News Note
The Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture (ASEC) is an academic organization founded in 2003 by professors of Russian history and literature who wished to expand their knowledge of various Eastern Christian cultures broadly conceived. ASEC biennial conferences at Ohio State University (October 2005; October 2007; October 2009) have included historical, theological, literary, linguistic, cultural, and anthropological investigations of Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Eastern Christian churches. ASEC is an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.
The theme of the 2007 conference was “Centers and Peripheries: Interaction and Exchange in the Social, Cultural, Historical, and Regional Situations of Eastern Christianity.” In 2009 the ASEC meeting addressed “Reform Movements in Eastern Christianity: Renewal, Heresy, and Compromise.” The keynote address for the 2009 conference was “Southern Challenges to Eastern Christianity: New Pressures for Reform in Contemporary Ukraine,” given by Catherine Wanner (Penn State University), author of Communities of the Converted: Ukrainians and Global Evangelism (Cornell University Press, 2008).
Membership is open to persons without regard to confessional affiliation who are enrolled in, or have completed, a master’s program or higher academic degree. Annual membership fees are $25 ($10 for graduate students and retirees). Officers are president: Jennifer B. Spock, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY,
The next ASEC conference is scheduled for October 2011 at Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.