Syriac Saints: Lives, Commemoration, and Memory
Milwaukee (WI), April 10-12, 2025
The Department of Theology at Marquette University announces a symposium on Syriac Saints: Lives, Commemoration, and Memory.
The European Commission jointly sponsors this symposium with Marquette University’s Department of Theology in the framework of Dr Annunziata Di Rienzo’s MSCA-GF project: “ForM – FORGED MEMORIES: the Church of Late Antique Iran and the West. The Textual Construction of a Relation with the Western Church and State Through Hagiographies, Epistles, Documents (4th-5th century).”
Conference Program
Thursday, April 10
Location: AMU – room 252
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent, Annunziata Di Rienzo
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Panel 1
Adam Bremer-McCollum (Harvard University)
Second Soundings in the Lives of Symeon the Fool (Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Georgian)
James Walters (Rochester Christian University)
Syriac Hagiographies in the HMML Collection: An Overview
Omri Matarasso (Princeton University)
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Break
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Keynote
Dina Boero (Institute for Advanced Study)
Celebrating a Saint: Between Architectural Program and Lived Religion at Qal‘at Sim‘ān
5:30 pm
Aperitif (Marquette Hall – Department of Theology)
Friday April 11
Location: AMU – room 252
8:00 am – 9:00 am
Light Breakfast
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Panel 2
Yuliya Minets (University of Alabama)
How do we know a saint? An ambiguous case of Euphemia of Edessa
Elizabeth Schick (Marquette University)
Erin Walsh (University of Chicago)
The Literary Portrait of the Holy Onesima: Textual Variants and the Shaping of the Saint’s Vita
Natalie Reynoso (Fordham University)
Syriac Female Virgin Martyrdom Narratives as Sources for the Bnāt Qyāmā, Daughters of the Covenant
11:00 am –11:30 am
Break
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Panel 3
Nicolas Atas (KU Leuven)
Hagiography in Ṭuroyo as a part of the local history of Ṭur ʿAbdīn
Daniel J. Sheridan (Independent scholar)
12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Lunch
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Panel 4
Carlo Emilio Biuzzi (Ghent University – EPHE | PSL)
Daniel Edwards (Marquette University)
Aiming at Perfection: The Life of Holiness according to the Epistola Magna
Hayden Hagerman (Marquette University)
Disambiguating the Virgin Mother: Odes 19 and the Case for its Reception in Clement and Ambrose
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Break
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Keynote
Susan Ashbrook Harvey (Brown University)
Hearing Holy Stories: the Agency of Listening in Late Antiquity
7:00 pm
Dinner
Saturday, April 12
Location: Marquette Hall 100
8:00 am – 9:00 am
Light Breakfast
9:00 am – 10:30 am
Panel 5
Annunziata Di Rienzo (La Sapienza Roma – Marquette University)
Simon Pierre (Ifpo-Beirut/Orient et Méditerranée)
Iustinian Ioan Mindrila (Georg-August-University Göttingen)
10:30 am –11:00 am
Break
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Keynote
Alberto Camplani (La Sapienza Roma)
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm
Conclusive remarks
Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent
Practical Information – Arrival in Milwaukee
From Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee)
If you fly directly to Milwaukee, you will arrive at Mitchell International Airport, located about a 10 minute ride south of Marquette. You can find a list of transportation options on the airport website. Two popular options for reaching Downtown Milwaukee are:
- Uber and Lyft
- Taxis are located outside the arrival area. The trip to campus costs approximately $25-30. A customary tip for taxi service is 15%. Taxi service is not pre-paid in Milwaukee. The driver will use the meter.
The options do include private shuttle service via GoRiteWay which can be booked in advance, but this service does cost significantly more (approximately $100 for 1 to 2 people).
From O’Hare International Airport (Chicago)
Coach USA Airport Express provides safe transportation to Milwaukee from the Chicago O’Hare Airport. Select “Milwaukee Intermodal/Amtrak Station” as your destination. The cost is approximately $35 one way and tickets can be purchased online, at the Bus Shuttle Center, or on-board the bus. Upon arrival to the Intermodal station, you can take a regular taxi/Uber/Lyft to the Marquette campus or to the hotel (at a cost of about $8; a customary tip for this service is 15%).
By Intercity Train or Bus
The AMTRAK train, Greyhound Bus, Badger Bus, Coach USA and Mega Bus arrive in downtown Milwaukee, at Intermodal/Amtrak Station. There is regular taxi/Uber/Lyft service from the station to the Marquette campus or the hotel at a cost of about $8. A customary tip for this services is about 15%.
By Car
You will find the Marquette campus near the intersection of interstate expressways
I-94, I-794, and I-43. The campus is located along Wisconsin Avenue between 10th and 19th Streets. Parking is regulated and limited, especially overnight. You may park for a few hours in the Marquette parking structure on 16th Street for a small fee. See our campus map for further directions or visit our parking website.



