The Institute for Millennial and Apocalyptic Studies (IMAS), incorporated into the Australian Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Sydney) and an Australian Affiliation of the Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (Bedford, UK)
The Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney was invited to open a third branch for the Centre for Millennial Studies (the first of which was initiated by Professor Richard Landes at Boston University, USA in 1999), with an ‘open brief’ that reflected the various interests of its Director, Professor Garry W. Trompf. The third branch was at first focused on the sociology and cross-cultural study of millenarian hopes (particularly in Melanesia, where Trompf concentrates much of his research) and on the controversy surrounding the so-called 2YK “bug.” Over time, the scope of research broadened and changed, so that the third branch, having fulfilled its function at the University of Sydney, was eventually closed. The Institute for Millennial and Apocalyptic Studies (IMAS) represents an exciting new chapter in millennial and apocalyptic research overseen by Professor Trompf, whose vision encompasses all that takes in the idea of a new millennium in general, so that work on apocalyptic-type issues (whether historical or contemporary) now sits alongside research into the idea of a ‘new Era of remarkable possibilities.’ Indeed, IMAS covers the broad sweep of millennial and apocalyptic expectation and experience, from ancient religions such as Zoroastrianism, intertestamental Judaism, early Christianity and Gnosticism, through medieval millennialism, apocalypticism, and eschatology, on to contemporary religious, secular, ecological and technological trends.
IMAS Members and Links
Directorate
Emeritus Professor Garry W. Trompf, FAHA
- IMAS Director, Founder
- Areas of Specialisation: Millennial and Apocalyptic Studies (cross-cultural), Macrohistory in the Western Tradition
- Websites: University of Sydney; academia.edu
- garry.trompf@sydney.edu.au
Dr Bernard Patrikios Doherty
- IMAS Vice-Director
- Areas of Specialisation: Montanism, New Sectarian Apocalyptic Ideas
- Websites: Charles Sturt University; academia.edu; bdoherty@csu.edu.au
Executive Members
Associate Professor Michael Broderick
- Apocalyptic Themes in Mass Media
- Websites: Murdoch University
Associate Professor Mark Byron
- Apocalyptic Themes in Modernist Novels and Poetry
- Websites: University of Sydney
Professor Hilary Carey
- Christian Apocalyptic, Medieval History and Culture
- Websites: University of Bristol
Protopresbyter Dr Doru Costache
- Visionary Experiences and Apocalyptic Cosmology
- Websites: SCD, academia.edu, researchgate
Mr Ian Dunn, FRAS
- Asian millennialism
Revd Dr Raúl Fernández-Calienes
- Visions for Churches in the Third Millennium
- Websites: St Thomas University, Miami
Professor Iain Gardner, FAHA
- Manichaean Apocalyptic Beliefs, Gnostic and Coptic Studies
- Websites: University of Sydney
Professor Norman Habel
- Biblical Interpretation and Eco-Justice in the Third Millennium
- Websites: Personal Website
Dr Christopher Hartney
- Ideas of the Millennium in the Latin Classics
- Websites: University of Sydney; academia.edu
Dr Penny Keable
- Apocalypticism and the Nuclear Threat
Dr Mehravar Marzbani
- Zoroastrianism’s Views of the Future
Mr Ramin Marzbani
- Limiting the Environmental Footprint of Computers
Professor Ganzibra Brikha Nasoraia
- Mandaean and Comparative Ancient Gnostic Ideas about the Future
- Websites: Personal
Dr David Pecotic
- Time in Modern Gnostic Thought
Dr Lee Skye
- Traditional and Christian Aboriginal Ideas about Time and the Future
Dr Keith Suter
- Politics and Religion in the New Millennium
- Websites: Personal
Dr Friedegard Tomasetti
- Anthropological Study of Cargo Cults
Dr Dennis Walker
- Muslim Minorities, especially Nation of Islam
- Websites: Monash University
Professor Jonathan Wooding, FRHistS
- Celtic Apocalypses
- Websites: University of Sydney; academia.edu