On October 27-28, 2023, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) student Mihailo Vlajkovic (M.A. ‘24) represented the Seminary at a conference hosted by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. The two-day conference, titled "The Apostolic Ministry": History, Theology, and Ecumenism, offered an exploration of “the ways in which churches claim ‘apostolicity,’ and what this ideal means for broader questions of ecumenism and inter-communion.” Eighteen presenters from the US, Canada, and Kenya joined the conference, representing a range of professions and viewpoints, including “theologians, historians, ordained ministers, canon lawyers, ecclesiologists, ecumenists, and students and seminarians.”

Mihailo learned about this conference last semester when the invitation to participate was received by SVOTS faculty. He decided to apply for a presenter slot as the topic aligned with his research interests and received a formal invitation in mid-summer.

During the conference, Mihailo gave his presentation on the topic “Examining the Council of All Orthodox Bishops in America: A Canonical Precedent or Reflection of Ancient Ecumenical Councils.”

Mihailo summarized his talk in an abstract featured in the conference program:

The Orthodox Church’s canonical tradition acknowledges the crucial role of the Assembly in collectively addressing community challenges. This research assesses how the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America continues the tradition established in the early centuries. It is unique as it brings together local churches operating within the same territory. Notably, some churches function as dioceses of jurisdictions with headquarters outside America. While the dialogue among these churches is rooted in shared faith, it often extends beyond administrative concerns to discussions on establishing Church boundaries. The dialogue between Orthodox jurisdictions is a foundation for fostering a broader understanding and engagement with other Churches.

Mihailo expressed gratitude for “the opportunity to present my work and to answer the questions of the attendees; it is always a good opportunity to hear specific opinions that can encourage further thinking and expand the dialogue.”

In reflecting further on the conference, Mihailo emphasized the range of topics and presenters represented at the event, saying how glad he was to give St Vladimir’s Seminary and Orthodoxy a voice in the discussion. Participating in these types of exchanges reminds Mihailo of why he chose to study theology, he explained, “The common desire for knowledge and service to God and the Church always motivates me to try even harder to contribute my life to the Church.”

In this Faculty Spotlight Interview, we get to know Dr Rossitza Schroeder, Associate Professor of Art History and Assistant Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts at St Vladimir’s Seminary. Dr Schroeder is teaching the third online course offered by St Vladimir’s Online School of Theology, Sacred Artistry: The Living Tradition of Orthodox Church Art, and graciously agreed to share more of her story with us in this interview piece.

Dr Schroeder, please tell us about your family background and early life in the Church. What were some early influences that led you to dedicate your life to studying and teaching Byzantine art history?

I was born and raised in Bulgaria in a working-class family. At the time I was growing up access to the church while not prohibited was not encouraged. We were supposed to be first and foremost followers of the communist party and its ideology. My father had a bible but hid it so as not to be reported to authorities by ‘well-meaning’ visitors. 

My personal relationship with the church began only in my early 20s after the dissolution of the Soviet bloc and while I was pursuing a degree in history at Sofia University. I was baptized primarily because my friends were. While I understood the seriousness of the Faith and the long tradition behind it, I could not sincerely relate to it. I feared it more than I loved it. Twenty years later, when I found myself on a tenure track position in California, I began a different journey in which the Church and its teaching became an inextricable part of my life. I owe this to the former director of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley Archbishop Nikitas Loulias, who generously provided me with the space to be both a church-goer and a Byzantine art historian all at once. I got to sing, read the epistle, and discuss icons with the community in the Institute and in churches all around the Bay Area. 

Dr Schroeder moderates a panel discussion hosted by the Institute of Sacred Arts at St Vladimir’s Seminary

I had encountered Byzantium in all its complexity since I was in middle school. The now-lost empire is closely tied to Bulgarian history for apparent geographical and cultural reasons. In middle and high school we studied it primarily as a negative presence that oppressed, invaded, and stole from us. But, when at university, thanks to my Byzantine history professors Georgi Bakalov and Anetta Ilieva, my understanding of the empire and itsheritage shifted profoundly. My actual intellectual ‘conversion’ happened while reading an article on Byzantine aesthetics. It is here that I first encountered the arguments for icon veneration provided by theologians like John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite. I found the sophistication of their writing not simply convincing but exhilarating. This was why I decided to pursue degrees in Byzantine art history in the United States where I was fortunate to have two exemplary teachers—Annemarie Carr and Henry Maguire. Their excellence and innate humility will always inform my teaching and scholarship. 

How did you come to St Vladimir's Seminary and to the Institute of Sacred Arts?

Academic Dean, Dr Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie contacted me in the Fall of 2019 and offered me to teach a course on Byzantine art. I realized that this was my best chance to be a teacher as well as a practitioner of the Orthodox Faith. At that point, I had already come to the conclusion that a deep understanding of Byzantine art is impossible without a meaningful engagement with the life of the Church. St Vladimir’s is the place where I can do both.

Why is it important to learn about the sacred arts? 

This is a complicated question. Can one imagine an Orthodox church without its distinct iconographic program? Without images of saints and scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary? I assume the answers to these questions will be in the negative. In light of the realities of our church buildings, it is very important that we know what we are looking at. Given the levels of literacy in our society, it cannot be said anymore that icons are the Bible for the poor and unlettered. What are they then? I believe that they are dialogic systems that allow communication with the holy. Icons are oriented not away from but toward the faithful. Just like texts, they allow identification with sainted exemplars of faithfulness and worship. They do not simply inform but also form the Orthodox Christians.

Dr Schroeder giving an overview of her upcoming online course with St Vladimir’s Online School of Theology, Sacred Artistry: The Living Tradition of Orthodox Church Art

How have you seen students learn and grow through learning about the sacred arts at St Vladimir's Seminary?

I can only hope that the students at St Vladimir’s have grown through the study of icons. I can say for certain that I have. 

What are your hopes for the Institute of Sacred Arts and the future of the M.A. concentration in Sacred Arts at St Vladimir's Seminary?

The Institute of Sacred Arts offers unique opportunities to academics, students, and laypeople to deepen their understanding of and relationship with the arts of the Orthodox Church. The MA degree is grounded in true and, in my opinion, edgy interdisciplinarity. Through course offerings in art history, theology, liturgics, and musicology the students in the program receive a well-rounded, holistic education. What makes the program particularly attractive is the opportunity to experience the effects of icons, music and poetry both in the classroom and in church. Indeed, theory and practice interact or even mix perfectly at St Vladimir’s Seminary.

You will be teaching the next online course offered by St Vladimir's Online School of Theology, Sacred Artistry: The Living Tradition of Orthodox Church Art. Can you give us a glimpse?

The class introduces the audience to the origins and meaning of icons. It bridges the gap between past and present and demonstrates how the art and architecture of 21st-century Orthodox churches have deep roots in Byzantium. It makes an argument for perceiving icons not as mere backdrops for sacred actions but as visual inputs for theologizing and, ultimately, as meaningful conduits to holiness. 

Last weekend, Associate Professor of Patristics, the Very Rev. Dr Bogdan Bucur, traveled to Brookline, MA to give a lecture at the Pappas Patristic Institute. The talk was entitled When the Most Blessed Athanasius was Opposing the Arians: Athanasius' Defense of the Nicene Faith Refracted through an Augustinian Lens (Darkly) and was attended by students and faculty of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium. Fr Bogdan spoke about the anti-subordinationist conception of Old Testament theophanies in St Augustine in relation to the views of St Athanasius the Great.

Article adapted from pappaspatristicinstitute.com.

With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share the news of the repose of John Barrett Dunlop, SVS Press author and longtime friend, former seminarian, and supporter of St Vladimir’s Seminary. John fell asleep in the Lord on October 14, 2023. John is survived by his wife of 59 years, Olga Verhovskoy Dunlop, daughter of former Professor of Dogmatics at St Vladimir’s Seminary (1952-1981), Serge S. Verhovskoy, as well as his four children, Matushka Maria Tobias and son-in-law Archpriest Peter Tobias (M.Div. ‘01) of Kenai, AK; Olga T. Dunlop of Palo Alto, CA; the Very Rev. John S. Dunlop (M.Div. ‘94), Dean Emeritus and Professor at St Herman’s Seminary, Dean of Kodiak Island Deanery, serving at Nativity of Our Lord Orthodox Church in Kodiak, AK (OCA); and Catherine T. Dunlop, Professor of European History, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, as well as seven grandchildren.

John Dunlop was born on September 10, 1942, in Boston, Massachusetts, to John Thomas and Dorothy Emily (Webb) Dunlop. He received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1964 and completed two years of coursework at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) before completing master’s and doctoral degrees at Yale University.

Dunlop was an emeritus senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He was an expert on Soviet and Russian politics from 1985 to the present, Russia’s two wars in Chechnya, ethnic Russian nationalism, and the politics of religion in Russia. His latest research focused on the origins of the Putin regime in 1998–99.

In testimony before a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives in July 1991, Dunlop predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union, which occurred the following December. He chronicled that collapse in his book, which is still in print, The Rise of Russia and the Fall of the Soviet Union (Princeton University Press, 1993, 1995), and in an essay that appeared in the Journal of Cold War Studies (no. 1, 2003).

In November 1999, Dunlop testified on the subject of the war in Chechnya before the Helsinki Committee. In July 2001, he testified on the same subject before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

His publications include The Moscow Bombings of September 1999: Examinations of Russian Terrorist Attacks at the Onset of Vladimir Putin’s Rule (2012), Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict (Cambridge University Press, 1998), The 2002 Dubrovka and 2004 Beslan Hostage Crises: a Critique of Russian Counter-Terrorism (Ibidem Verlag, 2006), The New Russian Nationalism (Praeger Publishers, 1985), and The Faces of Contemporary Russian Nationalism (Princeton University Press, 1983).

John Dunlop also wrote several books on spiritual topics in the Orthodox Christian tradition, including Staretz Amvrosy: Model for Dostoevsky’s Staretz Zosima (Nordland, 1972), and Exodus: St John Maximovitch Leads His Flock out of Shanghai (SVS Press, 2017). He also contributed to many translated works, including The Living God (SVS Press, 1989), in collaboration with his wife, Olga. 

A professor and department chair at Oberlin College from 1970 to 1983, Dunlop was a national fellow at the Hoover Institution in 1978–79. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford and Princeton Universities, a visiting Olin Senior Fellow at Radio Liberty in Munich, and an academic visitor at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dunlop served as acting director of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Stanford in 2008. From 1997 to 2003, he was a member of the Overseers’ Committee to Visit the Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian Studies, Harvard University.

John Dunlop was a parishioner at Nativity of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church in Menlo Park, CA, where funeral services were held on Saturday, October 21, 2023.

May John’s memory be eternal! 

Article adapted from hoover.org and prabook.com