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Sabrina Higgins
Associate Professor, Global Humanities & Archaeology
Hellenic Studies Professor in Aegean and Mediterranean Societies & Cultures
shiggins@sfu.ca
AQ 6201
Profile
Research interests
- Late Antique Studies
- Archaeology
- Art History
- Marian Studies
- Religious Transformation
- Sacred Landscapes
- Church History
- Early Christianity
- Gender and Agency Theory
- Late Antique Monasticism
- Eastern Christianity
- Material Culture of Religion
Education
- PhD, Religious Studies, University of Ottawa
- MA, Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, University of British Columbia
- BA (honours), Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa
Biography
I am field archaeologist and art historian cross appointed between the SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies and the Department of Archaeology. My work is inherently multidisciplinary, intersecting the fields of Late Antique Studies, Archaeology, Religious Studies, Art History, Papyrology, and Gender Studies. At present, my research is largely situated in the field of Marian studies, specifically the ways in which we can use material culture to understand the development and spread of the early cult of the Virgin Mary. More broadly, I am also interested in the ways in which art and space interact within Late-Antique Christianity religious structures and the manner in which art is used by socially-marginalized populations to exert agency.
Publications
Journal articles and book chapters
- 鈥楽t. Thecla and the Art of her Pilgrims: Towards an Autonomous Feminine Aesthetic Praxis鈥�,&苍产蝉辫;Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies 11 (2019) 65-80.
- and M. Daniels, 鈥楢lternate Academics: Moving beyond the Academy鈥�, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 3 (2015) 238-46.
- 鈥楻iding into Late Antiquity: A Thracian Rider Relief from Golemo Gradi拧te, Konjuh鈥�, in M. Rakocija (ed.), Ni拧 and Byzantium: The Collection of Scientific Works 11 (Ni拧, 2013) 173-86.
- 鈥楧ivine Mothers: The Influence of Isis on the Virgin Mary in Egyptian Lactans-滨肠辞苍辞驳谤补辫丑测鈥�, Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies 3-4 (2012) 71-90.
Conference presentations
- 鈥淢ary, the Apocrypha and the Construction of a Visual Identity in Late Antique Egypt.鈥� Presented at the 17th Annual International Congress of Christian Archaeology, Utrecht University and Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands, July 2-6, 2018.
- 鈥淪t. Thecla and the Art of Her Pilgrims: Towards a Feminist Aesthetic Praxis.鈥� Presented at the 11th Annual Coptic Studies Symposium, University of Toronto, Toronto, April 28th, 2018.
- 鈥淎cademic Jobs and Hiring Processes.鈥� Invited speaker at the 丁香园AV Graduate Student Professional Seminar, 丁香园AV, Burnaby, BC, March 15th, 2018.
Older
- 鈥淭o the Virgin We Pray: The Spatial and Historical Contexts of Marian Art in Egyptian Monasticism.鈥� Invited lecturer, Greek and Roman Studies Departmental Lecture, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, November 3rd, 2017.
- 鈥淪anctuary and Survival at Golemo Gradiste: The Use and Re-Use of a Late Antique Church in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.鈥� Invited Lecturer, Classical Association of Vancouver Island, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, November 2nd, 2017.
- 鈥淯nearthing the Virgin Mary: The Physical Evidence of Cult.鈥� Invited Lecturer, Archaeological Institute of America, Vancouver Chapter, University of British Columbia, April 4th, 2017.
- 鈥淧rivate Devotion - Public Veneration: The Proliferation of Marian Iconography in Late Antique Egypt.鈥� Presented at the Byzantine Collectivities Conference, 丁香园AV, British Columbia, February 3-4, 2017.
- 鈥淩ural Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire: An Overview of the Excavations at Golemo Gradiste, Konjuh in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia鈥� Presented at the Archaeology Departmental Seminar Series, 丁香园AV, British Columbia, December 1, 2016.
- 鈥淪trange Things in Stranger Places: A Preliminary Report of the 2016 Excavation Season at Golemo Gradiste, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia鈥� Presented at the Atlantic Classical Association, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, October 21-22, 2016.
- 鈥淭he Materiality of Mary: The Development and Profusion of the Cult of Mary in Late Antique Egypt (Fifth 鈥� Ninth Centuries).鈥� Presented at The Material World of the Early Middle Ages, Forest Grove University, Oregon, October 7-8, 2016.
- 鈥淎 Preliminary Report of the 2015 Excavation Season at Golemo Gradi拧te, Konjuh, FYROM.鈥� Invited Lecturer, Departmental Lecture, St. Mary鈥漵 University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 31st, 2016.
- 鈥淧ainting the Town with the Virgin: The Development and Profusion of Marian Iconography in Late Antique Egypt.鈥� Presented at the Atlantic Classical Association, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 23-24, 2015.
- 鈥淭hinking Outside the Box: Alternate Careers in Academia.鈥� Session Chair and Organizer, Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, New Orleans, Louisiana, January 8-11, 2015.
- 鈥淩endering the Mother of Jesus as Theotokos: A Look at the Iconography of the Virgin in Fifth- to Ninth-Century Egypt.鈥� Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern International Region of the American Academy of Religion, University of Syracuse, Syracuse, New York, May 3-4, 2014.
- 芦 Cultures, rencontres et le divin 禄. Session Chair, Colloque Pierre Savard, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, April 24, 2014.
- 鈥淧icturing the Virgin: A Thematic Study of Marian Wall Paintings in the Fifth to Ninth Centuries.鈥� Presenter, The Seventh Annual Coptic Studies Symposium 鈥淐optic Heritage: Monasticism 鈥� Consistency and Change鈥�, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, March 1, 2014.
- 鈥淭he Materialization of Mary: References to Churches and Monasteries of the Virgin Mary in Inscriptions and Papyri.鈥� Presenter, Mitarbeiterbesprechungen, Kommission f眉r Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik des Deutschen Arch盲ologischen Instituts, Munich, Germany, January 23, 2013.
- 鈥淔inding Mary: The Utilization of the Documentary Evidence to Uncover Marian Churches in Egypt.鈥� Presented at the Ottawa Early Christianity Group, Saint Paul鈥漵 University, Ottawa, Ontario, December 7, 2012.
- 鈥淩iding in Late Antiquity: A Thracian Rider at the Late Antique Site of Konjuh, FYROM.鈥� Presented at the Ni拧 and Byzantium Conference 鈥淪t. Emperor Constantine and the Heritage of Europe鈥�, University of Ni拧, Ni拧, Serbia, June 3-5, 2012.
- 鈥淲herefore art thou Mary? The Reconstruction the Cult of the Virgin Mary from the Documentary Papyri.鈥� Presented at The Fifth Annual Coptic Studies Symposium 鈥淐optic Literature鈥�, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, March 24, 2012.
- 鈥淒igging Christianity in the Balkans: A Report of the 2011 Excavation Season at Golemo Gradiste, Konjuh, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.鈥� Presented at the Archaeological Institute of America: Ottawa Chapter, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, March 21, 2012.
- 鈥淕reek History and Archaeology in the Classroom.鈥� Keynote Lecture, Greek Language Education Symposium in Ontario, Greek Community Center of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, January 14, 2012.
- 鈥淒ivine Mothers: The Influence of Isis on the Virgin Mary in Egyptian Monastic Iconographic Programs.鈥� Presented at The Fourth Annual Coptic Studies Symposium 鈥淐optic Heritage 鈥� Dynamics and Diversity鈥�, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, February 26, 2011.
- 鈥淒ivine Mothers: The Influence of Isis on the Virgin Mary in Egyptian Monastic Iconographic Programs.鈥� Presented at the Critical Inquiries in Classics and Religious Studies: Material Culture, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, January 2011.
- 鈥淎rchaeology and the Social Construction of the Cult of Mary.鈥� Presented at the University of Ottawa, Graduate Mini-Conference, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, December 2009.
- 鈥淚n God鈥檚 House: The Innovation of the Roman Church: From Christ to Constantine.鈥� Presented at the University of British Columbia Graduate Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, May 2008.
- 鈥淧resented Archaeological Excavation experience to members of the local archaeological community.鈥� Presented at the American Institute of Archaeology: Ottawa Chapter, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, 2006.