲁⲙⲉ ⲙⲛ-ⲁⲗⲁⲩ
ⲥⲟⲃⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ-ⲕ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ϫⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ-ⲟⲩ-ⲥⲩⲙⲡⲟⲥⲓⲟⲛ ⲛⲁ-ϣⲱⲡⲉ ϩⲛ-ϭⲱⲣϩ ⲛϭⲱⲣϩ

Admittedly not a bobby lyric but it was just played on the GD station: ⲙⲁⲣⲉ-ϥⲧⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̄-ⲛⲓϥⲉ ⲛⲟϣⲡ-ⲕ ⲛ̄-ⲡⲉⲕ-ⲏⲓ̈ ϩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩ-ⲧⲟⲩϫⲟ

entry for Coptic ouoei in Cerny's etymological dictionary. interjection 'woe' from <wy> 'woe'

wiktionary page for *wai: Descendants Proto-Anatolian: *uwáy Hittite: [script needed] (uwai) Albanian: vaj Proto-Balto-Slavic: *wái, *uwái Latvian: vai Lithuanian: vai̇̃ Proto-Slavic: *uvy Proto-Celtic: *wai (see there for further descendants) Proto-Germanic: *wai (see there for further descendants) >? Proto-Hellenic: *wái >? Ancient Greek: αἴ (aí), αἶ (aî), αἰαῖ (aiaî), οἴ (oí), οἶ (oî), ὀῐ̈́ (oĭ̈́) — Ionic >? Ancient Greek: οὐαί (ouaí) (possibly) Proto-Indo-Iranian: *wáy, *uwáy Proto-Indo-Aryan: *uwáy Sanskrit: उवे (uvé) Kashmiri: وای (wāy) Proto-Iranian: *wáy Avestan: 𐬬𐬀𐬫𐬋𐬌 (vayōi) Middle Persian: [Book Pahlavi needed] (wʾd /⁠wāy⁠/), 𐫇𐫀𐫏 (wʾy /⁠wāy⁠/) Persian: وای (vây) → Turkish: vay Parthian: 𐫇𐫀𐫏 (wʾy /⁠wāy⁠/) Zazaki: way → Old Armenian: վայ (vay) Armenian: վայ (vay) Proto-Italic: *wai Latin: vae (see there for further descendants)

it's interesting that Ancient Egyptian (Coptic ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓ /woy/ < <wy> */way/) and Proto-Indo-European (*wáy) have the exact same "woe!" interjection.

this seems like either a wanderwort or one of those para-linguistic utterances that keep reinventing themselves (papa, mama, caca)

Susanna Elm, "The Importance of Being Gorgeous: Gender and Christian Imperial Rule in Late Antiquity" (U California Press, 2025)

open.spotify.com/episode/3SmJ...

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

I love that streamlining data and hiring is HR speak for submitting the same documentation you have already provided at least 5x previously.