Valentina Calzolari Bouvier, Professor at the University of Geneva and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University will address the valorization of female virginity in Early Eastern Christianity. The violation of virgins, bodies considered Temples of God, was considered the desecration of a sacred space in some traditions. Prof. Calzolari will detail how the analogy of the virgin’s body as a sacred space contributed to certain historiographic accounts about the conversion of pagan peoples and their perceived rebirths as nations. 

Free and open to the public. 

This event is sponsored by the Middle East Institute.