Armenian Studies Program
Dr. Sergio La Porta - Publications
List of Publications
Last updated: May 2017
I. Doctoral Dissertation
The Theology of the Holy Dionysius, Volume III of Grigor Tatewaci's Book of Questions:
Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge,
MA, 2001.
II. Monographs, Edited Volumes
2014
With K. Bardakjian, The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective. SVTP 25 (Leiden: Brill, 2014).
2013
With B. Crostini,Negotiating Co-existence: Communities, Cultures and ‘Convivencia’ in Byzantine Society. BAC 96 (Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2013).
2008
Two Anonymous Sets of Scholia on Dionysius the Areopagite s Heavenly Hierarchy. 2 vols., Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium,vols. 623-4, scriptores armeniaci, vols. 29-30 (Louvain: Peeters, 2008).
The Armenian Scholia on Dionysius the Areopagite. Studies on their literary and philological tradition, CSCO 625, Subsidia series, 122 (Louvain: Peeters, 2008).
2007
With D. Shulman, The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Sound and Sign, Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture 6 (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2007).
IV. Peer-Reviewed Articles
“The Sense of an Ending: Eschatological Prophecy and the Armenian Historiographical
Tradition (7th-10th c.),” in Le Muséon 129.2-3 (2017), 363-93.
“Armeno-Latin intellectual exchange in the fourteenth century: Scholarly traditions in conversation and competition,” Medieval Encounters 21 (2015), 269-94.
“Purging John of Scythopolis: A miaphysite redaction of the scholia on the corpus Dionysiacum and its Armenian version,” Le Muséon 126.1-2 (2013), 45-82.
“‘The kingdom and the sultanate were conjoined’: Legitimizing Land and Power in Armenia during the 12th and early 13th centuries,” Revue des études arméniennes 34 (2012), 73-118.
“Two Visions of Mysticism: The Corpus Dionysiacum and the Book of Lamentation,” Revue Théologique de Kaslik 3-4 (2009-2010), 243-57.
“A fourteenth-century Armenian polemic against Judaism and its Latin source,” Le Muséon 122.1-2 (2009), 93-129.
“Lineage, Legitimacy, and Loyalty in Post-Seljuk Armenia: A Reassessment of the Sources of the Failed Ōrbēlean Revolt against King Giorgi III of Georgia,” Revue des études arméniennes 31 (2008-9), 127-65.
“The Reception and Influence of the Corpus of Works Attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite in the Armenian Spiritual Tradition,” ARC: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University 35 (2007), 211-26.
“The Armenian Episcopacy in Mamluk Jerusalem in the Aftermath of the Council of Sis (1307) and in the Wake of Ilkhan Ghazan’s Last Invasion of Syria (1303),” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, 17.2 (2007), 99-114.
“The Image of the Beloved in Grigor Narekac’i’s Book of Lamentation,” Hask Armenological Annual 10 (2002-2006), 83-99.
“The History of the Filioque Controversy in Armenia,” St. Nersess Theological Seminary Review 8 (2003), 85-116.
“Sorcerers, Witches, and Weasels: Armenian Definitions of the Magical Arts,” Revue des études arméniennes 28 (2001-2), 171-214.
“Additional Remarks Concerning ‘Man as the Image of God’ in Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i’s Book of Questions,” St. Nersess Theological Seminary Review 7 (2002), 67-84.
“Concerning Job: Chapter 22 of the Sixth Volume of Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i’s Girk‘ Harc‘manc‘,” St. Nersess Theological Review 2. 2 (1997), 131-65.
With E. Tucker and B. Vaux, “Ethnographic Materials from the Muslim Hemshinli,”
Annual of Armenian Linguistics 17 (1996), 25-45.
Essays in Edited Volumes
“Monasticism and the construction of the Armenian intellectual tradition,” in Monasticism in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Republics, ed. I.A. Murzaku (London and New York: Routledge, 2016), 332-52.
“King Lewon I: The Last Roman Emperor,” in La Méditerranée des Arméniens (XIIe-XVe siècle), ed. G. Dédéyan and C. Mutafian (Paris: Geuthner, 2014), 85-100.
“The Vision of St. Grigor Lusaworič‘ and the Role of Apocalyptic in the Conversion of Armenia,” in The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective, ed. K. Bardakjian and S. La Porta. SVTP 25 (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 296-312.
“Vardan Aygekc‘i’s Counsel and the Armenian Apocalyptic Literature,” in The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective, ed. K. Bardakjian and S. La Porta. SVTP 25 (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 504-37.
“The Seventh Vision of Daniel. A new translation and introduction,” in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, volume I, ed. R. Bauckham, J. Davila, and A. Panayotov (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 410-34.
“Re-constructing Armenia: Strategies of Co-existence amongst Christians and Muslims in the Thirteenth Century,” in Negotiating Co-existence: Communities, Cultures and ‘Convivencia’ in Byzantine Society, ed. B. Crostini and S. La Porta. BAC 96 (Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2013), 251-72.
“Exegeting the Eschaton: Dionysius the Areopagite and the Apocalypse,” in New Approaches to the Study of Biblical Interpretation in Judaism of the Second Temple Period and in Early Christianity,ed. G.A. Anderson, R.A. Clements, and D. Satran (Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2013), 269-82.
“Conflicted Coexistence: Christian-Muslim Interaction and its Representation in Medieval Armenia,” in Contextualizing the Muslim Other in Medieval Judeo-Christian Discourses, ed. J. Frakes (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 103-23.
“Translation and Transformation: Armenian Meditations on the Metamorphic Power of Language,” in The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Sound and Sign, ed. S. La Porta and D. Shulman. Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture 6 (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2007), 342-67.
“Grigor Tat’évats’i et l’École monastique de Tat’ev,” in Illuminations d’Arménie. Arts du livre et de la pierre dans l’Arménie ancienne et médiévale, ed. V. Calzolari (Cologny: Fondation Martin Bodmer, Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 2007), 210-14.
“A Theology of Mysticism: The Vision of God and the Trinity in the Thought of Grigor Narekac’i,” in Saint Grégoire de Narek: Théologien et Mystique, ed. J.-P. Mahé and B.L. Zekiyan. Orientalia Christiana Analecta 275 (Rome: PIO, 2006), 83-97.
“The Liturgical Imagination of Medieval Armenian Monasticism," in Worship Traditions in Armenia and the Neighboring Christian East, ed. R. R. Ervine (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press/St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, 2006), 197-221.
“Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i’s Pilgrimage to Jersualem,” in The Armenians in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, ed. R. Ervine, M. Stone, and N. Stone (Leuven: Peeters, 2002), 97-110.
“Sophia-Mêtêr: Reconstructing a Gnostic Myth,” in The Nag Hammadi Library After Fifty Years: Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration, ed. J.D. Turner and A. McGuire (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 188-207.
Forthcoming:
“A Fish out of water? Armenia(ns) and the Mediterranean,” in Words and Worlds in Motion: Armenians of the Mediterranean and Beyond, ed. K. Babayan and M. Pifer.
“The Chronicles Attributed to Smbat the Constable,” in Eastern Christian Historians and the Crusades, ed. A. Mallett (Turnhout: Brepols).
“The Persistence of History: Two Armenian Reactions to the Failure of Prophecy,” in Historical Writings between East and West, ed. I. Bueno and C. Rouxpetel.
“Beyond Image and Text: Armenian Readings of the Old Testament Scenes on the Church at Ałt‘amar,” in Le onzième centenaire d’Aght’amar: politique, art et spiritualité au royaume du Vaspourakan, ed. Z. Pogossian and E. Vardanyan, Armenian Texts and Studies (Leiden: Brill).
With Z. Pogossian, “Apocalyptic texts: transmission of topoi and their multilingual background,” in Editing Classical and Medieval Texts with a Multilingual Tradition, ed. I. De Vos and L. Sels, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta (Leuven: Peeters).
“Les sept arts libéraux et l’école de Glajor-Tat‘ew,” in Les arts libéraux et les sciences dans l'Arménie ancienne et médiévale, ed. V. Calzolari (Paris: Librarie philosophique J. Vrin).
Encyclopedia Articles
“The Armenian Church: Ninth – Fifteenth Centuries,” in Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Christian East, ed. E. Farrugia (Rome: PIO, 2015), 168-85.
“Gregory of Tat‘ew,” Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume Five (1350-1500 CE), ed. D. Thomas, A. Mallett, et al., (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 229-38.
“Armenian, Hebrew loanwords,” in Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, gen. ed. G. Khan (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 1:179-80.
Forthcoming:
Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity (OUP, 2018):
“Arab conquest, Armenia,” “Armenia,” “Armenia, Conversion of,” “Armenian literature, language, and alphabet,” “Armenian letters and letter writing,” “Eznik of Kołb,” “Gregory the Illuminator, Collected Homilies of,” “Koriwn,” “monasticism, Armenian,” “Naxarar,” “Sparapet,” “Zoroastrianism, Armenian”
Book Reviews
Review of T.M. Van Lint and R. Meyer, Armenia: Masterpieces from an Enduring Culture, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 25 (2016), 236-37.
Review of S. Dadoyan, The Armenians in the Medieval Islamic World. Paradigms of Interaction: Seventh to Fourteenth Centuries. Volume III: Medieval Cosmopolitanism and Images of Islam, Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries, in The American Historical Review (June 2015), 1144-45.
Review of V. Calzolari, ed., Armenian Philology in the Modern Era. From Manuscript to Digital Text. In Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 24 (2015), 160-1.
Review of E.G. Mathews, Jr., ed. and trans., On This Day: The Armenian Church Synaxarion (Yaysmawurk‘): a parallel Armenian-English text. January, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 23 (2014), 183-85.
Review of R. Thomson, Agathangelos. The Lives of Saint Gregory, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 22 (2013), 333-36.
Review of R. Thomson,Saint Basil of Caesarea and Armenian Cosmology. A Study of the Armenian Version of Saint Basil’s Hexaemeron and its Influence on Medieval Armenian Views about the Cosmos, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 21 (2012), 291-95.
Review of Z. Pogossian,The Letter of Love and Concord. A Revised Diplomatic Edition with Historical and Textual Comments and English Translation, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 20 (2011), 201-3.
Review of J.R. Russell, Armenian and Iranian Studies, in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 32 (2007), 533-36.
Review of G. Muradyan, Physiologus: The Greek and Armenian Versions with a Study of Translation Technique, in Banber Matenadarani 17 (2007), 339-42 (in Armenian).
Review of M. Thierry, Répertoire des Monastères Arméniens, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 13 (2003-4), 158-60.
Review of C. Cox, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion in Armenia, in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 9 (1999), 162-64.
Review of Armenia and the Bible, C. Burchard, ed., in Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies 7 (1997), 151-54.
Conferences and Symposia Organized
Politics, Identity, Religion. The Mediterranean Spring Workshop and Symposium held at California State University, Fresno, April 8-9, 2016.
After the Apocalypse: The Nachleben of Apocalyptic Literature in the Armenian Tradition. International conference sponsored by the Center for Literary Studies held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, June4-6, 2007.
Auto-Gnosis: the Theology of Self-Knowledge. International workshop organized with Prof. D. Shulman held at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, Jan. 5-7, 2005.
Translating Culture. Symposium held at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, May 23, 2004.
The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Sound and Sign. International workshop organized with Prof. D. Shulman held at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, December 17-18, 2003.
Symposia and Conference Papers Delivered (2011-2016)
“Religions in Competition: Christianity and Islam in 12th-c. Armenian Neomartyrologies,” paper delivered at 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, MI, May 12-15, 2016.
“Was Mediterranean Politics determined by Religion,” position paper delivered at the Spring Mediterranean Seminar. University of Colorado Boulder, Nov. 20, 2015.
“Problems of Time and Place in pre-Modern Armenian History,” paper delivered at Armenian History as World History: Approaches to Teaching and Methods. University of Michigan, Jan. 21, 2015.
“Beyond Image and Text: Armenian Readings of the Old Testament Scenes on the Church at Ałt‘amar,” talk delivered at an international conference entitled, Le onzième centenaire d’Aght’amar: politique, art et spiritualité au royaume du Vaspourakan. Paris, Sept. 22-23, 2014.
“Conceptualizing Cultural Interaction in 12th-century Eastern Anatolia,” paper presented at the Mediterranean MRP Workshop. Los Angeles, May 3, 2014.
“Conflict and Convivencia in 11-13th c. Anatolia: Reading readings of conflict,” paper delivered at the Annual Conference of the American Historical Association. Washington, D.C., Jan. 4, 2014.
“Communities of Knowledge and Intellectual Exchange in Medieval Armenia,” paper presented at the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, MI, May 9-12, 2013.
“Networks of knowledge: Texts and communication in late 13th-14th c. Armenia,” paper presented at the 2012 MESA Annual Meeting. Denver, CO, 19 Nov., 2012.
“Books before print: Manuscript Distribution Networks and the Development of the Armenian Intellectual Tradition,” paper presented at an international symposium entitled, Port Cities and Printers: Five centuries of global Armenian print, UCLA, Nov. 11, 2012.
“Medieval Latin Texts in Armenia,” paper presented at the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Kalamazoo, MI, May 10-13, 2012.
“The Armenian Genocide and the Politics of Memory,” paper presented at the Third International Genocide Conference. California State University, Sacramento, Nov. 2-4, 2011.
“The Armenian Version of the Scholia of John of Scythopolis on the Dionysian Corpus,” paper presented at the 30th Anniversary Meeting of the Association International des Études Arméniennes. Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 6-8, 2011.
“Land Grants and Land Tenure in Post-Seljuk Armenia: Was there a regional model?” paper presented at 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies.Kalamazoo, MI, May 12–15, 2011.
Public Talks (2011-2016)
“Religious conflict and competition in 12th-13th c. Anatolia,” talk given at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Sept. 16, 2016.
Keynote address, Armenian Genocide Commemoration, San Francisco, April 24, 2016.
“The Armenian Genocide and the 21st Century,”lecture delivered at the 33rd Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Feb. 16, 2016.
“One hundred years later: The Armenian Genocide, Historical Memory and Moral Responsibility,” talk given at the 4th Annual Genocide Awareness Week, Scottsdale Community College, April 17, 2015.
“Who Cares? Genocide, Historical Memory, and Moral Responsibility. The Armenian Genocide 1915-2015,” talk delivered at Fresno State Talks, California State University, Fresno, Feb. 26, 2015.
“The Armenian Genocide: One hundred years later,” lecture delivered at the 32st Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Feb. 3, 2015.
“The Armenian Genocide: Never Again!,” lecture delivered at the 31st Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Feb. 4, 2014.
“Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i and the Modernization of the Armenian Church,” talk delivered at ARPA, Los Angeles, California, May 30, 2013.
“Networks of Knowledge: Communication and Identity in 12th – 14th c. Armenia,” talk delivered at California State University, Fresno, April 16, 2013.
“The Armenian Genocide: Seeds of Remembrance,” lecture delivered at the 30th Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Feb. 12, 2013.
“Networks of Knowledge: Communication and Identity in 12th – 14th c. Armenia,” talk delivered at Columbia University, Nov. 30, 2012.
“Knowledge, Heresy and Inquisition: The Armenian Reaction to Latin Missionaries in the 14th c.,” talk delivered at California State University, Fresno, March 22, 2012.
“For the Love of Aristotle: Armenian, Latins, and the Battle over an Intellectual Tradition,” talk delivered at UC Berkeley, March 9, 2012.
“The Armenian Genocide: Lessons from the Past,” lecture delivered at the 29th Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Feb. 14, 2012.
“L’inferno armeno: Some readings of Dante in modern Armenian literature,” lecture delivered at California State University, Fresno, April 7, 2011.
“The Armenian Genocide: Memory and Memoir,” lecture delivered at the 28th Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Feb. 22, 2011.