SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

the rest are intermediate and advanced levels, including manuscript workshop. The instruction was by Hany Takla. 14. New Lecture Series at the Coptic Center: In an effort to promote the Coptic Heritage, the Society is continuing a series of lectures at its Coptic Center in Los Angeles. The presenter will be Mr. Hany N. Takla and the time will be on Thursdays from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. (Presentation and Discussions). The following are the schedules lectures for this period: 15. Coptic Studies at Claremont Garduate University (CGU): In our continuing effort to promote Coptic Studies in Southern California, we struck an agreement with the CGU to offer a class in Coptic Studies for Spring Semester 2004. Dr. S. Michael Saad was the principle negotiator, facilitator, promoter, and fundraiser for this worthy endeavor. As a result CGU announced Class #1449, Course # REL- 306 Egyptian Monasticism and Coptic Art starting 20 January (Spring 2004 Semester), Time: Mondays 1-4 pm, 4 units. The course description was listed as follows: This course will provide a general survey of Coptic monasticism. Students will be introduced to Egypt’s strong monastic traditions, including textual sources, art, and architecture from the fourth through the thirteenth century. Special emphasis will be given to monastic art from the sixth and the seventh centuries. The format of the course includes slide lectures and discussions. Extra material for the bibliography will be distributed to students. Regular attendance in class is essential and is considered a form of participation. The course will be taught by our imminent scholar, Dr. Gawdat Gabra. The funding provided through the Society was in the form of a $7,000 grant to CSR. Being an out-of-budget item, Dr. Saad led the 3/4/2004, The Coptic Liturgical Services. 4/1/2004, The Coptic Liturgical Manuals.

campaign to raise the funds for this grant in just of two weeks. Twenty-one members of the Coptic Community in Southern California, Missouri, and Hawaii contributed to this grant. It is hoped that many more classes can be offered in the different prominent universities in the area. We would like thank Prof. Karen Torjison, Dean of the School of Religion at CGU for approving the course. For further information consult CGU website at http://religion.cgu.edu/coursedescspring04.html. 16. A New Coptic Studies Master of Arts (MA) Program in Australia: The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Sydney Australia has collaborated with the prestigious Macquarie University (MU) there to offer a historic Coptic Studies MA program. This program is described in the MU website as the first of its kind in the world. The papers to initiate the program were signed at the conclusion of a Symposium on Iconography in Early Egypt , held at MU on November 29, 2003. The agreement, which was signed by Bishop Daniel, the Coptic bishop of Sydney, would guarantee the funding of 20, 2-year scholarships for a total of 160,000 Australian Dollars every two years. The cost would be spread over the 20 churches of the Diocese. We applaud H.G. Bishop Daniel for the major accomplishment of his Diocese. It certainly had set a high standard for all the Copts outside of Egypt, which has always been the trademark of the Copts in Sydney. However, the foundation for this has been laid by Dr. Youhanna N. Youssef's tireless efforts in Australia to promote Coptic Studies among the Copts for the past few years. Also, high praise is due to Ms. Lisa Agaiby of Sydney, an attendee of the Wadi al-Natrun Symposium at 2002, for her dynamic organizational role in accomplishing this historical endeavor. For more information consult the Sydney Coptic Diocese website at http://www.coptic.org.au

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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