Columba Andrew Stewart (born July 16, 1957) is a scholar, teacher, and the executive director of the

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) is a nonprofit organization that photographs, catalogs, and provides free access to collections of manuscripts located in libraries around the world. HMML prioritizes manuscripts located in regions enda ...

(HMML) in

Collegeville, Minnesota Collegeville is an unincorporated community in St. Wendel Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitob ...

. His principal scholarly contributions have been in the field of monastic studies—both Benedictine and

Eastern Christian Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...

Education

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, and a graduate of Lamar High School in Houston, Stewart received his A.B. in history and literature from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1979, magna cum laude. He earned his M.A. in religious studies at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1981. After studying liturgical history, systematic theology, and scripture at Saint John's University School of Theology, he earned his D.Phil. from

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1989, writing his thesis on Greek and Syriac asceticism."Curriculum Vitae"
''Academia.edu''.

Religious life

Stewart professed vows as a monk at Saint John's Abbey in July 1982. On June 8, 1990, he was ordained to the priesthood.

Career

Stewart has been the executive director of the

since 2003. Working closely with international church leaders, governments and cultural organizations, Stewart has supervised the digitization of largely Christian manuscript collections from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India. He has also led initiatives focused on the digitization of Islamic manuscripts through his partnerships with libraries in the Middle East, Africa, and India. He also oversees the organization's headquarters in Collegeville, Minnesota."A Monk Saves Threatened Manuscripts Using Ultramodern Means"
''The Chronicle'', November 29, 2009.

Areas of research and training

* Monastic Studies (Early and Medieval), Eastern Christianity. * 2019

Jefferson Lecture The Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities is an honorary lecture series established in 1972 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). According to the NEH, the Lecture is "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished ...

in the Humanities for the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Media exposure

For both his scholarly contributions and his preservation work at HMML, Stewart has appeared in media coverage by Smithsonian Magazine
A Mission for Father Stewart
" June 2021), CBC Radio
Benedictine monk on why preserving ancient religious texts is vital
" May 2022), and Harper’s Magazine
Guardians of Memory
" August 2022) an
The Harper’s Podcast
He has also been featured by the CBS News Program ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'', Harvard magazine, and the BBC, as well as in features such as "Preserving Words and Worlds," "Ancient Christians in India," "A Monk Saves Threatened Manuscripts Using Ultramodern Means," "Codices Decoded," ''In the Footsteps of the Apostles'', "Monastery Works to Preserve Ancient Christian Texts," and "Saving the Sacred"."HMML's Work to be Featured on Public Television Broadcast"
, ''Hill Museum & Manuscript Library'', April 11, 2011.

Selected works

Stewart has published on monastic, Benedictine, and linguistic topics, including: * ''Working the Earth of the Heart: The Messalian Controversy in History, Texts and Language to 431''. Oxford Theological Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. *''Cassian the Monk''. Oxford University Press: New York, 1998. *''Prayer and Community: The Benedictine Tradition''. Darton, Longman and Todd (U.K.) and Orbis Books (USA), 1998. Stewart was a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship awardee. The fellowship supported Stewart's work on a new history of the origins of Christian monasticism. He was chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities to be the 201
Jefferson Lecturer

References

External links

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Columba Benedictine scholars Benedictine writers American Benedictines 20th-century Christian monks Living people 1957 births Harvard University alumni 21st-century Christian monks Yale University alumni College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers