PSCO

Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1

Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1 is preserved in the Penn Museum.

The Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins (PSCO) is a colloquium in ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and cognate fields. Its active membership includes scholars in the study of early Judaism and early Christianity from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and beyond. (For more information, see “Who We Are.”)

The topic for the sixty-first year of PSCO is Thinking and Talking About Texts in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Reyhan Durmaz, Simcha Gross, and Jeremy Steinberg will coordinate the year’s sessions. For more information, see our topic page.

Now in its sixty-first year, the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins (PSCO) brings together scholars and graduate students in Philadelphia and surrounding areas for informal discussion and debate of timely issues and questions in the study of ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and cognate fields. Each year, PSCO hosts four to six meetings to explore one theme-ranging from pressing methodological or theoretical questions, to neglected primary or secondary sources, to timely conversations across disciplines. Meetings are informal and discussion-oriented, and invited speakers are encouraged to provide suggested readings and resources prior to their session so as to facilitate productive conversation. The PSCO is organized under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Religious Studies and has been made possible by generous sponsorship from the Penn Humanities Forum and Penn’s Center for Ancient Studies.

PSCO founder Bob Kraft passed away on Friday, September 15 after a long battle with cancer. Bob was one of the founders of the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins in 1963 and he played a pivotal role in the longevity of the seminar even over the last few years. His lifelong work and incredible array of publications on Judaism and early Christianity and many facets thereof continue to shape the field today. Please take a minute to read the History of the PSCO penned by Bob and Annette Yoshiko Reed. The 61st year of PSCO is dedicated to Bob’s memory.