Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

History

Major Professor

Matthew King, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Darcie Fontaine, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Brian Connolly, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Tara Deubel, Ph.D.

Keywords

Intercommunal, Migration, Religion, Transnationalism

Abstract

Building off Michael Akladios’ work on early Coptic migration and the ad hoc institutionalization of the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America, this dissertation proposes that the construction and direction of Coptic churches in Middlesex County, New Jersey was laity driven, ad hoc, reactive, and dependent on local variables. Additionally, it reveals that the creation of St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church in East Brunswick, New Jersey spurred migration to the Middlesex County area and transformed their small community into a domestic and international Coptic migration center. Unlike previous scholarship that places greater attention on urban Coptic communities and transnational networks, this dissertation provides a localized perspective that examines the Coptic community within an overall trend of U.S. suburban development and migration. From this vantage point, it examines how Coptic communities influenced suburban development and worked with organizations to shape local diversification efforts. It is the goal of this dissertation to portray the Coptic community and their religion as a facet of the American religious landscape instead of a marginalized and insular group struggling to preserve their religion and culture in American society. Although Copts arrived in the U.S. with a strong ethnoreligious background, the emphasis or omission of their Egyptian heritage was heavily influenced by the public and their perceptions of the Coptic community. The eclecticism of immigration narratives and church building initiatives discussed in this dissertation sheds light on the complexity of consolidating our understanding of the early Coptic community in the diaspora into a single absolute narrative. While common tropes are decipherable, a clear understanding of diasporic Coptic communities is only possible through discernment and the quantification of developmental differences.

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