Syrian Orthodox Hymnology 

Academic year 2025/2026

Overview  

This course is for both beginners and advanced participants in hymnology. The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch has a rich tradition of hymnody and poems. Many great Fathers of the Church wrote and instructed the faithful using music and poetry. St. Ephrem the Syrian and St. Jacob of Serugh are two of the most famous hymn writers in the Syrian Orthodox tradition.

This course aims to provide participants with a practical and theoretical introduction to the hymnic tradition of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and invites the participants to partake in this great tradition.

Learning Approach

At Sankt Ignatios Folkhögskola, the overarching principle that guides learning is that all knowledge is intersubjective.

Knowledge is dialogue, which requires humility and empathy.

This course is built on collaborative and dialogical learning where participants actively shape not only their common learning journey but also the course itself. The content, materials, and methods will be adapted in real time based on participants’ needs, interests, and input. Beyond mastering subject matter, a central goal is for each participant to become aware of how shared learning experiences and dialogue transforms their thinking, practice and identity. Through dialogue, narrative, group discussions, shared reflection, creative expression, and collective exploration, participants develop awareness of their own growth while supporting others’ development. The learning community becomes a space where everyone’s experiences and questions not only enrich understanding but actively guide the direction of the course, helping each person to integrate learning into their own life context in meaningful, personally transformative ways.

Learning outcomes 

Upon completion of the course, the participants are (individually and collectively) expected to be able to:

• describe the church’s music tradition and explain how songs express religious ideas; 
• explain worship commentaries by connecting their symbols with spiritual practice;
• understand church songs through both studying the text and performing the hymns;
• show how different worship books connect and explain how they shape church services;
• sing church music in ways that express the community and spiritual aspects of the tradition; 
• reflect deeply on how singing together has revealed dimensions of hymns they couldn’t learn from books alone, and share personal examples of how this musical experience has transformed their individual prayer life and sense of belonging in community worship. 

Other requirements 

Attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to participate in all course activities, both by being present and playing an active role in scheduled sessions and by completing assignments outside of scheduled lessons. If participants miss lessons, they may be required to complete extra assignments to fulfill the learning outcome requirements of the course. For the course to be considered complete, 80% attendance and participation are required. 

The syllabus was established by the Teachers’ Collegium on December 20^th 2023.
The Deans Council revised the syllabus on February 26^th and March 18^th 2025.