Posts tagged SBL

Call for Proposals
Liberation Theologies Group, American Academy of Religion

We invite proposals for an off-site event or session during or immediately before the 2013 AAR/SBL joint annual meetings in Baltimore, November 23-26, 2013.

During the 2012 business meeting, an irony was raised for consideration. Liberation theologies expand the boundaries of academic spaces, knowledge, pedagogy, and participation. Yet, over the years, the Liberation Theologies Group of the American Academy of Religion largely has met in official conference spaces and abided by traditional modes of academic presentation. The group agreed that this is a contradiction that should be addressed. A suggestion was made that we organize a meeting or event outside of conference space.

All proposals are welcome, however creative or mundane, and we welcome diverse conceptions of liberation theologies. We especially encourage proposals that blur the academy’s boundaries or that originate beyond its traditional walls. In other words, we welcome proposals from any location inside, outside, or at the margins of the margins.

For instance, to spur the imagination: Should we convene a “popular academy” session in collaboration with a local neighborhood, community group, church, or school? Should we seek community with those who currently struggle for economic, racial, and sexual justice in Baltimore by breaking bread together and listening? Perhaps, you will propose street theater or another liberative arts? Or ….?

Proposals should include:

• A concise description of the event or session
• Suggested participants
• Timing, space, or cost considerations
• Proposer’s name, email, phone number, and relevant affiliations or background

Proposals should be emailed by June 1, 2013 to:

Steering Committee, Liberation Theologies Group
c/o Hannah Hofheinz, hhofheinz@mail.harvard.edu

Please email hhofheinz@mail.harvard.edu for more information or with exploratory inquiries.

_________________

Liberation Theologies Group, American Academy of Religion
Statement of Purpose:

This Group asks “what does liberation theology mean in and for the twenty-first century?” We encourage crossover dialogue — between contexts and between disciplines — and reflection on the implications of liberationist discourse for the transformation of theology as a whole, both methodologically and theologically.

The section invites submissions for an OPEN SESSION on John’s Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts, Ancient and Modern. We especially welcome papers that offer new perspectives on the text, including papers that approach the text from specific hermeneutical contexts (e.g. African-American, Latino/ Latina, Asian, Pacific Islander), employ innovative approaches to the Apocalypse (e.g. spatial theory, cognitive linguistics, social-economic analysis), and/ or offer new perspectives on enduring questions.The section also invites proposals for a JOINT SESSION with the Ethiopic Bible and Literature Consultation on apocalyptic and specifically the Book of Revelation within Ethiopic contexts and interpretive traditions.

The LGBT/ Queer Hermeneutics program unit invites papers for OPEN SESSIONS on the following topics: (1) “Narrative Literature through a Queer Lens,” which continues our genre series. We invite proposals that employ LGBT/Queer hermeneutical approaches in conversation with narrative texts within the biblical traditions (e.g. Genesis, Exodus, Gospels, Acts), including cognate literature (e.g. ANE, Second Temple, Early Christian) and interpretive traditions. Proposals that engage the relationship between biblical traditions and contemporary narratives from a queer perspective are also welcome. (2) In honor of being in the home of queer icon John Waters, we also invite papers that engage “Camp and the Obscene in Biblical Traditions and Interpretation.” Papers may explore how the concepts of camp and the obscene relate to or appear within biblical texts, traditions, and interpretations and/ or the ways in which camp and the obscene provide challenges to biblical texts and traditions. While not required, papers that use the work of John Waters as an interpretive lens are also encouraged. 

PROGRAM UNITS

ACADEMIC TEACHING AND BIBLICAL STUDIES

Adam L. Porter

Description: Pedagogy and the classroom each provides a hermeneutical and heuristic frame of reference for the reading and interpretation of the Bible. Each classroom is also part of a larger institutional context has its own mission statement and culture. These provide concrete interpretive communities in which reading and interpretation take place. The exploration of the dynamics of teaching within the context of pedagogical concerns, institutional goals and cultures, and specific classroom communities is the goal of the group’s agenda. 

Call for papers: Pedagogy and the classroom each provides a hermeneutical and heuristic frame of reference for the reading and interpretation of the Bible. Each classroom is also part of a larger institutional context has its own mission statement and culture. These provide concrete interpretive communities in which reading and interpretation take place. The exploration of the dynamics of teaching within the context of pedagogical concerns, institutional goals and cultures, and specific classroom communities is the goal of the group’s agenda.

ADVENTIST SOCIETY FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Carl P. CosaertJohn W. Reeve

Description: The Adventist Society for Religious Studies (ASRS) is a Seventh-day Adventist academic society of Bible and religion scholars whose purpose is “to provide intellectual and social fellowship among its members and encourage scholarly pursuits in all religious studies disciplines, particularly with reference to the Seventh-day Adventist tradition.” It was formally organized in New York City in 1979. The Society organizes an annual meeting in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) professional meetings held in different cities throughout the United States each year. It also publishes (currently via CD-ROM, and in due course on-line) the proceedings and papers from such meetings. 

Call for papers: The Adventist Society for Religious Studies (ASRS) is a Seventh-day Adventist academic society of Bible and religion scholars whose purpose is “to provide intellectual and social fellowship among its members and encourage scholarly pursuits in all religious studies disciplines, particularly with reference to the Seventh-day Adventist tradition.” It was formally organized in New York City in 1979. The Society organizes an annual meeting in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) professional meetings held in different cities throughout the United States each year. It also publishes (currently via CD-ROM, and in due course on-line) the proceedings and papers from such meetings.

AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS

Lilian Dube

Description: The African Association for the Study of Religions is an academic association of the scholars of religions posted in universities in Africa, and of scholars of the religions of Africa posted in universities outside Africa. It was founded at an IAHR (International Association for the History of Religions) conference in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September 1992 for the purpose of promoting the academic study of the religions of Africa more generally through the international collaboration of all scholars whose research has a bearing on the subject. The AASR seeks to stimulate the academic study of religions of Africa in a variety of ways: providing a forum for multilateral communications between scholars of African religions; facilitating the exchange of resources and information; encouraging the development of linkages and research contacts between scholars and institutions in Africa, and between scholars in Africa and those overseas. The AASR also endeavors to assist scholars to publish their work and travel to professional meetings. The AASR is an affiliate of the IAHR since 1995. It meets at the IAHR quinquennial congress and organizes conferences in Africa. Its members participate in panels at conferences outside of Africa. The AASR publishes the bi-annual AASR Bulletin and maintains a web site: www.a-asr.org. AASR plans for an online journal are at an advanced stage. 

Call for papers: The African Association for the Study of Religions is an academic association of the scholars of religions posted in universities in Africa, and of scholars of the religions of Africa posted in universities outside Africa. It was founded at an IAHR (International Association for the History of Religions) conference in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September 1992 for the purpose of promoting the academic study of the religions of Africa more generally through the international collaboration of all scholars whose research has a bearing on the subject. The AASR seeks to stimulate the academic study of religions of Africa in a variety of ways: providing a forum for multilateral communications between scholars of African religions; facilitating the exchange of resources and information; encouraging the development of linkages and research contacts between scholars and institutions in Africa, and between scholars in Africa and those overseas. The AASR also endeavors to assist scholars to publish their work and travel to professional meetings. The AASR is an affiliate of the IAHR since 1995. It meets at the IAHR quinquennial congress and organizes conferences in Africa. Its members participate in panels at conferences outside of Africa. The AASR publishes the bi-annual AASR Bulletin and maintains a web site: www.a-asr.org. AASR plans for an online journal are at an advanced stage.

AFRICAN BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS

Andrew M. Mbuvi

Description: This section is devoted to the study of the Bible from African perspectives, and focuses on African issues. A diversity of methods reflecting the social-cultural diversity of Africa is used in reading the Bible. The emphasis is on encouraging readings of the Bible that are shaped by African perspectives and issues, and giving voice to African biblical scholars as they contribute to global biblical scholarship. The unit expects to publish essays from its sessions. 

Call for papers: This section is devoted to the study of the Bible from African perspectives, and focuses on African issues. A diversity of methods reflecting the social-cultural diversity of Africa is used in reading the Bible. The emphasis is on encouraging readings of the Bible that are shaped by African perspectives and issues, and giving voice to African biblical scholars as they contribute to global biblical scholarship. The unit expects to publish essays from its sessions.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS

Love L. Sechrest

Description: The specific objective of this unit is to engage in the interdisciplinary and holistic study of the Bible and its place in, and meanings from, multi-faceted and complex African-American cultural contexts. 

Call for papers: The specific objective of this unit is to engage in the interdisciplinary and holistic study of the Bible and its place in, and meanings from, multi-faceted and complex African-American cultural contexts.

ANCIENT FICTION AND EARLY CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH NARRATIVE

Diane Lipsett

Description: The Section on Ancient Fiction and Early Jewish and Christian Narrative fosters methodologically diverse analyses of these ancient narratives, including: their interplay and interconnections; socio-cultural contexts; representations of reality, including religion; and narrative form, including plot, character, style, voice, etc. 

Call for papers: The Section on Ancient Fiction and Early Jewish and Christian Narrative fosters methodologically diverse analyses of these ancient narratives, including: their interplay and interconnections; socio-cultural contexts; representations of reality, including religion; and narrative form, including plot, character, style, voice, etc.

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ICONOGRAPHY AND THE BIBLE

Izaak J. de HulsterJoel M. LeMon

Description: This section examines the ways that ancient pictorial material informs interpretations of biblical texts. We welcome papers that explore the relationships between iconographic and textual materials as well as papers that deal exclusively with iconographic issues. 

Call for papers: This section examines the ways that ancient pictorial material informs interpretations of biblical texts. We welcome papers that explore the relationships between iconographic and textual materials as well as papers that deal exclusively with iconographic issues.

ANGLICAN ASSOCIATION OF BIBLICAL SCHOLARS

Henrietta L. Wiley

Description: The Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars is an international association of biblical scholars who are affiliated with the churches of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the U.S., the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Church of England. Its purpose is to support biblical scholarship at all levels in the Anglican Communion. AABS is dedicated to fostering greater involvement of biblical scholars in the life of Anglican churches, and to promoting the development of resources for biblical studies in Anglican theological education. 

Call for papers: The Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars is an international association of biblical scholars who are affiliated with the churches of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the U.S., the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Church of England. Its purpose is to support biblical scholarship at all levels in the Anglican Communion. AABS is dedicated to fostering greater involvement of biblical scholars in the life of Anglican churches, and to promoting the development of resources for biblical studies in Anglican theological education.

APPLIED LINGUISTICS FOR BIBLICAL LANGUAGES

Randall Buth

Description: The Applied Linguistics for Biblical Languages Group seeks to explore and address the many issues involved in adding oral-aural considerations to the study of the biblical languages. These issues include listening-speaking pedagogy, developing second-language internalized proficiency amongst scholars, affirmative impact on the students, teacher training, distance education, measuring the efficiency of training programs, and stimulating auxiliary projects that arise like improving dictionaries and grammars for new pedagogical contexts. 

Call for papers: The Applied Linguistics for Biblical Languages Group seeks to explore and address the many issues involved in adding oral-aural considerations to the study of the biblical languages. These issues include listening-speaking pedagogy, developing second-language internalized proficiency amongst scholars, affirmative impact on the students, teacher training, distance education, measuring the efficiency of training programs, and stimulating auxiliary projects that arise like improving dictionaries and grammars for new pedagogical contexts.

ARAMAIC STUDIES

Edward M. Cook

Description: The Aramaic studies section is intended to provide a forum for scholars interested in various aspects of Aramaic language. Previous paper topics have included aspects of the Targumim, Qumran Aramaic, Peshitta, Samaritan papyri, and Elephantine Aramaic. 

Call for papers: The Aramaic studies section is intended to provide a forum for scholars interested in various aspects of Aramaic language. Previous paper topics have included aspects of the Targumim, Qumran Aramaic, Peshitta, Samaritan papyri, and Elephantine Aramaic.

ARCHAEOLOGY OF RELIGION IN THE ROMAN WORLD

James C. WaltersJohn R. Lanci

Description: The goal of this unit is to promote examination of archaeological and art historical materials associated with religious activity in the Roman period. Presentations related to ancient Judaism and early Christianity are welcome, as is attention to polytheistic practices and expressions. 

Call for papers: The goal of this unit is to promote examination of archaeological and art historical materials associated with religious activity in the Roman period. Presentations related to ancient Judaism and early Christianity are welcome, as is attention to polytheistic practices and expressions.

ART AND RELIGIONS OF ANTIQUITY

Zsuzsanna GulacsiJacob A. Latham

Description: This consultation examines the visual and material evidence of the religions of the Mediterranean basin in antiquity (Judaism, Christianity, and Greco-Roman “paganism”) as well as the methods by which scholars study these materials alongside textual or documentary evidence. 

Call for papers: This consultation examines the visual and material evidence of the religions of the Mediterranean basin in antiquity (Judaism, Christianity, and Greco-Roman “paganism”) as well as the methods by which scholars study these materials alongside textual or documentary evidence.

ASIAN AND ASIAN-AMERICAN HERMENEUTICS

Uriah Y. KimJin Young Choi

Description: The Asian and Asian American Hermeneutics Group of the Society of Biblical Literature is a forum in which biblical and religious scholars can advance and contribute to the study of Asian and Asian American interpretation. The group is part of a growing shift in biblical criticism specifically and hermeneutics generally that focuses on the difference that cultural location makes in reading texts. The Asian and Asian American Hermeneutics Group is one of the primary avenues for scholars to share their work on Asian and Asian American interpretation. The group is intentional about including the broad range of diversity cultural, generational and religious that makes up the different Asian and Asian American communities. 

Call for papers: The Asian and Asian American Hermeneutics Group of the Society of Biblical Literature is a forum in which biblical and religious scholars can advance and contribute to the study of Asian and Asian American interpretation. The group is part of a growing shift in biblical criticism specifically and hermeneutics generally that focuses on the difference that cultural location makes in reading texts. The Asian and Asian American Hermeneutics Group is one of the primary avenues for scholars to share their work on Asian and Asian American interpretation. The group is intentional about including the broad range of diversity cultural, generational and religious that makes up the different Asian and Asian American communities.

ASSYRIOLOGY AND THE BIBLE

K. Lawson Younger, Jr.JoAnn Scurlock

Description: Assyriology and the Bible section provides the focused context for papers dealing with various Mesopotamian-related topics. It seeks to generate strong integrative research between the disciplines of Assyriology and Biblical Studies by encouraging adept historiographic, philological, literary and/or iconographic work. 

Call for papers: Assyriology and the Bible section provides the focused context for papers dealing with various Mesopotamian-related topics. It seeks to generate strong integrative research between the disciplines of Assyriology and Biblical Studies by encouraging adept historiographic, philological, literary and/or iconographic work.

BIBLE AND CULTURAL STUDIES

Jacqueline HidalgoErin Runions

Description: This interdisciplinary Section encourages comparative analyses of the Bible as artefact and icon in word, image, and sound. We offer a forum for pursuing cultural analyses of gender, race, and class both within the social world of ancient Mediterranean cultures and in dialogue with modern cultural representations. 

Call for papers: In conjunction with a number of other program units, Bible and Cultural Studies will host four shorter sessions on “Memory and Orality.” Papers and workshops will consider how the study of memory and orality have impacted biblical studies, both theoretically and practically. These sessions will explore how particular approaches to memory and orality have been employed within scriptures and as practices surrounding scriptural traditions, and we will be especially attentive to how communities negotiate memory and orality across dynamics of power (e.g. historical, linguistic, racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, sexual, differently-abled, human/non-human dynamics). We will examine how memory and orality have framed and been understood, contextualized, theorized, and practiced in the Bible, in its interpretation, and in its political and religious uses. The sessions will comprise a panel on memory and orality, a “study together” session that will be open to everyone, a pedagogy session, and a mentoring session. For our second session, we invite papers that address the theme of “(Fair) Trade in and of Scriptures.” Trade is a pervasive theme in many biblical texts, and trade may be responsible for the shaping of biblical texts and scriptural traditions. We are requesting papers that examine the relationship between scriptures and trade, and especially papers that attend to relationships between scriptural texts and contemporary debates and discussions about fair trade. How have trade and practices of trade shaped biblical texts and the practices that surround them? In what ways have biblical texts and other scriptural traditions and practices been shaped by trade? How have biblical texts and other scriptural traditions shaped trade? What are the connections between trade and scriptures? What is “fair trade,” and what relationships exist between contemporary conceptualizations of fair trade and the bible?

BIBLE AND EMOTION

Matthew R. SchlimmF. Scott Spencer

Description: This unit focuses on understanding the spectrum of emotions displayed throughout the Bible in their literary and cultural contexts, informed by the burgeoning cross-disciplinary study of emotion in contemporary philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, psychotherapy, politics, economics and other fields. 

Call for papers: This unit focuses on understanding the spectrum of emotions displayed throughout the Bible in their literary and cultural contexts, informed by the burgeoning cross-disciplinary study of emotion in contemporary philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, psychotherapy, politics, economics and other fields.

BIBLE AND POPULAR CULTURE

Valarie ZieglerLinda S. Schearing

Description: This unit explores and analyzes the relationship between the Bible and popular culture. It focuses on materials designed for everyday life—comic strips, advertisements, theme parks, popular music, etc. Drawing from a variety of disciplines and analyzing both the printed and visual media, presenters will explore the interaction between biblical text and popular culture. 

Call for papers: This unit explores and analyzes the relationship between the Bible and popular culture. It focuses on materials designed for everyday life—comic strips, advertisements, theme parks, popular music, etc. Drawing from a variety of disciplines and analyzing both the printed and visual media, presenters will explore the interaction between biblical text and popular culture.

BIBLE AND VISUAL ART

Elizabeth Struthers MalbonHeidi J. Hornik

Description: The purpose of the Consultation is to provide a forum at the national SBL to explore historical, hermeneutical, theological, iconographic, and/or theoretical aspects related to the interpretation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in visual art through the centuries. 

Call for papers: The purpose of the Consultation is to provide a forum at the national SBL to explore historical, hermeneutical, theological, iconographic, and/or theoretical aspects related to the interpretation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in visual art through the centuries.

BIBLE IN ANCIENT AND MODERN MEDIA

Tom ThatcherChris Keith

Description: The Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section provides SBL members with opportunities to experience biblical material in media other than silent print, including both oral and multimedia electronic performances. This program unit’s three foci are (a) the original media world of the Scriptures, (b) the Bible in electronic media, and (c) the history of the Bible in various media. 

Call for papers: The Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section provides SBL members with opportunities to experience biblical material in media other than silent print, including both oral and multimedia electronic performances. This program unit’s three foci are (a) the original media world of the Scriptures, (b) the Bible in electronic media, and (c) the history of the Bible in various media.

BIBLE TRANSLATION

Marlon Winedt

Description: The Bible Translation Section provides a special opportunity for bringing together academic and practical perspectives on Bible Translation. It focuses on current trends in Bible Translation and on the implications that developments in Translation and Biblical Studies have for Bible Translation. 

Call for papers: The Bible Translation Section provides a special opportunity for bringing together academic and practical perspectives on Bible Translation. It focuses on current trends in Bible Translation and on the implications that developments in Translation and Biblical Studies have for Bible Translation.

BIBLE, MYTH, AND MYTH THEORY

Robert S. KawashimaStephen C. Russell

Description: This section (a) provides a forum for sustained and focused attention on the concept of myth and its place in biblical studies and (b) encourages the development and refinement of multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to this area of inquiry. 

Call for papers: This section (a) provides a forum for sustained and focused attention on the concept of myth and its place in biblical studies and (b) encourages the development and refinement of multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to this area of inquiry.

BIBLICAL CRITICISM AND LITERARY CRITICISM

Jamie SmithAndrew P. Wilson

Description: The Biblical Criticism and Literary Criticism Section provides an opportunity for scholars doing literary criticism of biblical texts to describe and illustrate their approaches and to enter into a dialogue with each other, and promotes scholarly awareness of the presuppositions, methodologies, and contributions of biblical literary criticism. 

Call for papers: The Biblical Criticism and Literary Criticism Section provides an opportunity for scholars doing literary criticism of biblical texts to describe and illustrate their approaches and to enter into a dialogue with each other, and promotes scholarly awareness of the presuppositions, methodologies, and contributions of biblical literary criticism.

BIBLICAL GREEK LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

Randall K.J. TanJonathan M. Watt

Description: This section aims to promote and discuss ongoing research into biblical Greek language and linguistics, covering the Septuagint and particularly the New Testament. While traditional language studies are welcome, methods derived from modern linguistic theories and their applications are encouraged. 

Call for papers: This section aims to promote and discuss ongoing research into biblical Greek language and linguistics, covering the Septuagint and particularly the New Testament. While traditional language studies are welcome, methods derived from modern linguistic theories and their applications are encouraged.

BIBLICAL HEBREW POETRY

Carol J. DempseyMark J. Boda

Description: This section focuses on all aspects of Hebrew poetry in the biblical canon: archaic poetry, the role of oral tradition, poetic meter, parallelism, structural and nonstructural poetic devices, imagery, metaphor, and figurative language. Papers dealing with any portion of poetry in the Hebrew Bible are welcome. 

Call for papers: This section focuses on all aspects of Hebrew poetry in the biblical canon: archaic poetry, the role of oral tradition, poetic meter, parallelism, structural and nonstructural poetic devices, imagery, metaphor, and figurative language. Papers dealing with any portion of poetry in the Hebrew Bible are welcome.

BIBLICAL LANDS AND PEOPLES IN ARCHAEOLOGY AND TEXT

Ann E. Killebrew

Description: This unit is designed to encourage conversation and collaboration between archaeologists, Biblicists and textual scholars. Our definition of “archaeology” is broad, so we also include papers that present historical reconstructions using archaeological and textual data. Our stated goal is for all of the participants to address how their focused research in archaeology or biblical studies relates to the work of specialists in other areas. To date our sessions have included approximately an equal number of field archaeologists and textual specialists. The sessions thus promote dialogue between the presenters and the participants in the audience. The dialogue includes hermeneutical and historical discussions. 

Call for papers: This unit is designed to encourage conversation and collaboration between archaeologists, Biblicists and textual scholars. Our definition of “archaeology” is broad, so we also include papers that present historical reconstructions using archaeological and textual data. Our stated goal is for all of the participants to address how their focused research in archaeology or biblical studies relates to the work of specialists in other areas. To date our sessions have included approximately an equal number of field archaeologists and textual specialists. The sessions thus promote dialogue between the presenters and the participants in the audience. The dialogue includes hermeneutical and historical discussions.

BIBLICAL LAW

Bruce Wells

Description: The purpose of the Biblical Law Section is to promote interdisciplinary research on ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and post-biblical law. Methodological perspectives include historical-critical, literary, legal-historical, feminist, and social-scientific approaches. 

Call for papers: The purpose of the Biblical Law Section is to promote interdisciplinary research on ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and post-biblical law. Methodological perspectives include historical-critical, literary, legal-historical, feminist, and social-scientific approaches.

BIBLICAL LEXICOGRAPHY

Prof. Dr. Regine Hunziker-RodewaldAlexandra Anne ThompsonDescription: The Biblical Lexicography Section seeks to bring the theoretical to bear on the practical tasks of dictionary making. 

Call for papers: The Biblical Lexicography Section seeks to bring the theoretical to bear on the practical tasks of dictionary making.

BLOGGER AND ONLINE PUBLICATION

Robert R. CargillDescription: Originally organized under the aegis of the ‘biblioblogging’ community, this unit has been renamed. ‘Biblioblogging’ refers to a diverse community of nearly every point of view that communicates new ideas or insights, debates, and discusses exegetical and historical subjects. The Blogger and Online Publication Section supports the publication of articles, commentary, and items of interest relating to the Bible and biblical studies online using blogs, social media sites, online journals, and other Internet or web-related vehicles, and promotes communication between bloggers and the SBL. 

Call for papers: Originally organized under the aegis of the ‘biblioblogging’ community, this unit has been renamed. ‘Biblioblogging’ refers to a diverse community of nearly every point of view that communicates new ideas or insights, debates, and discusses exegetical and historical subjects. The Blogger and Online Publication Section supports the publication of articles, commentary, and items of interest relating to the Bible and biblical studies online using blogs, social media sites, online journals, and other Internet or web-related vehicles, and promotes communication between bloggers and the SBL.

BOOK OF ACTS

Pamela E. HedrickSteve WaltonDescription: This Section (1) explores new strategies for reading Acts; (2) proposes solutions to existing exegetical, literary, text critical and historical problems associated with Acts; (3) highlights new areas of inquiry regarding Acts; and (4) assesses the significance of the history of Acts scholarship. 

Call for papers: This Section (1) explores new strategies for reading Acts; (2) proposes solutions to existing exegetical, literary, text critical and historical problems associated with Acts; (3) highlights new areas of inquiry regarding Acts; and (4) assesses the significance of the history of Acts scholarship.

BOOK OF DANIEL

Neal H. WallsAmy C. Merrill WillisDescription: The Book of Daniel consultation seeks to promote new and inter-disciplinary scholarship on Daniel and Daniel-related literature (both canonical and pseudepigraphical literature). It welcomes a range of analytical approaches to Daniel, but especially encourages ideological, theological, and literary treatments. 

Call for papers: The Book of Daniel consultation seeks to promote new and inter-disciplinary scholarship on Daniel and Daniel-related literature (both canonical and pseudepigraphical literature). It welcomes a range of analytical approaches to Daniel, but especially encourages ideological, theological, and literary treatments.

BOOK OF PSALMS

W. H. BellingerDescription: It is the aim of the Book of Psalms unit to promote all aspects of and approaches to the study of the Psalms, with a major focus on the issue of how the Psalter as a collection has an integrity, history, and purpose of its own. 

Call for papers: It is the aim of the Book of Psalms unit to promote all aspects of and approaches to the study of the Psalms, with a major focus on the issue of how the Psalter as a collection has an integrity, history, and purpose of its own.

BOOK OF THE TWELVE PROPHETS

Aaron SchartDescription: The Book of the Twelve Section provides a forum for research into textual, literary, historical, religious, and ideological dimensions of the Minor Prophets and their ancient archival form as a collection within a single scroll. 

Call for papers: The Book of the Twelve Section provides a forum for research into textual, literary, historical, religious, and ideological dimensions of the Minor Prophets and their ancient archival form as a collection within a single scroll.

CHILDREN IN THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Julie Faith ParkerDanna Nolan FewellDescription: This section explores the child characters in the Bible, investigates the lives of children in the ancient world, and evaluates how biblical texts affect children in the post-biblical world. We invite traditional research in biblical studies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to the topic. 

Call for papers: This section explores the child characters in the Bible, investigates the lives of children in the ancient world, and evaluates how biblical texts affect children in the post-biblical world. We invite traditional research in biblical studies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to the topic.

CHRISTIAN APOCRYPHA

Pierluigi PiovanelliDescription: The Section fosters ongoing study of extra-canonical texts, as subjects of literary and philological investigation; as evidence for the history of religion, theology, and cult practice; and as documents of the socio-symbolic construction of Christianity along lines of class and gender. 

Call for papers: The Section fosters ongoing study of extra-canonical texts, as subjects of literary and philological investigation; as evidence for the history of religion, theology, and cult practice; and as documents of the socio-symbolic construction of Christianity along lines of class and gender.

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE

Claire R. Mathews McGinnisKathryn Greene-McCreightDescription: Our task is to explore the intersection between the disciplines of Christian Theology and Biblical Studies. Does or can such an intersection exist? What then could be or would be theological exegesis? What is its relation to religious communities, the history of interpretation, historical theology, history of confession and doctrine, so-called Higher Criticism, etc.? 

Call for papers: Our task is to explore the intersection between the disciplines of Christian Theology and Biblical Studies. Does or can such an intersection exist? What then could be or would be theological exegesis? What is its relation to religious communities, the history of interpretation, historical theology, history of confession and doctrine, so-called Higher Criticism, etc.?

CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT: SCRIPTURE, TRADITION, AND RECEPTION

Lois FaragDescription: The aim of this program is to engage scholars with interests relevant to Christianity in Egypt, with a special focus on scripture. This would include, but not be limited to, the study of scriptural texts and commentaries and the interpretation of scripture in theology, monastic literature, art, archaeology, and culture. Social and political themes may also be studied as evidence of the reception of scripture throughout history. Discussions may include sources in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Ethiopic, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, or Latin that are relevant to the program’s interests. The program is interdisciplinary and encourages a variety of approaches and methodologies. 

Call for papers: The aim of this program is to engage scholars with interests relevant to Christianity in Egypt, with a special focus on scripture. This would include, but not be limited to, the study of scriptural texts and commentaries and the interpretation of scripture in theology, monastic literature, art, archaeology, and culture. Social and political themes may also be studied as evidence of the reception of scripture throughout history. Discussions may include sources in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Ethiopic, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, or Latin that are relevant to the program’s interests. The program is interdisciplinary and encourages a variety of approaches and methodologies.

CHRONICLES-EZRA-NEHEMIAH

Steven James SchweitzerDescription: Our section provides a collegial forum for graduate students and scholars in which papers can be read, projects initiated, questions explored, new approaches attempted and broader discussions held relating to the research and scholarship of these biblical books. 

Call for papers: Our section provides a collegial forum for graduate students and scholars in which papers can be read, projects initiated, questions explored, new approaches attempted and broader discussions held relating to the research and scholarship of these biblical books.

COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS IN BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Robert H. von Thaden, Jr.Description: The emerging field of cognitive science, which draws on a wide range of academic disciplines, is reshaping longstanding philosophical assumptions about self-understanding, epistemology, and metaphor. This group will apply findings of cognitive linguistics to biblical studies, with a particular focus on the ways cognitive approaches help scholars to grapple with how language makes meaning, how a text evokes authority, and how contemporary readers interact with ancient texts. 

Call for papers: The emerging field of cognitive science, which draws on a wide range of academic disciplines, is reshaping longstanding philosophical assumptions about self-understanding, epistemology, and metaphor. This group will apply findings of cognitive linguistics to biblical studies, with a particular focus on the ways cognitive approaches help scholars to grapple with how language makes meaning, how a text evokes authority, and how contemporary readers interact with ancient texts.

CONSTRUCTION OF CHRISTIAN IDENTITIES

Description: This unit focuses on interdisciplinary study of the making of Christianity, which is understood as a complex phenomenon. The making of Christianity takes place within conflicting intercultural relations among Mediterranean/Near-Eastern religious groups, which contributed to a diversified evolution within early groups of Jesus followers. The unit seeks primarily to describe groups and their religious practices rather than their theological ideas. 

Call for papers: This unit focuses on interdisciplinary study of the making of Christianity, which is understood as a complex phenomenon. The making of Christianity takes place within conflicting intercultural relations among Mediterranean/Near-Eastern religious groups, which contributed to a diversified evolution within early groups of Jesus followers. The unit seeks primarily to describe groups and their religious practices rather than their theological ideas.

CONTEXTUAL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Nicole Wilkinson DuranAthalya BrennerDescription: The goal of this consultation is to explore the interest in developing a SBL seminar or section on *Contextual Biblical Interpretation,* its different strategies (including “inculturation,” inter(con)textualization, and reading with “ordinary” readers) and its methodological justifications, and the extent to which all interpretations are contextual. 

Call for papers: The goal of this consultation is to explore the interest in developing a SBL seminar or section on *Contextual Biblical Interpretation,* its different strategies (including “inculturation,” inter(con)textualization, and reading with “ordinary” readers) and its methodological justifications, and the extent to which all interpretations are contextual.

CORPUS HELLENISTICUM NOVI TESTAMENTI

Troy W. MartinClare K. RothschildDescription: This consultation will 1) read and discuss ancient Greek materials that provide insight into the literary and religious worlds of early Christianity and 2) read and discuss papers that analyze early Christian texts in dialogue with Hellenistic materials. 

Call for papers: This consultation will 1) read and discuss ancient Greek materials that provide insight into the literary and religious worlds of early Christianity and 2) read and discuss papers that analyze early Christian texts in dialogue with Hellenistic materials.

CURRENT HISTORIOGRAPHY AND ANCIENT ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Megan Bishop MooreDescription: The Current Historiography and Ancient Israel and Judah Section explores how historians integrate the contributions of the many disciplines that study Israel’s past, issues of methodology and epistemology, and how to reestablish the largely defunct project of writing comprehensive histories of ancient Israel. 

Call for papers: The Current Historiography and Ancient Israel and Judah Section explores how historians integrate the contributions of the many disciplines that study Israel’s past, issues of methodology and epistemology, and how to reestablish the largely defunct project of writing comprehensive histories of ancient Israel.

DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY

Juha PakkalaCynthia EdenburgDescription: This unit discusses the books of Deuteronomy and the Former Prophets both as a whole (Deuteronomistic History) and in its component parts. A special interest is given to the question of compositional techniques and to the historical setting of the deuteronomistic milieu. The section is interested in all facets of this literature and in any scholarly methods used to analyze it. Representatives from the international academy are especially encouraged to participate. 

Call for papers: This unit discusses the books of Deuteronomy and the Former Prophets both as a whole (Deuteronomistic History) and in its component parts. A special interest is given to the question of compositional techniques and to the historical setting of the deuteronomistic milieu. The section is interested in all facets of this literature and in any scholarly methods used to analyze it. Representatives from the international academy are especially encouraged to participate.

DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

Mark WeedmanChristopher A. BeeleyDescription: This unit, title Development of Early Trinitarian Theology through 2011, will explore the close connections among the construction of the Christian scriptures, early Christian practices of biblical interpretation, and the theological and ecclesiastical debates that occurred from the apostolic period through the fourth century. 

Call for papers: This unit, title Development of Early Trinitarian Theology through 2011, will explore the close connections among the construction of the Christian scriptures, early Christian practices of biblical interpretation, and the theological and ecclesiastical debates that occurred from the apostolic period through the fourth century.

DISPUTED PAULINES

Christopher R. HutsonDescription: The Disputed Paulines Consultation seeks to explore historical, literary (including rhetorical), and theological matters which bear upon the interpretation of the letters of the Pauline Corpus that many argue are not genuinely or immediately authored by Paul. It is hoped that careful study of these letters will help us better understand both these documents and early Christianity more broadly. 

Call for papers: The Disputed Paulines Consultation seeks to explore historical, literary (including rhetorical), and theological matters which bear upon the interpretation of the letters of the Pauline Corpus that many argue are not genuinely or immediately authored by Paul. It is hoped that careful study of these letters will help us better understand both these documents and early Christianity more broadly.

EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND THE ANCIENT ECONOMY

John T. FitzgeraldFika J. van RensburgDescription: The Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy Consultation is the foundational component of an international, interdisciplinary project that seeks to delineate the relationship between early Christianity and the ancient economy in the period from Jesus to Justinian, demonstrating both similarities and differences in attitudes, approaches to problems, and attempted solutions. 

Call for papers: The Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy Consultation is the foundational component of an international, interdisciplinary project that seeks to delineate the relationship between early Christianity and the ancient economy in the period from Jesus to Justinian, demonstrating both similarities and differences in attitudes, approaches to problems, and attempted solutions.

EARLY JEWISH CHRISTIAN RELATIONS

Judy Yates SikerChristine ShepardsonDescription: The Early Jewish Christian Relations Group deals with the relationships of Christians and Jews as Christians emerged as groups distinct from Jews, and how these groups continued to affect one another in the following centuries. It considers approximately the first four centuries. 

Call for papers: The Early Jewish Christian Relations Group deals with the relationships of Christians and Jews as Christians emerged as groups distinct from Jews, and how these groups continued to affect one another in the following centuries. It considers approximately the first four centuries.

ECOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS

Description: This Section will focus on hermeneutical principles and models for ecological readings of the biblical text and tradition. Attention would be paid to the anthropocentric bias of texts and readers as well as to discerning alternative traditions sympathetic to ecology, Earth and the Earth community. The aim is to explore the art of reading the text with empathy for the natural world. 

Call for papers: This Section will focus on hermeneutical principles and models for ecological readings of the biblical text and tradition. Attention would be paid to the anthropocentric bias of texts and readers as well as to discerning alternative traditions sympathetic to ecology, Earth and the Earth community. The aim is to explore the art of reading the text with empathy for the natural world.

ECONOMICS IN THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Samuel L. AdamsDescription: This program unit explores economics in the biblical world from a variety of approaches, including textual analysis, archaeological study, economic history, and much-needed theoretical engagement. We examine both larger economic structures and more local patterns (i.e., household and village). 

Call for papers: This program unit explores economics in the biblical world from a variety of approaches, including textual analysis, archaeological study, economic history, and much-needed theoretical engagement. We examine both larger economic structures and more local patterns (i.e., household and village).

ESOTERICISM AND MYSTICISM IN ANTIQUITY

April D. DeconickRebecca LessesDescription: This unit critically investigates religious currents of secrecy/secrets (esotericism) and/or their revelation through praxis (mysticism) in the formative period of Judaism and Christianity (ca. 500 BCE-500 CE). 

Call for papers: This unit critically investigates religious currents of secrecy/secrets (esotericism) and/or their revelation through praxis (mysticism) in the formative period of Judaism and Christianity (ca. 500 BCE-500 CE).

ETHICS AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Jacqueline E. LapsleyMark DouglasDescription: The aim of the Ethics and Biblical Interpretation Consultation is to study the way the various projects of biblical interpretation and hermeneutics intersect with the concerns of ethics. This consultation will engage ethicists, theologians, and biblical scholars in interdisciplinary conversations. 

Call for papers: The aim of the Ethics and Biblical Interpretation Consultation is to study the way the various projects of biblical interpretation and hermeneutics intersect with the concerns of ethics. This consultation will engage ethicists, theologians, and biblical scholars in interdisciplinary conversations.

ETHIOPIC BIBLE AND LITERATURE

Steve DelamarterRalph LeeDescription: This unit studies the sacred texts and literature of the ancient and rich Ethiopic tradition. The ongoing digitization of thousands of manuscripts in the Afro-Asiatic language of Ge’ez (classical Ethiopic) enables the reconstruction of the textual history of the Ethiopic Bible. 

Call for papers: This unit is accepting papers on the condition that it is renewed for the 2013 Annual Meeting.

ETHNIC CHINESE BIBLICAL COLLOQUIUM

Diane G. ChenDescription: The Ethnic Chinese Biblical Colloquium (ECBC) emerged with the rise of the awareness of contextualization and cross-cultural awareness in biblical interpretation. A group of scholars who are of ethnic Chinese origin created ECBC as a forum to address issues relevant to this concern within SBL in the 1990s. Prominent founding members of this group are Dr. Seow Choon-Leong, Dr. Wan Sze-Kar, Dr. Mary Foskett, Dr. Jeffrey Kuan, and Dr. John Yeh. The group invites scholars to participate in the forum held annually within the SBL Annual Meeting. 

Call for papers: The Ethnic Chinese Biblical Colloquium (ECBC) emerged with the rise of the awareness of contextualization and cross-cultural awareness in biblical interpretation. A group of scholars who are of ethnic Chinese origin created ECBC as a forum to address issues relevant to this concern within SBL in the 1990s. Prominent founding members of this group are Dr. Seow Choon-Leong, Dr. Wan Sze-Kar, Dr. Mary Foskett, Dr. Jeffrey Kuan, and Dr. John Yeh. The group invites scholars to participate in the forum held annually within the SBL Annual Meeting.

EVANGELICAL PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

William L. CraigDescription: Founded in 1974, the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) is an organization of professional scholars devoted to pursuing philosophical excellence in both the church and the academy. Interested laypersons can join as full, associate, or student members. The EPS holds a national meeting each year in conjunction with the conference held by the Evangelical Theological Society and the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature. The EPS journal, Philosophia Christi, is a scholarly publication containing discussion of a variety of topics that are of interest to the philosopher and to the philosopher of religion. Contact information (besides what is given above): http://www.epsociety.org/about/contact.asp. 

Call for papers: Founded in 1974, the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) is an organization of professional scholars devoted to pursuing philosophical excellence in both the church and the academy. Interested laypersons can join as full, associate, or student members. The EPS holds a national meeting each year in conjunction with the conference held by the Evangelical Theological Society and the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature. The EPS journal, Philosophia Christi, is a scholarly publication containing discussion of a variety of topics that are of interest to the philosopher and to the philosopher of religion. Contact information (besides what is given above): http://www.epsociety.org/about/contact.asp.

EXILE (FORCED MIGRATIONS) IN BIBLICAL LITERATURE

John AhnDescription: The exile or forced migrations period (6th century B.C.E.) has been a watershed for biblical literature and theology. However, even with an effervescent flowing stream of new and fresh scholarship on the exile, our guild has yet to provide a forum for those working or interested on the impact of the golah across specializations and even disciplines. This consultation fills that lacuna. This section tackles traditional historical, literary, redactional, sociological, and theological issues and texts from the exilic period. Moreover, cutting edge studies on forced migration—migration, immigration, intergeneration, acculturation, assimilation, transnationalism, internal displacement, and refugee studies will be injected. 

Call for papers: The exile or forced migrations period (6th century B.C.E.) has been a watershed for biblical literature and theology. However, even with an effervescent flowing stream of new and fresh scholarship on the exile, our guild has yet to provide a forum for those working or interested on the impact of the golah across specializations and even disciplines. This consultation fills that lacuna. This section tackles traditional historical, literary, redactional, sociological, and theological issues and texts from the exilic period. Moreover, cutting edge studies on forced migration—migration, immigration, intergeneration, acculturation, assimilation, transnationalism, internal displacement, and refugee studies will be injected.

EXTENT OF THEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN EARLIEST CHRISTIANITY

James P. WareJeffrey PetersonDescription: Focusing on the evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection as a narrative used to shape the identity of emergent communities, and on the alternatives to this narrative preserved in early Christian sources, this Consultation explores the origin, nature and extent of theological diversity in earliest Christianity from the beginnings until approximately 180 CE. By fostering a conversation involving the testing of various reconstructions of early Christian history against the range of relevant evidence, the unit seeks to bring greater precision to the study of “orthodoxy and heresy in early Christianity.” 

Call for papers: Focusing on the evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection as a narrative used to shape the identity of emergent communities, and on the alternatives to this narrative preserved in early Christian sources, this Consultation explores the origin, nature and extent of theological diversity in earliest Christianity from the beginnings until approximately 180 CE. By fostering a conversation involving the testing of various reconstructions of early Christian history against the range of relevant evidence, the unit seeks to bring greater precision to the study of “orthodoxy and heresy in early Christianity.”

FEMINIST HERMENEUTICS OF THE BIBLE

Nyasha JuniorRichard D. WeisDescription: The aim of this unit is to provide a forum for research in issues and questions relating to feminist methods of interpretation. While specifically focused on methodological concerns, we are also concerned to ground that reflection in the reality of engagement with specific texts. 

Call for papers: The aim of this unit is to provide a forum for research in issues and questions relating to feminist methods of interpretation. While specifically focused on methodological concerns, we are also concerned to ground that reflection in the reality of engagement with specific texts.

FORMATION OF ISAIAH

Margaret S. OdellJ. Todd HibbardDescription: The Formation of Isaiah Group provides an international forum for discussion of issues related to the formation, growth and unity of the Isaiah scroll as well as questions of poetic imagery, intertextuality, history of interpretation and reader response criticism. 

Call for papers: The Formation of Isaiah Group provides an international forum for discussion of issues related to the formation, growth and unity of the Isaiah scroll as well as questions of poetic imagery, intertextuality, history of interpretation and reader response criticism.

FORMATION OF LUKE-ACTS

Mikael WinningeDescription: Recent Lukan studies indicate the formative role of diverse verifiable sources including the Septuagint (e.g., Deuteronomy; the Elijah-Elisha narrative), Greco-Roman writings (e.g., historiography; epic, particularly Homer), and some epistles. The Section aims to check and synthesize such use of sources, thus clarifying the formation of Luke-Acts, and facilitating discussion of broader NT issues. 

Call for papers: Recent Lukan studies indicate the formative role of diverse verifiable sources including the Septuagint (e.g., Deuteronomy; the Elijah-Elisha narrative), Greco-Roman writings (e.g., historiography; epic, particularly Homer), and some epistles. The Section aims to check and synthesize such use of sources, thus clarifying the formation of Luke-Acts, and facilitating discussion of broader NT issues.

FUNCTION OF APOCRYPHAL AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHAL WRITINGS IN EARLY JUDAISM AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY

David A. deSilvaLoren L. JohnsDescription: This unit is focused broadly on questions related to canon, namely: What is the biblical canon? How did it take shape? How did the so-called noncanonical works function in the early Jewish and Christian communities? How do these noncanonical works help us comprehend the shaping of the canon and by whom? What is the relation between a closed canon and the notion of a God who speaks in every generation? With considerable media interest in this subject in recent times, it is important to raise and address some of these important questions. 

Call for papers: This unit is focused broadly on questions related to canon, namely: What is the biblical canon? How did it take shape? How did the so-called noncanonical works function in the early Jewish and Christian communities? How do these noncanonical works help us comprehend the shaping of the canon and by whom? What is the relation between a closed canon and the notion of a God who speaks in every generation? With considerable media interest in this subject in recent times, it is important to raise and address some of these important questions.

GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND THE BIBLE

Joseph A. MarchalDescription: This group engages in critical discussion with research on sexuality and gender in disciplines such as critical theory, philosophy, literature, cultural studies and the social sciences. It explores the implications of this research for biblical and postbiblical studies. 

Call for papers: This group engages in critical discussion with research on sexuality and gender in disciplines such as critical theory, philosophy, literature, cultural studies and the social sciences. It explores the implications of this research for biblical and postbiblical studies.

GENESIS

John E. AndersonChristopher HeardDescription: The Genesis unit promotes sustained and continued dialogue and scholarship on the book of Genesis from a variety of methodological perspectives, especially (yet not limited to) those approaching and treating the text as a canonical whole. It creates space for those working on Genesis to share their work in a focused place. 

Call for papers: The Genesis unit promotes sustained and continued dialogue and scholarship on the book of Genesis from a variety of methodological perspectives, especially (yet not limited to) those approaching and treating the text as a canonical whole. It creates space for those working on Genesis to share their work in a focused place.

GOCN FORUM ON MISSIONAL HERMENEUTICS

Michael BarramDescription: What would it mean, and what might it look like to read the Bible self-consciously from, and with an explicit methodological starting point in, an ecclesial location that is construed as fundamentally missional in cast and character? How might such an attempt both inform and critique contemporary missiological assumptions? What discoveries about the biblical text might be opened up through the adoption of such a social location and interpretive aim? The Forum on Missional Hermeneutics of the GOCN draws together biblical scholars, theologians, graduate students, and ministry practitioners from a range of disciplines and ecclesiological contexts at the Annual Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature. The Forum explores the intersections of missiology, ecclesiology, and biblical scholarship in the interpretation of the Bible as it serves the missional vocation of the church. Website: http://www.gocn.org/ 

Call for papers: What would it mean, and what might it look like to read the Bible self-consciously from, and with an explicit methodological starting point in, an ecclesial location that is construed as fundamentally missional in cast and character? How might such an attempt both inform and critique contemporary missiological assumptions? What discoveries about the biblical text might be opened up through the adoption of such a social location and interpretive aim? The Forum on Missional Hermeneutics of the GOCN draws together biblical scholars, theologians, graduate students, and ministry practitioners from a range of disciplines and ecclesiological contexts at the Annual Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature. The Forum explores the intersections of missiology, ecclesiology, and biblical scholarship in the interpretation of the Bible as it serves the missional vocation of the church. Website: http://www.gocn.org/

GRECO-ROMAN RELIGIONS

James Constantine HangesDescription: The Greco-Roman Religions Section supports research into the full variety of religious phenomena from the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Proposals that contain Christian/Judaic material are entirely welcome, provided that the Christian/Judaic examples be used for comparative purposes only. 

Call for papers: The Greco-Roman Religions Section supports research into the full variety of religious phenomena from the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Proposals that contain Christian/Judaic material are entirely welcome, provided that the Christian/Judaic examples be used for comparative purposes only.

GREEK BIBLE

Cameron Boyd-TaylorDescription: The Greek Bible section focuses on the use of the Greek versions (the Septuagint or other Greek versions) in biblical exegesis by Hellenistic Jewish authors, the New Testament writers, the Church Fathers, Greek historians or philosophers, and medieval Jewish scholiasts, as well as on the methodologies they employ. 

Call for papers: The Greek Bible section focuses on the use of the Greek versions (the Septuagint or other Greek versions) in biblical exegesis by Hellenistic Jewish authors, the New Testament writers, the Church Fathers, Greek historians or philosophers, and medieval Jewish scholiasts, as well as on the methodologies they employ.

HEALTHCARE AND DISABILITY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Joel S. BadenNicole KelleyDescription: This unit, titled Disability Studies and Healthcare in the Bible and Near East until 2011, seeks to foster scholarship related to disability, illness, medicine, and healthcare in the biblical world and text. Major areas of interest include: the religious, legal, and cultural status of persons with disabilities or illness in the biblical and formative Jewish and Christian periods; the representation of disability and illness in biblical and cognate texts; the theology of such texts; the history and archeology of medicine and healthcare in the ancient Near East and Greco-Roman worlds; and the subjects of disability, illness, medicine and healthcare in the history of biblical interpretation. 

Call for papers: This unit, titled Disability Studies and Healthcare in the Bible and Near East until 2011, seeks to foster scholarship related to disability, illness, medicine, and healthcare in the biblical world and text. Major areas of interest include: the religious, legal, and cultural status of persons with disabilities or illness in the biblical and formative Jewish and Christian periods; the representation of disability and illness in biblical and cognate texts; the theology of such texts; the history and archeology of medicine and healthcare in the ancient Near East and Greco-Roman worlds; and the subjects of disability, illness, medicine and healthcare in the history of biblical interpretation.

HEBREW BIBLE AND POLITICAL THEORY

Francis BorchardtDescription: Politics was central to the life of ancient Israel, and certainly found throughout the Hebrew Bible. Despite the obviousness of this assertion, politics has been a relatively neglected area of investigation, with the exception of some of the essays of Albrecht Alt and recently Norman Gottwald’s The Politics of Ancient Israel. The aim of this unit is to rectify this inattention by concentrating on the politics of the Hebrew Bible, both for better understanding ancient Israel and in its implications for political theory. 

Call for papers: Politics was central to the life of ancient Israel, and certainly found throughout the Hebrew Bible. Despite the obviousness of this assertion, politics has been a relatively neglected area of investigation, with the exception of some of the essays of Albrecht Alt and recently Norman Gottwald’s The Politics of Ancient Israel. The aim of this unit is to rectify this inattention by concentrating on the politics of the Hebrew Bible, both for better understanding ancient Israel and in its implications for political theory.

HEBREW BIBLE, HISTORY, AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Jeremy SmoakMatthew SurianoDescription: This unit is open to all papers that employ archaeology in all its aspects (including survey, excavation, and epigraphic data) to understand the history of the ancient Israelite kingdoms and/or the Hebrew Bible. 

Call for papers: This unit is open to all papers that employ archaeology in all its aspects (including survey, excavation, and epigraphic data) to understand the history of the ancient Israelite kingdoms and/or the Hebrew Bible.

HEBREW SCRIPTURES AND COGNATE LITERATURE

Daniel FlemingDescription: The Hebrew Scriptures and Cognate Literature Section provides a major forum for research on specific points of contact between the Bible and the literatures of Israel’s neighbors, to better elucidate the Bible as a collection of ancient Israelite writings. 

Call for papers: The Hebrew Scriptures and Cognate Literature Section provides a major forum for research on specific points of contact between the Bible and the literatures of Israel’s neighbors, to better elucidate the Bible as a collection of ancient Israelite writings.

HEBREWS

Gabriella GelardiniHarold W. AttridgeDescription: The famous and almost proverbial saying that Hebrews appears to its viewer as a “melchisedekitisches Wesen ohne Stammbaum” was uttered by Franz Overbeck in the year 1880, during the high noon of historicism. The missing genealogy that Overbeck lamented meant peculiarly to him a lack of historical context. This perceived “lack” was the consequence of flawed presuppositions originating in ideological frameworks, and consequently led New Testament scholarship to view Hebrews as the “enigmatic,” the “other” one, and furthermore led to the neglect of its historical context by Hebrews scholarship. Consequently, the context was judged as “irrelevant” for Hebrews interpretation. Recent scholarship on the contrary has developed a particular interest in Hebrews’ context. Therefore, while maintaining the distinctiveness of Hebrews it is the aim of this Group to explore extensively and facilitate scholarly research on Hebrews’ relations to other early traditions and texts (Jewish, Hellenistic and Roman), so that Hebrews’ historical, cultural, and religious identity may be mapped in greater detail. 

Call for papers: The famous and almost proverbial saying that Hebrews appears to its viewer as a “melchisedekitisches Wesen ohne Stammbaum” was uttered by Franz Overbeck in the year 1880, during the high noon of historicism. The missing genealogy that Overbeck lamented meant peculiarly to him a lack of historical context. This perceived “lack” was the consequence of flawed presuppositions originating in ideological frameworks, and consequently led New Testament scholarship to view Hebrews as the “enigmatic,” the “other” one, and furthermore led to the neglect of its historical context by Hebrews scholarship. Consequently, the context was judged as “irrelevant” for Hebrews interpretation. Recent scholarship on the contrary has developed a particular interest in Hebrews’ context. Therefore, while maintaining the distinctiveness of Hebrews it is the aim of this Group to explore extensively and facilitate scholarly research on Hebrews’ relations to other early traditions and texts (Jewish, Hellenistic and Roman), so that Hebrews’ historical, cultural, and religious identity may be mapped in greater detail.

HELLENISTIC JUDAISM

Annette Yoshiko ReedDescription: This section is devoted to the history of (a) Judaism of the Hellenistic period (that is, “Hellenistic” understood chronologically from Alexander the Great to Augustus), (b) Greek-speaking Judaism in antiquity (that is, “Hellenistic” understood linguistically), and (c) the interaction between Judaism and its host cultures in antiquity (“Hellenistic understood culturally and socially). 

Call for papers: This section is devoted to the history of (a) Judaism of the Hellenistic period (that is, “Hellenistic” understood chronologically from Alexander the Great to Augustus), (b) Greek-speaking Judaism in antiquity (that is, “Hellenistic” understood linguistically), and (c) the interaction between Judaism and its host cultures in antiquity (“Hellenistic understood culturally and socially).

HISTORICAL JESUS

Robert L. WebbThomas KazenDescription: The Historical Jesus Section provides a forum for both seasoned and less experienced biblical scholars to offer public contributions to the ongoing task of describing the person, mission, and views of Jesus in a historically responsible manner. 

Call for papers: The Historical Jesus Section provides a forum for both seasoned and less experienced biblical scholars to offer public contributions to the ongoing task of describing the person, mission, and views of Jesus in a historically responsible manner.

HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF EARLY RABBINIC JUDAISM

Alyssa M. GrayDescription: This section is devoted to both historical and literary study of the Rabbis of Late Antiquity (ca. 70 CE - 640 CE). We encourage studies that are interdisciplinary and comparative, and that take into account the wider social and cultural environments in which the Rabbis worked. 

Call for papers: This section is devoted to both historical and literary study of the Rabbis of Late Antiquity (ca. 70 CE - 640 CE). We encourage studies that are interdisciplinary and comparative, and that take into account the wider social and cultural environments in which the Rabbis worked.

HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION

D. Jeffrey BinghamDescription: The purpose of the section is: (1) To encourage the investigation of the history of biblical interpretation, especially with respect to the socio-historical context of the interpreters; (2) To support scholars by providing a forum for presentation and critical discussion of their works at the annual meeting; and (3) To encourage conversation among scholars investigating different time periods and geographical areas for their mutual benefit. 

Call for papers: The purpose of the section is: (1) To encourage the investigation of the history of biblical interpretation, especially with respect to the socio-historical context of the interpreters; (2) To support scholars by providing a forum for presentation and critical discussion of their works at the annual meeting; and (3) To encourage conversation among scholars investigating different time periods and geographical areas for their mutual benefit.

HOMILETICS AND BIBLICAL STUDIES

J. Dwayne HowellDescription: The Homiletics and Biblical Studies Section encourages dialogue among scholars in both fields who share an interest in critical exegesis, its various methods, and the unique hermeneutical and theological problems inherent to the relationship between biblical interpretation and proclamation. 

Call for papers: The Homiletics and Biblical Studies section in planning an invited panel “Preaching and the Environment”. It is also accepting papers for an open call that can deal with either topics concerning preaching and the environment or other pertinent topics to the area of Homiletics and Biblical Studies.

IDEOLOGICAL CRITICISM

Randall ReedDescription: The Ideological Criticism of the Bible Section provides a place on the annual meeting program for the presentation of research that explores the political stakes of biblical texts as well as the political uses to which the Bible has been put in contemporary and historical settings. The Section also offers a site for investigation, not only of “ideology” narrowly defined, but of the myriad ways in which that which goes without saying, the hardwiring of the culture, shapes biblical interpretation and is shaped by the Bible’s influence. 

Call for papers: The Ideological Criticism of the Bible Section provides a place on the annual meeting program for the presentation of research that explores the political stakes of biblical texts as well as the political uses to which the Bible has been put in contemporary and historical settings. The Section also offers a site for investigation, not only of “ideology” narrowly defined, but of the myriad ways in which that which goes without saying, the hardwiring of the culture, shapes biblical interpretation and is shaped by the Bible’s influence.

IDEOLOGY, CULTURE, AND TRANSLATION

Christina PettersonDescription: This Group explores theoretical dimensions and implications of translations and translation practice. Critical engagements with the translation, translation practices, or translation history of any texts relevant to the study of Bible and Christianity (ancient and modern) are welcome. 

Call for papers: This Group explores theoretical dimensions and implications of translations and translation practice. Critical engagements with the translation, translation practices, or translation history of any texts relevant to the study of Bible and Christianity (ancient and modern) are welcome.

INSTITUTE FOR BIBLICAL RESEARCH

Kent L. YingerDescription: The historical goals of the Institute for Biblical Research include fostering the study of Scripture within an evangelical context, establishing facilities for the furtherance of biblical studies, and encouraging university and college students toward a vocation of biblical scholarship. Website: www.ibr-bbr.org 

Call for papers: The historical goals of the Institute for Biblical Research include fostering the study of Scripture within an evangelical context, establishing facilities for the furtherance of biblical studies, and encouraging university and college students toward a vocation of biblical scholarship. Website: www.ibr-bbr.org

INSTITUTE ON RELIGION AND CIVIC VALUES

Description: The IRCV is a non-advocacy research center interested in religious liberty, public literacy about world religions, and the role of religious communities in the public square and in policymaking circles. IRCV works with institutional partners to produce and facilitate policy analyses, educational materials, leadership exchanges, and resources that enable citizens, domestic and global, to engage questions of faith, citizenship, and pluralism. More information at www.ircv.org. Our office address is 10055 Slater Avenue, Suite 250, Fountain Valley, CA 92708. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 20186, Fountain Valley, CA 92728-0186. Reach us by telephone at 714-839-2929. 

Call for papers: The IRCV is a non-advocacy research center interested in religious liberty, public literacy about world religions, and the role of religious communities in the public square and in policymaking circles. IRCV works with institutional partners to produce and facilitate policy analyses, educational materials, leadership exchanges, and resources that enable citizens, domestic and global, to engage questions of faith, citizenship, and pluralism. More information at www.ircv.org. Our office address is 10055 Slater Avenue, Suite 250, Fountain Valley, CA 92708. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 20186, Fountain Valley, CA 92728-0186. Reach us by telephone at 714-839-2929.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR SEPTUAGINT AND COGNATE STUDIES

Leonard J. GreenspoonDescription: The IOSCS is an Affiliate of the SBL. For further information on the IOSCS, please contact the program unit chair. 

Call for papers: The IOSCS is an Affiliate of the SBL. For further information on the IOSCS, please contact the program unit chair.

INTERNATIONAL SYRIAC LANGUAGE PROJECT

Terry C. FallaDescription: All papers are presented as contributions to the International Syriac Language Project (ISLP), the aim of which is to redefine ancient-language lexicography for the 21st century, and to lay the foundations for a new comprehensive Syriac-English lexicon. The group and its invited contributors is interdisciplinary and collaborative, and therefore includes specialists in related fields. 

Call for papers: All papers are presented as contributions to the International Syriac Language Project (ISLP), the aim of which is to redefine ancient-language lexicography for the 21st century, and to lay the foundations for a new comprehensive Syriac-English lexicon. The group and its invited contributors is interdisciplinary and collaborative, and therefore includes specialists in related fields.

INTERTEXTUALITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

B. J. OropezaErik WaalerDescription: The purpose of this unit is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion on intertexual interpretations of New Testament passages. This unit focuses on ways in which the language of texts are recited, echoed, reconfigured, or recontextualized by other texts from the LXX, Greco-Roman philosophers, orators, decrees, Second Temple sources, Hebrew Scriptures, or another ancient source. 

Call for papers: The purpose of this unit is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion on intertexual interpretations of New Testament passages. This unit focuses on ways in which the language of texts are recited, echoed, reconfigured, or recontextualized by other texts from the LXX, Greco-Roman philosophers, orators, decrees, Second Temple sources, Hebrew Scriptures, or another ancient source.

INVENTING CHRISTIANITY

David L. EastmanCandida R. MossDescription: This unit focuses on the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, the early apologists, and the authors of martyrdom accounts in the second and third centuries. The goal is to explore their role in the invention of “Christianity” and Christian identities. 

Call for papers: This unit focuses on the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, the early apologists, and the authors of martyrdom accounts in the second and third centuries. The goal is to explore their role in the invention of “Christianity” and Christian identities.

ISLANDS, ISLANDERS, AND SCRIPTURES

Jione HaveaAlthea Spencer MillerDescription: This section is a platform for island and islander views, languages, peoples, swaggers, rhythms and more. It engages interests and realities of islanders from and between the Caribbean and Oceania, and how those condition the reception, translation and interpretation of scriptures. 

Call for papers: We invite proposals for two sessions: (1) Rhythms and bibles, (2) Open session. (1) For the Rhythms and bibles session, we invite proposals that address how island lyrics and rhythms shape the reading of scriptures. For instance, from the Caribbean, calypso and reggae hold an intrinsic social critique of power (empire in the case of reggae), suspicion of grand narrative, and the mimicry of the postcolonial condition. These can form the basis of a hermeneutical approach. Further, the art form of limbo (quintessential image of the island holiday) is a statement of survival and triumph when things are at their lowest point, raising another set of hermeneutical lenses for reading texts and realities formed and deformed by the Bible. (2) For the Open session, we invite proposals that deal with something related to islands, islanders and scriptures.

ISRAELITE PROPHETIC LITERATURE

Mignon R. JacobsDescription: This section aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature. 

Call for papers: This section aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature.

ISRAELITE RELIGION IN ITS WEST ASIAN ENVIRONMENT

Simeon ChavelDescription: A forum for the study of the religions of ancient Israel and surrounding lands. Aims to bring together wide variety of questions, perspectives, periods, disciplines, methods, and kinds of data: textual, epigraphic, archaeological, iconographic, art-historical, sociological, gender-focused, comparative, and more. (Formerly the Israelite and Canaanite Religion Section.) 

Call for papers: A forum for the study of the religions of ancient Israel and surrounding lands. Aims to bring together wide variety of questions, perspectives, periods, disciplines, methods, and kinds of data: textual, epigraphic, archaeological, iconographic, art-historical, sociological, gender-focused, comparative, and more. (Formerly the Israelite and Canaanite Religion Section.)

JESUS TRADITIONS, GOSPELS, AND NEGOTIATING THE ROMAN IMPERIAL WORLD

Colleen ConwayWarren CarterDescription: The section aims to encourage the exploration of the diverse ways (accommodation; cooption, ambivalence; self-protective protest; challenge; alternative communities and contestive practices; exposure of imperial strategies etc.) in which Jesus traditions and gospels negotiate the Roman imperial world. 

Call for papers: The section aims to encourage the exploration of the diverse ways (accommodation; cooption, ambivalence; self-protective protest; challenge; alternative communities and contestive practices; exposure of imperial strategies etc.) in which Jesus traditions and gospels negotiate the Roman imperial world.

JEWISH CHRISTIANITY / CHRISTIAN JUDAISM

Petri LuomanenF. Stanley JonesDescription: The broad aim of this research unit is to clarify the religion, history, and sociology of the ancient groups traditionally called, collectively, “Jewish Christianity,” but increasingly “Christian” or “Jesus-believing Judaism.” The group also seeks to clarify the issues involved in conceptualizing such groups as a distinct category of religion in antiquity. 

Call for papers: The broad aim of this research unit is to clarify the religion, history, and sociology of the ancient groups traditionally called, collectively, “Jewish Christianity,” but increasingly “Christian” or “Jesus-believing Judaism.” The group also seeks to clarify the issues involved in conceptualizing such groups as a distinct category of religion in antiquity.

JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE AND SACRED TEXTS

Leonard J. GreenspoonJoel N. LohrDescription: This unit explores issues related to the interpretation of sacred texts, with a view toward contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue. It aims to foster biblical scholarship and pedagogy that is informed by and nurtures dialogue and to provide venues for discussion between the traditions on sacred scriptures. 

Call for papers: This unit explores issues related to the interpretation of sacred texts, with a view toward contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue. It aims to foster biblical scholarship and pedagogy that is informed by and nurtures dialogue and to provide venues for discussion between the traditions on sacred scriptures.

JOHANNINE LITERATURE

Kasper B. LarsenJo-Ann A. BrantDescription: The Johannine Literature Section has been a long-standing unit within the Society of Biblical Literature. Its main purpose throughout has been to address issues and concerns having to do with the analysis and interpretation of the Johannine literature—a major component of the Christian Scriptures, encompassing for our purposes the Gospel of John and the three Johannine letters. 

Call for papers: The Johannine Literature Section has been a long-standing unit within the Society of Biblical Literature. Its main purpose throughout has been to address issues and concerns having to do with the analysis and interpretation of the Johannine literature—a major component of the Christian Scriptures, encompassing for our purposes the Gospel of John and the three Johannine letters.

JOHN’S APOCALYPSE AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS ANCIENT AND MODERN

Lynn HuberJean-Pierre RuizDescription: This section provides an interdisciplinary forum for nontraditional and traditional methods to interact in the exploration of the meaning and significance of the Apocalypse of John and related literature in both their ancient and modern cultural contexts. 

Call for papers: This section provides an interdisciplinary forum for nontraditional and traditional methods to interact in the exploration of the meaning and significance of the Apocalypse of John and related literature in both their ancient and modern cultural contexts.

JOHN, JESUS, AND HISTORY

Jaime Clark-SolesCraig R. KoesterDescription: The John, Jesus, and History Group will highlight issues related to the Johannine tradition and the composition-history of the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles, with special emphasis on the place of these documents in contemporary study of Christian origins. Dialogue on these issues will be encouraged through the group’s annual meetings and through other venues throughout the year. 

Call for papers: The John, Jesus, and History Group will highlight issues related to the Johannine tradition and the composition-history of the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles, with special emphasis on the place of these documents in contemporary study of Christian origins. Dialogue on these issues will be encouraged through the group’s annual meetings and through other venues throughout the year.

JOSEPHUS

Jan W. van HentenPaul SpilsburyDescription: The Josephus Group will support the Brill Josephus Project, which is publishing all of his works with translation and commentary. We shall reach out collaboratively to the SBL community with a wide variety of topics related to the study of Josephus. 

Call for papers: The Josephus Group will support the Brill Josephus Project, which is publishing all of his works with translation and commentary. We shall reach out collaboratively to the SBL community with a wide variety of topics related to the study of Josephus.

JOSHUA-JUDGES

Ed NoortRalph K. HawkinsDescription: The Joshua-Judges Section will seek to reach a synthesis of all genuinely pertinent information and insight needed to interpret Joshua and Judges responsibly and competently. Specialists will contribute to understanding contents, background, text, structure, and interpretation of these books. 

Call for papers: The Joshua-Judges Section will seek to reach a synthesis of all genuinely pertinent information and insight needed to interpret Joshua and Judges responsibly and competently. Specialists will contribute to understanding contents, background, text, structure, and interpretation of these books.

JOURNAL OF FEMINIST STUDIES IN RELIGION

Melanie Johnson-DeBaufreElisabeth Schüssler FiorenzaDescription: The JFSR is the oldest interdisciplinary, interreligious feminist academic journal in religious studies. Founded in 1985, it is published twice annually, in the spring and fall. Located at the intersection of feminist theory and studies in religion, it welcomes contributions that explore a diversity of feminist theories, practices, cultures, and religions. Its editors are committed to rigorous thinking and analysis in the service of the transformation of religious studies as a discipline and the feminist transformation of religious and cultural institutions. Website: http://www.fsrinc.org/jfsr/ 

Call for papers: The JFSR is the oldest interdisciplinary, interreligious feminist academic journal in religious studies. Founded in 1985, it is published twice annually, in the spring and fall. Located at the intersection of feminist theory and studies in religion, it welcomes contributions that explore a diversity of feminist theories, practices, cultures, and religions. Its editors are committed to rigorous thinking and analysis in the service of the transformation of religious studies as a discipline and the feminist transformation of religious and cultural institutions. Website: http://www.fsrinc.org/jfsr/

KARL BARTH SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA

George HunsingerDescription: The purpose of the Society shall be to encourage a critical and constructive theology in continuity with the work of Karl Barth by such means as 1) the provision of whatever assistance is possible to the Karl Barth Foundation of Switzerland especially in its purpose “to collect and preserve the entire writings of Karl Barth and literature about him, including letters, and to prepare and publish a complete edition of the writings of Karl Barth”; 2) the establishment on the North American continent of a collection as complete as possible of Karl Barth’s writings and works about Karl Barth in order to facilitate research projects; and 3) the organization of various types of conference to explore the resources of Karl Barth’s work for theology. 

Call for papers: The purpose of the Society shall be to encourage a critical and constructive theology in continuity with the work of Karl Barth by such means as 1) the provision of whatever assistance is possible to the Karl Barth Foundation of Switzerland especially in its purpose “to collect and preserve the entire writings of Karl Barth and literature about him, including letters, and to prepare and publish a complete edition of the writings of Karl Barth”; 2) the establishment on the North American continent of a collection as complete as possible of Karl Barth’s writings and works about Karl Barth in order to facilitate research projects; and 3) the organization of various types of conference to explore the resources of Karl Barth’s work for theology.

KOREAN BIBLICAL COLLOQUIUM

John AhnDescription: The object and purpose of this organization shall be to promote scholarship in the Bible and related subjects among Koreans as well as fellowship and networking among the Korean scholars in those fields. Members of KBC shall be Koreans and others who are engaged in reasearch in Biblical and related fields and interested in developing Korean perspective in those fields as well as sharing their scholarly experiences with fellow Korean scholars. 

Call for papers: The object and purpose of this organization shall be to promote scholarship in the Bible and related subjects among Koreans as well as fellowship and networking among the Korean scholars in those fields. Members of KBC shall be Koreans and others who are engaged in reasearch in Biblical and related fields and interested in developing Korean perspective in those fields as well as sharing their scholarly experiences with fellow Korean scholars.

LATINO/A AND LATIN AMERICAN BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Fernando F. SegoviaFrancisco Lozada, Jr.Description: The issue of contextualization at the level of reception or interpretation, involving not only location but also perspective, has become paramount in Biblical Studies in recent years. For some time now, a good and growing number of Latino/a American and Latin American biblical scholars have been addressing the problematic of reading the Bible explicitly from their particular placements and optics in society and culture. This proposed Consultation seeks to pursue such work in sustained and systematic fashion by bringing together scholars—Latino/a and Latin American as well as others with an interest in such discussions—from across the spectrum of biblical criticism. Its scope is conceived as broad: first, the biblical texts as such, both testaments; second, readings and readers of these texts in modern and postmodern biblical criticism; lastly, traditions of reading the Bible outside academic criticism. Its approach is also envisioned as wide-ranging: open to a variety of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives, from the more traditional to the more recent. 

Call for papers: The issue of contextualization at the level of reception or interpretation, involving not only location but also perspective, has become paramount in Biblical Studies in recent years. For some time now, a good and growing number of Latino/a American and Latin American biblical scholars have been addressing the problematic of reading the Bible explicitly from their particular placements and optics in society and culture. This proposed Consultation seeks to pursue such work in sustained and systematic fashion by bringing together scholars—Latino/a and Latin American as well as others with an interest in such discussions—from across the spectrum of biblical criticism. Its scope is conceived as broad: first, the biblical texts as such, both testaments; second, readings and readers of these texts in modern and postmodern biblical criticism; lastly, traditions of reading the Bible outside academic criticism. Its approach is also envisioned as wide-ranging: open to a variety of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives, from the more traditional to the more recent.

LATTER-DAY SAINTS AND THE BIBLE

Gaye StrathearnDescription: This unit examines the interpretation and use of the Bible by Latter-day Saints beginning with Joseph Smith down to the present. Papers draw on tools used in biblical studies and address topics of broad interest to the academy of biblical scholars. 

Call for papers: This unit examines the interpretation and use of the Bible by Latter-day Saints beginning with Joseph Smith down to the present. Papers draw on tools used in biblical studies and address topics of broad interest to the academy of biblical scholars.

LETTERS OF JAMES, PETER, AND JUDE

Rev. Prof. Peter H. DavidsDuane F. WatsonDescription: The Letters of James, Peter, and Jude Section considers research on these letters that contribute to understanding them and their social contexts. It encourages the use of rhetorical, social-scientific, sociorhetorical, ideological, and hermeneutical methods, as well as other cross-disciplinary approaches in addition to the historical-critical method. 

Call for papers: The Letters of James, Peter, and Jude Section considers research on these letters that contribute to understanding them and their social contexts. It encourages the use of rhetorical, social-scientific, sociorhetorical, ideological, and hermeneutical methods, as well as other cross-disciplinary approaches in addition to the historical-critical method.

LEVITES AND PRIESTS IN HISTORY AND TRADITION

Mark LeuchterJeremy HuttonDescription: This section comprises a forum for the investigation into the social and historical roles of the cultic personnel (predominantly Levites and priests) in ancient Israel and early Judaism, as well as into the literary presentation of those figures in early scriptural traditions. Papers from a variety of methodical approaches may be accepted. 

Call for papers: This section comprises a forum for the investigation into the social and historical roles of the cultic personnel (predominantly Levites and priests) in ancient Israel and early Judaism, as well as into the literary presentation of those figures in early scriptural traditions. Papers from a variety of methodical approaches may be accepted.

LGBT/QUEER HERMENEUTICS

David Tabb StewartLynn HuberDescription: Sexual orientation and kinship are increasingly being contested in public, ecclesial and academic communities across the globe and Biblical interpretation underpins much that is oppressive in these efforts. The Consultation provides a crucial forum for Biblical scholars, religious professionals, and others to benefit from a critical interrogation of the issues as they cross disciplines and intersect with diverse voices. 

Call for papers: Sexual orientation and kinship are increasingly being contested in public, ecclesial and academic communities across the globe and Biblical interpretation underpins much that is oppressive in these efforts. The Consultation provides a crucial forum for Biblical scholars, religious professionals, and others to benefit from a critical interrogation of the issues as they cross disciplines and intersect with diverse voices.

LINGUISTICS AND BIBLICAL HEBREW

W. Randall GarrDescription: The goals of this section include: (1) to provide a unique, cross-disciplinary forum for the application of modern linguistic theory and methodology to the study of biblical Hebrew; (2) to encourage interest in linguistics and its advantages for biblical exegesis and interpretation among biblical scholars who do not have prior training in linguistic theory; (3) to promote publication of scholarly works which apply linguistics to biblical Hebrew 

Call for papers: The goals of this section include: (1) to provide a unique, cross-disciplinary forum for the application of modern linguistic theory and methodology to the study of biblical Hebrew; (2) to encourage interest in linguistics and its advantages for biblical exegesis and interpretation among biblical scholars who do not have prior training in linguistic theory; (3) to promote publication of scholarly works which apply linguistics to biblical Hebrew

LITERATURE AND HISTORY OF THE PERSIAN PERIOD

Mark LeuchterAnselm C. HagedornDescription: The Literature and History of the Persian Period Group emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to biblical texts and related literature of the 6th-4th centuries BCE by bringing together archaeologists, Assyriologists, classicists, Egyptologists, and sociologists, to name but a few, with biblical scholars specializing in various facets and texts pertinent to this era. 

Call for papers: The Literature and History of the Persian Period group will be holding two sessions; an invited panel and an open session for which paper proposals will be accepted. Both sessions will be on the topic of Amphictyony as a social construct of Mediterranean cultures of the 6th-4th centuries BCE. Papers will address the issues of historiography, religious ritual, economics, land tenure and genealogical claims in light of social groups organized as a collective or league in the context of an imperial administrative system. The impact of these disparate strata of group identity and mobilization upon the formation of biblical and extra-biblical Jewish texts will be examined, as well as parallels from Greek and Persian sources (historiographic, epigraphic and otherwise).

MANUSCRIPTS FROM EASTERN CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS

Adam McCollumDescription: This Workshop provides a forum to familiarize students and scholars, especially those who have not worked with manuscripts before, with manuscript studies within the broader fields of eastern Christianity in any of its languages and literary traditions. 

Call for papers: This Workshop provides a forum to familiarize students and scholars, especially those who have not worked with manuscripts before, with manuscript studies within the broader fields of eastern Christianity in any of its languages and literary traditions.

MARK

Rikki E. WattsDescription: The Mark Seminar provides a venue for Markan scholars to present and discuss research on the text and themes of the Gospel of Mark and its historical, social, and religious context. The previous Group has been very popular for its allowance for in depth discussion of the papers presented, and there is keen interest in it continuing in seminar form. 

Call for papers: The Mark Seminar provides a venue for Markan scholars to present and discuss research on the text and themes of the Gospel of Mark and its historical, social, and religious context. The previous Group has been very popular for its allowance for in depth discussion of the papers presented, and there is keen interest in it continuing in seminar form.

MARKAN LITERARY SOURCES

Adam WinnDavid B. PeabodyDescription: This Seminar on Markan Literary Sources will explore Mark’s literary dependence on extant literature, especially Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman—a topic that has long been neglected. The method will include awareness of: (a) ancient methods of reshaping texts; (b) recently-developed criteria for judging literary dependence. 

Call for papers: This Seminar on Markan Literary Sources will explore Mark’s literary dependence on extant literature, especially Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman—a topic that has long been neglected. The method will include awareness of: (a) ancient methods of reshaping texts; (b) recently-developed criteria for judging literary dependence.

MASORETIC STUDIES (AFFILIATED WITH IOMS)

Harold P. ScanlinDescription: The Masoretic Studies Section is affiliated with the International Organization for Masoretic Studies, which is an affiliate organization of the SBL. For further information, please contact the program unit chair. 

Call for papers: The Masoretic Studies Section is affiliated with the International Organization for Masoretic Studies, which is an affiliate organization of the SBL. For further information, please contact the program unit chair.

MATTHEW

Daniel M. GurtnerDescription: The Matthew Section sponsors invited and submitted papers, panels, reviews and welcomes submission on any topic related to Matthean scholarship. 

Call for papers: The Matthew Section sponsors invited and submitted papers, panels, reviews and welcomes submission on any topic related to Matthean scholarship.

MEALS IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

Dennis E. SmithHal TaussigDescription: The Greco-Roman banquet, which was a complex and highly influential Hellenistic institution, will be explored as a lens into Greco-Roman social bonding and boundaries and as a pivotal consideration in reconstructing the history of early Christianity and Judaism. 

Call for papers: The Greco-Roman banquet, which was a complex and highly influential Hellenistic institution, will be explored as a lens into Greco-Roman social bonding and boundaries and as a pivotal consideration in reconstructing the history of early Christianity and Judaism.

MEALS IN THE HB/OT AND ITS WORLD

Peter AltmannNathan MacDonaldDescription: This unit builds on the anthropological insight of meals’ importance, utilizing the considerable data about food and feasting from the OT/HB and the ANE to address questions of social status, gender, sexuality, communal formation and dynamics, and theology and ideology. 

Call for papers: This unit builds on the anthropological insight of meals’ importance, utilizing the considerable data about food and feasting from the OT/HB and the ANE to address questions of social status, gender, sexuality, communal formation and dynamics, and theology and ideology.

METACRITICISM OF BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP

James LinvilleRebecca RaphaelDescription: This unit critically evaluates suppositions in and underlying biblical scholarship, including how an explicitly non-religious approach differs from what is even now represented as historical-critical scholarship, especially when compared to other secular disciplines within the Humanities (history, classical studies) and the Social Sciences (e.g., anthropology, sociology). 

Call for papers: This unit critically evaluates suppositions in and underlying biblical scholarship, including how an explicitly non-religious approach differs from what is even now represented as historical-critical scholarship, especially when compared to other secular disciplines within the Humanities (history, classical studies) and the Social Sciences (e.g., anthropology, sociology).

METAPHOR THEORY AND THE HEBREW BIBLE

Hanne Loeland LevinsonDescription: This section aims to advance the understanding of how metaphor operates in the Hebrew Bible, with a focus on how applied metaphor theory can enhance our work as Bible scholars; it also aims to deepen our knowledge of the diverse metaphorical language used in the Hebrew Bible. 

Call for papers: The section is planning three sessions for the meeting in Baltimore. One session will be organized together with the Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible section on the theme: ‘God, Metaphor, and Iconography’. This is an open session and we welcome papers dealing with representations of God/god both in literature and pictorial images, of special interest are papers which investigate similarities and differences between the two areas and how the two areas may be mutually enlightening. The second session is also an open session with the theme: `The Many Faces of Death: Metaphorical Descriptions of Death in the Hebrew Bible.’ For this session we invite papers on the diverse metaphorical descriptions of death, dying, and the realm of death in Hebrew Bible texts. The proposal should show both which text material the paper will focus on and which theoretical approach that is used in the text reading. A third session has the theme: `Metaphor Identification in Biblical Texts.’ The study of metaphor in Biblical Texts, whether for stylistic, literary, linguistic or cognitive purposes, starts with identifying metaphors in the texts. Yet, biblical scholars do not usually reflect explicitly on how they have identified the metaphors they are studying. Moreover, quite some discussion often arises on whether a particular expression should be counted as a metaphor or not in a given text. For this session we invite papers dealing both methodologically and practically with the issue of metaphor identification: how can one recognize metaphors in a biblical texts, how can one make sure that this identification is reliable, i.e. is not only dependent on the researcher’s intuitions, how can one develop tools to advance the scholarly dialogue on whether specific expressions are metaphorical or not?. The session will mainly consist of invited lectures, but there is room for open papers as well. The proposals should state the author’s main thesis, the methodological appr

MIDRASH

W. David NelsonRivka UlmerDescription: The Midrash Section is a scholarly forum for the comprehensive, interdisciplinary study and analysis of the particular mode of interpreting the Bible developed and utilized by the rabbis of late antiquity. 

Call for papers: The Midrash Section is a scholarly forum for the comprehensive, interdisciplinary study and analysis of the particular mode of interpreting the Bible developed and utilized by the rabbis of late antiquity.

MIND, SOCIETY, AND RELIGION IN THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Istvan CzacheszRisto UroDescription: The aim of the program unit is to draw on theories developed in the cognitive science of religion, a new multidisciplinary field centering on cross-culturally recurrent patterns in religious thought, experience, and practice, and to develop approaches integrating cultural and cognitive studies. 

Call for papers: The aim of the program unit is to draw on theories developed in the cognitive science of religion, a new multidisciplinary field centering on cross-culturally recurrent patterns in religious thought, experience, and practice, and to develop approaches integrating cultural and cognitive studies.

MINORITIZED CRITICISM AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Fernando F. SegoviaDescription: The issue of contextualization at the level of reception and interpretation, involving not only social-cultural location but also ideological perspective, has become paramount in Biblical Studies in recent years. For some time now, a substantial and ever-growing number of African American, Asian American, and Latino/a American biblical scholars have been addressing the problematic of reading the biblical texts explicitly from their respective placements and optics in society and culture. This proposed Consultation seeks to expand such work by bringing together scholars from these and other population groups, both national and international, that have traditionally been classified as “minority” groups but who today classify themselves as “minoritized” groups. A word about the term “minoritized” is in order. Such groups have undergone what in Racial-Ethnic Studies is known as a process of racialization or ethnicization, grounded in real or perceived biological or cultural features, respectively. The process itself is dialectical as well as differential. It is dialectical insofar as it entails a construction of a racial or ethnic Other by a Self, which in the process constructs itself as separate. It is differential insofar as such a construction involves an unequal relation of power between Self and Other, one of domination and subordination, respectively. When such a process takes place at the level of a political unit or state, then one can speak of such groups as “minoritized” by a “dominantized” group formation. The proposed Consultation thus seeks to bring together critics from such groups not only within the United States but also globally, in order to work together as critics on the problematic of minoritization-dominantization at all levels of the discipline as conceived and practiced today. Its scope is thus quite broad: (1) the ancient texts as such, canonical as well as extracanonical; (2) readings and readers of these texts in modern and postmodern 

Call for papers: For 2013 the focus will be on interpreting texts from a minoritized perspective, paying attention to the question of location and ideology, while keeping in mind the dimension of teaching from such an interpretive standpoint. Two sessions are scheduled, one on (OT) and one on (NT). Participation is by invitation.

NAG HAMMADI AND GNOSTICISM

April D. DeconickDylan M. BurnsDescription: The Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section provides a forum for current international research on the Coptic codices discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. Research areas include: issues of text and translation; analysis and interpretation of the tractates; codicological analysis; background and provenance of the manuscripts; studies relevant to the larger social and religio-historical contexts of the Nag Hammadi texts, especially their relation to Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman religious traditions. 

Call for papers: The Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section provides a forum for current international research on the Coptic codices discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. Research areas include: issues of text and translation; analysis and interpretation of the tractates; codicological analysis; background and provenance of the manuscripts; studies relevant to the larger social and religio-historical contexts of the Nag Hammadi texts, especially their relation to Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman religious traditions.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSORS OF HEBREW

Description: The NAPH is an Affiliate of the SBL. For additional information on the NAPH, please contact the program unit chair. 

Call for papers: The NAPH is an Affiliate of the SBL. For additional information on the NAPH, please contact the program unit chair.

NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL CRITICISM

Jennifer KnustDescription: The New Testament Textual Criticism Section seeks to foster the study and criticism of the text of the New Testament—including examination of manuscripts and other sources, restoration of the text, and especially the investigation of the history of its transmission—in its Late Antique cultural context. SBL has had a group dedicated to this topic as far back as 1946. 

Call for papers: The New Testament Textual Criticism Section seeks to foster the study and criticism of the text of the New Testament—including examination of manuscripts and other sources, restoration of the text, and especially the investigation of the history of its transmission—in its Late Antique cultural context. SBL has had a group dedicated to this topic as far back as 1946.

NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION

William E. ArnalDescription: The North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) was initially formed in 1985 by E. Thomas Lawson, Luther H. Martin, and Donald Wiebe, to encourage the historical, comparative, structural, theoretical, and cognitive approaches to the study of religion among North American scholars; to represent North American scholars of religion at the international level; and to sustain communication between North American scholars and their international colleagues engaged in the study of religion. 

Call for papers: The North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) was initially formed in 1985 by E. Thomas Lawson, Luther H. Martin, and Donald Wiebe, to encourage the historical, comparative, structural, theoretical, and cognitive approaches to the study of religion among North American scholars; to represent North American scholars of religion at the international level; and to sustain communication between North American scholars and their international colleagues engaged in the study of religion.

ORALITY, TEXTUALITY, AND THE FORMATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE

William M. SchniedewindElsie R. SternDescription: This section is a context for exploration of how recent research on orality and textuality might inform study of the use and formation of the Hebrew Bible. A focus of this group is dialogue of Biblical studies with research in other disciplines on orality, textuality and their interaction. 

Call for papers: This section is a context for exploration of how recent research on orality and textuality might inform study of the use and formation of the Hebrew Bible. A focus of this group is dialogue of Biblical studies with research in other disciplines on orality, textuality and their interaction.

PAPYROLOGY AND EARLY CHRISTIAN BACKGROUNDS

Malcolm ChoatDescription: The Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds Group explores how the ancient papyri illumine the world of early Christianity and will appeal to scholars interested in paleographic, linguistic, and textual questions, as well as those who specialize in the social and cultural history of early Christianity. 

Call for papers: The Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds Group explores how the ancient papyri illumine the world of early Christianity and will appeal to scholars interested in paleographic, linguistic, and textual questions, as well as those who specialize in the social and cultural history of early Christianity. This Section invites proposals for papers for two sessions: the first is an open session, papers for which can address any of the group’s themes. The second is a thematic session, on “Early Christian Letters on Papyrus”, for which papers discussing the all aspects of Christian epistolography as it is manifest in the papyri from the 3rd to the 5th centuries CE are invited.

PAUL AND JUDAISM

Magnus ZetterholmMark D. NanosDescription: While the opposition between Paul and Judaism has been the undisputed point of departure in much previous Pauline scholarship, the aim of this program unit is to develop Pauline studies from the hypothesis that Paul remained within and practiced Judaism. 

Call for papers: While the opposition between Paul and Judaism has been the undisputed point of departure in much previous Pauline scholarship, the aim of this program unit is to develop Pauline studies from the hypothesis that Paul remained within and practiced Judaism.

PAUL AND POLITICS

Pamela EisenbaumNeil ElliottDescription: The purposes of the Paul and Politics Group are to bring together several currently separate but often overlapping lines of investigation and interpretation of the apostle Paul, his mission, his letters, and his longer-range impact. Those lines of investigation include “Paul and the politics of the churches,” “Paul and the politics of Israel,” “Paul and the politics of the Roman Empire” and “Paul and politics of Interpretation.” 

Call for papers: The purposes of the Paul and Politics Group are to bring together several currently separate but often overlapping lines of investigation and interpretation of the apostle Paul, his mission, his letters, and his longer-range impact. Those lines of investigation include “Paul and the politics of the churches,” “Paul and the politics of Israel,” “Paul and the politics of the Roman Empire” and “Paul and politics of Interpretation.”

PAULINE EPISTLES

Emma WassermanCaroline E. Johnson HodgeDescription: The Pauline Epistles Section has two goals: 1. to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of original scholarly research into all facets of the interpretation of the thirteen letters in the New Testament which bear Paul’s name. This includes consideration of exegetical, socio-historical, history of religions, theological, literary, history of interpretation, and methodological questions. 2. to stimulate discussion about the discipline and engender new questions and approaches in a field which has been too thoroughly plowed. 

Call for papers: The Pauline Epistles Section has two goals: 1. to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of original scholarly research into all facets of the interpretation of the thirteen letters in the New Testament which bear Paul’s name. This includes consideration of exegetical, socio-historical, history of religions, theological, literary, history of interpretation, and methodological questions. 2. to stimulate discussion about the discipline and engender new questions and approaches in a field which has been too thoroughly plowed.

PAULINE SOTERIOLOGY

Ann JervisDouglas CampbellDescription: The Pauline Soteriology Group has been set up in order to explore central issues in Pauline theology. No single understanding of ‘Pauline theology’, or of how it is to be delimited from other aspects of Pauline discourse, is assumed at the outset. 

Call for papers: The Pauline Soteriology Group has been set up in order to explore central issues in Pauline theology. No single understanding of ‘Pauline theology’, or of how it is to be delimited from other aspects of Pauline discourse, is assumed at the outset.

PENTATEUCH

Thomas RömerSarah ShectmanDescription: The Pentateuch Section provides a forum within the SBL for presentation and discussion of research on the Pentateuch, with a particular focus on transmission-historical issues and linkage of that area of inquiry with other more synchronic methodologies. 

Call for papers: The Pentateuch Section provides a forum within the SBL for presentation and discussion of research on the Pentateuch, with a particular focus on transmission-historical issues and linkage of that area of inquiry with other more synchronic methodologies.

PERFORMANCE CRITICISM OF BIBLICAL AND OTHER ANCIENT TEXTS

Description: This interdisciplinary consultation is intended to foster discussion about how the creation and interpretation of biblical and other ancient texts has been shaped by their oral transmission and aural reception by ancient communities, using the methods associated with performance criticism. 

Call for papers: This interdisciplinary consultation is intended to foster discussion about how the creation and interpretation of biblical and other ancient texts has been shaped by their oral transmission and aural reception by ancient communities, using the methods associated with performance criticism.

PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA

Sarah PearceEllen BirnbaumDescription: The volume and eclectic nature of the Philonic corpus make Philo an invaluable source of information for ancient Judaism in the Diaspora and numerous contiguous disciplines. This Group explores both Philo’s own thought and the fields which intersect in his treatises. 

Call for papers: The volume and eclectic nature of the Philonic corpus make Philo an invaluable source of information for ancient Judaism in the Diaspora and numerous contiguous disciplines. This Group explores both Philo’s own thought and the fields which intersect in his treatises.

POLIS AND EKKLESIA: INVESTIGATIONS OF URBAN CHRISTIANITY

Laurence L. WelbornJames R. HarrisonDescription: This new Consultation of SBL investigates the expansion of early Christianity as an urban phenomenon from Jerusalem to Rome, from the perspective of Paul’s letters and the book of Acts against the backdrop of the local documentary and archaeological evidence. It seeks to bring together New Testament and classical scholars in the study of the New Testament writings as primary evidence for the understanding of civic and religious life in the first-century Mediterranean world. The wide range of methodologies and disciplines employed in this investigation ensures a more holistic approach than has been the case in the past. 

Call for papers: This new Consultation of SBL investigates the expansion of early Christianity as an urban phenomenon from Jerusalem to Rome, from the perspective of Paul’s letters and the book of Acts against the backdrop of the local documentary and archaeological evidence. It seeks to bring together New Testament and classical scholars in the study of the New Testament writings as primary evidence for the understanding of civic and religious life in the first-century Mediterranean world. The wide range of methodologies and disciplines employed in this investigation ensures a more holistic approach than has been the case in the past.

POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES AND BIBLICAL STUDIES

Christopher D. StanleyYak-Hwee TanDescription: This section offers a forum for papers exploring any aspect of the relation between postcolonial studies and biblical studies, including both the use of the Bible in the modern colonial enterprise and the application of postcolonial models to the ancient world. 

Call for papers: This section offers a forum for papers exploring any aspect of the relation between postcolonial studies and biblical studies, including both the use of the Bible in the modern colonial enterprise and the application of postcolonial models to the ancient world.

POVERTY IN THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Kari LatvusRichard A. HorsleyGlenna S. JacksonDescription: This unit will examine poverty, servitude, and related issues in the Hebrew Bible, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity. While non-canonical texts and related materials will be included, primary focus will be on biblical texts. Innovative interdisciplinary methods as well as traditional exegesis are welcome. More information is available at http://povertyinthebiblicalworld.wordpress.com/. 

Call for papers: This unit will examine poverty, servitude, and related issues in the Hebrew Bible, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity. While non-canonical texts and related materials will be included, primary focus will be on biblical texts. Innovative interdisciplinary methods as well as traditional exegesis are welcome. More information is available at http://povertyinthebiblicalworld.wordpress.com/.

PROPHETIC TEXTS AND THEIR ANCIENT CONTEXTS

Esther J. HamoriJonathan StöklDescription: The objectives of this group are: (1) to foster as much discussion as possible among participants in the sessions without limiting the number of participants; (2) to involve a wide variety of viewpoints from the international academy interested in “prophetic texts and their ancient contexts”; and (3) to encourage creativity and diversity among those interested in this field by inviting proposals for papers within the described parameters. 

Call for papers: The objectives of this group are: (1) to foster as much discussion as possible among participants in the sessions without limiting the number of participants; (2) to involve a wide variety of viewpoints from the international academy interested in “prophetic texts and their ancient contexts”; and (3) to encourage creativity and diversity among those interested in this field by inviting proposals for papers within the described parameters.

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Liv Ingeborg LiedMatthias HenzeDescription: The goals of this group are (1) to provide a forum for discussion of Jewish pseudepigrapha and second temple period Judaism; (2) to promote the publication of scholarly works on the pseudepigrapha; and (3) to encourage interest in the broader use of the pseudepigrapha for the understanding of early Judaism and Christianity. 

Call for papers: The goals of this group are (1) to provide a forum for discussion of Jewish pseudepigrapha and second temple period Judaism; (2) to promote the publication of scholarly works on the pseudepigrapha; and (3) to encourage interest in the broader use of the pseudepigrapha for the understanding of early Judaism and Christianity.

PSYCHOLOGY AND BIBLICAL STUDIES

D. Andrew KilleDescription: The objectives of the Psychology and Biblical Studies Section are (i) to present an historical-critical overview of “psychological” approaches to scripture; (ii) to assess the significance of these approaches for ongoing Biblical research, exegesis, and interpretation, and (iii) to provide a forum for considering and developing the future agenda of “psychological criticism” as a sub-discipline within Biblical Studies. 

Call for papers: The objectives of the Psychology and Biblical Studies Section are (i) to present an historical-critical overview of “psychological” approaches to scripture; (ii) to assess the significance of these approaches for ongoing Biblical research, exegesis, and interpretation, and (iii) to provide a forum for considering and developing the future agenda of “psychological criticism” as a sub-discipline within Biblical Studies.

Q

Christoph HeilDaniel A. SmithDescription: The Q Section offers a forum for research on the “Sayings Gospel” Q. Since Q provides access to earliest Jesus tradition and to the theology and social history of Jewish Christianity, the Q Section integrates a broad variety of issues and methods. The Q Section website is http://www-theol.uni-graz.at/~heil/qprojekt/sbl_q.htm. 

Call for papers: The Q Section offers a forum for research on the “Sayings Gospel” Q. Since Q provides access to earliest Jesus tradition and to the theology and social history of Jewish Christianity, the Q Section integrates a broad variety of issues and methods. The Q Section website is http://www-theol.uni-graz.at/~heil/qprojekt/sbl_q.htm.

QUMRAN

Charlotte HempelEibert TigchelaarDescription: The Qumran Section of the SBL provides an equal-opportunity forum for presentation and discussion of views relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran settlement, and the people of that place and of those documents. 

Call for papers: The Qumran Section of the SBL provides an equal-opportunity forum for presentation and discussion of views relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran settlement, and the people of that place and of those documents.

QUR’AN AND BIBLICAL LITERATURE

John KaltnerMichael PregillDescription: Recent scholarship recognizes the need for dialogue and cooperation in understanding the relationship of the Bible and biblical literature to the Qur’an and Muslim exegesis. The aim of this unit is to encourage scholars to consider the importance of the Qur’an and Muslim exegesis for understanding the Bible and its interpretation, and vice-versa. 

Call for papers: Recent scholarship recognizes the need for dialogue and cooperation in understanding the relationship of the Bible and biblical literature to the Qur’an and Muslim exegesis. The aim of this unit is to encourage scholars to consider the importance of the Qur’an and Muslim exegesis for understanding the Bible and its interpretation, and vice-versa.

READING, THEORY, AND THE BIBLE

Jennifer L. KoosedDescription: The Reading, Theory, and the Bible Section provides a forum to encourage innovative and experimental approaches to biblical studies, to facilitate critical reflection on the role of theory in reading, and to support biblical scholarship informed by cross-disciplinary conversation. 

Call for papers: The Reading, Theory, and the Bible Section provides a forum to encourage innovative and experimental approaches to biblical studies, to facilitate critical reflection on the role of theory in reading, and to support biblical scholarship informed by cross-disciplinary conversation.

RECOVERING FEMALE INTERPRETERS OF THE BIBLE

Joy SchroederDescription: This unit will focus on the recovery of work by female interpreters of the Bible before the twentieth century who wrote from a variety of faith and ideological standpoints. These female interpreters will be considered in the cultural and historical contexts in which they wrote with the intention of analyzing their neglected contributions to the study of biblical literature. 

Call for papers: This unit will focus on the recovery of work by female interpreters of the Bible before the twentieth century who wrote from a variety of faith and ideological standpoints. These female interpreters will be considered in the cultural and historical contexts in which they wrote with the intention of analyzing their neglected contributions to the study of biblical literature.

RELIGIOUS COMPETITION IN LATE ANTIQUITY

Nathaniel DesrosiersLily VuongDescription: This unit analyzes the competition between diverse social groups of the Mediterranean basin in the third century CE through the development of broadly comparative methodologies. It delineates the ways in which this competitive interaction reshaped the Roman cultural and religious landscapes. 

Call for papers: This year we will be accepting papers for two different sessions. The first session is titled “Fighting over Fingerbones: the Competition for Relics in Late Antiquity.” We invite papers discussing late antique religious texts and/or material culture that unearth the role that relics played in identity formation, religious competition, political propaganda, and the so-called ‘parting of ways’ between Judaism and Christianity. The second session is “The Rhetoric of Competition: Reading ‘Greek’ and ‘Barbarian’ Texts in Late Antiquity.” In recognition of the importance of textual reception in the process of identity formation, this session invites papers that examine the ways Jews, Christians, or Platonists interpreted both their own ‘canonical’ texts and the texts of other communities including those that may have been construed as ‘pagan,’ ‘heretical,’ or ‘barbarian.’

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN EARLY JUDAISM AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY

Angela Kim HarkinsDescription: This section investigates experiential elements in the texts and communities of early Judaism and Christianity through the patristic period. Contributions from Greco-Roman religions will also be considered. Interests include: 1) practices such as ritual, prayer, ecstasy, dreams and visions, 2) the relationship between texts and experiences, 3) the ways embodied experience generates religious ideas and commitment and 4) cognitive, neurological and sensory aspects of religious feeling. 

Call for papers: This section investigates experiential elements in the texts and communities of early Judaism and Christianity through the patristic period. Contributions from Greco-Roman religions will also be considered. Interests include: 1) practices such as ritual, prayer, ecstasy, dreams and visions, 2) the relationship between texts and experiences, 3) the ways embodied experience generates religious ideas and commitment and 4) cognitive, neurological and sensory aspects of religious feeling.

RELIGIOUS WORLD OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Shira L. LanderNaomi Koltun-FrommDescription: A forum for scholars working comparatively and thematically in the period and regions in which Christianity, Judaism, Manichaeism, and Islam formed within a rich environment of other religious traditions, where norms of authority, belief, practice, and identity were contested and settled. 

Call for papers: A forum for scholars working comparatively and thematically in the period and regions in which Christianity, Judaism, Manichaeism, and Islam formed within a rich environment of other religious traditions, where norms of authority, belief, practice, and identity were contested and settled.

RHETORIC AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

Greg CareyTodd C. PennerDescription: The Rhetoric and the New Testament Section of the SBL exists to further the budding field of rhetorical criticism of the New Testament in all its current manifestations. These include analysis of the New Testament using Greco-Roman categories, modern approaches to rhetoric, and interdisciplinary studies that would also include sociology, anthropology, and ideology to name a few. 

Call for papers: The Rhetoric and the New Testament Section of the SBL exists to further the budding field of rhetorical criticism of the New Testament in all its current manifestations. These include analysis of the New Testament using Greco-Roman categories, modern approaches to rhetoric, and interdisciplinary studies that would also include sociology, anthropology, and ideology to name a few.

RHETORIC OF RELIGIOUS ANTIQUITY

L. Gregory BloomquistDescription: This seminar provides a forum for collegial work on the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Commentary Series and for the public exploration of facets of socio-rhetorical interpretation that promise to contribute to the work of biblical scholars not directly associated with the project. 

Call for papers: This seminar provides a forum for collegial work on the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Commentary Series and for the public exploration of facets of socio-rhetorical interpretation that promise to contribute to the work of biblical scholars not directly associated with the project.

RITUAL IN THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Ada Taggar-CohenRussell C. D. ArnoldDescription: The Ritual in the Biblical World Section focuses on the nature, meaning and function of ritual found in textual sources (HB, NT, non-canonical) in the larger context of the material culture of the ancient world, employing insights and methods of the field of ritual theory and enthnography. 

Call for papers: The Ritual in the Biblical World Section focuses on the nature, meaning and function of ritual found in textual sources (HB, NT, non-canonical) in the larger context of the material culture of the ancient world, employing insights and methods of the field of ritual theory and enthnography.

SABBATH IN TEXT AND TRADITION

Edward AllenAaron D. PankenDescription: This unit brings together scholars of biblical and post-biblical texts and traditions for sustained, cross-disciplinary conversation about the Sabbath’s origins, development and meaning; provides constructive venues for papers, reviews, presentations, critique and feedback; and promotes collaboration in producing publications on the Sabbath. 

Call for papers: This unit brings together scholars of biblical and post-biblical texts and traditions for sustained, cross-disciplinary conversation about the Sabbath’s origins, development and meaning; provides constructive venues for papers, reviews, presentations, critique and feedback; and promotes collaboration in producing publications on the Sabbath.

SACRIFICE, CULT, AND ATONEMENT

Henrietta L. WileyDescription: The Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement section is a forum for studying the practices, interpretations and reception history of sacrifice and cult in the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Judaism, Christianity, and their larger cultural contexts (ANE, Greco-Roman religion). Methodological perspectives include – but are not limited to – historical criticism, tradition history, comparative and literary approaches, ritual theory, and sociological analysis. 

Call for papers: The Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement section is a forum for studying the practices, interpretations and reception history of sacrifice and cult in the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Judaism, Christianity, and their larger cultural contexts (ANE, Greco-Roman religion). Methodological perspectives include – but are not limited to – historical criticism, tradition history, comparative and literary approaches, ritual theory, and sociological analysis.

SCRIPTURE AND FILM

Richard G. WalshMatthew S. RindgeDescription: This unit focuses on the critical analysis and interpretation of Bible/Jesus films and other films incorporating biblical themes or motifs in terms of the films’ biblical and extra-biblical content, cultural and historical significance, and ideology. Secondary focus on pedagogical use of such films, and the preservation, archiving, and digitalization of rare Bible/Jesus films. (This unit was titled Bible and Film through 2011.) 

Call for papers: This unit focuses on the critical analysis and interpretation of Bible/Jesus films and other films incorporating biblical themes or motifs in terms of the films’ biblical and extra-biblical content, cultural and historical significance, and ideology. Secondary focus on pedagogical use of such films, and the preservation, archiving, and digitalization of rare Bible/Jesus films. (This unit was titled Bible and Film through 2011.)

SCRIPTURE IN EARLY JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Bruce N. FiskDescription: The purpose of the Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity Section is to provide a context in which new scholarship on intertextuality and early biblical interpretation can be presented and critically evaluated. Specifically, the section is devoted to examining how the Hebrew Bible was used and interpreted in the literature of early Judaism (including rabbinic literature) and early Christianity (to ca. 400 CE) and to considering methodological issues associated with this task. 

Call for papers: The purpose of the Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity Section is to provide a context in which new scholarship on intertextuality and early biblical interpretation can be presented and critically evaluated. Specifically, the section is devoted to examining how the Hebrew Bible was used and interpreted in the literature of early Judaism (including rabbinic literature) and early Christianity (to ca. 400 CE) and to considering methodological issues associated with this task.

SECOND CORINTHIANS: PAULINE THEOLOGY IN THE MAKING

Reimund BieringerEdith M. HumphreyThomas SchmellerDescription: Existing Pauline Theologies are either based on the ripe fruit of Paul’s theologizing in Romans (e.g., J. Dunn) or give a synthesis of theological themes across the board of Paul’s letters. The focus of this Seminar is how Paul develops his theology in his second letter to the Corinthians. We shall trace aspects of his theology on a trajectory from their very beginning in concrete historical situations and compare them to their reuse in more abstract contexts. Attention will also be given to their potential pre-Christian or early Christian pre-history and their post-history in what has been called the Pauline school. The main focus will be on the way concrete historical circumstances shaped the genesis of certain theological themes and how they changed when new circumstances arose or when the link to concrete circumstances got lost. Each theological theme will therefore primarily be studied in its epistolary context of 2 Corinthians and in light of the historical situation in which it was developed. The comparison with other letters is not intended to create one unified Pauline theology, but rather, in the contrast with other instances, to understand better the specifics of the theme under study. 

Call for papers: Existing Pauline Theologies are either based on the ripe fruit of Paul’s theologizing in Romans (e.g., J. Dunn) or give a synthesis of theological themes across the board of Paul’s letters. The focus of this Seminar is how Paul develops his theology in his second letter to the Corinthians. We shall trace aspects of his theology on a trajectory from their very beginning in concrete historical situations and compare them to their reuse in more abstract contexts. Attention will also be given to their potential pre-Christian or early Christian pre-history and their post-history in what has been called the Pauline school. The main focus will be on the way concrete historical circumstances shaped the genesis of certain theological themes and how they changed when new circumstances arose or when the link to concrete circumstances got lost. Each theological theme will therefore primarily be studied in its epistolary context of 2 Corinthians and in light of the historical situation in which it was developed. The comparison with other letters is not intended to create one unified Pauline theology, but rather, in the contrast with other instances, to understand better the specifics of the theme under study.

SEMIOTICS AND EXEGESIS

Description: This section offers a forum (1) for exploring the nature and significance of semiotic theories for the reading and interpretation of biblical texts (Hebrew and Christian scriptures) and (2) for examining the ways various methods dependent upon such theories of meaning production and communication contribute, in conjunction with other critical approaches, to the critical conversation about biblical hermeneutics, textual interpretation and contextual understanding. 

Call for papers: This section offers a forum (1) for exploring the nature and significance of semiotic theories for the reading and interpretation of biblical texts (Hebrew and Christian scriptures) and (2) for examining the ways various methods dependent upon such theories of meaning production and communication contribute, in conjunction with other critical approaches, to the critical conversation about biblical hermeneutics, textual interpretation and contextual understanding.

SENSORY PERCEPTION IN THE BIBLE AND EARLY JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Greg Schmidt GoeringDescription: This unit investigates how the various cultures associated with the Bible and early Judaism and Christianity thought about and used the senses. The unit embraces diverse approaches to the study of the senses including text study, anthropology, pyschology, linguistics, and phenomenology. 

Call for papers: The Sensory Perception in the Bible and Early Judaism and Christianity Section proposes two sessions for 2013. For the first session, held jointly with the Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity Section, we invite papers for an open session on “Sensory Perception and Religious Experience.” Frequently, practitioners use their senses to seek out religious experiences, stimulate the senses to induce religious experience, or otherwise have religious experiences through the senses. In turn, when they report on religious experiences, they frequently use sensory language to describe those experiences. This joint session welcomes paper submissions which focus on one or both of these phenomena at the intersection of religious experience and sensory perception in early Jewish and Christian traditions. The abstract should state the paper’s thesis, outline the approach that will be taken, and identify the primary texts to be discussed. The second session includes an invited panel to review Yael Avrahami, The Senses of Scripture: Sensory Experience in the Hebrew Bible (LHBOTS 454). London & New York: Continuum/T&T Clark, 2012. Avrahami’s book constitutes the first systematic investigation of the ways in which ancient Israelites thought about and used their senses. This panel will review Avrahami’s ground-breaking work, assess its significance for understanding ancient Israelite epistemology, and discuss future directions for sensory analyses in biblical studies, early Judaism, and early Christianity.

SERVICE-LEARNING AND BIBLICAL STUDIES

Amy C. Merrill WillisDescription: This workshop will focus on ways service-learning can be incorporated into a biblical studies curriculum. This workshop will provide 1) an arena for service-learning practitioners to come together to share ideas and insights of successful projects and 2) to “brainstorm” new ways that service-learning can be utilized to enhance curriculum and serve local communities. 

Call for papers: This workshop will focus on ways service-learning can be incorporated into a biblical studies curriculum. This workshop will provide 1) an arena for service-learning practitioners to come together to share ideas and insights of successful projects and 2) to “brainstorm” new ways that service-learning can be utilized to enhance curriculum and serve local communities.

SLAVERY, RESISTANCE, AND FREEDOM

Bernadette BrootenDescription: This unit will investigate the intersections between Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean slavery and biblical and early rabbinic texts, the diverse forms of resistance to it, and the meaning of freedom in slave-holding societies. Presenters will also examine how Jews and Christians—free, freed, and enslaved—have interpreted biblical texts on slavery and freedom and will propose how to “read for freedom.” 

Call for papers: This unit will investigate the intersections between Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean slavery and biblical and early rabbinic texts, the diverse forms of resistance to it, and the meaning of freedom in slave-holding societies. Presenters will also examine how Jews and Christians—free, freed, and enslaved—have interpreted biblical texts on slavery and freedom and will propose how to “read for freedom.”

SOCIAL HISTORY OF FORMATIVE CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM

Gil P. KleinBlake LeyerleDescription: This section is dedicated to a study of formative Christianity and formative Judaism utilizing a broad methodological perspective that places an emphasis on interpreting the data within specific social, cultural, and linguistic contexts. We function as a clearinghouse for developments in social historical methodology and perspectives for our period. (previously Social History of Early Christianity) 

Call for papers: This section is dedicated to a study of formative Christianity and formative Judaism utilizing a broad methodological perspective that places an emphasis on interpreting the data within specific social, cultural, and linguistic contexts. We function as a clearinghouse for developments in social historical methodology and perspectives for our period. (previously Social History of Early Christianity)

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

David ChalcraftDescription: The section is a dynamic program segment of the SBL that provides a welcoming forum for investigation of the social world of ancient Israel. The section particularly encourages papers utilizing methods and theories from the social sciences for the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

Call for papers: The section is a dynamic program segment of the SBL that provides a welcoming forum for investigation of the social world of ancient Israel. The section particularly encourages papers utilizing methods and theories from the social sciences for the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Alicia J. BattenZeba A. CrookDescription: The Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament Section program encourages the self-conscious employment of recognized models, methods, or theories of the social sciences in order to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the texts and social world of the New Testament. 

Call for papers: The Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament Section program encourages the self-conscious employment of recognized models, methods, or theories of the social sciences in order to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the texts and social world of the New Testament.

SOCIETY FOR ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN RELIGIONS

Barbette Stanley SpaethEric OrlinJeffrey BroddDescription: This new group is devoted to the study of the religions of the ancient Mediterranean basin broadly conceived. The Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions aims to focus particular attention on the polytheistic religious traditions of Greece, Rome and the Near East, their interaction with each other, and with the monotheistic religious traditions of the region. Please contact Barbette Spaeth (bsspae@wm.edu) or Eric Orlin (eorlin@ups.edu) to join or for further information. 

Call for papers: This new group is devoted to the study of the religions of the ancient Mediterranean basin broadly conceived. The Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions aims to focus particular attention on the polytheistic religious traditions of Greece, Rome and the Near East, their interaction with each other, and with the monotheistic religious traditions of the region. Please contact Barbette Spaeth (bsspae@wm.edu) or Eric Orlin (eorlin@ups.edu) to join or for further information.

SØREN KIERKEGAARD SOCIETY

Lee BarrettDescription: The purpose of Søren Kierkegaard Society (SKS) is to encourage study and discussion of the thought of Søren Kierkegaard in all its dimensions and ramifications, including its sources and influences. Affiliated with the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), and the American Philosophical Association (APA), the Society alternates its annual business meeting between AAR/SBL and APA conventions. The Society encourages scholarship on Kierkegaard at the national and regional meetings of the AAR/SBL and APA through an Executive Committee which includes members of both organizations. 

Call for papers: The purpose of Søren Kierkegaard Society (SKS) is to encourage study and discussion of the thought of Søren Kierkegaard in all its dimensions and ramifications, including its sources and influences. Affiliated with the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), and the American Philosophical Association (APA), the Society alternates its annual business meeting between AAR/SBL and APA conventions. The Society encourages scholarship on Kierkegaard at the national and regional meetings of the AAR/SBL and APA through an Executive Committee which includes members of both organizations.

SPACE, PLACE, AND LIVED EXPERIENCE IN ANTIQUITY

Alison SchofieldChristl M. MaierDescription: This unit seeks to engage diverse methodological and theoretical perspectives on social practices in antiquity as mediated through place or larger spatial frameworks. Presentations exploring the creation, use, or understanding of space or place through material remains and/or texts are welcome. 

Call for papers: This unit seeks to engage diverse methodological and theoretical perspectives on social practices in antiquity as mediated through place or larger spatial frameworks. Presentations exploring the creation, use, or understanding of space or place through material remains and/or texts are welcome.

SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

Mark A. MatsonDescription: The Synoptic Gospels as a unit have played an important role in modern scholarship, including, but not limited, to the relationship between the gospels. This section provides an forum for discussion of papers from a variety of perspectives and critical methods on the content and formation of the Synoptic Gospels, and what they reveal about the contexts of their composition. 

Call for papers: The Synoptic Gospels as a unit have played an important role in modern scholarship, including, but not limited, to the relationship between the gospels. This section provides an forum for discussion of papers from a variety of perspectives and critical methods on the content and formation of the Synoptic Gospels, and what they reveal about the contexts of their composition.

SYRIAC LITERATURE AND INTERPRETATIONS OF SACRED TEXTS

Cornelia HornCynthia VillagomezDescription: This unit offers a forum for scholars studying the Syriac interpretation of Biblical and related literatures and the intimate connections between Syriac biblical interpretation, historiography, hagiography, and para-scriptural traditions in Oriental Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 

Call for papers: This unit offers a forum for scholars studying the Syriac interpretation of Biblical and related literatures and the intimate connections between Syriac biblical interpretation, historiography, hagiography, and para-scriptural traditions in Oriental Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

SYSTEMATIC TRANSFORMATION AND INTERWEAVING OF SCRIPTURE IN 1 CORINTHIANS

Thomas L. BrodieDescription: This seminar investigates whether 1 Corinthians, apparently the NT’s earliest extensive document, used scripture in a distinctly comprehensive way, by distilling, transforming and interweaving entire books. Clarity concerning composition should eventually clarify issues of literary form and authorship. 

Call for papers: This seminar investigates whether 1 Corinthians, apparently the NT’s earliest extensive document, used scripture in a distinctly comprehensive way, by distilling, transforming and interweaving entire books. Clarity concerning composition should eventually clarify issues of literary form and authorship.

TEACHING BIBLICAL STUDIES IN AN UNDERGRADUATE LIBERAL ARTS CONTEXT

Glenn S. HollandDescription: This consultation explores the unique opportunities and challenges of teaching biblical studies in undergraduate Liberal Arts institutions. Paper presentations and panel discussions will contribute to communicating and evaluating pedagogical objectives, strategies, and assessment tools. The consultation is also geared to establishing a learning community of scholars and teachers of biblical studies at liberal arts institutions, as well as to publish the results of our work. 

Call for papers: This consultation explores the unique opportunities and challenges of teaching biblical studies in undergraduate Liberal Arts institutions. Paper presentations and panel discussions will contribute to communicating and evaluating pedagogical objectives, strategies, and assessment tools. The consultation is also geared to establishing a learning community of scholars and teachers of biblical studies at liberal arts institutions, as well as to publish the results of our work.

TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF SAMUEL – KINGS

Anneli AejmelaeusDescription: “Workshop on Textual Criticism of Samuel – Kings” aims at enhancing cooperation and exchange of ideas between scholars working on the text of Samuel and Kings in various languages. (At the present, there is activity in editorial projects on critical editions of the Septuagint text, various projects on the daughter versions of the Septuagint, and projects around the Hebrew text aiming at commentaries,text-editions, or monographs on text-history.) Such cooperation is necessary, due to the very complicated nature of the textual history of these books, and promises good results, as it is the advantage of all parties to be informed of the progress of work by their colleagues. 

Call for papers: “Workshop on Textual Criticism of Samuel – Kings” aims at enhancing cooperation and exchange of ideas between scholars working on the text of Samuel and Kings in various languages. (At the present, there is activity in editorial projects on critical editions of the Septuagint text, various projects on the daughter versions of the Septuagint, and projects around the Hebrew text aiming at commentaries,text-editions, or monographs on text-history.) Such cooperation is necessary, due to the very complicated nature of the textual history of these books, and promises good results, as it is the advantage of all parties to be informed of the progress of work by their colleagues.

TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF THE HEBREW BIBLE

Brent A. StrawnIngrid LillyDescription: The Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible section concerns itself with the origin and nature of all forms of the biblical text. The discipline involves the comparison of data from the various witnesses to the biblical text (Masoretic text, Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.), and the evaluation of that data. 

Call for papers: The Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible section concerns itself with the origin and nature of all forms of the biblical text. The discipline involves the comparison of data from the various witnesses to the biblical text (Masoretic text, Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.), and the evaluation of that data.

TEXTUAL GROWTH: WHAT VARIANT EDITIONS TELL US ABOUT SCRIBAL ACTIVITY

Juha PakkalaDescription: This Group asks how the biblical text was composed, augmented, rewritten and rearranged to form the various versions that we have – the MT, LXX, DSS, etc. The group focuses on texts in which two or more different versions of the same story or passage exists and asks what these different witnesses can tell us about the composition process itself. The group seeks to bring together scholars from different fields of specialization, such as the Septuagint, Qumran, textual criticism, literary criticism, historical criticism, and conventional exegesis. 

Call for papers: This Group asks how the biblical text was composed, augmented, rewritten and rearranged to form the various versions that we have – the MT, LXX, DSS, etc. The group focuses on texts in which two or more different versions of the same story or passage exists and asks what these different witnesses can tell us about the composition process itself. The group seeks to bring together scholars from different fields of specialization, such as the Septuagint, Qumran, textual criticism, literary criticism, historical criticism, and conventional exegesis.

THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE

Michael J. GormanDescription: This seminar explores the hermeneutical innovations and theological implications that ensue when critical biblical interpretation is conducted within diverse confessional communities, especially, but not only, those of the Christian tradition. It is this complex exploration itself that amounts to what may be called theological interpretation, an approach to biblical interpretation that gives particular attention to (1) the relationship between theological and other approaches to biblical studies, including historical criticism; (2) the significance and the challenges of expanding the contexts of biblical interpretation to include canon, creed, community, and constructive theology; (3) the relationship between biblical studies and systematic theology, practical theology, and philosophical theology; (4) the impact of theological convictions and religious practices (both traditional and contemporary) on biblical interpretation, and of theological interpretation on religious and academic communities; and (5) the actual theological interpretation of biblical texts. (Formerly Theological Hermeneutics of Christian Scripture) 

Call for papers: This seminar explores the hermeneutical innovations and theological implications that ensue when critical biblical interpretation is conducted within diverse confessional communities, especially, but not only, those of the Christian tradition. It is this complex exploration itself that amounts to what may be called theological interpretation, an approach to biblical interpretation that gives particular attention to (1) the relationship between theological and other approaches to biblical studies, including historical criticism; (2) the significance and the challenges of expanding the contexts of biblical interpretation to include canon, creed, community, and constructive theology; (3) the relationship between biblical studies and systematic theology, practical theology, and philosophical theology; (4) the impact of theological convictions and religious practices (both traditional and contemporary) on biblical interpretation, and of theological interpretation on religious and academic communities; and (5) the actual theological interpretation of biblical texts. (Formerly Theological Hermeneutics of Christian Scripture)

THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL

Dalit Rom-ShiloniDescription: This section seeks to bring together scholars working on the book of Ezekiel to share research and conclusions about the book. The section encourages an expressly theological approach to the book. 

Call for papers: This section seeks to bring together scholars working on the book of Ezekiel to share research and conclusions about the book. The section encourages an expressly theological approach to the book.

THEOLOGY OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

Julia M. O’BrienMarvin A. SweeneyDescription: The purpose of the Theology of Hebrew Scriptures section is to promote sustained reflection, dialogue and research on the various theological ideas, themes and motifs that are found throughout the Hebrew Bible. This section draws upon the insights of various methodological approaches (e.g. historical-critical, literary, feminist, and social-scientific), as far as they are useful in shedding light on the theological dimension of the Hebrew Scriptures. A unique feature of this group initiated by the 1997 co-chairs, Alice Bellis and Joel Kaminski, is that the Theology of Hebrew Scriptures section seeks to facilitate Jewish-Christian dialogue, creating a venue where Jewish and Christian interpreters of can reflect together on a theological interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

Call for papers: The purpose of the Theology of Hebrew Scriptures section is to promote sustained reflection, dialogue and research on the various theological ideas, themes and motifs that are found throughout the Hebrew Bible. This section draws upon the insights of various methodological approaches (e.g. historical-critical, literary, feminist, and social-scientific), as far as they are useful in shedding light on the theological dimension of the Hebrew Scriptures. A unique feature of this group initiated by the 1997 co-chairs, Alice Bellis and Joel Kaminski, is that the Theology of Hebrew Scriptures section seeks to facilitate Jewish-Christian dialogue, creating a venue where Jewish and Christian interpreters of can reflect together on a theological interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

UGARITIC STUDIES AND NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY

Philip C. SchmitzDescription: Our purpose is to foster the academic study of ancient Ugarit, the associated cuneiform alphabetic texts, and ancient Northwest Semitic epigraphic texts, especially in order to explore areas of commonality between these fields of study and Biblical literature. 

Call for papers: The Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy section invites papers concerning any aspect of Ugaritic and Northwest Semitic orthography. Papers on this theme will be delivered in a session devoted to the topic. In addition, the section welcomes papers on other relevant topics for a non-thematic session.

USE, INFLUENCE, AND IMPACT OF THE BIBLE

Andrew MeinDescription: This program unit explores how the Bible has been used and/or influential in the way it has been received in society. The focus is upon the reception of the text in contexts other than a narrow critical-academic one. 

Call for papers: This program unit explores how the Bible has been used and/or influential in the way it has been received in society. The focus is upon the reception of the text in contexts other than a narrow critical-academic one.

VIOLENCE AND REPRESENTATIONS OF VIOLENCE AMONG JEWS AND CHRISTIANS

Jennifer KnustKimberly StrattonDescription: This section promotes a robust discussion of violence and its representations in the ancient world. Papers utilize a variety of approaches and theoretical tools to consider what constitutes violence, seeking to advance knowledge about power and its effects in antiquity while also providing analogical materials for thinking about contemporary manifestations of religiously inflected violence. 

Call for papers: This section promotes a robust discussion of violence and its representations in the ancient world. Papers utilize a variety of approaches and theoretical tools to consider what constitutes violence, seeking to advance knowledge about power and its effects in antiquity while also providing analogical materials for thinking about contemporary manifestations of religiously inflected violence.

WABASH CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THEOLOGY AND RELIGION

Trish OverpeckDescription: The Wabash Center encourages excellent teaching in departments of religion and theological schools through careful attention to the issues that every faculty member faces including course design, assessment, student learning goals, understanding the institutional context and the broader purposes of teaching. We offer programs at the SBL Annual Meeting as well as workshops, colloquies, and conferences which are organized throughout the year. Fully funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and located on the Wabash College campus in Crawfordsville, Indiana, we also offer grants for institutions or individuals who wish to propose projects or research relating to teaching and learning. Our consultants program can facilitate on-site faculty conversations about pedagogical issues through a brief application process available online. Teaching and learning resources (both books and those available through the Internet) are also available through our website. See our website for a full listing of programs, grant deadlines, and resources: www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu. 

Call for papers: The Wabash Center encourages excellent teaching in departments of religion and theological schools through careful attention to the issues that every faculty member faces including course design, assessment, student learning goals, understanding the institutional context and the broader purposes of teaching. We offer programs at the SBL Annual Meeting as well as workshops, colloquies, and conferences which are organized throughout the year. Fully funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and located on the Wabash College campus in Crawfordsville, Indiana, we also offer grants for institutions or individuals who wish to propose projects or research relating to teaching and learning. Our consultants program can facilitate on-site faculty conversations about pedagogical issues through a brief application process available online. Teaching and learning resources (both books and those available through the Internet) are also available through our website. See our website for a full listing of programs, grant deadlines, and resources: www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu.

WARFARE IN ANCIENT ISRAEL

Frank Ritchel AmesDescription: This section will 1) explore and develop new and ongoing areas of inquiry regarding texts, practices, experiences, and ideology concerning warfare in ancient Israel and the ancient Near East; 2) offer analyses of specific issues associated with warfare in ancient Israel and sketches of programmatic approaches to the study of warfare in general; 3) assess the significance of the history of scholarship on warfare in ancient Israel; and 4) establish a collaborative and incremental investigation of various dimensions of warfare in ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible that moves toward the production of a comprehensive reference work. 

Call for papers: The Warfare in Ancient Israel Section invites proposals for papers in two open sessions planned for the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature: Session 1: The State of Warfare Scholarship: Retrospect and Prospect. The section seeks papers that trace the history, describe the present state, or propose future directions of warfare research. Papers of interest will discuss and evaluate landmark contributions, current knowledge, unresolved issues, or promising areas of research related to warfare in the Hebrew Bible, ancient Israel, or the ancient Near East, especially interdisciplinary research. Session 2: The Ethics of Violence at the Twentieth Anniversary of Susan Niditch’s War in the Hebrew Bible. The section invites proposals for papers that focus on ethical perspectives evident in biblical texts and that engage and reflect on contributions made by Susan Niditch and her landmark publication, War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence (Oxford University Press, 1993). Susan Niditch will be invited to reflect on her work and to respond to presentations.

WESTAR INSTITUTE

Lane C. McGaughyDescription: Westar Institute is a member-supported, non-profit research and educational institute dedicated to the advancement of religious literacy. Westar’s twofold mission is to foster collaborative research in religious studies and to communicate the results of the scholarship of religion to a broad, non-specialist public. Until a few years ago, essential knowledge about biblical and religious traditions was hidden in the windowless studies of universities and seminaries—away from the general public. Such research was considered too controversial or too complicated for lay persons to understand. Many scholars, fearing open conflict or even reprisal, talked only to one another. The churches often decided what information their constituents were “ready” to hear. Through publications, educational programs, and research projects like the Jesus Seminar, Westar has opened up a new kind of conversation about religion. This is an honest, no-hold-barred exchange involving thousands of scholars, clergy and other individuals who have critical questions about the past, present and future of religion. 

Call for papers: Westar Institute is a member-supported, non-profit research and educational institute dedicated to the advancement of religious literacy. Westar’s twofold mission is to foster collaborative research in religious studies and to communicate the results of the scholarship of religion to a broad, non-specialist public. Until a few years ago, essential knowledge about biblical and religious traditions was hidden in the windowless studies of universities and seminaries—away from the general public. Such research was considered too controversial or too complicated for lay persons to understand. Many scholars, fearing open conflict or even reprisal, talked only to one another. The churches often decided what information their constituents were “ready” to hear. Through publications, educational programs, and research projects like the Jesus Seminar, Westar has opened up a new kind of conversation about religion. This is an honest, no-hold-barred exchange involving thousands of scholars, clergy and other individuals who have critical questions about the past, present and future of religion.

WISDOM AND APOCALYPTICISM IN EARLY JUDAISM AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY

Karina Martin HoganDescription: Our group seeks to develop more rigorous and sophisticated ways to speak about wisdom and apocalyptic texts and motifs in early Judean and early Christian literature. We are committed to attending to the concrete social location of particular texts. 

Call for papers: Our group seeks to develop more rigorous and sophisticated ways to speak about wisdom and apocalyptic texts and motifs in early Judean and early Christian literature. We are committed to attending to the concrete social location of particular texts.

WISDOM IN ISRAELITE AND COGNATE TRADITIONS

Rev. Dr. Knut M. HeimDescription: The Wisdom Section seeks to provide a forum for the exploration of new ideas in the study of Wisdom Literature, focusing on the Wisdom literature of the Bible and apocryphal wisdom traditions but also on related literature from elsewhere in the ancient Near East. 

Call for papers: The Wisdom Section seeks to provide a forum for the exploration of new ideas in the study of Wisdom Literature, focusing on the Wisdom literature of the Bible and apocryphal wisdom traditions but also on related literature from elsewhere in the ancient Near East.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Susan E. HylenValerie BridgemanDescription: This section explores the multifaceted lives of women in the biblical period. It is a forum for inquiry into literary and material culture, including biblical and extra-biblical texts, the history of their interpretation, and the relevant cultural milieu. 

Call for papers: This section explores the multifaceted lives of women in the biblical period. It is a forum for inquiry into literary and material culture, including biblical and extra-biblical texts, the history of their interpretation, and the relevant cultural milieu.

WRITING/READING JEREMIAH

Mark BrummittDescription: The Writing/Reading Jeremiah group invites new readings and constructions of meaning with the book of Jeremiah “this side” of historicist paradigms and postmodernism. We welcome all strategies of reading Jeremiah that seek to reconfigure, redeploy, and move beyond conventional readings of Jeremiah. Our manifesto: not by compositional history alone, nor biographical portrayal alone, nor their accompanying theological superstructures; rather, we seek interpretation from new spaces opened for reading Jeremiah by the postmodern turn. 

Call for papers: The Writing/Reading Jeremiah group invites new readings and constructions of meaning with the book of Jeremiah “this side” of historicist paradigms and postmodernism. We welcome all strategies of reading Jeremiah that seek to reconfigure, redeploy, and move beyond conventional readings of Jeremiah. Our manifesto: not by compositional history alone, nor biographical portrayal alone, nor their accompanying theological superstructures; rather, we seek interpretation from new spaces opened for reading Jeremiah by the postmodern turn.

Conference on Religion and Technology
Sponsored by Department of Religious Studies

Saturday, October 27, 2012
10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The Internet has given rise to much religious imagery. Both dreams of utopia and nightmares of apocalypse abound. It has also shaken up some of our certitudes about the human. Is there even such a thing or are we just underdeveloped machines? What does the expansion of internet technology mean for our experience of time, of space, and of the body? What kind of ethical conundrums arise from our computer-driven technology?

Three scholars—Robert Geraci (Manhattan College, Religious Studies, historian) Thomas Carlson (University of California, Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, philosopher, Katherine Hayles (Duke University, Program in Literature, literary scholar) will describe these new mythologies and address these questions. Three faculty members from F&M will respond to their presentations: Misty Bastian (Anthropology), Stephen Cooper (Religious Studies), Peter Jaros (English).

There will be ample time for audience participation throughout. The day will end with a panel discussion on a specific topic provoked by the conversation of the day.

The conference is free and open to the public.

This event is open to the public.
Free; no tickets required.