Elena Ene Drăghici-Vasilescu
DPhil/PhD(Oxon), MA, BA (Hon),FRHS
1. Research Interests
Byzantine Philosophy and Art, History of Ideas, Medieval Europe
Course in 2023, Oxford: How Byzantine art became Crusader art?
- Visiting Professor in Byzantine culture, Winter semester (2022-2023), Macquarie University, Sydney
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, February 2023
In 2023 Dr. Vasilescu organizes an exhibition of icons entitled ‘Byzantium then and now’ that takes place in Wolfson College between 24 Apr 2023 and 23 Jun 2023 (The Levett Room & The Florey Room).
More details about the event are here: Byzantium then and now |Wolfson College, Oxford
2. Selective publications:
i) Books
- Michelangelo, the Byzantines, and Plato, (Oxford, 2021), ISBN: 978-1-80049-879-2
Michelangelo, the Byzantines, and Plato eBook : Ene D-Vasilescu, Elena : Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
- Glimpses into Byzantium. Its Philosophy and Arts, (Oxford, 2021), ISBN: 978-1-80049-880-8
- Creation and Time. Byzantine and Modern, (Oxford, 2021), ISBN: 978-1-80049-881-5
Creation and Time. Byzantine and Modern (eBook, 2021)
- Heavenly sustenance in Patristic texts and Byzantine Iconography, London, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018;
See also eBook: Heavenly Sustenance in Patristic Texts and Byzantine Iconography | SpringerLink
In 2019 the Early Slavic Studies Association awarded its Book Prize to this volume.
- Visions of God and ideas on deification in Patristics Thought
(co-ed. with Mark Edwards), London, Abingdon, UK: Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2017
ii) Articles
- Journal of Art and Design, 2023, 3(1), 2023, pp. 22-27. DOI: 10.31586/jad.2023.620
https://www.scipublications.com/journal/index.php/JAD/article/view/620
- “Byzantine objects in Medieval Rus’: a case study”, Romanoslavica, 58 (1), 2022, pp. 62-96; ROMANOSLAVICA. New Series, vol. XLVII, no. 1 – Editura Universității din București (editura-unibuc.ro)
- “Paul Tillich on History”, has been published in the European Journal of Theology and Philosophy, 3 (2), pp. 1-8; DOI: 10.24018/theology.2023.3.2.98; http://www.ej-theology.org/index.php/theology/article; https://doi.org/10.24018/theology.2023.3.2.98/view/98
- “The Climate of Byzantine and Medieval Cappadocia” in the International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 12 (2), 2021, pp. 1-20
- “Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Byzantine Art”, Journal of Early Christian History, 11 (2), 2021, pp. 50-75; DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2020.1743955. Also published online by Taylor & Francis; he link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2020.1743955. Published online: 11 Nov 2021
-“Byzantine icons wrought in metal”, International Journal of History and Cultural Studies (IJHCS), Volume 8, Issue-1, 2022, pp. 1-4; DOI: 10.20431/journal.08010
(DOI: https://doi.org/10.20431/2454-7654.0801001); www.arcjournals.or (Paper ID: 0522002)
- “Pseudo-Dionysius and Aesthetic Philosophy”, in The Annual Review of the Oxford Philosophical Society, 2020, pp. 22-27
- “Aspects of iconography in Byzantine Cappadocia”, European Journal of Theology and Philosophy, 1(4), 2021, pp. 34-39 (On-line edition 17 august 2021), DOI https://doi.org/10.24018/theology.2021.1.4.35
ISSN: 2736-5514 DOI: 10.24018/theology.2021.1.4.35
- “The church of San Marco in the eleventh century”, in Mirabilia, vol. 31/2 (2020; June-December), pp. 695-740; on-line
https://www.revistamirabilia.com › pdfs › 29._vasilescu_0.pdf
- article “Shrines and Schools in Byzantine Cappadocia”, Journal of Early Christian History, volume 9, Issue 1, 2019, pp. 1-29
iii) Contributions to various volumes:
- book chapter “The icon of the Heavenly Ladder”, in Liz James and Antony Eastmond (eds.), Wonderful Things: Byzantium Through its Art, Farnham: Ashgate, 2013, pp. 176-184
- entry “Gregory of Nyssa” in Philip F. Esler (ed.), The Early Christian World, Routledge- Taylor & Francis Group, 2017, chapter 55, pp. 1072-1987
- book chapter “Armenians of Romania and their cultural endeavours””, in Marina Dmitrieva, Bálint Kovács, Stefan Troebst (eds.), Die Kunst der Armenier im östlichen Europa, Köln: Böhlau, 2014, pp. 59-67
iv) Recordings:
- The text entitled “Common elements within the writings of Gregory of Nyssa and Dionysius” was posted on ‘YouTube’ by the International Association of Patristic Studies/Association Internationale d’Études Patristiques (AIEP/IAPS): https://youtu.be/mBxfkPhd1iA;
The written version of the text has also been uploaded at:
Elena Draghici-Vasilescu, Common elements.pdf - Google Drive
- YouTube: Prof. Elena Ene Draghici-Vasilescu, Workshop on Byzantine iconography, Wolfson College, Oxford; Video link https://youtu.be/vnzm9XYrPzg
Communications and workshops:
- “Byzantine objects in Medieval Rus’: a case study”; Wolfson College, University of Oxford; presentation to the Slavonic and East European Medieval Studies Group; 19 November 2022.
This was a longer version of my presentation at the International Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan
- I conveyed the Round Table ‘The notion of time in Byzantium’
at the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies (Venice and Padua), 22-27 August 2022. My own paper was entitled “Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite on the notion of time”
- “Byzantine Art in the West Today. The Byzantine monuments of Ravenna in 2021”, Summerville College, Oxford, 18 November 2021. Presentation based on the information I gathered during my visit in this city in July-August 2021
- “Pseudo-Dionysius, a statue, and Byzantium” at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies held on 10 – 12 June 2021 (via Zoom)
- “The Climate of Byzantine and Medieval Cappadocia” at the International Congress of Medieval Studies, Leeds, July 2021 (via Zoom)
- “Dionysius the Areopagite and Neoplatonism”, University of Bucharest, 11 November 2022, presentation via Zoom
- “Inscriptions on the Borders of Medieval Byzantine Cappadocia”, International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK, on the 7th of July, 2022
-Two workshops on Byzantine iconography:
17 May and 27 November 2021, in Wolfson College
Selective scholarships, grants, and awards
2021 – 2022 Lorne Thyssen Research Grant, Wolfson College, University of Oxford
2021 An award during the Oxford University Climate Tech & Sustainability Innovation Challenge competition for my presentation “Lessons from ancient Greece and the Byzantines on how to protect and manage the environment”
January 2019 The Early Slavic Studies Association Book Prize for the volume Heavenly sustenance in Byzantine Iconography, Basingstoke, London: Palgrave, 2018
Fieldwork: Visit to the Byzantine monuments in Ravenna in July-August 2021
