Open Lecture

The lecture series explores how writings come to be regarded, fashioned, and experienced as holy. Adopting a comparative perspective, it brings into conversation the rich cultures of writing found in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions. Its focus lies on the making and aesthetic shaping of holy writings, their place within ritual and religious practice, and the cultural worlds in which they are used and transmitted. Particular attention is given to the people who write, illuminate, preserve, and interpret these texts, as well as to the communities that invest them with authority and continually renegotiate their meaning.

Spanning Jewish scrolls and Hebrew Bibles, early Christian codices, Qurʾanic and Ethiopian manuscripts, Buddhist traditions, Byzantine art, Chinese cultures of writing, and medieval Psalters, the lectures reveal the many ways in which writing is not simply read, but made, shaped, venerated, performed, and experienced. They invite us to approach holy writings as material, visual, and performative artefacts, deeply embedded in religious practices and changing conceptions of holiness.

Open to students from all disciplines, scholars, and the wider public, the series offers a space for reflecting on the many ways in which human communities have made—and continue to make—writing a locus of holiness.