E-mail: tburke@yorku.ca

Languages Spoken: English.

Languages Read: English, French, German, New Testament Greek, Latin, Syriac.

Current Status: Obtained Doctorate of Philosophy from the Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto, November 2001. Area of specialization: Christian Origins.

Academic Interests: The study of Christian biographical literature of the second century (infancy gospels), children and the family in Roman antiquity, curses, and non-canonical Jewish and Christian writings.

I. EDUCATION

Ph. D. (1995-2001) University of Toronto, Centre for the Study of Religion

• Primary Field: Early Christian Gospel Literature
• Secondary Field: Early Syrian Christianity
• Supervisors: Dr. Robert Sinkewicz and Dr. Leif E. Vaage.
• Dissertation: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The Text, its Origins, and its Transmission.”

M. A. 1994-1995   Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Religion & Culture

• Major Field: Christian Origins
• Supervisor: Dr. Michel Desjardins
• Major Paper: “The Tour of Hell in the Greek/Ethiopic Apocalypse of Peter.”

B. A. 1987-1990 Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Religion & Culture

• Majors: English Literature, Religion & Culture

II. TEACHING HISTORY

2006-present: Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University

2004-2006: Limited Term Contract, School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University

• courses: AK/HUMA 1710 Roots of Western Culture: The Ancient World (ca. 1000 BCE - 400 CE), AK/HUMA 1850 The Bible and Modern Contexts, AK/HUMA 3421/3422 Interpreting the New Testament, AK/HUMA 3457 Gnosticism.

2002-2004: Limited Term Contract in “Mediterranean Religions,” Wilfrid Laurier University

• courses: RE 200 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, RE 104 Evil and its Symbols, RE 108 Roots of Western Religions II, RE 202 Legacy of the Bible: Liberation and Oppression, RE 215 Christianity and Western Culture: Early to Pre-Modern, RE 335 Jesus of Nazareth, RE 444 Gnosticism.

Spring 2002: Instructor for Islam, Laurier Association for Lifelong Learning, Wilfrid Laurier University

• This is a 6-week non-credit course comprised of 6 lectures.     

Winter 2002: Instructor for RE 262 Religions of the Graeco-Roman World, Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford Campus

2001-2002: Instructor for RE 335 Jesus of Nazareth, Wilfrid Laurier University, Distance Education   

Summer 2001: Instructor for RE 228 Roots and Manifestations of Anti-Semitism, Wilfrid Laurier University

2001: Instructor for World Religions, Laurier Association for Lifelong Learning, Wilfrid Laurier University

• This is a 12-week non-credit course comprised of 12 lectures.

1999-2002: Instructor for RLG 241Y Early Christian Writings I: The New Testament, University of Toronto at Mississauga

1996-1999, 2000-2002: Teaching Assistant for RLG 100Y/280Y Major Religious Traditions, East and West, University of Toronto

Winter 1995: Teaching Assistant for RE 344 Apocalypticism, Wilfrid Laurier University

III. TEACHING INSTRUCTION

Winter 2000: THE 500 Teaching in Higher Education

• THE 500 is a professional course out of Woodsworth College, University of Toronto which introduces students to an array of teaching techniques including “Instruction Technology Applications,” “Stimulating Class Discussion,” and “Teaching Strategies for Large Class Teaching.” Students’ own skills are evaluated through written assignments and workshops.

IV. RESEARCH ASSISTANT EXPERIENCE

Winter 2000: Dr. Michel Desjardins, Department of Religion & Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Prepared the indices for Stephen G. Wilson and Michel Desjardins (eds.), Text and Artifact in the Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity: Essays in Honour of Peter Richardson (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2000).

Fall 1999: Dr. Michel Desjardins, Department of Religion & Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Compiled a bibliography on the text The Concept of Our Great Power.

Winter 1994: Dr. Michel Desjardins, Department of Religion & Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Assisted in the editing and typesetting of essays included in William E. Arnal and Michel Desjardins (eds.), Whose Historical Jesus? (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997).

Fall 1994: Dr. Carol Schlueter, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary

• Assisted in the preparation of a bibliography on Feminist Biblical Interpretation.

V. SCHOLARSHIPS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

2003: Nominee, 2002/2003 Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union Teaching Award.

1995-2001: University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowships.

1996: Winner of  the Joachim Jeremias Prize from the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies for the essay: “The Gospel in Miniature: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as Children's Story.”

VI. PUBLICATIONS

A. Journal Articles

2004: Tony Chartrand-Burke, “The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Apocrypha 14: 129-151.

2003: Tony Chartrand-Burke, “’Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.” Centre for the Study of Religion Colloquium Papers Vol. 3: Religion and the Child.

1998: Tony Chartrand-Burke, “Authorship and Identity in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Toronto Journal of Theology 14/1:27-43.

1997: Tony Chartrand-Burke, “Against the Proud Scholars of the Devil: Anti-intellectual Rhetoric in The Cloud of Unknowing.” Mystics Quarterly 23.3:115-36.

B. Encyclopedia Entries

2006: “James, Protevangelium of,” in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (forthcoming).         

2005: “Apocalyptic” and “Eschatology,” in E. M. Dowling and W. G. Scarlett (eds.), Encyclopedia of Spiritual and Religious Development in Childhood and Adolescence (Thousand Oaks: Sage).

C. Book Reviews

2006: The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the New Testament Writings by Thomas L. Brodie, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68: 756-758.

2005: Playing a Jewish Game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the First and Second Centuries CE by Michele Murray, Toronto Journal of Theology 21: 256-257.                         

2004: Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction by Hans-Josef Klauck, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66: 655-57.

2002: The Survivors of Israel: A Reconsideration of the Theology of Pre-Christian Judaism by Mark Adam Elliott, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64: 572-77.

2002: L’évangile  de l’enfance (Luc 1-2) selon le Proto-Luc by M. E. Boismard, Journal of Biblical Literature 119.2: 362-64.

1999: The Gospel of Thomas by Richard Valantasis, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61:385-86.

1998: The Mystical Tradition and the Carthusians, Vol. 1 by James Hogg (ed.), Mystics Quarterly 24.1:32-34.

VII. PRESENTATIONS

Oct. 2006: “Completing the Gospel: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as an Expansion of the Gospel of Luke.” Colloquium: The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec.

Sept. 2006: “Researching the New Testament Apocrypha in the Twenty-first Century.” Workshop: Christian Apocryphal Texts for the New Millennium: Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.

June 2006: “Cursing and Curse Stories in the New Testament Apocrypha.” Réunion annuelle de l’Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), Dole, France.

May 2006: “Studying Curses and Curse Stories: Some Musings on  Methodology.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario.

May 2005: “Curse Stories in Early Christian Literature.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, London, Ontario.

May 2004: Panelist: Your First Years Teaching “First Years.” Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Sept. 2003: “Gnostic Imagery in Disney’s Pinocchio.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia

June 2003: “The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Réunion annuelle de l’Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), Dole, France

May 2002: “‘Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.” Canadian Society of Patristic Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario. 

April 2002: “’Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.” Colloquium on Religions of Classical Antiquity, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto.

March 2001: Response to Michel Desjardins, “Valentinian Families.” Toronto School of Theology Colloquium Series, University of Toronto.

Nov 2000: “Strange New Sayings: A Fresh Look at the Sayings of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in Light of New Manuscript Evidence.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee.

May 2000: “The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, University of Edmonton, Alberta.

March 2000: “Collating for Dummies: On Putting Together a Critical Text of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Colloquium on Religions of Classical Antiquity, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto.

Jan 2000: “Collating for Dummies: On Putting Together a Critical Text of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” WLU/UW/KW Biblical Colloquium, Waterloo, Ontario

April 1997: “Authorship and Identity in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting, D’Youville College, Buffalo.

May 1996: “The Gospel in Miniature: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as Children’s Story.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario (also March 1996, Colloquium on Religions of Classical Antiquity, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto)

VIII. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

May 2006: Local Representative for the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, York University

May 2004: “Apocryphal Gospels.” Internet radio interview by Reginald Finley, http://theinfidelguy.com

April 2004: “’The Gospel According to Mel’: The Passion of the Christ (2004) and the Quest for the Historical Jesus.” Presentation at the 37th Annual History Teachers’ Conference, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Sept. 2002: “Jesus on the Edge: What Do the Apocryphal Gospels Tell Us about the Historical Jesus?” Public lecture for the Kitchener Public Library, Kitchener, Ontario

IX. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

2000 – present: Member, Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC)

1996 – present: Member, The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies           

1998 – present: Member, The Society of Biblical Literature

1998 – present: Member, The American Academy of Religion

X. REFERENCES

Dr. Robert Sinkewicz

Centre for Mediaeval Studies

University of Toronto

Phone: (416) 926-7128

E-mail: rsinkewicz@utoronto.ca

 

Dr. Michel Desjardins

Religion and Culture Department

Wilfrid Laurier University

Phone: (519) 884-1070 ext. 3323

E-mail: mdesjard@wlu.ca

 

Jean-Daniel Kaestli

Secrétraire general de l’AELAC

20 bis, av. de Montagibet

CH-1005 Lausanne

Phone: 41-21-692-2733

E-mail: Jean-Daniel.Kaestli@irsb.unil.ch