At this year’s Fall Faculty Assembly, Professor David Michelson received the Chancellor’s Award for Research, recognizing his outstanding contributions to scholarship and creative expression. Dr. Michelson was one of ten faculty recognized for their significant impact in their field of study and for their advancement of human understanding of the varied experiences, contributions and values of all people.
“This is an incredible honor and we are all so delighted that Dr. Michelson is one of the recipients of this year’s award.” said Dean Yolanda Pierce.
Dr. Michelson’s most recent research focuses on Digital Encoding for Syriac Studies, an effort that includes workshops and the development of Syriaca.org. The website’s mission is to produce tools and reference resources that will overcome some of the access and discovery problems that currently impede scholarly research on the Syriac language, cultures, and history. The principal objectives are threefold: to compile and organize core data related to the study of Syriac sources, to create digital tools for widely disseminating this data and facilitating further research, and to create an online hub (cyberinfrastructure) to assist future research in the field of Syriac studies.
His most recent book, The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East (Oxford University Press, 2022), has received both national and international acclaim. It has been described as “the rare book that can legitimately be called
Photos by Joe Howell
groundbreaking.” Michelson’s colleagues in the field note that he is “one of the finest connoisseurs of the Syriac ascetic tradition” and he is someone who “has spent his career working to preserve the endangered cultural and linguistic heritage of Syriac Christianity.”
David A. Michelson is Associate Professor of the History of Christianity teaching as a faculty member in The Divinity School, The Graduate Department of Religion, and The Department Classical and Mediterranean Studies.