St. Nersess Armenian Seminary welcomed back its students on August 26, including Julia Hintlian, a doctoral student at Harvard University who is studying at the seminary this fall. Julia will spend the next few months taking classes only offered at St. Nersess, which will help her complete her PhD in the History of Christianity.

Julia will study primarily under Dr. Roberta Ervine, Professor of Armenian Studies, with a particular focus on the late antique history and theology of the Armenian Apostolic Church and on readings in Classical Armenian. She will also take a liturgical studies class with Bishop Daniel Findikyan, an advanced Western Armenian grammar course with Fr. Davit Karamyan, and she will work with Dr. Christopher Sheklian, director of the Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese.

"Studying at St. Nersess will be a unique opportunity to focus on the role of the Armenian Church in the early Christian world, and to consider how its ancient legacy continues to be significant to scholarship and to Armenian spiritual life today. The seminarians, professors, and staff on campus are so welcoming, and I know that the peaceful atmosphere here will allow me to work productively!" commented Julia.

Ms. Hintlian's expertise is in Armenian and Syriac Christianity, Late Antiquity, Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, and religions of the Silk Road. Her primary research languages include Classical Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, and Greek. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in Religious Studies and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in Silk Road Religions.

St. Nersess Seminary offers graduate level courses and degrees to students seeking to become ordained clergy or lay ministers in the Armenian Church and is now also offering distance learning for individuals who would like to take classes at the seminary to complete their advanced degrees. The seminary currently has two students who are taking classes remotely.