Episode 14: Promoting Christian Unity
December 3, 2020
Dr. George Demacopoulos
Dr. George Demacopoulos received a Master of Theological Studies, with highest honors, at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1995 before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 2002. Today, Dr. Demacopoulos is Fr. John Meyendorff & Patterson Family Chair of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University.
Dr. Demacopoulos’ research and teaching interests are in the fields of Early Christian and Medieval Church History. He specializes in the relationship between Orthodox and Roman Catholics during the middle ages. He has published nine books and dozens of scholarly articles that focus on a range of topics including monasticism, the papacy, the Crusades, and the construction of modern Orthodox identity.
Along with Aristotle Papanikolaou, Dr. Demacopoulos co-founded the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University, which is the only research university-based center of Orthodox Studies in the United States. The Center offers an interdisciplinary minor in Orthodox Christian Studies and a host of research-related initiatives that are bringing the insights of the history, thought, and culture of Orthodox Christianity into a broader academic conversation.
In 2010, Dr. Demacopoulos was named an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Didaskalos tous Genous (Teacher of the Nation), and now serves as the Historian for the Order of St. Andrew.
Aristotle PapanikoLaou
Aristotle Papanikolaou is professor of Theology, the Archbishop Demetrios Chair of Orthodox Theology and Culture, and the Co-Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University. He is also Senior Fellow at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion.
In 2012, he received the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the Humanities. Among his numerous publications, he is the author of Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion, and The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy. He is also co-editor of Political Theologies in Orthodox Christianity, Fundamentalism or Tradition: Christianity after Secularism, Christianity, Democracy and the Shadow of Constantine (Winner of 2017 Alpha Sigma Nu Award in Theology), Orthodox Constructions of the West, Orthodox Readings of Augustine, and Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars. He enjoys Russian literature, Byzantine and Greek music, and is a bit of a foodie.
In 2012, he received the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the Humanities. Among his numerous publications, he is the author of Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion, and The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy. He is also co-editor of Political Theologies in Orthodox Christianity, Fundamentalism or Tradition: Christianity after Secularism, Christianity, Democracy and the Shadow of Constantine (Winner of 2017 Alpha Sigma Nu Award in Theology), Orthodox Constructions of the West, Orthodox Readings of Augustine, and Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars. He enjoys Russian literature, Byzantine and Greek music, and is a bit of a foodie.
