http://www.aarweb.org/Meetings/Annual_Meeting/Current_Meeting/Program_Book/highlights.asp
Program Highlights
November 17-20, 2012
Chicago, Illinois
(BBB) Sessions with a Focus on Empire and Religion
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A19-121 World Christianity Group Theme: Women, Theological Education, and Pastoral Formation in World Christianity Beyond the "Rocking of Cradles" — Christianity's Unsung Heroines: The Case of Ghana/West Africa Harvey Cox (1995) has made the most definitive assertion with regards to women and Pentecostalism, that women’s disproportionate prominence in the movement makes the religion “unthinkable” without them. While most scholars of Pentecostalism agree with this assertion, they do so only insofar as numbers are concerned. Cox (1995) further identifies women as Pentecostalism’s principal agents, a position that is relatively downplayed in most scholarship, and if present, discussed only superficially. This is a socio-historical presentation that focuses on women’s agency in the growth/development of West African Christianity in general and Pentecostalism in particular (with Ghana as the point of reference), and their engagement with societal patriarchal structures. I will argue that women’s agency has been overshadowed or is completely absent from scripted history as a result of gender power dynamics that privileges masculinity and male agency. Battle Hymn of a Korean Tiger Mother: Theological Education and Christian Formation in the Life and Writings of Kim Hwal-lan (Activist, Educator, Liberationist, and Methodist) My paper explores how the life and writings of Kim Hwal-lan (1899-1970), a prominent Korean activist, educator, liberationist, and Methodist, illumines practices of theological education and Christian formation from the perspective of indigenous peoples in World Christianity. Kim’s account of her parents’ religious practices before and after their Christian conversion unveils a dynamic intercultural and interreligious blending of Christianity, Confucianism, and indigenous Korean beliefs. Kim’s personal conversion narrative includes a remarkable vision in which she saw God remove three bags of her sins and point her to a big dug-out moat where a mass of Korean women were crying out for help. From that time on, Kim devoted her life as an activist for the emancipation of Korean women. My paper explores how Kim’s Christian formation was shaped by the belief that Jesus Christ liberated her and thus called her to be an advocate for women’s rights and Korean independence from imperial Japanese rule. As the first Korean woman to earn an American doctorate from Columbia Teachers College (1931) and become the first Korean president of Ewha College in Seoul (1939), I also examine how Kim’s practices of theological education contributed to the development of Korean womanhood. Cambodian Women Pastor Training: Empowerment or Colonization? Responding to the call for papers on “practices of theological education and pastoral formation in World Christianity,” I will describe the Women Pastor Training event that I took part in and then subject it to postcolonial and transnational feminist critiques, finally determining whether it is an instance of empowerment for Cambodian Women pastors or simple a new form of colonization. The workshop, which took place on May 26-28, 2010 in Phnom Penh, is a prime example of pastoral formation with an unapologetically gendered perspective. A Cambodian woman pastor and superintendent led the first session while the remaining workshops were led by foreigners. I, a white U.S. native, led two sessions, and a Filipino woman employed by the United Methodist Global Board of General Ministry led the remaining sessions. I will recount of the event and interrogate to determine whether it was empowering for participants or a new form of colonization. |
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A19-123 African Diaspora Religions Group Theme: From "Double Consciousness" to the "Black Atlantic": Theorizing the African Diaspora and African Diaspora Subjectivities African Diaspora Subjectivities and Religious Experience: The Pursuit of Wholeness In this paper, I contend that the telos of Africana/African Diaspora religious experience is wholeness in response to the fragmentation of Africana subjectivity as a consequence of racializing discourses associated with oppression by Western culture and society; e.g., chattel slavery, colonization/imperialism, and industrial capitalism. Such racializing discourses results in the racist negating of Africana beingness, or in the words of the Africana philosopher Lewis Gordon, the phenomenological disappearance of Africana humanity. Conversely, Africana religions and religious experiences, broadly construed, create space for assertions of agency, creativity, and human flourishing; i.e. wholeness. Brazilian Candomble Meets Ecology: A Samba Plot in the Rio de Janeiro Carnival This paper analyzes various forms of Afro-Brazilian religious representation in the Rio de Janeiro carnival plot entitled “Turn Bahia, Pure Energy” composed by Milton Cunha and performed by the Viradouro samba school in 2009. This enredo, or carnival plot, contests the marginalization of African diasporic identity in Brazilian culture by presenting a revitalized interpretation of Candomble vis-à-vis Brazil’s national energy policy and global ecological issues. A case study approach is used to focus in on the expression of several conceptual aspects of Afro-Brazilian subjectivity in this one performance. Three elements of Viradouro’s enredo—lyrical composition, plot story synopsis, and aesthetic performance— are analyzed. This reinvigoration of ancient African wisdom into a modern context updates historicized subjectivities of Bahia and Afro-Brazilian culture and pushes against socio-economic marginalization, racial oppression, and outdated portrayals of Candomble. Translator of the Afro-Cuban Religious World: Lydia Cabrera This project will focus on the contribution of Lydia Cabrera to the construction of African Diaspora religious identity in the Americas. Cabrera remains virtually unknown to the English speaking academy, and her vital contribution to the above fields merits serious scholarship. She is, in many ways, a Cuban Zora Neale Hurston. This presentation begins with a focus on her methodological contributions to the current academy, as well as highlights some challenges her corpus poses to existing academic constructions of religious and racial identity. Cabrera's writings are massive in scope. Publications range from books on the various Afro-Cuban religions to popular medicine to herbal studies to animals in folklore and magic to linguistics. The areas I highlight represent elements of her corpus that are not only central to understanding her work, but also significant for the study of subjectivity within African Diaspora religions. Damballah and Maman Brigitte: The Irish Influence on Vodou Lwas This paper explores the influence of the Irish Catholic presence in the Caribbean in the 16th and 17th centuries, on the *Vodou Lwas: Damballah* and *Maman Brigitte*. It does so by tracing the Irish presence in the Caribbean colonies through exploring the relationship of Ireland and the Irish to the European colonial powers of Spain, France and Britain. The paper looks in particular at the traditions around *Maman Brigitte*,* Vodou Lwa* and mother of the *Ghedes*, and links those traditions to the customs of the Irish saint and the older Celtic goddess, Brigid, as well as to Irish death and burial customs in practice at the time. It traces the links between Irish and African in the 17th century Caribbean and posits that their close connection facilitated the exchange of custom and tradition that allowed Brigid, Irish saint and goddess, to develop into a full *vodou lwa*. |
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A19-131 Religion in Southeast Asia Group Theme: Southeast Asian Religion in Two Perspectives: Women and Colonialism Rebirth and the Golden Lotus: Midwives and the Reconciliation of Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge Genocide This paper argues that traditional Cambodian midwives played a vital role in their society’s reconciliation process after the Khmer Rouge genocide (1975–1979). Drawing on ethnographic research, we demonstrate that midwives, from village to village across the country, presided over Cambodia’s cosmological rebirth, which then translated into actual material and structural reconciliation on the local level. Our examining midwives’ command over local Cambodian religious and spiritual traditions surrounding birth provides a unique insight into understanding how societies reconcile and reach peace after mass atrocities, through local idioms, local beliefs, and local knowledge. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (Quan Âm) in Medieval Vietnam: Rhetorical and Ritual Contestation in the Realm of Women's Religions Despite the "Buddhist" identity of the Vietnamese goddess Quan Âm (Avalokiteśvara), the categories that modern scholars typically use to understand religion in Vietnam—such as Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and popular religion—begin to blur and become less analytically useful. Her identity was fluid and polysemic, morphing and blending through both vernacular and elite cultural productions to meet local needs and traditions. The religious practices associated with her cult—ritual offerings, prayers, chanting, pilgrimages, spirit mediumship, and worship—often mirrored in form and function those of local goddesses. Relying on archival manuscripts preserved at the Han Nom Institute in Hanoi, this paper will address these central issues: What roles did the cult of Quan Âm play in the domestication of Chinese Buddhism in medieval Vietnam? How did goddess cults meet the religious needs of women, and how was the cult of Quan Âm differentiated through rhetorical and ritual contestation? “Verandahs of Mecca and Medina”: Colonialism and Islamic Knowledge in South Sulawesi and Kelantan This paper explores the complex way in which Islam and Islamic knowledge became defined and contested in two Southeast Asian societies: South Sulawesi, a “verandah of Medina”, and Kelantan, “a verandah of Mecca”, under Dutch and British colonialisms respectively It seeks to answer the central question: which historical conditions shape the traditional identity of Islamic knowledge? Colonial modernizing projects, and the transformation of politics, law, and education resulting from them, influenced, although did not determine, Muslims need and rhetoric for reform (islah, tajdid) in the religious knowledge transmitted from the “centers of Islam”. Colonialization helped strengthen the traditional identity of Islamic religious knowledge, when Muslim authorities constructed the knowledge in their sermons, fatwas, lectures, and school curricula as “religious” vis-à-vis the other knowledges: “foreign”, or “customary”. When it came to faith, at times of change and challenges,they conceived of “religious knowledge” as belonging to a different history, authority, and trajectory. The Science of Buddhism and the Buddhism in Science: Shwe Zan Aung's Representation of Buddhist Thought and Practice The writings of the Burmese scholar Shwe Zan Aung (1871-1932) helped to formulate Burmese Buddhism as an analytical philosophy that, as he put it, "underlies all sciences." More than just a basis for scientific endeavors, however, Shwe Zan Aung also believed that the core ideas of Buddhism were evident in Western scientific discoveries of causation. Thus, there was a “science of Buddhism” and a “Buddhism in science.” This paper will explore how these arguments elevated the status of Buddhism in the colonial environment and shaped the Burmese understanding of the nature of religion. To make his arguments, Shwe Zan Aung emphasized the philosophical Abhidhamma texts as the source for objective analyses of physical matter and psychological experience. This focus created an indigenous sense of the importance of the Abhidhamma to modernity that has typified Burmese conceptions of Buddhism and religious practice up to the present day. |
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A19-138 Plenary Address Theme: Walking with the Unmourned “What is it that makes both talks and silences stained with shame? Sometimes the mind freezes and the heart goes on fasting: name, nation, identity, citizenship disappear. With every step, the world comes to the walker, and all around, on the immense screen of life, every event speaks.” In the dense jungle of events, doings, and happenings, history comes in interrelated fragments to be sniffed out, tracked, swallowed, held on, or vomited while walking for survival. The spirit of the walk has led the writer to a whole tradition of independent walkers in ancient Asia, at the same time as it provides her with a link to struggles around the world, more specifically to the transnational struggles of women in the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, China and Tibet. “What is it that makes both talks and silences stained with shame? Sometimes the mind freezes and the heart goes on fasting: name, nation, identity, citizenship disappear. With every step, the world comes to the walker, and all around, on the immense screen of life, every event speaks.” In the dense jungle of events, doings, and happenings, history comes in interrelated fragments to be sniffed out, tracked, swallowed, held on, or vomited while walking for survival. The spirit of the walk has led the writer to a whole tradition of independent walkers in ancient Asia, at the same time as it provides her with a link to struggles around the world, more specifically to the transnational struggles of women in the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, China and Tibet. |
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A19-216 Law, Religion, and Culture Group Theme: The Politics of Religious Freedom: Historical Perspectives from Egypt and South Asia This panel rethinks conventional understandings of secular liberalism by examining the unique historical trajectories of the politics of religious freedom in Egypt, India, and Pakistan. Where many have seen conflict between secular politics and religion, we ask how the techniques of secular-liberal government have regulated religion and produced religious identities. Challenging conventional understandings of religious freedom as a self-evident good, we consider how the politics of religious freedom opens the way to some forms of political demand while foreclosing others. This sheds light on possible costs of the politics of religious freedom that conventional narratives do not predict. These include the expansion of state power into the private sphere of family life, the production of religious minorities, and the silencing of forms of political demand that are not easily captured in the language of religion. This panel rethinks conventional understandings of secular liberalism by examining the unique historical trajectories of the politics of religious freedom in Egypt, India, and Pakistan. Where many have seen conflict between secular politics and religion, we ask how the techniques of secular-liberal government have regulated religion and produced religious identities. Challenging conventional understandings of religious freedom as a self-evident good, we consider how the politics of religious freedom opens the way to some forms of political demand while foreclosing others. This sheds light on possible costs of the politics of religious freedom that conventional narratives do not predict. These include the expansion of state power into the private sphere of family life, the production of religious minorities, and the silencing of forms of political demand that are not easily captured in the language of religion. The Shape of Religious Freedom: France and Egypt Through a comparison of court cases and legislation in Egypt and France I explore three dimensions of religious freedom. The first is how their respective constitutional clauses lead to counterintuitive consequences. In Egypt, the constitutional amendment establishing Islam has had the surprising effect of severely attenuating the authority of the religious establishment over the law. This includes family law, which is governed by religious law. France’s constitutional secularity, by contrast, has actually created a small niche for the religious establishment to anchor its authority within an otherwise secular law. The second dimension is how both countries, because of their active stance toward religious regulation, frame religious freedom not just in terms of the freedom to believe what one wants, but also the maintenance of the conditions necessary for the cultivation of religiosity and the sustaining of religious community. The third dimension is a particular contradiction that all secular states exhibit. On the one hand, religion is placed in a private domain, in principle to be protected _from_ state intervention. On the other, family is also placed within this private domain, and is thus a space for the cultivation of religiosity – but because it is foundational to society, it must be protected _by_ the state, even if this requires intrusion into it. These conceptual connections and contradictions between religion, family, society and state work to shape religious freedom, its possibility and its practice, in profound and unexpected ways. Indian Secularism as "Tolerance": Religious Freedom Debates of the 1920s State-level legislation restricting religious conversion in India in recent years has rekindled controversy over how to interpret religious freedom in the South Asian context. Critics warn that it threatens the rights of Muslim and Christian minorities. Proponents of the legislation – Gandhians and Hindu Nationalists -- invoke the ideal of _Tolerance_: they argue that proselytizing disrupts social harmony; and they argue that as a tolerant, “non-proselytizing” religion, Hinduism needs to be protected from so-called “proselytizing” faiths. This paper analyzes the first deployment of the Indian secularist ideal of _Tolerance_ by Mohandas Gandhi in the context of debates over proselytizing and religious freedom during the 1920s. It demonstrates that by focusing exclusively on the problem of religious conflict, _Tolerance_ had the effect of deflecting attention from the struggle against caste inequality. It thus highlights the risks that inhere in the political act of invoking the religious-secular divide. Colonial Governmentality and Religiopolitics: The Case of the Ahmadiyya Inclusion and Exclusion from Islam in South Asia The declaration of the Ahmadiyya, a hitherto Muslim sect, as non-Muslims by Pakistan’s legislature in 1974 through a constitutional amendment appears to be an exemplary instance of the failure of liberal constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of religion. The amendment is understood as a pivotal moment, by liberal-secularists, when an ostensibly liberal state succumbed to the forces of religio-politics and thereby enabled further measures towards Islamization during General Zia ul Haq’s rule (1977-1988). As such explanatory weight is given to an assumed incapacity of Islam to differentiate between the political and the religious. In this paper I consider an alternative genealogy to religio-politics that involves an examination of colonial techniques and practices of government. That is, I bracket analyses that track the interrelationship between religion and politics within Muslim thought and focus instead on the political technologies that brought religion within the scope of liberal forms of government. Politics of Religious Freedom and the Minority Question: A Geopolitical Problem? The right to religious freedom is widely regarded as a crowning achievement of secular-liberal democracy, one that guarantees the peaceful co-existence of religiously diverse populations. Enshrined in national constitutions and international laws and treaties, the right to freedom of conscience is seen as a key mechanism for ensuring that religious minorities are able to practice their traditions freely. By charting the developments in concepts of minority identity and religious liberty in the Middle East, the paper rethinks this conventional narrative. How did the structural inequality between First and Third world sovereignty affect how these concepts were introduced and developed in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? How does this regional history fit into international developments in the concepts of minority rights and religious liberty? Focusing on the case of Coptic Christians in Egypt, the paper analyzes how their self-understanding has been transformed in the post-colonial period. |
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A19-231 Religion and Colonialism Group Theme: Defining Religion in Imperial, Colonial, and Postcolonial Contexts "Religion" and Intellectual Empires: Precolonial, South Asian Definitions, and the Study of Religion This paper seeks to explore relationships between fortified, institutionalized, Western understandings of the category of religion and those that come from the South Asian Islamic tradition, specifically those definitions of religion sponsored and utilized by Mughal kings. I will argue that by using Islamic history scholars may be able to propose a more complete definition of “religion.” While colonial and imperial mechanisms are often ascribed the power of having formalized native religions to the extent that some have contended local religions were invented by outsiders, assuming that colonial definitions were unique, foreign intrusions is not supported by a genealogical tracing of the term “religion” in the South Asian context. This paper aims to situate Islam and Islamic Studies more fully in the theoretical conversation about the study of religion, as well as call into question British colonial elites as the only source of religious definition during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hebrew School in Nineteenth Century Bombay: Protestant Missionaries, Cochin Jews, and the Hebraization of India's Bene Israel Community This paper is a study of cultural interaction and diffusion in colonial Bombay. Focusing on Hebrew language instruction, it examines the encounter between India’s little-known Bene Israel Jewish community and Protestant missionaries. While eighteenth and nineteenth-century Cochin Jews were responsible for teaching the Bene Israel Jewish liturgy and forms of worship, the Bene Israel acquired Hebrew and Biblical knowledge primarily from nineteenth-century Protestant missionaries. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Bene Israel community was a Konkan jati with limited knowledge of Judaism. However, by the end of that century the community had become an Indian-Jewish community roughly analogous to other Jewish communities. This paper explores how this transformation occurred, detailing the content, motivation, and means by which British and American missionaries and, to a lesser extent, Cochin Jews instructed the Bene Israel in Jewish knowledge. Through a critical examination of neglected English and Marathi sources, it reconstructs the Bene Israel perspective in these encounters and their attitude towards the Christian missionaries who labored amongst them. It demonstrates that the Bene Israel were active participants and selective consumers in their interaction with the missionaries, taking what they wanted most from the encounter: knowledge of the Old Testament and Hebrew language. Ultimately, the instruction the Bene Israel received from Protestant missionaries did not convert them to Christianity but strengthened and transformed their Judaism. Differentiating "Buddhism": The Proliferation of Semantics and Organizations of "Religion" in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Buddhist Asia The global semantics of ‘religion’ is characterized by a *twofold differentiation*: differentiation of 'religion' from other societal spheres and internal segmentary differentiation into a variety of mutually distinguishable 'religions'. Its historical emergence can be analyzed as a "translingual practice" (Lydia Liu) in which a semantics of 'religion' is spread in intercultural encounters through the establishment of "tropes of equivalence". One example are newly coined terms for "religion" all over the globe (e.g. *agama*, *bada*/*sasana*, *zongjiao*, *shukyo*) which have always had the implication of differentiating 'religion' from other societal spheres as well as categorizing "Buddhism". Additionally, this transformation also had an *organizational* dimension. Many decidedly *Buddhist* membership organizations were founded in the late 19th and early 20th century. Existing forms of supporting 'Buddhism' through donations were supplemented by formal membership in organizations and subscription payments. Moreover, these local developments were integrated into developing networks between international organizations like the Theosophical Society. Three Transformations: The Evolution of Pakistan's Blasphemy Law The murders of the Governor of Punjab and the Minister of Minority Affairs over their support for reforming the blasphemy laws are the latest grim chapter in Pakistan’s legal joust with Islam. My paper will engage the history of the blasphemy law, beginning with its promulgation in 19th century colonial penal regulations (the first transformation). It will then map the developments under the various ‘Islamization’ projects of the Pakistani government, especially under Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s (the second transformation). And finally, it will trace the newest developments in which the law itself has taken on a sacrosanct quality, in which it is protected from acts of misspeak by mob justice (the third transformation). Though some scholars have seen the failures of the blasphemy law as a failure of the political system of Pakistan, or the legal system, the argument has not as yet been made that the recent transformation represents a new era of the law, one in which the state is intentionally abdicating responsibility in a bid to maintain Islamic legitimacy. |
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A19-302 Gender Theory, Intersectionality, and Justice Cluster Theme: Gender Theory, Intersectionality, and Justice Sponsored by the Women and Religion Section; Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection Group; Gay Men and Religion Group; Men, Masculinities, and Religions Group; Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group; and Queer Studies in Religion Consultation
A complex array of social structures of inequality and oppression, both overt and internalized, sustain persistent patterns of injustice and, conversely, hegemony. We will discuss four papers that expose the intricacy, convolution, and density at the intersections of gender theory and other postmodern discourses as they seek to articulate persuasive and powerful understandings of justice. The Role of Socioeconomic Analysis in Theorizing Gender and Religious Status Historical interpretations of women’s religious status in the eastern Mediterranean have rested on views of women’s (subordinate) social status. However, the frameworks used to analyze social status have not included a thorough economic analysis. Adequate investigation of texts about religion and socioeconomic status requires a critical framework that analyzes gender, race, ethnicity, marriage, slavery, sexuality, and colonialization as well as religion and access to wealth. I propose an approach guided by feminist historical material inquiry. Analyses of the ancient economy depend on contemporary economic theory, and women and lower status men remain in the margins even in analyses of contemporary economic systems. The omission of gender, race, class, sexuality, and colonialism as categories of socioeconomic analysis has significant consequences for economic models since these distinctions are embedded in notions of public/private, competition/affection, productivity, family, household, and labor. After elaborating this approach, I illustrate it with an example. Feminism and Imperialism as Just Causes for War?: Assessing the Justice of the War in Afghanistan This essay compares Iris Young’s and Jean Elshtain’s analyses of the Bush administration’s claim that in addition to the 9/11 attacks, the desire to liberate Afghan women constituted a just cause for war against the Taliban. Young rejects this claim, arguing that it reflects a gendered logic of paternalistic protectionism and risks linking feminist concerns to imperialism. Elshtain accepts this goal as a just cause, and explicitly promotes a new imperialism reflective of America’s responsibility to promote universal values. In addition to demonstrating the diversity of feminist ethics of war, these arguments illustrate the significant contributions to be made by non-pacifist feminists to debates concerning the moral status of the War on Terror. Against Elshtain, I argue that an imperialist paradigm is fundamentally incompatible with central feminist commitments. Further, invoking this justification falsely implies that the U.S. lives in a post-feminist era in which gender equality has been fully achieved. Sexual Difference and the Crisis of Representation in Postcolonial Discourse: Reading Justice, Dispossession, and Resistance in Spivak’s “Echo” Re-writing the story of Echo from Ovid’s classic _Metomorphoses_, Gayatri Spivak exposes the gendered biases in language to explain the extent to which the colonized subject is systematically marginalized by discourse such that their condition is marked by a crisis of representation. This paper explains how Spivak uses a gendered analysis of language to analogize the story of Echo with the ways colonized subjects are forced to speak within a discourse that is not their own; furthermore, this paper locates possibilities of decolonizing resistance by reading the failure of Echo's punishment by the gods as reflective of the inability of concepts like justice to enact complete discursive closures. I am ___: Queer/Ethnic Identity in Contemporary Western Contexts Relying on concepts of objectification, deracination, and mestizaje, ideas of conquest and the subsequent subjugation of peoples and erasure of their culture will be explored as models for identifying subliminal conquest and subjugation experienced in contemporary contexts. Through this research a way forward will be articulated for queer ethnic (namely Caribbean latina/os) people in the United States that empowers them in the search for identity, and illuminates the value of finding home in places of in-betweenness and ambiguity. |
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A19-311 African Religions Group Theme: Contemporary Transformations of Indigenous Religious Culture in West Africa Words as Icons: Lived Religion, Ideology, and Visual Culture in the N’ko Alphabet and Movement of West Africa This paper examines a West African alphabet called N’ko, its related health practices, and visual representations of both to explore practitioners’ experience of lived religion. I focus on the use of plant remedies transcribed by the alphabet’s inventor, Souleymane Kanté, and on the movement’s literacy education to critique claims (Amselle 2003) that the N’ko movement pursues a reactionary form of Islam to the advantage of the Mandénkan speakers for whom the alphabet was invented. Visual representations of illness by N’ko healers and the juxtaposition of N’ko alongside French and Arabic in N’ko banners and in the movement’s sacral healing manual testify to the status of N’ko words as icons in Peirce’s (1885) sense—as symbols whose very form signifies the pluralism they represent. In West Africa, the contrast on which the notion of “lived religion” depends — between religious texts and institutions, and cultural practices and everyday life — disintegrates; N’ko is all of these. “Sakawa”: Transforming the Internet into Ritual Space in Ghana and Expanding the African Indigenous Religious Landscape Globally This presentation offers both a phenomenology and anthropology of “sakawa,” a Ghanaian form of internet fraud that involves the transfer of magical spells via the net to influence oversea victims. The paper suggests that not only does Sakawa represent an expansion of the African religious landscape into locales beyond Ghana’s geographical boundaries through the use of the internet, it reflects the changes taking place in indigenous notions about spiritual power as the indigenous religious landscape shapes itself to a thoroughly globalizing Ghana. Pentecostalism, Witchcraft Accusation, and Symbolic Violence in Ghana: An Analysis of Pierre Bourdieu's Concept of Habitus Relaying chiefly on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the habitus, this paper argues that there is a subtle interconnectedness between Pentecostal discourse on capitalism, emphasis on witchcraft accusation and religious human rights which all have implications for peace-building in the society. Pentecostalism, I argue, fashions an ideological foundation for the ethos of consumer capitalism prevalent in Ghana. I argue that not only does the prosperity Gospel propagated by Pentecostals motivate hard work and self-esteem, but also the doctrine inculcates some compelling “Pentecostal values” in the society that run counter to the dominant values of the Ghanaian traditional society. Underneath these “Pentecostal values” is the belief that inability of the believer to transcend traditional and social limitations, in spite of all efforts, is as a result of the operation of witches hence the need to take spiritual revenge which often turns violent and bloody. |
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A19-404 Plenary Address Theme: Presidential Address -- Empire and the Study of Religion The academic study of religion emerged in the nineteenth century was shaped by the cultural imaginary of empire. How has this legacy impacted the field in today’s postmodern and postcolonial world? With the rise of China and other emerging markets and the shift of geopolitics, what will religious studies look like in the future? Kwok, author of the critically acclaimed volume Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology and editor of the award-winning book Hope Abundant: Third World and Indigenous Women’s Theology, will offer her reflections, drawing examples from the study of Christianity and Asian religious traditions. The academic study of religion emerged in the nineteenth century was shaped by the cultural imaginary of empire. How has this legacy impacted the field in today’s postmodern and postcolonial world? With the rise of China and other emerging markets and the shift of geopolitics, what will religious studies look like in the future? Kwok, author of the critically acclaimed volume Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology and editor of the award-winning book Hope Abundant: Third World and Indigenous Women’s Theology, will offer her reflections, drawing examples from the study of Christianity and Asian religious traditions. |
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A20-136 Plenary Address Theme: Envisioning the Study of Religion in the Twenty-first Century The panelists will offer, from different perspectives, their reflections on how the field of religious studies has changed during their career, some of the issues the field needs to address, the turns and twists in their own scholarship, the challenges and changing roles of the American Academy of Religion, and the visions and constraints for change in the study of religion in the United States and Europe. The panelists will offer, from different perspectives, their reflections on how the field of religious studies has changed during their career, some of the issues the field needs to address, the turns and twists in their own scholarship, the challenges and changing roles of the American Academy of Religion, and the visions and constraints for change in the study of religion in the United States and Europe. |
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A20-209 Religion in South Asia Section Theme: Religious Encounters in Colonial South Asia Religious encounters between Europeans and South Asians in colonial India were often characterized by attempts to dominate, control, and even efface rival traditions. They were also occasions for innovation and creativity, involving religious leaders who, through these encounters, transformed their traditions in profound ways. Thus these instances of engagement are important for analyses of religious change in South Asia and in imperial contexts more generally. The papers in this panel will examine how such encounters shaped participants’ understandings of their own traditions and of the traditions of others. We will argue that although these encounters must be understood in terms of disparities of power, we also need to recognize that none emerged from them unchanged. We will examine the ways that these encounters transformed a variety of traditions in colonial South Asia, both Hindu and Christian, and the ways that they shaped emerging conceptions of ‘religion’ and ‘religions.’ Religious encounters between Europeans and South Asians in colonial India were often characterized by attempts to dominate, control, and even efface rival traditions. They were also occasions for innovation and creativity, involving religious leaders who, through these encounters, transformed their traditions in profound ways. Thus these instances of engagement are important for analyses of religious change in South Asia and in imperial contexts more generally. The papers in this panel will examine how such encounters shaped participants’ understandings of their own traditions and of the traditions of others. We will argue that although these encounters must be understood in terms of disparities of power, we also need to recognize that none emerged from them unchanged. We will examine the ways that these encounters transformed a variety of traditions in colonial South Asia, both Hindu and Christian, and the ways that they shaped emerging conceptions of ‘religion’ and ‘religions.’ Empire and Mission in an Early Nineteenth Century "Pamphlet War" This paper investigates the contested beginnings of Protestant mission in India, by examining an anonymous work published at the height of the debate over the inclusion of a ‘pious clause’ in the East India Company’s 1813 charter, requiring it to support missions. The work purports to be a translation of dialogues, originally recorded in Danish, between the founders of the Lutheran mission at Tranquebar and their Hindu and Muslim interlocutors. The Tranquebar mission, the first Protestant mission in India, was often invoked by supporters of the pious clause, and the mission had indeed published a series of such dialogues but this work is not a translation but a skilful satire on them. It is discussed here in the context both of its purported source and of related works, including Herder’s *Gespräche über die Bekehrung der Indier durch unsere europäischen Christen* (1802) and the anonymous, but probably Jesuit, *Ezour-Vedam* (1778). Mapping the Fields of Harvest: Missionary Theories of Religion and Ritual in Colonial South India "The role of Christian mission and its encounter with Hinduism and its contribution to the emergence of universal concepts like “religion” – on a global as well as on a local level – is worthy to be considered more precisely than is currently the case.The paper examines the missionary and scholarly works of Robert Caldwell (1814-1891) who worked as an Anglican missionary in South India. His works are paradigmatic examples for the complex relationship of missionary agency, Orientalism and the beginnings of the academic study of religion in the nineteenth century. Caldwell’s ethnographic and linguistic accounts of South Indian religion and culture, the local debates about Christianity and Hinduism, which emerged out of his missionary work in Tirunelveli, and the academic adoption of his theories, show that local and global levels of colonial discourse were intricately connected to each other." Conflicts of Authority in Colonial South Asia Colonial and missionary institutions and sensibilities had a significant impact on the ways that many South Asians conceived of their religious traditions. Scholars have pointed to shifting bases of religious authority in the nineteenth century, as textual sources became increasingly important in public and legal debates over social issues such as sati, widow remarriage, and hook-swinging. This new emphasis on texts created opportunities for the formulation of a broad Hindu community, but it also created tensions between religious leaders vying for authority. This paper will examine a conflict between two prominent Tamil religious leaders, Arumuga Navalar and Ramalinga Adigal. Navalar worked to bring Shaiva practice in line with Sanskrit Agamic literature, while Ramalinga announced a new vision of religious community that stressed direct revelation from Shiva. Their debate encapsulates the tensions between new forms of authority in colonial India and long-standing considerations of religious power. |
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A20-211 Theology and Religious Reflection Section Theme: Exploring Desire and Religion "O Love, You Ever Burn and Are Never Extinguished": Decolonial Love and the Lustful Resurrection of Displaced Desires/Bodies This paper reads the notion of love recently explored by postcolonial/decolonial critics, particularly Chicana feminist Chela Sandoval’s work where she frames her approach through Roland Barthes’ reflection of love. While Augustine appropriated love by identifying it with God within the theological tradition, it is at the same time his ironic distinction of love from lust, what shapes the popular theological discourse of love. Through this paper, I seek to address the question regarding the gap between the Augustinian idea of love and the articulation of love embodied in the daily theo-political practices of displaced subjects inhabiting the postcolonial spaces of ambiguity. The decolonial reading of love suggested by both Sandoval and Marcella Althaus-reid points to the resilient nature of love which does not die in the face of colonial ideology and (hetero)sexist violence. Rather, in it, we see the theological vision of the lustful resurrection of displaced bodies and desires. Christian Desire and Economic Power: On the Production of Desire in Economics and Religion Like the economy, religious communities play an important role in the social formation of desires. But does the social formation of desire in religion reinforce or subvert the desires that fuel economic inequality in global capitalism? In this presentation, I investigate the relationship between the formation of desire in Christian practice and the formation of desire in economic practices in the United States. Through this investigation, I contend that Christian practices serve an ambivalent function in relation to economic power, bearing the capacity both to reinforce the desires that underlie existing inequalities in economic power relations and to produce alternative desires that transform the economic status quo. In my conclusion, I point to Christian participation in workers’ movements as a site that resists the production of desires in global capitalism and cultivates alternative desires for just economic transformation. Detranscendentalizing War, Decentering Sacrifice The sacramentalized doctrine of the necessity of “war-as-sacrifice” perpetuates lack of criticism of U.S. war-culture. This paper extends Brazilian theologian Jung Mo Sung’s description of the destructive role sacrificial Christian theology has played in neoliberal economic cultural assumptions operative in South America. If Sung advocates for a “detranscendentalizing” of sacrificial free market discourse, analysis of U.S. war-culture calls out for a similar response. The tentacles of U.S. war-culture are profusely intertwined with unending facets of daily existence, culture and institutions. Yet most citizens remain “oblivious” to this reality. Why? Sacrificial cognitive frameworks slip between civil religious expressions of nationalism and popular Christianity, and Just War precepts rely upon sacrificial exchange logic through which various social goods are “sacrificed” for other goods, even as this same rhetoric mystifies the actual losses being incurred. In the U.S., detranscendentalizing war-culture means questioning and de-centering sacrificial formulations in ecclesial and civil contexts alike. Rupturing Desire: The Theopolitical Possibilities of Judith Butler Judith Butler’s political thought began with a rupturing of the closed circuits of desire, enacted through both a political and a theological critique. In her recent work, Butler has taken up a theological discourse of divine violence as itself a source of the rupture of law. Taken together, the early and later works propose a circulation of desire, the political, and the religious through which the theological comes to be turned against itself in order to rupture desire and unbind the political subject into a futural politics of possibility. Moving into the interior of this circulation of desire, the political, and the religious, this paper articulates the political possibilities that are opened when the theological is turned against itself, arguing that the political possibility that arises from the rupture of desire becomes a continual critique, as the rupturing of desire turns politics to a desire for ruptures. |
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A20-212 African Religions Group Theme: African Traditions and Peacemaking in Situations of Political Conflict Botho and Modernization Botho and its encounter with modernization in Botswana: Traditional existentialism in Botswana deals with contextual perception of self. The difference to the Western ideas is epistemological since the self is not seen as an isolated unit, but it is seen in connection to other. In this sense one can speak of extended perception of self. Contextualization of self in this regard means both awareness of the context and awareness in the context, the latter being more emphasized in the Tswana tradition. In this regard the traditional perception of life and humanity, _botho_, embrace an approach that is tolerating towards other people, their religion, gender, race etc. This paper deals with the traditional ideas in the midst of modernization and their encounter in Botswana society." African Traditions and Peacemaking in Situations of Political Conflict: Nigeria as a Case Study This paper is an attempt to show that there is political conflict in Nigeria. The paper critically looks at various factors that are responsible for this political conflict. We attempt to ask the questions: How is it possible to have a meaningful political dialogue leading to peace in as politically diverse society as Nigeria is? How can these politically diverse groups be brought together to the negotiating table for a meaningful peacemaking? What are the contents of the agreements and the characteristics of the process that can help in addressing the concerns of the people affected? Who participates, to what extent and at what stage? We aim in this paper at providing answers to these pertinent questions by closely looking at various ways African people have been using in dealing with conflicts among themselves. We argue that the same methods could be used prospectively in peacemaking process in the Nigerian case. We shall conclude by showing that political conflict can only be meaningfully resolved if diverse voices of dissidents are factorized into peacemaking process in Nigerian socio-political milieu. Boko Haram: The "Nigerian Taliban" and Its National and Global Consequences Boko Haram is the name of a Nigerian Islamist sect which was founded around 2002 in the Northeastern town of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. Its founder was the religious teacher, Mohammad Yusuf. In 2004, the group moved to Kanamma, a town in neighboring Yobe State, where its members set up a base they named ‘Afghanistan’. Boko is a Hausa word meaning “western education”, while Haram is Arabic meaning sin. Apparently, this Sect considered western education or civilization to be sinful. This paper will attempt to explain the origin of the Boko Haram, based on Nigeria’s political, social, economic and religious histories. It will also examine what influences, if any, that the Taliban-Islamist ideology had on the sect’s origin and development. In addition the paper will attempt to evaluate likely dangers posed by the sectarian ideologies and activities to Nigeria’s nation building efforts, as well as its international image. |
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A20-274 Law, Religion, and Culture Group and Native Traditions in the Americas Group and Native Traditions in the Americas Group Theme: Land, Sovereignty, and Religion in Native North America The Christian Doctrine of Discovery: Illusions of Grandeur The Christian Doctrine of Discovery allowed the U.S. Government to criminally appropriate bodies of land from the preexisting Indigenous Peoples. This doctrine’s effects are not confined to history, but became the discourse of Christian settler colonialism which continues to be the basis of the hegemonic occupation and theft of Indigenous land and resources. Central to this doctrine is the illusion of legitimating a U.S. law that continues to retain land and resources by denying self-determination to Indigenous Peoples. In the fight to maintain its ascendency, euro-american white supremacy utilizes the Christian Doctrine of Discovery in order to maintain continued control and regulation of Indigenous bodies as captive to U.S. domination. Specifically, I will explicate how the formulation of the land as feminine and therefore ripe for subjugation parallels the treatment of Indigenous female bodies as objects of conquest and control. This genocidal paradigm will be challenged by Indigenous epistemologies and subversive re-workings of the Christian concepts of Spirit. " Territory, Wilderness, Property, and Reservation: Land and Religion in Native American Supreme Court Cases This paper contrasts Euro- and Native- American views of the inter-relationship of law, land and religion as manifest in the Marshall trilogy of 1823-32 and the Native American religious freedom cases of 1986-1990. The first set of cases deals with land and sovereignty, and the second with religion, but this difference is precisely their link. This analysis will show that land, sovereignty and religion are historically, constitutionally, and ideologically bound. Property, Religion, and the Legal Relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian State: Historical Roots and Contemporary Issues This paper examines the legal-historical relationship between indigenous peoples and the Canadian state, a relationship which has and continues to be centered on land and its usage. Embedded within the earliest documents dictating indigenous-state relations, continuing within the rubrics of treaties, and persisting today in court decisions, real property is understood in a particular manner which, in history, was used to destroy indigenous ways of life, and today, compromises the security of indigenous sacred space. This legal-historical relationship was reaffirmed, not revised, in the 1982 *Constitution Act* which has for the foreseeable future fixed indigenous-state relations within the colonial past. This has significant implications for contemporary indigenous communities, and for this reason this paper identifies (1) the particular conception of land embedded within this relationship, (2) its connection to Christianity and the assimilationist agenda of the early Canadian state, and (3) the contemporary application of this relationship in Canada’s courts. |
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A20-304 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Promise and Perils of Interdisciplinary Research Some of the most significant contributions to our understanding of religion have come from collaborations with scholars in other disciplines. This session considers the potential of interdisciplinary research programs, together with some of the intellectual, organisational and incentive problems in making them happen. Our panel includes distinguished scholars with experience of successfully facilitating collaboration between religion scholars and historians, philosophers, scientists, and economists. Some of the research programs have attracted significant support from funding agencies. The panellists will reflect briefly on the enterprise from their own experience, and there will be plenty of time for discussion. Some of the most significant contributions to our understanding of religion have come from collaborations with scholars in other disciplines. This session considers the potential of interdisciplinary research programs, together with some of the intellectual, organisational and incentive problems in making them happen. Our panel includes distinguished scholars with experience of successfully facilitating collaboration between religion scholars and historians, philosophers, scientists, and economists. Some of the research programs have attracted significant support from funding agencies. The panellists will reflect briefly on the enterprise from their own experience, and there will be plenty of time for discussion. |
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A20-320 Indigenous Religious Traditions Group Theme: Behind Enemy Lines The question of where indigenous religious traditions fit in within the academic study of religion has been longstanding, contentious, and fraught. Should they even be considered “religions” at all? Thus both scholars of such traditions and practioners often find themselves “behind enemy lines.” How does one explain these traditions to the academy? How do practitioners cope with often being demonized by “mainstream” religions? In particular, what have interactions with Christianity been like? The question of where indigenous religious traditions fit in within the academic study of religion has been longstanding, contentious, and fraught. Should they even be considered “religions” at all? Thus both scholars of such traditions and practioners often find themselves “behind enemy lines.” How does one explain these traditions to the academy? How do practitioners cope with often being demonized by “mainstream” religions? In particular, what have interactions with Christianity been like? Pagans at the Parliament: Interfaith Dialogue between Pagan and Indigenous Communities The relationship between contemporary Pagans (also sometimes called “Neo” Pagans and primarily of European and European American descent) and indigenous peoples (primarily from colonized and/or developing nations) raises challenging questions about identity, authenticity, and the nature of religion itself. Although considerable tension around questions of colonialism and cultural appropriation exists between these communities, their mutually perceived kinship has also led to some important partnerships. Individuals in these communities sometimes recognize an affinity with one another, particularly their ritual embeddedness in the rhythms of nature and shared tendencies towards panentheism. This paper investigates relationship between contemporary Pagans and indigenous peoples in light of interfaith alliances born out of both the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the United Religions Initiative (URI). In so doing, we interrogate the categories of both “indigeneity” and “paganism” in light of contested rhetorics and diverse political strategies around these terms. "Dances with Dependency": An Indigenous Theological Exploration of Dependency and Development Theories and Their Influence on Liberation Theology for the Twenty-first Century Tsimshian lawyer Calvin Helin's controversial book Dances With Dependency warns of the upcoming demographic tsunami of indigenous peoples in Canada and the reality of how ill-prepared either indigenous or mainstream Canadian societies are for the unavoidable socioeconomic and political changes about to happen. At the same time, mainline protestant churches still most often look to liberation theologies as an appropriate response to indigenous issues in North America. I will argue that the turn to liberation theologies is understandable yet also misguided. Because of the tiny minority of existing (pre-tsunami) indigenous populations, liberation theologies have never gained a critical mass of influence in north America the way they did in Latin America. However, the economic development and dependence theories that liberation theologies employed is still germane to indigenous realities in north America. The Occult and Politics in Ghana: Tapping into the Pentecostal Discourse of Demonizing African Traditional Religion as a Political Strategy The French philosopher, anthropologist, and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has argued that dominant religious traditions sponsor the delegitimization of minority competitors in order to secure their hold on the religious field. The delegitimization of African Traditional Religion, one of the competitors of Pentecostalism in Ghana’s religious field, is a feature of the Pentecostal discourse. This discourse demonizes almost all facets of African Traditional Religion. The African traditional religious landscape is described by Pentecostals as a repository of demonic doorways. With focus on Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections, this presentation will show ways in which Pentecostals cast African Traditional Religion as evil and demonstrate that this belief has become an important political tool. I will finally discuss how ATR is re-orienting itself to counter the negative discourse of Pentecostalism on it. |
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A20-402 Plenary Address Theme: New Thoughts on Solidarity This lecture will consider the relationship between sexual and religious minorities in the context of the right to appear in public. Additionally, the lecture will address the affiliative meanings of queer in light of new efforts to separate queer politics from anti racist and anti colonial struggles. This lecture will consider the relationship between sexual and religious minorities in the context of the right to appear in public. Additionally, the lecture will address the affiliative meanings of queer in light of new efforts to separate queer politics from anti racist and anti colonial struggles. |
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A21-117 Indigenous Religious Traditions Group and Roman Catholic Studies Group and Roman Catholic Studies Group Theme: The Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Conversations with the Vatican Indigenous leaders such as Oren Lyons and the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers have been attempting to discuss the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD) with the Vatican for many years now. The DoCD originated with the Papal Bulls in the fifteenth century — that which sanctioned Christopher Columbus’s conquest of the Americas. It found full expression with the Johnson v. M’Intosh United States Supreme Court decision. Conversations with the Vatican’s Permanent Observer at the United Nations — at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) — have played a central role in Indigenous Peoples/Vatican conversations and promise to be even more crucial as the 2011 United Nations focuses on the global environment. This panel will explore the far-reaching effects of the DoCD and explore the recent efforts of various groups — religious and secular; Indigenous and non-Indigenous — to repudiate the DoCD by adopting, without qualification, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (September 2007). Indigenous leaders such as Oren Lyons and the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers have been attempting to discuss the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD) with the Vatican for many years now. The DoCD originated with the Papal Bulls in the fifteenth century — that which sanctioned Christopher Columbus’s conquest of the Americas. It found full expression with the Johnson v. M’Intosh United States Supreme Court decision. Conversations with the Vatican’s Permanent Observer at the United Nations — at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) — have played a central role in Indigenous Peoples/Vatican conversations and promise to be even more crucial as the 2011 United Nations focuses on the global environment. This panel will explore the far-reaching effects of the DoCD and explore the recent efforts of various groups — religious and secular; Indigenous and non-Indigenous — to repudiate the DoCD by adopting, without qualification, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (September 2007). |
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A21-137 Plenary Address Theme: Lifetime of Learning In this plenary, Katie Geneva Cannon, a trailblazer in womanist thought and ethics and Judith Plaskow, a pioneer in Jewish feminist theology and religious thought, will discuss lessons gleaned from learning of a lifetime. Cannon’s books include Black Womanist Ethics, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, and Teaching Preaching: Isaac Rufus and Black Sacred Rhetoric. Plaskow is the author of Sex, Sin and Grace: Women’s Experience and the Theologies of Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, and The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics 1972-2003. In this plenary, Katie Geneva Cannon, a trailblazer in womanist thought and ethics and Judith Plaskow, a pioneer in Jewish feminist theology and religious thought, will discuss lessons gleaned from learning of a lifetime. Cannon’s books include Black Womanist Ethics, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, and Teaching Preaching: Isaac Rufus and Black Sacred Rhetoric. Plaskow is the author of Sex, Sin and Grace: Women’s Experience and the Theologies of Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, and The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics 1972-2003. |
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A21-209 Religion in South Asia Section Theme: Law, Legislation, and Religious Formations in South Asian Nation-States This session focuses on the influence of the law on religious practice in South Asian secular democracies. The constitutions of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan guarantee the freedom of religion, but differ in the politics behind the drafting of constitutional laws; assumed definitions of religion; limits on religious freedom; and varying attitudes toward minority religions. Such differences inform the writing of new laws and court judgments, which in turn challenge, affirm and change religious practices. Moreover, citizens may affirm or contest their understanding of religious freedom through ritual enactment; or they may directly challenge government regulations and attempted reforms of religion through legal appeals. The papers in this session thus highlight the politics of crafting constitutional laws governing religion; the penetration of law into religious life; religious practice as a site of affirmation or contestation of constitutional ideals; and the difficulty of creating effective legal reforms of religious practice. This session focuses on the influence of the law on religious practice in South Asian secular democracies. The constitutions of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan guarantee the freedom of religion, but differ in the politics behind the drafting of constitutional laws; assumed definitions of religion; limits on religious freedom; and varying attitudes toward minority religions. Such differences inform the writing of new laws and court judgments, which in turn challenge, affirm and change religious practices. Moreover, citizens may affirm or contest their understanding of religious freedom through ritual enactment; or they may directly challenge government regulations and attempted reforms of religion through legal appeals. The papers in this session thus highlight the politics of crafting constitutional laws governing religion; the penetration of law into religious life; religious practice as a site of affirmation or contestation of constitutional ideals; and the difficulty of creating effective legal reforms of religious practice. Religious Rights at the End of Empire: Debates on Law and Religion in Late Colonial Sri Lanka In this paper, I argue that in order to understand fully laws governing religion in Sri Lanka one has to look carefully at the conditions of their drafting. Scholars should examine the ways in which political alliances affect the decisions that legislators make about how to formulate the language of religion provisions and which legal templates to emulate. I make this point by looking closely at the drafting of Sri Lanka/Ceylon’s first constitution between 1943 and 1948 and the contests between two parties of would-be drafters over how to compose religious rights. The Judicialization of Hindu Temples in Tamil Nadu In 2009 the Madras High Court paved the way for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, a department of Tamil Nadu's state government, to take over the administration of the famous Nataraja temple in Chidambaram. Given that the HR&CE has assumed control of most of the state's temples, this decision should not surprise. But in fact the High Court had overturned the court judgments of several previous disputes between Chidambaram and the government, going back to the 1950s. The Indian courts not only act as arbitrators in state-temple disputes; they also intervene in temple administration, even though temples often appeal to the legal system to try to defend their freedom from government interference. As the state with the oldest and most extensive governmental structures for dealing with Hindu institutions, Tamil Nadu presents an important example of how temples have been judicialized, i.e., entangled in the legal system. Dreaming India and Being Indian This paper takes into account both the dreams of the Indian Constitution to secure to all its citizens justice (social, economic, political), liberty (of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship), equality (of status and of opportunity), and to promote among them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation, as enshrined in its preamble—and the ground reality of hierarchical Indian society in which this dream has to be realized. I will explore how the domain of religious practices, especially of marginal people across different traditions of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, becomes a site of confirmation and contestation of the 'dream of India' as found in the Constitution and its vision for a democratic secular state. This paper deals with a contemporary situation in which the judiciary reaffirmed its faith in the pluralistic ethos of the Indian nation in contravention to a state government ordinance. Contemporary Sati Legislation: Changing the Hindu Ideal of Womanhood A fundamental tension exists between the democratic ideals of the Indian Constitution and the differentiation between the sexes and castes in traditional Hinduism. Tension also exists between the Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom and clauses that limit that freedom “subject to public order, morality and health.” Hence, this case study focuses on efforts by feminists and human rights activists to legislate regarding sati as a means of addressing these tensions. While sati has been rare in independent India, many believe that its glorification has reinforced the traditional Hindu view of women which defines their status and value based on their relationship to a man. Reformers therefore intend to replace this tradition with one which values women as citizens and members of society, whether they be married, widowed or single. Both the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act of 1987 and amendments, proposed but not adopted in 2007, reflect this effort. |
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A21-223 Native Traditions in the Americas Group Theme: Resilience and Revitalization in Indigenous California Once home to communities speaking approximately eighty languages, over the past several decades California has witnessed a remarkable public resurgence of Native traditions and languages, built on resilient cultural elements. These papers explore how Native traditions in the “digital age” are being transmitted to future generations through the modes of music and dream. Once home to communities speaking approximately eighty languages, over the past several decades California has witnessed a remarkable public resurgence of Native traditions and languages, built on resilient cultural elements. These papers explore how Native traditions in the “digital age” are being transmitted to future generations through the modes of music and dream. Xoc-itch’iswhalte (They Will Beat Time with Sticks Over Her): The Hupa Flower Dance Ceremony and Elements of Spirituality in Song Song plays multiple roles in Native American rituals and ceremonies. Expression through song is more than just a prayer or blessing and each ceremonial song can have multiple roles and meanings. Songs are living entities and express both the rich history of a culture and the continued survival of Indian peoples. This paper analyzes the role of song (and by extension instruments/utensils used to create song) in the Hupa Women’s Ceremony: The Flower Dance. The Women’s Ceremony became an “extinct” ceremony after the popularization of Christianity and pressures of assimilation influenced the Hupa people to no longer practice the dance. In 2005, a group of Hupa women came together to bring back the ceremonial practice which celebrates a girl becoming a woman. This paper discusses the role of the song in this ceremony as a prayer, teaching tool, coming of age practice and community rebuilding mechanism. Asumpa (To Flow): Native American Language and Cultural Revitalization through Hip Hop Native American Hip Hop is an essential method in learning and revitalizing Indigenous languages. Language is a conduit of knowledge. It allows individuals and communities to understand how they relate to their landscape, their spirit world, their brothers and sisters, and to all living things on earth. Without the ability to understand our indigenous languages we lose those relationships. Native Hip Hop is a method of learning language, passing on cultural knowledge, and creating identities that allow communities to come together and resist the loss of culture, land, language, and worldview. Hip Hop allows cultural revitalization to occur with youth in rural and urban areas and engages youth so that they feel less pressure in learning a language and more freedom to be artistic and creative. Several examples will be discussed including Savage Family, a rap group with local members. Religion, American Indians, and Ecocriticism: Conceptualizing Indigenous Spirituality through Environmental Activism Though voluminous data now exist to support the reality of precontact Indigenous resource management in North America, including the use of fire, irrigation, and selective breeding, the ideas associated with the American Wilderness persist, and American Indians continue to struggle with their near-iconic mythological association with that perceived wilderness. For contemporary environmentally active Natives, frustration is expressed often with both the forces that contribute to environmental decline and non-Native environmentalists who would rather their Indian counterparts remain equally mythic examples of hapless spiritual perfection. Contemporary Native Americans nonetheless engage in both official (through both Native and non-Native institutional forms) and unofficial (grass-roots and localized) environmental activism, from acts of civil disobedience such as Mojave protests of a proposed solar power plant, to sitting on boards associated with implementing the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) in coastal California communities. American Indian participation in contemporary environmental action opens a window into a familiar debate, namely, how the relationship between Indigenous communities and the natural world is to be best understood, and what role those communities should have in contemporary resource management. In addition to these key questions, this paper will address an interesting development in the study of contemporary Native communities: that of the role that environmental activism plays in traditional spiritual revitalization movements. An aspect of what I view as a broad network of activities, events, and practices that many contemporary Native communities are using to address a larger spiritual renewal, participation in high-profile activism and political action can be viewed through the lens of ritual theory, providing insight into both contemporary American Indian religious cultures and the ceremonial nature of political debate and action. |
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A21-234 Religion Education in Public Schools: International Perspectives Group Theme: Theory and Politics of Religion Education in Public Schools A discussion of civic vs. academic rationales for the inclusion of religion education (RE) in public schools and the relation of RE to politics in Denmark, Lebanon, South Africa, Tunisia, and the U.S.A. A discussion of civic vs. academic rationales for the inclusion of religion education (RE) in public schools and the relation of RE to politics in Denmark, Lebanon, South Africa, Tunisia, and the U.S.A. Religion and Public Education in Postcolonial Tunisia: Histories and Opportunities Since gaining independence in 1956, the role of religion in public education has been fiercely debated in Tunisia. Though secularists have dominated the government for the last fifty-five years, religious education in public schools is still dominated by traditionally trained conservative teachers. This paper traces the changing role of religion and religious education in Tunisian state-financed schools. At the center of this analysis is Mohamed Charfi, a renowned legal scholar and former Minister of Education. Arguing vociferously for radical educational reform across the Arab world, Charfi introduced extensive reforms in Tunisia that coupled recognition of a continued role for religious education in public schools with an overhaul of the curriculum to include a more “modern” interpretation of Islam. Tracing the struggle over the place of religion in public education since independence, this paper provides context for reflecting on the role of religion in education following the 2010-2011 Jasmine Revolution. Religion in Education: A Contributing Factor to Polarization or Dialogue in the Socialization Process of Lebanese Youth? Insights from the Northern Irish Experience The Lebanese educational system has been blamed for being a contributing factor to political and social polarization. Assuming that religion in Lebanese private and public schools can enhance integration and cohesion of the Lebanese society or increase conflict through the propagation of fundamentalism, this study compares and contrasts the role of religion in the Lebanese and the Northern Irish educational system. While making the comparison, the advancements made in Northern Ireland are given as examples and by using these examples evaluations are carried out in the framework of conflict transformation and peace education approaches. Three major aspects of the Lebanese educational system that arguably need to be reformed include the existence of a majority of private confessional schools; the irresponsible use of education by religious communities in confessional schools to promote sectarianism; and the approach to religious education in both confessional and public schools. The Construction of Islam in Danish Public Schools The paper looks at the construction of Islam in Danish public schools, with special reference to its impact on children of Muslim faith and background. Islam is an extremely sensitive political topic in Denmark, with freedom and secularism clashing with a political imperative to “integrate” those of immigrant background into (Christian or post-Christian) Danish national culture. One major site for this clash is Danish public schools, which are the closest point of contact between the Danish state and the Muslim individual. The paper investigates the clash in terms of the content and development of Danish religious education classes and concludes by asking what the Danish experience tells us about the European conception of secularism, and what the encounter between Islam and the Danish public school tells us about the possible future of Islam in north-western Europe. Towards a More Democratic Pedagogy: A Pragmatic Approach to Religious Studies in American Public Education In this paper, I contend that American Pragmatism offers public religious studies education a Democratic mode for living up to the First Amendment’s call for ‘neutral’ religious ground, perhaps one on which the academic study of religion might finally stand. Through analyses of historical legal, educational and disciplinary debates on religious education, this paper acknowledges that the discipline of academic religious studies is presently neither pragmatic nor necessarily democratic, and explores ways in which higher education may create pathways for encountering the study of religion anew, and suggests a reevaluation of the potential for developing neutral religious studies curriculums in public K-12 and higher schools of learning. |
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A22-103 Comparative Studies in Religion Section Theme: Maps: Orientations and Disorientations This session will explore maps as authoritative depictions of topographic, political, social, and sacred space. These depictions wield authority and on the surface they claim to represent objective reality to the viewer. However, when one begins to examine and compare maps one realizes that they present strongly biased orientations to geographic space — orientations that suppress alternative objectives. Maps, by their very nature, construct a specific orientation and impose that orientation, attempting to control how individuals and groups see space, its defining elements, its boundaries, etc. In addition, maps in effect “erase” elements of topography when those elements do not serve the map-makers’ purposes, and they erase people who orient themselves differently to the depicted space. Finally, maps construct distorted notions of relative size and scale, and they visually silence entire populations of marginalized or oppressed inhabitants. This session will explore maps as authoritative depictions of topographic, political, social, and sacred space. These depictions wield authority and on the surface they claim to represent objective reality to the viewer. However, when one begins to examine and compare maps one realizes that they present strongly biased orientations to geographic space — orientations that suppress alternative objectives. Maps, by their very nature, construct a specific orientation and impose that orientation, attempting to control how individuals and groups see space, its defining elements, its boundaries, etc. In addition, maps in effect “erase” elements of topography when those elements do not serve the map-makers’ purposes, and they erase people who orient themselves differently to the depicted space. Finally, maps construct distorted notions of relative size and scale, and they visually silence entire populations of marginalized or oppressed inhabitants. Multiple Orientations in an Aztec Map: Traveling the Territory in Labyrinths and Circles "This presentation focuses on the multiple orientations and dis-orientations of travel, ritual, place and perspective found in the early 16th century Mexican codex, the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan. Starting in 2004 David Carrasco organized a team of 15 scholars to decipher the recently rediscoveredpictorial manuscript from Cuauhtinchan (Place of the Eagle's Nest) Mexico depicting the exchanges between peoples of the city and ancestors of the cave, gods and humans, the land of paradise and the hill of the dead. The result was the award winning _CAVE, CITY and EAGLE'S NEST: An interpretive Journey Through the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan_. The paper will summarize the most important findings about the making of this map, its multiple orientations of place, travel and the search for home." Traces of the Past: Spanish and Indigenous Perception of Space in Colonial Maps Mexican cartography, both in pre-Hispanic times as in the colonial, was carried out in various media such as amate paper, cotton paper and canvas. They include glyphs and images that reproduce their view of the world, as seen in the representation of mountains and hills, the different plants, colors, rivers, lakes and buildings. Each element has a symbolism within these documents, and they include both Spanish and indigenous features, exhibiting a particular syncretic style. However, in colonial times, the difference between the indigenous worldview and that of the Spanish conquerors was very different, and one of the main functions of cartography from the sixteenth century was to denote the ownership of land. The maps, therefore, were used by the courts to resolve disputes over land issues between natives and conquerors. The Whole Earth is the Lord’s Garden: Mapping Early New England The Puritans who colonized New England brought with them two primary impulses, derived from biblical models, that motivated their relationship to the land and its native inhabitants: the expansive drive to acquire and possess territory, to extend their reach ever further into the “wilderness,” and the contractive drive to remain within the controlled safety of godly communities. Maps served as effective rhetorical devices to conflate the two, using visual imagery to mirror and reinforce puritan leaders’ sermons and other written texts. Five seventeenth-century maps of New England produced by and/or for colonists demonstrate the ways that colonists’ ideas about and experiences of the landscape changed over time, from a “wilderness garden” in which English and Indians apparently lived virtually intermingled with each other in the 1630s, to a wilderness crawling with danger by the 1670s, to the triumphant spread of godly communities by the early 1700s. Mapping Boundaries: The Science of Knowing Communal Identity in British India During their age of imperialism, Britons, like other Europeans, viewed maps with an implicit trust that reflected the centrality of empiricism and positivism in most Western forms of knowledge. As Donna Haraway has characterized them, they appeared to be “the kingdom of rationality.” However, the information British Indian maps provided often exceeded the purview of cartographers. Specifically, Britons often imbued maps solicited for even mundane tasks with information about the purportedly religious character of Indians. Through an examination of James Rennell’s seminar 1782 Map of Hindoostan, an 1845 village revenue survey map, and the 1931 atlas attached to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, it will be evident that Britons (and, increasingly, Indians) accorded map-based and map-associated knowledge a factuality that belied its very subjective nature which helped promote the image of an inherently religious landscape essentially divided between Hindu and Muslim. |
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A22-109 Religion in South Asia Section Theme: The Impact of Print Technology in the Nineteenth Century This session explores the impact of print technology in the nineteenth century on religious texts, authorities and representations in the crossfire of nationalist and colonialist concerns in India. The complex tradition of manuscript production was transformed by the introduction of print and the first two papers explore this transition, the first detailing the religious event of producing a manuscript and the second the introduction of lithography which enabled mass distribution but mimicked manuscripts in many ways and then the gradual transformation to book formats. This process occurs, however, in the context of interweaving colonialist and nationalist discourses. The third paper explores vernacular translations of classic works in print and an emerging new venue for commentary and challenge to dominant Sanskrit readings and Indological methods. The final two papers delve more deeply into the colonial and nationalist nexus of debate in the presentation of Hinduism and gender via satire and sainthood. This session explores the impact of print technology in the nineteenth century on religious texts, authorities and representations in the crossfire of nationalist and colonialist concerns in India. The complex tradition of manuscript production was transformed by the introduction of print and the first two papers explore this transition, the first detailing the religious event of producing a manuscript and the second the introduction of lithography which enabled mass distribution but mimicked manuscripts in many ways and then the gradual transformation to book formats. This process occurs, however, in the context of interweaving colonialist and nationalist discourses. The third paper explores vernacular translations of classic works in print and an emerging new venue for commentary and challenge to dominant Sanskrit readings and Indological methods. The final two papers delve more deeply into the colonial and nationalist nexus of debate in the presentation of Hinduism and gender via satire and sainthood. Ink, Leaves, and Time: The Material and Social Networks of Religious Manuscripts in Premodern Hindu South Asia The paper will highlight the manner in which the materials and processes of copying a manuscript differ from the production of texts through print, thus providing a background to print culture in nineteenth century South Asia. The twelfth-century Sanskrit text entitled *The Ocean of Giving* is a large compendium concerning religious gifts. This text contains a detailed account of the materiality, the process of production and the performance of a Hindu religious manuscript, which is presented as a “gift of knowledge.” The paper will examine material and temporal aspects of manuscript production that differ radically from writing and printing technologies in South Asia. In particular this representation of manuscript production highlights the complex and auspicious timing of the copying, the use of numerous special materials to create and adorn the copy, and the rituals of donation and performance. Indian Publishers and Nabhadas's Bhaktamal Following the earliest print edition of Nabhadas's *Bhaktamal*, published by the College of Fort William, Indian publishers issued this early seventeenth-century collection of hagiographies in a variety of editions. These editions do not represent a sharp break with tradition. Rather, they serve to amplify the differences already present within manuscript culture. Lithography, rather than movable type, was the key technology enabling mass printing in South Asia, and it allowed early printed books to take on the attributes of manuscripts. The earliest available print *Bhaktamal* mimicked the form of a manuscript, and later editions seem to follow a progression from printed manuscript toward modern book. Print did not immediately transform the contexts in which readers would have encountered the *Bhaktamal*, but it did eventually bring the *Bhaktamal* into new contexts. Its initial impact, however, was limited to an amplification of existing traditions through the greatly increased availability of copies. The Mother of Yoga?: Print, Patanjali, and Colonial Calcutta This paper will contribute to the ongoing reassessment of the history of modern yoga by examining the impact of print technology on yoga traditions in nineteenth-century Bengal. Beginning in the 1880s, a series of vernacular translations of Patanjali's *Yoga Sutra* were published in Calcutta. Through an analysis of a particular Bengali translation and its translator, I argue that the print convention of the preface provided an expanded venue for vernacular commentary on the Sanskrit text. Such commentary departed from the traditional protocols of Sanskrit commentary or *bhashya*. The preface of the second edition (1911) of Maheshcandra Pal's Bengali translation of the *Yoga Sutra* is notable for its treatment of Patanjali: the author discusses the methods used by Indologists to date the text, and rejects their authority in favor of an image of Patanjali informed by traditional narratives. Satirizing the "Baboo" in Early Nineteenth Century Calcutta The availability of print technology contributed to a flourishing of satirical publications directed at the emerging middle class (*bhadralok*) in early to mid nineteenth-century Calcutta. A survey of how religious practices and piety are represented in several of these satirical printed texts points to the role of humor and critique within the changing urban Hindu society at a critical juncture in colonial modernity. Exploring the new print media alongside an examination of the new genre of popular paintings produced in the South Calcutta neighborhood of the Kalighat Temple that caricature the manners of the bhadralok class, point in new directions for interpreting religion and popular media in the context of colonial urban modernity. From Bhakti Saint to National Heroine: Print and the Canonization of Mirabai Mirabai is first and foremost a bhakti saint, but in the nineteenth century, she also became something else—a nationalist heroine embodying feminine strength and virtue in the mode of the new patriarchy. How could a sixteenth-century saint who so enraged her marital family that they repeatedly tried to kill her be transformed into an ideal wife whose actions also transcended her gender and epitomized Indian spiritual superiority? This new Mira was forged in print through overlapping and contested colonial and nationalist formulations, and further transformed and legitimized by Rajput historians. This paper traces this emerging new image of Mirabai as it first appears in British literature in the 1820s and 30s through the shifting and contested portrayals of the saint in Indian nationalist and British colonial writing across the century, culminating in the 1890s with two key works that come to shape the “historical biography” of Mirabai. |
(DDD) Wildcard Sessions
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A20-202 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Embodying Radical Democracy: Pauli Murray's Centennial and Resources for a Common Freedom Struggle The panel explores how embodiment informs Pauli Murray’s theology, legal theory, and her efforts at building political coalitions. Pauli Murray (1910–1985) was a poet, lawyer, and priest, as well as a significant figure in the Civil Rights and women’s movements. Our interdisciplinary session demonstrates Murray’s foundational contributions to critical race theory and black feminist theology, recognizes how her poetry articulates crucial ideas about justice and hope, and analyzes her constructions of intersectional identities, including transgender, sexual, and racial identities. We invite the audience to consider with us how Murray’s legacy provides contemporary scholars and democratic activists with resources to envision a common freedom struggle that takes seriously realities of racism and heterosexism. The panel explores how embodiment informs Pauli Murray’s theology, legal theory, and her efforts at building political coalitions. Pauli Murray (1910–1985) was a poet, lawyer, and priest, as well as a significant figure in the Civil Rights and women’s movements. Our interdisciplinary session demonstrates Murray’s foundational contributions to critical race theory and black feminist theology, recognizes how her poetry articulates crucial ideas about justice and hope, and analyzes her constructions of intersectional identities, including transgender, sexual, and racial identities. We invite the audience to consider with us how Murray’s legacy provides contemporary scholars and democratic activists with resources to envision a common freedom struggle that takes seriously realities of racism and heterosexism. |
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A20-203 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: A Conversation with Robert Bellah on Religion in Human Evolution (Harvard University Press, 2011) Co-sponsored by Harvard University Press. The distinguished sociologist of religion, Robert Bellah, will respond to comments on his massive new book Religion in Human Evolution (Harvard University Press, 2011), which traces the development of human culture from the Paleolithic period to the Axial Age and offers a new theory on the origins of religion. The distinguished sociologist of religion, Robert Bellah, will respond to comments on his massive new book Religion in Human Evolution (Harvard University Press, 2011), which traces the development of human culture from the Paleolithic period to the Axial Age and offers a new theory on the origins of religion. |
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A20-235 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Voices of Feminist Liberation: Writings in Celebration of Rosemary Radford Ruether This panel will explore the influence of Ruether’s work on two generations of her doctoral students in celebration of her 75th Birthday. The panel will illuminate many aspects of Ruether’s wide ranging work from Liberation, Feminist, Womanist, Mujerista, Queer Theologies, Eco-Feminism, Inter-Religious Dialogue, and Social Justice in the Middle East. These reflections are drawn together in 13 chapters that will be published by Equinox Press in early 2012, Voices of Feminist Liberation: Writings in Celebration of Rosemary Radford Ruether. This volume shows the dynamic potential of Ruther’s groundbreaking, prophetic thinking and pedagogy to mobilize critical theologies, social theories and cultural practices that liberate humanity from oppressive forces of colonization and patriarchy in the name of religion. |
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A20-253 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Public Theology and the "Postsecular" Condition: Politics, Plurality, and Public Discourse Globalized societies on all continents find themselves caught in a series of contradictory socio-cultural trends, with continuing (and varying) trajectories of secularization alongside the growing deprivatization of faith and its re-emergence as a shaper of cultural, political, economic processes. This seemingly paradoxical co-existence of the religious and the secular takes us into unprecedented territory, sociologically and theologically, and is giving rise to talk of the emergence of a ‘post-secular’ society. The aims of this wildcard session are to examine the implications of the global emergence of the post-secular condition for public theology as it has emerged within a diversity of cultural and political contexts. The session will aim to draw together a range of perspectives from North America, Europe, Oceania, African and Asia, in order to determine the differential dynamics and trajectories of religious revival as a critical and constructive phenomenon, and its implications for future debate in public theology. Globalized societies on all continents find themselves caught in a series of contradictory socio-cultural trends, with continuing (and varying) trajectories of secularization alongside the growing deprivatization of faith and its re-emergence as a shaper of cultural, political, economic processes. This seemingly paradoxical co-existence of the religious and the secular takes us into unprecedented territory, sociologically and theologically, and is giving rise to talk of the emergence of a ‘post-secular’ society. The aims of this wildcard session are to examine the implications of the global emergence of the post-secular condition for public theology as it has emerged within a diversity of cultural and political contexts. The session will aim to draw together a range of perspectives from North America, Europe, Oceania, African and Asia, in order to determine the differential dynamics and trajectories of religious revival as a critical and constructive phenomenon, and its implications for future debate in public theology. |
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A20-254 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Race, Religion, and the Military This panel explores the various ways that concepts of race and religion have functioned within the confines of the military, an institution dedicated to violence. Presenters will also take seriously the notion that the military is a sub-culture with its own mores, values, and traditions. This panel also seeks to address questions such as: What is the dominant religious ideology of the certain military branch? Does it matter? Does the military as a state sanctioned institution ineluctably co-opt dominant or mainstream discourses about race and religion? In honor of our host city presenters have been asked to discuss race, religion, and the military within the context of the Pacific Islands and/or Asia. This panel explores the various ways that concepts of race and religion have functioned within the confines of the military, an institution dedicated to violence. Presenters will also take seriously the notion that the military is a sub-culture with its own mores, values, and traditions. This panel also seeks to address questions such as: What is the dominant religious ideology of the certain military branch? Does it matter? Does the military as a state sanctioned institution ineluctably co-opt dominant or mainstream discourses about race and religion? In honor of our host city presenters have been asked to discuss race, religion, and the military within the context of the Pacific Islands and/or Asia. Black United States Army Chaplains in the Pacific: Race and Religion during the Philippine–American War, 1898–1902 This paper examines the opinions, thoughts, and ideas of African-American (Negro) chaplains concerning race and religion in the Philippine Islands during the Philippine–American War. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the complexity of race in United States history by examining how one oppressed people sought to conceptualize and understand another oppressed people from within an institution dedicated to the use of state-sanctioned violence. I argue that although Negro chaplains regularly identified with the plight of Filipinos and their insurgency in light of the racial violence inflicted upon the native population by White troops, these chaplains viewed Filipino religion — that is, Spanish–Filipino Catholicism — as superstitious, idolatrous, external, and inherently inferior to Protestantism. Soldier–Monks: Vincent Lebbe and His Little Brothers of Saint John the Baptist This paper examines the origin of the Little Brothers of Saint John the Baptist, founded by Vincent Lebbe in 1928, and their works before and during the Sino–Japanese War. During this time of loss and struggle for the people of China, Fr. Vincent Lebbe and his Little Brothers demonstrated a unique example of integrating Chinese peasants’ lifestyles and European monasticism, contemplative asceticism, and military discipline into an ethic of love toward the religious community (church) and love toward the country (patriotism). Based on published letters from Lebbe and archival materials, this study aims to look at the issue of indigenization from a historical perspective. Its focus is upon how the spirituality Lebbe encouraged among the Little Brothers not only conformed with the mentality of Chinese believers of his time, but also how it inspired a creative way of making the Church indigenized and relevant to Chinese society. “Onward Christian Soldiers!”: The United States Military's Religious Identity in the Territory of Hawai’i, 1898–1959 This paper examines the United States military and its religious identity during the territorial period of Hawai’i, 1898–1959. I argue that Hawai’i’s statehood was not inevitable; rather it was the military’s religious identity that transformed Hawai’i into a more acceptable society. There are three ways that the military’s religious identity transformed Hawai’i: 1) The military’s religious identity continued reinforcing the Protestant work ethic laid out by the Congregationalist missionaries and their descendants, which owned the Big Five Companies; 2) It solidified the dualism that Kānaka ‘Ōiwi (indigenous Hawai’ian) was evil and the United States was good; and 3) It targeted Kānaka ‘Ōiwi as “Blacks” and not as honorary Whites. |
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A20-255 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Religion/Science/Fiction: Beyond the Final Frontier Science Fiction (SF) is the genre of limitless possible worlds with a unique ability to pose, examine, and suggest answers to the most profound questions and to envision transcendence beyond realist literature. Along with religion, SF is where large numbers of the American public go to explore the meanings and purposes of human existence. Why this is so has to do with the construction of SF narratives upon scientific facts about the world and spun through the inexhaustible possibilities of the human imagination. SF’s technique of “making strange” the world so that we can better see ourselves and our predicaments allows us to reflect on our most basic questions about what it means to be human. This session takes the genre, modes, themes and techniques of SF as launching points for examining religion through a critical idiom that asks similar questions and suggests alternatives to traditional understandings of religion. Science Fiction (SF) is the genre of limitless possible worlds with a unique ability to pose, examine, and suggest answers to the most profound questions and to envision transcendence beyond realist literature. Along with religion, SF is where large numbers of the American public go to explore the meanings and purposes of human existence. Why this is so has to do with the construction of SF narratives upon scientific facts about the world and spun through the inexhaustible possibilities of the human imagination. SF’s technique of “making strange” the world so that we can better see ourselves and our predicaments allows us to reflect on our most basic questions about what it means to be human. This session takes the genre, modes, themes and techniques of SF as launching points for examining religion through a critical idiom that asks similar questions and suggests alternatives to traditional understandings of religion. |
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A20-256 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Disembodied Knowledge as Bodily Practice This session explores — from a multidisciplinary perspective — the bodily disciplines that constitute the epistemic ideal of the disembodied knower in modern North Atlantic epistemic practices. Given the importance of the idealization of this type of knowledge, the panel follows insights from the fields of postcolonial theory and anthropology by asking how this normative and hegemonic subject is construed via body disciplines. After an introductory statement from the perspective of postcolonial and feminist studies, the panelists will analyze different cultural or historical contexts as sites for the construction of this disembodied body. These sites include the nexus between religion and science, with a particular focus on cosmologies; contemporary philosophical theology; and Christian ecclesiology, analyzed from the perspective of performance studies. This session explores — from a multidisciplinary perspective — the bodily disciplines that constitute the epistemic ideal of the disembodied knower in modern North Atlantic epistemic practices. Given the importance of the idealization of this type of knowledge, the panel follows insights from the fields of postcolonial theory and anthropology by asking how this normative and hegemonic subject is construed via body disciplines. After an introductory statement from the perspective of postcolonial and feminist studies, the panelists will analyze different cultural or historical contexts as sites for the construction of this disembodied body. These sites include the nexus between religion and science, with a particular focus on cosmologies; contemporary philosophical theology; and Christian ecclesiology, analyzed from the perspective of performance studies. |
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A20-257 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Revisiting the Pure Land: New Research in Pure Land Buddhist Studies Bringing together an international group of established and younger scholars, this panel presents ongoing research on Pure Land Buddhism, a foundational yet often misunderstood branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Discussion on foundational Pure Land concepts such as neinfo and shinjin complement more historically contextualized doctrinal considerations including the possibility of children’s birth in the Pure Land, and the Buddhist Marxist humanism of pre-World War Two Japanese Buddhist thinkers. The panel seeks to balance doctrinal and textual considerations with the specificity of history and place, thereby demonstrating how Pure Land Buddhist ideas have played a key role in Buddhism’s doctrinal development across Asia. Presentation topics will act as starting points for discussion and conversation regarding the current and future state of Pure Land Buddhist scholarship with the hope of generating new work in this subfield. Bringing together an international group of established and younger scholars, this panel presents ongoing research on Pure Land Buddhism, a foundational yet often misunderstood branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Discussion on foundational Pure Land concepts such as neinfo and shinjin complement more historically contextualized doctrinal considerations including the possibility of children’s birth in the Pure Land, and the Buddhist Marxist humanism of pre-World War Two Japanese Buddhist thinkers. The panel seeks to balance doctrinal and textual considerations with the specificity of history and place, thereby demonstrating how Pure Land Buddhist ideas have played a key role in Buddhism’s doctrinal development across Asia. Presentation topics will act as starting points for discussion and conversation regarding the current and future state of Pure Land Buddhist scholarship with the hope of generating new work in this subfield. |
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A20-258 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: The Blog that Dares Not Speak Its Name: New Media and Collaborative Scholarship - CANCELLED This panel will explore engagements with new media as a potential horizon in the academic scholarship of religion both in terms of content (what is studied/written about), form (how it is studied/written), and audience (for whom it is studied/written). In particular, we will examine the interactive, ad hoc, immediate nature of blogging as a new form of collaborative scholarship and a form particularly suited to the analysis of and engagement with new objects of study. The panelists, all working in academic fields of theology or philosophy, converse about their collaborative work exploring the core questions of their disciplines and experimenting in new forms of trans-disciplinary scholarship by writing a blog about popular visual culture together. This practice of commenting on popular culture via blog is not an alter-identity from our scholarly lives, but, in fact, has become constitutive of how we understand ourselves as scholars. This panel will explore engagements with new media as a potential horizon in the academic scholarship of religion both in terms of content (what is studied/written about), form (how it is studied/written), and audience (for whom it is studied/written). In particular, we will examine the interactive, ad hoc, immediate nature of blogging as a new form of collaborative scholarship and a form particularly suited to the analysis of and engagement with new objects of study. The panelists, all working in academic fields of theology or philosophy, converse about their collaborative work exploring the core questions of their disciplines and experimenting in new forms of trans-disciplinary scholarship by writing a blog about popular visual culture together. This practice of commenting on popular culture via blog is not an alter-identity from our scholarly lives, but, in fact, has become constitutive of how we understand ourselves as scholars. |
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A20-304 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Promise and Perils of Interdisciplinary Research Some of the most significant contributions to our understanding of religion have come from collaborations with scholars in other disciplines. This session considers the potential of interdisciplinary research programs, together with some of the intellectual, organisational and incentive problems in making them happen. Our panel includes distinguished scholars with experience of successfully facilitating collaboration between religion scholars and historians, philosophers, scientists, and economists. Some of the research programs have attracted significant support from funding agencies. The panellists will reflect briefly on the enterprise from their own experience, and there will be plenty of time for discussion. Some of the most significant contributions to our understanding of religion have come from collaborations with scholars in other disciplines. This session considers the potential of interdisciplinary research programs, together with some of the intellectual, organisational and incentive problems in making them happen. Our panel includes distinguished scholars with experience of successfully facilitating collaboration between religion scholars and historians, philosophers, scientists, and economists. Some of the research programs have attracted significant support from funding agencies. The panellists will reflect briefly on the enterprise from their own experience, and there will be plenty of time for discussion. |
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A20-305 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: The Hermeneutics of Tradition A religious tradition’s development requires ongoing study as our appreciation for historical context and complexity increases. The hermeneutics of tradition seminar shall address the dynamics of assimilating difference through text and culture as we navigate the shifting boundaries of interpretation that capture the self-understanding of religious groups. Our particular focus is upon Christianity and its varied embodiments in the traditions of Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Methodist, and Lutheran polities. As a diverse ecumenical group of North American, European, and Australian scholars of Christianity, we shall increase understanding of how tradition and self-understanding intertwine in a developmental context. We thus aim to present our work in order to engage in dialogue with a wider scholarly community as we attend together to the shapes, discourse, and practices of religious traditions so that such shared insight can become a part of our collectively published research. A religious tradition’s development requires ongoing study as our appreciation for historical context and complexity increases. The hermeneutics of tradition seminar shall address the dynamics of assimilating difference through text and culture as we navigate the shifting boundaries of interpretation that capture the self-understanding of religious groups. Our particular focus is upon Christianity and its varied embodiments in the traditions of Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Methodist, and Lutheran polities. As a diverse ecumenical group of North American, European, and Australian scholars of Christianity, we shall increase understanding of how tradition and self-understanding intertwine in a developmental context. We thus aim to present our work in order to engage in dialogue with a wider scholarly community as we attend together to the shapes, discourse, and practices of religious traditions so that such shared insight can become a part of our collectively published research. |
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A20-307 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Religion and Sport: The State of the Field While other academic disciplines have well established studies of sport, the field of Religion and Sport is in an earlier developmental stage. Yet engagement with this field has grown substantially over the past few years. This panel brings together leading and emerging scholars who study religion and sport in a dialogue about the state of the field and emergent research directions. The panel will examine religion and sport from the perspectives of its various sub-specializations: the popular culture/civil religion discourse on how sport functions as religion in different societies; how various religions understand and engage with sport and athleticism historically and contemporarily, including intersections with race, gender, nationality, and ethnicity; the confluence between religion and sport in the realm of the mystical and spiritual; and the study of sport and religion as it intersects with the larger emergent emphasis on embodiment and materiality in religious experience. While other academic disciplines have well established studies of sport, the field of Religion and Sport is in an earlier developmental stage. Yet engagement with this field has grown substantially over the past few years. This panel brings together leading and emerging scholars who study religion and sport in a dialogue about the state of the field and emergent research directions. The panel will examine religion and sport from the perspectives of its various sub-specializations: the popular culture/civil religion discourse on how sport functions as religion in different societies; how various religions understand and engage with sport and athleticism historically and contemporarily, including intersections with race, gender, nationality, and ethnicity; the confluence between religion and sport in the realm of the mystical and spiritual; and the study of sport and religion as it intersects with the larger emergent emphasis on embodiment and materiality in religious experience. |
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A20-308 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Institutionalizing Interfaith: Emerging Models for Educating Religious Leaders in a Multireligious Context How do we train the next generation of spiritual leaders, rooted in their own religious tradition with the skills and motivation to work across faith lines? What are the underlying assumptions of the various models for training seminarians for a multireligious context? What are the benefits and challenges of training seminarians alongside students from other traditions? This panel will focus on emerging models for training Jewish, Christian and Muslim seminarians. We will explore the growing emphasis on interfaith in seminaries and rabbinical schools along with the theological, educational and institutional implications. Scholars, educators, and practitioners from Andover Newton Theological School, Claremont School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Hartford Seminary, Hebrew College, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will share their insights, reflections, and analysis of the emerging trend toward interfaith at each of these institutions. How do we train the next generation of spiritual leaders, rooted in their own religious tradition with the skills and motivation to work across faith lines? What are the underlying assumptions of the various models for training seminarians for a multireligious context? What are the benefits and challenges of training seminarians alongside students from other traditions? This panel will focus on emerging models for training Jewish, Christian and Muslim seminarians. We will explore the growing emphasis on interfaith in seminaries and rabbinical schools along with the theological, educational and institutional implications. Scholars, educators, and practitioners from Andover Newton Theological School, Claremont School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Hartford Seminary, Hebrew College, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will share their insights, reflections, and analysis of the emerging trend toward interfaith at each of these institutions. |
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A20-309 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Discussion with Abdul Karim Soroush on Revelation, Reform, and Secularism This session is a conversation with Abdul Karim Soroush, based on his latest book The Expansion of Prophetic Experience: Essays on Historicity, Contingency, and Plurality in Religion (Brill Academic Publishing, 2009). Discussions will revolve around two major themes. First, we will explore Soroush’s thinking on the “historicity and contingency of Revelation” and its implications for Islamic reform. Second, we will discuss what kind of Muslim religiosity may accommodate pluralism and secularism. The session will allow for a question-and-answer period. This session is a conversation with Abdul Karim Soroush, based on his latest book The Expansion of Prophetic Experience: Essays on Historicity, Contingency, and Plurality in Religion (Brill Academic Publishing, 2009). Discussions will revolve around two major themes. First, we will explore Soroush’s thinking on the “historicity and contingency of Revelation” and its implications for Islamic reform. Second, we will discuss what kind of Muslim religiosity may accommodate pluralism and secularism. The session will allow for a question-and-answer period. |
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A21-201 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: What's Wrong with Hindu Theology? Within the study of religion, specifically the comparative and history of religions disciplines, scholars have increasingly observed theological activity occurring in traditions other than those of Christianity and the Abrahamic faiths—perhaps primarily those of the Hindu Tradition. Since the earlier part of the last century, the word “theology” has been applied to traditions outside Christianity by Christian thinkers themselves. As the theologies of other traditions are examined within the AAR, here we too seek to begin a critical/constructive exploration of the structures and content of Hindu Theology. This panel seeks to examine how the term theology has been applied by scholars and practitioners; how it should and should not be applied, and the value to the field of Religious Studies and Comparative Theology of studying and understanding Hindu theology. This value lies in the new perspectives unlocked by Hindu theology with its very different theological approaches and categories. Within the study of religion, specifically the comparative and history of religions disciplines, scholars have increasingly observed theological activity occurring in traditions other than those of Christianity and the Abrahamic faiths—perhaps primarily those of the Hindu Tradition. Since the earlier part of the last century, the word “theology” has been applied to traditions outside Christianity by Christian thinkers themselves. As the theologies of other traditions are examined within the AAR, here we too seek to begin a critical/constructive exploration of the structures and content of Hindu Theology. This panel seeks to examine how the term theology has been applied by scholars and practitioners; how it should and should not be applied, and the value to the field of Religious Studies and Comparative Theology of studying and understanding Hindu theology. This value lies in the new perspectives unlocked by Hindu theology with its very different theological approaches and categories. Does Hindu Theology Belong in the Religion Academy? There is a substratum of thought within the religion academy that assumes the probability (or, at least, a strong possibility) of apologetics as inevitable in any serious confessional engagement with theology. Thus, there exists a general sense that theology proper is more appropriate to the seminary than the religion academy. It is important to keep in mind, however, that even theological orientations arising from seminaries today are often propelled not merely by an impulse towards apologetics, but by a deep desire to engage with current globally accepted norms of justice and proper relationship, whether applied to Divinity, humanity, or nature. In any case, this remains irrelevant to Hindu theology in the West as there are no Hindu seminaries per se. But even if there were a wide array of such facilities — as there are for other traditions — the composition of theology within the framework of the broader academy offers important benefits both to theological endeavor, and to the academic study of religion. This paper will examine the potential advantages of the serious examination of Hindu theology and its systematic construction within the context of the religion academy, beyond the limitations of both the hermeneutics of suspicion on the one hand, and the deployment of retrograde apologetics on the other. Yoga's Atheistic–Theism: A Unique Answer to the Neverending Problem of God in Comparative Theology The Classical Yoga — that is, the Samkhya-yoga or Patanjala Yoga — notion of God is peculiar, even eccentric, not only in terms of Indian thought but, rather, in terms of any of the standard conceptualizations regarding God, including Christian and Islamic traditions. The Classical Yoga notion is “eccentric” in the sense that God is never personal nor can God be construed as a creator. This paper will argue that the unique Yoga theology requires an intellectual act of “depersonalization,” an act of “dehumanization” (that is, God has nothing to do with “humanism”), an act of “demythologization,” and an act of “reconceptualization.” The Classical Yoga notion of God as “eternal excellence” comes close to Meister Eckhart’s notion of Gottheit but is even more radically “nontheistic” than Eckhart’s notion. Ritual Theologies of Hospitality: Possibilities for Collaboration in a Hindu Key In 2011, it has become a truism that religions are colliding and collaborating and multiple religious identities are increasingly part of everyday life. And all-inclusive theologies — including a reassertion of Hindu theology as the most all-inclusive — have blossomed in the last two decades. And yet practical possibilities for ritual engagement based on these theologies tend to be so all-encompassing that they become meaningless, losing the rich particularities of religious identities and tradition. This paper will think through questions of a Hindu ritual theology that focuses on inclusion through Mimamsa and dharmashastra rituals of hospitality. Building on some of my earlier work on Vedic ideas of the “other,” I will suggest that a possible way forward for sustaining theological difference in the midst of inclusive engagement is through a reimagining and reenactment of ancient Indian ideas and practices of welcome. What's Right about "Hindu Theology"? If we are committed to the English language as our medium of communication, tolerant of the imperfections inherent in acts of translation, and willing to use the term “Hindu” in at least some circumstances, then “Hindu theology” is a viable, and indeed very good, term for describing Hindu religious thought that draws on scripture (oral and written) and not just perception and reason, is grounded in a tradition or lineage of teachers, makes assertions about what is true and good, and asserts the salvific efficacy of proper ways of speaking and acting. It is correct to describe various forms of traditional discourse (e.g., in Vedanta, Vaisnava, Saiva, and Tantric communities) as theological. It is also defensible, and positively important, to make room for Hindu theological discourse today, for two kinds of reasons. First, the study of Hindu texts requires the fuller range of interpretive strategies appropriate to theology, lest that study reduce Hinduism to Hinduism, South Asian religions, cultural, and historical studies. The nontheological study of Hinduism is proper and beneficial, but cannot replace the theologian’s perspective as another legitimate academic mode of study. Second, it is crucial that Hindu religious intellectuals engage and respond to the full range of issues regarding faith, revelation, the unity, and differences among various Hindu traditions, ethical deliberations, matters of cultural adjustment in the diaspora, and judgments about non-Hindu traditions. They are better able to do this when positioning themselves as theologians and not just philosophers or cultural spokespersons. |
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A21-202 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Gods and Monsters in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Imagination Over the course of the last century, Biblical scholars, oral traditionalists, archeologists, and ancient historians increasingly have observed proof of ideological as well as material exchange among Greco-Roman, Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Levantine cultures. This panel is dedicated to exploring shared religious and mythological themes among these ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, extending as far east as Mesopotamia, as far west as Greece, and from Egypt in the south to Anatolia in the north. Gods and monsters are a particular focus, but the papers also address various artifacts of ancient Mediterranean religious imagination – art, archeology, poetry, prose, royal annals, law codes, ritual instructions, etc. – stemming from Bronze Age to late Roman civilizations. For future meetings we plan to include papers addressing comparative topics in later periods, such as the early Islamic period. Over the course of the last century, Biblical scholars, oral traditionalists, archeologists, and ancient historians increasingly have observed proof of ideological as well as material exchange among Greco-Roman, Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Levantine cultures. This panel is dedicated to exploring shared religious and mythological themes among these ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, extending as far east as Mesopotamia, as far west as Greece, and from Egypt in the south to Anatolia in the north. Gods and monsters are a particular focus, but the papers also address various artifacts of ancient Mediterranean religious imagination – art, archeology, poetry, prose, royal annals, law codes, ritual instructions, etc. – stemming from Bronze Age to late Roman civilizations. For future meetings we plan to include papers addressing comparative topics in later periods, such as the early Islamic period. Hearing the Chaoskampf in Iliad 21 The supernatural battles of Iliad 20 and 21 used to be treated as disappointing art or black comedy. Lately a poetic perspective has prevailed over a literalist, and scholars have come to hear in those battles an echo of the Near Eastern Chaoskampf, wherein a lightning-wielding and order-promoting deity prevails over chaos-monsters. This is conceivable in Book 21, when Achilles nearly drowns in the muck and gore of the raging river and it takes Hephaestus to burn off the surging waters and to cremate the flotilla of dead corpses, trees, roots, and mud, which threatens to bury him alive. This paper will argue for a distinct echo of the Chaoskampf in Iliad 21, but also that the poetic tradition once again has manipulated a West Asian motif for its own purpose, in order to inject a sacrosanct intensity into battlefield struggles involving the hero Achilles. Further Parallels in Greco-Anatolian Disappearing God Rituals: The Hittite Kurša Hunting Bag and the Dios Kōidion (Fleece of Zeus) Parallels between Anatolian, Minoan, and later Greek ritual practices invoking disappeared gods — including Demeter, Kore, and Dionysus — provided a commonly understood setting allowing for unique developments as the rituals interacted and were reshaped, moving across space and time. In particular, one piece of Anatolian invocatory paraphernalia, the fleecy kurša hunting bag, in which symbols of good things were carried, was reworked in a variety of ways — becoming the breastplate of Artemis of Ephesus, Athena’s aegis, Jason’s golden fleece, and the Dios kōidion (fleece of Zeus). I focus on the last, rarely discussed item. The Dīos kōidion was carried in the Athenian Pompaia in the month of Maimakterion (November) to bring on the winter rains. I explore the Anatolian background of the weather-making magic of the Dios kōidion, relating it to other descendants of the kurša and arguing that the Greeks learned of the technique via festival performances. Syncresis and the Cult of Isis in the Greco-Roman World Isis was an Egyptian mother goddess, the firstborn daughter of earth and sky. She married and had a child — the god Horus — by her brother Osiris. After Osiris was murdered by Seth, Isis resurrected him. She became the goddess of the dead and rebirth, the mother goddess from whom all beginnings came. Mummification and rebirth in Egyptian religion were associated with her. The Greeks conquered Egypt in the fourth century BCE and began to worship Isis. They syncretized her with the mother goddesses Demeter and Aphrodite. When Rome in turn conquered Egypt in 30 BCE, the worship of Isis and her temples spread throughout the Roman Empire. Syncretized with so many goddesses, the Romans called her the Queen of Heaven and Isis of Ten Thousand Names. With the rise of Christianity, the mother goddess Isis and her child Horus, who brought life and rebirth, were syncretized into the Virgin Mary and Jesus. The Greek Gigantomachy and the Israelite Gigantomachy: Giants as Chaosmacht in Israel and the Iron Age Aegean In this paper, I explore correspondences — and disjunctions — between giants in Greek and Northwest Semitic traditions. First, I review the relevant textual and iconographic motifs in the Aegean world and demonstrate the prominent place ancient audiences accorded to the Gigantomachy/Titanomachy scene. The Gigantomachy was not only viewed as an abstract, purely “mythical” moment from the distant past, but rather was a deeply political story that could be historicized for contemporary audiences. Turning to the world of the Ancient Near East, I argue that several biblical stories (e.g., Gen 6:1–4; Num 13:28–33, 21:33, 32:33; Deuteronomy 1–3; Joshua 11:15; 1 Samuel 17; 2 Sam 21:16–22) reflect a deep participation in the broader Mediterranean world(s) of epic, myth, and politics involving giants and the end of a heroic age. Through their monstrous bodies and ability to rise and threaten order even when they should have been completely exterminated, these giants serve as a counterpart to other, deeply-ingrained patterns of the Chaoskampf in the Hebrew Bible. The God Aion in a Mosaic from Paphos and Helleno-Semitic Cosmogonies in the Roman East The god Aion, or personified Eternal Time, appears at the center of a multipaneled mosaic from Paphos (Cyprus). Dated to the fourth century CE, the mosaic also prominently features the god Dionysos among many other figures, including a personified Theogonia. This paper will situate the unique group of deities surrounding the key figure of Aion (which appears in some other mosaics of the region) within the context of a type of cosmogonic tradition circulating in Roman times and attested in scattered written sources (e.g., Orphic texts, Neoplatonic testimonies of Phoenician cosmogonies, and the Euhemeristic account by Philon of Byblos). These cosmogonies and their high placement of a Time god (Chronos, Aion, Oulom/Olam) represent a particular fusion of Greek and Phoenician elements, exemplifying the complex fabric of eastern Mediterranean culture surviving into Roman times. |
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A21-302 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Quakerism beyond Borders: Community and Harmony in the Lives of Friends Diverse in focus and approach, these four papers are unified in their attempt to better understand the lived religion of Quakerism as expressed in the themes of harmony and community. Jon Kershner and Hayley Rose Glaholt discuss the theological concept of harmony as shaped by two limited historical moments in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Focusing on John Woolman’s apocalyptic rhetoric (Kershner) and Victorian Friends’ conceptualizations of inter-species pacifism (Glaholt), this first set of papers explores Quaker visions of the “peaceable kingdom.” The second set of papers addresses the creation and expansion of Quaker community in Britain and Burundi. Using the work of twentieth century Quaker theologian Maurice Creasey, Dr. David Johns analyzes this theologians understanding of ecumenism. Lastly, Elizabeth Todd focuses on the “catechism of Friends” as a means of revealing the process of identity formation among Burundi Quakers during the American Friends’ Mission to Burundi (1934-1949). Diverse in focus and approach, these four papers are unified in their attempt to better understand the lived religion of Quakerism as expressed in the themes of harmony and community. Jon Kershner and Hayley Rose Glaholt discuss the theological concept of harmony as shaped by two limited historical moments in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Focusing on John Woolman’s apocalyptic rhetoric (Kershner) and Victorian Friends’ conceptualizations of inter-species pacifism (Glaholt), this first set of papers explores Quaker visions of the “peaceable kingdom.” The second set of papers addresses the creation and expansion of Quaker community in Britain and Burundi. Using the work of twentieth century Quaker theologian Maurice Creasey, Dr. David Johns analyzes this theologians understanding of ecumenism. Lastly, Elizabeth Todd focuses on the “catechism of Friends” as a means of revealing the process of identity formation among Burundi Quakers during the American Friends’ Mission to Burundi (1934-1949). "The Lamb's War" or "the Peaceable Government of Christ"?: John Woolman (1720–1772) and Quaker Apocalypses Scholarship on colonial New Jersey Quaker tailor John Woolman (1720–1772) has tended to neglect his eschatological vision of the “government of Christ,” establishing the Kingdom of God through human-divine coagency. While Woolman’s theological framework has elements of the apocalypticism of seventeenth century British Friends, the rhetoric is different. Where the first generation of Quakers used a vocabulary of war and violence to describe their sociospiritual experiences, Woolman employed a language of immediate divine governance of world affairs that would be realized in history. This paper argues that while Woolman shared an apocalyptic understanding of sociospiritual confrontation with seventeenth century Quakers, Woolman’s apocalypticism privileged language of reformation and transformation over that of the “Lamb’s War.” This research suggests that Quaker theology changed with their visions of “harmony” according to individual and historical circumstances and thus offers greater insight into the complexity of Quaker apocalyptical theology across time. The Intersection of Quakerism and "the Animal": Moral Debates on Virtue, Healing, and the Definition of Violence This paper explores two historically-situated Quaker visions of harmony. Looking to late nineteenth century British and American Friends, I analyze their differing conceptualizations and definitions of violence as it exists between humans and between species. Vivisection, or experimenting upon live animals, serves as a litmus test of sorts, used to gauge the boundaries of Friends’ moral community. British Quakers hotly debated the issue of vivisection, arguing that animals were deserving of moral consideration and, consequently, should be on the receiving end of the Quaker peace testimony. American Friends, however, did not expand their pacifist principles or practice to include nonhuman animals. I argue that the differing historical experiences of violence in each locale influenced the British and American understandings of to whom or what pacifism should be applied. Beyond Quaker Self-referentiality: Maurice Creasey's Vision of Ecumenism I explore the thought of Maurice Creasey, a British Quaker theologian whose writings have just become available (Johns, ed., Collected Essays of Maurice Creasey, 1912–2004, Mellen Press, 2011). Creasey argues against ecclesiological interpretations of Quakerism that, on one hand, constricted it into a self-referential sectarianism (his response to Lewis Benson-like appraisals), or that, on the other hand, opened it unqualifiedly into a self-referential secularism (his response to the theological shifts in British Quakerism during the 1960s–1970s). Creasey was deeply committed to ecumenism, both in his theological commitments and in his organizational involvements. However, as I demonstrate, his ecumenical vision emerges from an ecclesiology that rejected the mystical and universal in favor of the historical and incarnationally particular. Teachings for a Crowd of Friends: The Catechism of the Burundi Friends Church This paper profiles one of the means of membership formation within the early Friends Church of Burundi, Africa: a membership beliefs book now known as the catechism of Friends. It provides descriptions of Christian holiness and distinctive Friends identity defined in the catechism and examples of its application in the early years of the American Friends’ mission, 1934 – 1949. The diversity of Friends today, from non-theistic to evangelical, often results in discussion of normative Quaker practice that overlooks both the process of identity formation and the majority of Friends who live outside the west. Attention to this historically recent development of Friends in Burundi provides a case study of recent Quaker identity formation and the means used to transmit it. |
(EEE) Sessions Honoring AAR Award Winners
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A20-200 Special Topics Forum Theme: The Marty Forum: Jonathan Sarna Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
The recipient of the 2011 Martin E. Marty Award for contributions to the public understanding of religion is Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic studies at Brandeis University. Sarna has authored, coauthored, or edited numerous influential books and articles on American Jewish history, including American Judaism: A History (Yale University Press, 2004), A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew (Basic Books, 2008), Jews and the Civil War: A Reader (New York University Press, 2010), The American Jewish Experience (Holmes and Meier, 1986), and The History of the Jewish People: A Story of Tradition and Change — Ancient Israel to 1880s America (Behrman House, 2006). The Marty Forum provides an informal setting in which Sarna will talk about his work with Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. |
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A20-251 Special Topics Forum Theme: Conversation with Gary Snyder, 2011 AAR Religion and the Arts Award Winner Sponsored by the Religion and the Arts Award Jury
A key member of the mid-twentieth century San Francisco Renaissance literary movement, Snyder is currently professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and lives in Northern California. Born in San Francisco, Snyder has traveled the world, working as a logger, a carpenter, and on a steam-freighter crew, among other things. He has spent ongoing time in Japan, undertaking extensive training in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. In announcing the 2008 Lilly Poetry Prize, chair of the jury selection Christian Wiman said, “Gary Snyder is in essence a contemporary devotional poet, though he is not devoted to any one god or way of being so much as to Being itself. His poetry is a testament to the sacredness of the natural world and our relation to it, and a prophecy of what we stand to lose if we forget that relation.” Snyder and his ongoing work and words open up many conversations across the AAR constituency. Gary Snyder has been named the 2011 Religion and the Arts Award winner. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning poet, essayist, and environmental activist. He has published eighteen books, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. Snyder’s work and thinking has been featured in video specials on BBC and PBS, and in every major national print organ. He is the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Bollingen Prize for Poetry, American Poetry Society Shelley Memorial Award, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and in 1975 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. A key member of the mid-twentieth century San Francisco Renaissance literary movement, Snyder is currently professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and lives in Northern California. Born in San Francisco, Snyder has traveled the world, working as a logger, a carpenter, and on a steam-freighter crew, among other things. He has spent ongoing time in Japan, undertaking extensive training in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. In announcing the 2008 Lilly Poetry Prize, chair of the jury selection Christian Wiman said, “Gary Snyder is in essence a contemporary devotional poet, though he is not devoted to any one god or way of being so much as to Being itself. His poetry is a testament to the sacredness of the natural world and our relation to it, and a prophecy of what we stand to lose if we forget that relation.” Snyder and his ongoing work and words open up many conversations across the AAR constituency. |
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A20-301 Special Topics Forum Theme: Conversation with Katie Geneva Cannon, 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner Sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Committee
The Teaching and Learning Committee is pleased to announce that Katie Geneva Cannon is the recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award winner. Cannon is the Annie Scales Rogers Professor of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. She will make remarks and engage questions and answers from the audience. |
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A20-401 AAR Awards Ceremony and Reception Celebrate the achievements of the 2011 AAR award winners at the ceremony and reception held in their honor.
Celebrate the achievements of the 2011 AAR award winners at the ceremony and reception held in their honor. Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion Excellence in Teaching Award Religion and the Arts Award 2011 Best In-depth Reporting on Religion Awards 2011 Excellence in the Study of Religion Book Awards Analytical-Descriptive Constructive-Reflective Historical Textual
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(FFF) Especially for Students
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A19-139 Special Topics Forum Theme: LGBTIQ Mentoring Lunch Sponsored by the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
All students and junior scholars who identify outside of normative gender histories and/or sexualities are welcome to join us for an informal lunch. No fee or preregistration is required; please bring your own lunch. |
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A19-140 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Finding a Delicate Balance in Graduate Studies: Trans-cultural Conversations Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Can we excel in our graduate studies and still enjoy life? This one-hour forum explores how students balance graduate schoolwork with other life commitments. Let’s love life and people even as we devour monographs, write book reviews, and present papers! |
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A19-201 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Town Hall Meeting — Stepping Stones: Finding Your Footing in the Academy Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Comprising one-third of the total AAR membership, student members bring innovative scholarship and fresh ideas to the table, but navigating the field as a budding scholar can be a daunting task! Please join the Graduate Student Committee and the AAR Student Director for an informal conversation about our place in the Academy. In addition to open dialogue regarding student issues, we will have members from various Task Forces and Committees speak to us about the work they do on behalf of the students. The Town Hall meeting provides an important opportunity to meet your student representatives, learn about student programming, and voice your concerns and needs as undergraduate and graduate student members of the American Academy of Religion. Come for camaraderie, conversation, and coffee! |
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A19-336 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — “I Can Hold up TWO Books as I Hop on a Ball... But That Is Not All! Oh, No. That Is Not All!”: Balancing Family and Work in the Academic World Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Academic life is often a struggle to find a balance between one’s academic and “real world” responsibilities. Beth and Jon Stovall have spent their marriage learning this fine art of balance as they studied together for their Masters and then PhD. Now standing at the conclusion of their studies and commencement of their careers, Beth and Jon will draw on their difficult (and often humorous) experiences. |
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A19-337 Special Topics Forum Theme: Religion Beyond the Boundaries — American Religious and Spiritual Innovation: Marketing, the Law, and Marriage Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
•American Religious and Spiritual Innovation: Marketing, the Law, and Marriage Plan to join us for these stimulating talks and discussions! All will be held from 6-8 PM at the California Institute for Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street in San Francisco (www.ciis.edu). Saturday: room 307. Monday: room 207. The AAR is committed to fostering the public understanding of religion. Inspired by this goal, the Graduate Student Committee has organized two evenings of public talks in San Francisco. Student members will present their cutting-edge research in these innovative evening sessions designed to move our discussions of religion out of the traditional academic setting of the Annual Meeting and into the community. This year’s talks center around two themes: •American Religious and Spiritual Innovation: Marketing, the Law, and Marriage Plan to join us for these stimulating talks and discussions! All will be held from 6-8 PM at the California Institute for Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street in San Francisco (www.ciis.edu). Saturday: room 307. Monday: room 207. “I am a Mormon” and “I am a Scientologist”: Recent Marketing Efforts in Mormonism and Scientology In addition to being uniquely American religious movements, the Mormon Church and the Church of Scientology were founded by individuals who perceived themselves as offering a unique theological or spiritual corrective. Joseph Smith re-established the one true Christian church; and L. Ron Hubbard’s techniques of Dianetics and Scientology put forward a spiritual view of the human person that challenged the materialism of modern psychology and psychiatry. This presentation offers a comparative analysis and critique of recent marketing efforts by both churches to introduce the public to ordinary Mormons and Scientologists as a means of introducing the Mormon Church and the Church of Scientology: the “I am a Mormon” and “I am a Scientologist” campaigns. Why are these churches marketing themselves in these ways? What do they reveal about the socio-religious dialectic and tension between new religious movements and mainstream American society? This presentation draws on video evidence, fieldwork, and interviews conducted with church leaders to elucidate the origin and aim of the campaigns from the perspective of Mormons and Scientologists themselves. Circulating Religion, Owning Belief: Intellectual Property in the American Spiritual Marketplace This paper will discuss intellectual property law as it determines the function of religious goods within contemporary, non-traditional spiritual communities. The coherence of these communities lies not in a centralized space like the church but instead in the circulation and use of literary works and shared religious media. Thus, intellectual property law provides an effective means to administer the ephemeral beliefs and practices mediated by these texts. I will explore a number of cases to demonstrate how IP is used to establish canonical works, stabilize religiously-approved meaning, and patrol the channels of distribution that link members of newly-articulated communities. This project uses accessible case studies to address the status of divine authorship, inspiration and mediumship within religious practice in the U.S. and highlight the mismatch between theories of creativity, originality and ownership within spiritual communities and those embedded in the law. Redefining Religion through the Lens of Interfaith Marriage Contemporary interfaith marriage is a lens to the continual movement and redefinition of the boundaries of religious traditions and the boundaries of the religious and secular spheres in the United States. Historically, theological, legal, and social barriers to intermarriage made the practice highly taboo. However, in twenty-first-century America intermarriage has been liberated from many of these barriers. Christians and Jews, as well as younger generations of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists are defying the boundaries prescribed by their families and religious traditions. They are not only intermarrying, but proactively redefining religion, spirituality, belief, practice, and community. Interviews with 43 individuals in interfaith marriages reveal that these non-traditional marriages are not simply forms of secularism or syncretism; they are much more complex. As these interfaith couples negotiate differences and build bridges between their families and communities, broad-based change in America’s religious landscape is set in motion. |
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A20-137 Special Topics Forum Theme: SWP, REM, and LGBTIQ Women's Mentoring Lunch Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee; Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, and the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
The annual Women’s Mentoring Lunch provides an opportunity for graduate students and junior faculty members to meet informally with faculty mentors to discuss professional questions and concerns. |
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A20-138 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Preparing for Teaching Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Teaching is a great responsibility; while student-instructors may have the opportunity to improve on a class in future semesters or quarters, our students get one shot to learn what we have to teach them. I will focus on several vital considerations for instructors as they prepare for courses, especially developing substantive syllabi and fair classroom policies, preparing lesson plans, learning technology and grading systems, and balancing teaching responsibilities with research priorities. |
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A20-285 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Tricks of the Trade for Students Seeking Acceptance into Ph.D. Programs Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
The process of getting into a Ph.D. program can seem shrouded in mystery. Candidates often face seemingly innumerable questions, and venture into the unknown without the tools needed to succeed. In this roundtable we will have an informal discussion over coffee and cookies with selected directors, faculty, and students who are currently a part of several doctoral and/or funding programs to explore the dynamics or “tricks” involved in pursuing the “trade” of applying for a Ph.D. |
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A21-140 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Creating Syllabi Your Students Will (Really!) Use Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
A well-crafted syllabus can save a teacher time, increase student engagement, and decrease frustration for all, but how can you be sure your students will actually use your syllabus? At this roundtable discussion, you will learn how to transform your syllabus into a resource packet that helps students succeed in your course. Participants will view several syllabi and discuss the pros and cons of each design, and are encouraged to bring syllabi of their own to share. |
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A21-200 Special Topics Forum Theme: Retooling for a New Job Market Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
In light of the economy’s impact on employment opportunities in religious studies, the Graduate Student Committee is dedicating this year’s Special Topics Forum to “Retooling for a New Job Market.” This event will consist of two parts. The first will feature a panel of recently hired professors, professors who have been active on search committees, and a representative from the nontraditional (i.e., nonprofessorial) job market. The second part of this event will be a forum in which attendants will have the opportunity to engage in smaller, separate, roundtable conversations with the panelists. Each panelist will lead a conversation aimed at addressing particular issues, such as how to prepare for the on-campus interview, how to creatively present and market yourself, how to determine which type of teaching position is best for you, and how to negotiate once a job is offered. Please join us for what promises to be an important and informative time! |
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A21-336 |
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A21-337 Special Topics Forum Theme: Religion Beyond the Boundaries — Intersections of Spirituality, Healing, and Medicine Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
•American Religious and Spiritual Innovation: Marketing, the Law, and Marriage Plan to join us for these stimulating talks and discussions! All will be held from 6-8 PM at the California Institute for Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street in San Francisco (www.ciis.edu). Saturday: room 307. Monday: room 207. The AAR is committed to fostering the public understanding of religion. Inspired by this goal, the Graduate Student Committee has organized two evenings of public talks in San Francisco. Student members will present their cutting-edge research in these innovative evening sessions designed to move our discussions of religion out of the traditional academic setting of the Annual Meeting and into the community. This year’s talks center around two themes: •American Religious and Spiritual Innovation: Marketing, the Law, and Marriage Plan to join us for these stimulating talks and discussions! All will be held from 6-8 PM at the California Institute for Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street in San Francisco (www.ciis.edu). Saturday: room 307. Monday: room 207. The Public Space of Spirituality: Emerging Health Care Models This presentation looks at dynamics related to religious and secular aspects of American culture that contend to define spirituality in the public space of health care (Asad 2003, Orsi 2005). Specifically, attention to spirituality in public mental health services has grown with the support for more holistic recovery models of healing (Huguelet and Koenig 2009). This shift raises the question of whether the normative biomedical models of human development will remain culturally, fiscally, and institutionally dominant in the United States for purposes of publicly funded health care. Or, can new health care models emerge that embrace transcendent experiences which inspire hope and motivate change (Graves 2008, Repper and Perkins 2006, Swinton 2001)? Using ethnographic research with mental health clients and clinicians, I consider such new models and suggest terms and concepts that can communicate spirituality across the religious/secular divide. Death and Pregnancy: Religion, Ritual and the Hospital Over the past thirty years there has been a gradual development and refinement of bereavement rituals surrounding perinatal loss (miscarriage and stillbirth). These rituals include naming, issuing birth and death certificates, funeral services, dressing and/or bathing post-mortem and post-mortem photography. This presentation will focus on how these rituals are often religiously “neutral” in the hospital context and so maintain a “spiritual but not religious” sense to them. Is this because many mainline religious traditions do not have rituals for these kinds of losses? From my discussions with OBGYN nurses and maternity department bereavement counselors, these rituals are understood as part of the mourning and healing process for mothers and families. But could they be harmful? How so? The significance of this presentation specifically for a public forum lies in the quite private nature of perinatal loss. The silence surrounding miscarriage and stillbirth is disturbed by these rituals in hospitals and I want to participate in that disruption by discussing the contestable “religious” nature of these rituals, their questionable beneficence and making public a tragically common event. Social Defeat and Korean Shamanism Humans are animals. Few educated people would disagree with this simple biological statement, but it has concrete implications for our lives and health as social and religious beings. This talk will examine Korean shamanism in light of “social defeat.” All social animals, including humans, form hierarchies, and losing one’s place in such a hierarchy is profoundly physiologically disruptive: defeated individuals show reduced immune function, skewed sleep rhythms, and less exploring activity. In humans, social defeat manifests as depression, chronic pain, and even psychosis. Korean shamans are almost always impoverished, uneducated women – the lowest-ranking members of Korean society; they experience a characteristic “spirit sickness” that features persistent despair and hallucinations before accepting the call to become shamans. As religious leaders, they heal the social pain, or han, of others. This dynamic illustrates a powerful relationship between religion, suffering, and healing that is rooted in our identity as social, biological beings. |
(GGG) Receptions and Breakfasts
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A18-111 Leadership Luncheon Members of AAR’s Board of Directors, Committees, and Task Forces are invited to this luncheon to recognize their service to and leadership within the Academy. Members of AAR’s Board of Directors, Committees, and Task Forces are invited to this luncheon to recognize their service to and leadership within the Academy. |
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A18-302 Sustainability Reception in Honor of Rosemary Radford Ruether Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force and the Religion and Ecology Group
Please join us for a reception in honor of Rosemary Radford Ruether's seventy-fifth birthday. The reception will be sustainably catered, following the day-long workshop of the Sustainability Task Force. This reception will also mark the publication of Voices of Feminist Liberation: Writings in Honor of Rosemary Radford Ruether (Equinox, 2012). The reception is made possible by a generous donation to the Religion and Ecology Group. |
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A18-400 AAR Welcome Reception Join your friends and colleagues for conversation and fun at the AAR Welcome Reception. Light refreshments, cash bar, and live jazz combine to make this a great way to catch up with friends old and new. Join your friends and colleagues for conversation and fun at the AAR Welcome Reception. Light refreshments, cash bar, and live jazz combine to make this a great way to catch up with friends old and new. |
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A19-1 New Members' Breakfast New (first-time) AAR members in 2011 are cordially invited to a continental breakfast with members of the Board of Directors. New (first-time) AAR members in 2011 are cordially invited to a continental breakfast with members of the Board of Directors. |
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A19-2 Regional Officers' Breakfast By invitation. The AAR is happy to provide this opportunity for officers in the AAR’s ten regions to network with one another and to hear reports from Regions Director Brian K. Pennington and AAR staff about AAR Board actions and deliberations and regional initiatives being undertaken by the AAR. By invitation. The AAR is happy to provide this opportunity for officers in the AAR’s ten regions to network with one another and to hear reports from Regions Director Brian K. Pennington and AAR staff about AAR Board actions and deliberations and regional initiatives being undertaken by the AAR. |
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A19-401 Friends of the Academy Reception Individuals whose generosity allows us to continue many of our special programs are invited to a reception hosted by the AAR Board of Directors. Individuals whose generosity allows us to continue many of our special programs are invited to a reception hosted by the AAR Board of Directors. |
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A19-402 Racial and Ethnic Minorities' Reception Sponsored by the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee |
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A19-403 JAAR Reception for Authors and Board Members Reception for JAAR Editorial board members and JAAR authors. Reception for JAAR Editorial board members and JAAR authors. |
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A19-405 LGBTIQ Scholars/Scholars of LGBTIQ Studies Reception Sponsored by the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee and the HAAS Foundation
LGBTIQ scholars of religion, scholars of LGBTIQ studies in religion, and friends are invited to a reception. Come network, see old friends, and make new ones! The reception will be held at the new GLBT History Museum at 4127 18th Street (between Castro Street and Colingwood Street), in the heart of the Castro district. The Museum is a block away from both MUNI and the streetcar line that runs up Market Street; get off of either service at the Castro Street stop and you'll be at the intersection of Castro, 17th, and Market. Walk downhill on Castro to 18th and turn right. After the reception, you'll find the delights of the Castro district all within walking distance! |
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A20-2 International Members' Breakfast Sponsored by the International Connections Committee
Breakfast, including a question and answer session, for international members of the AAR. |
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A20-3 AAR Annual Business Meeting Join the AAR Board of Directors for a continental breakfast and a brief business meeting. |
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A20-401 AAR Awards Ceremony and Reception Celebrate the achievements of the 2011 AAR award winners at the ceremony and reception held in their honor.
Celebrate the achievements of the 2011 AAR award winners at the ceremony and reception held in their honor. Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion Excellence in Teaching Award Religion and the Arts Award 2011 Best In-depth Reporting on Religion Awards 2011 Excellence in the Study of Religion Book Awards Analytical-Descriptive Constructive-Reflective Historical Textual
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A21-2 Program Unit Chairs' Breakfast Program Unit Chairs are invited to a continental breakfast featuring information on upcoming program initiatives. Program Unit Chairs are invited to a continental breakfast featuring information on upcoming program initiatives. |
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A21-403 Program Unit Chairs' and Steering Committee Members' Reception Program Unit Chairs and steering committee members are invited to a reception celebrating their contributions to the AAR Annual Meeting. Program Unit Chairs and steering committee members are invited to a reception celebrating their contributions to the AAR Annual Meeting. |
(HHH) Sessions with a Focus on Sustainability
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A18-204 Sustainability Workshop — Teaching About Religion and Sustainability: The Animal Question Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force and the Animals and Religion Group
2:15 pm -3:15 pm: Central Topics in Animals and Sustainability Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University 3:15 pm - 3:30 pm: Break 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Teaching Animals, Religion and Sustainability Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College Laurel Kearns, Drew University Christine Gutleben, Humane Society of the United States 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm: Small Group Discussions, Selected Topics with Facilitators Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College David Clough, University of Chester Sara Tlili, University of Florida David Aftandilian, Texas Christian University 5:15 pm - 5:30 pm: Wrap-up – Idea Sharing, Follow-up A comprehensive bibliography will be given to all participants. The cost for the workshop is $40, which includes the entire afternoon of sessions and a coffee break. Registration is limited to the first 75 participants. 1:45 pm - 2:15 pm: Introductions and Small Group Icebreakers/Warm-up 2:15 pm -3:15 pm: Central Topics in Animals and Sustainability Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University 3:15 pm - 3:30 pm: Break 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Teaching Animals, Religion and Sustainability Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College Laurel Kearns, Drew University Christine Gutleben, Humane Society of the United States 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm: Small Group Discussions, Selected Topics with Facilitators Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College David Clough, University of Chester Sara Tlili, University of Florida David Aftandilian, Texas Christian University 5:15 pm - 5:30 pm: Wrap-up – Idea Sharing, Follow-up A comprehensive bibliography will be given to all participants. The cost for the workshop is $40, which includes the entire afternoon of sessions and a coffee break. Registration is limited to the first 75 participants. |
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A18-302 Sustainability Reception in Honor of Rosemary Radford Ruether Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force and the Religion and Ecology Group
Please join us for a reception in honor of Rosemary Radford Ruether's seventy-fifth birthday. The reception will be sustainably catered, following the day-long workshop of the Sustainability Task Force. This reception will also mark the publication of Voices of Feminist Liberation: Writings in Honor of Rosemary Radford Ruether (Equinox, 2012). The reception is made possible by a generous donation to the Religion and Ecology Group. |
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A18-401 ***Films Other Theme: Journey of the Universe Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force, the Religion and Ecology Group, and the Forum on Religion and Ecology
Ask acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher Brian Thomas Swimme about our role as humans in this awe-inspiring universe, and his insights will light up the night skies. As our host, co-writer, and fellow traveler, he shares his infectious curiosity about life’s biggest questions in the epic JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE. This documentary film project, companion book, and 20-part educational series is a collaboration of Swimme and historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker. They weave a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe. Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, Swimme connects such big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago – to the invisible frontiers of the human genome – as well as to our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics. Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life. From the Big Bang–to the epic impact humans have on the planet today–this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis. One day on a Greek island, and your perception of the universe will change forever... Ask acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher Brian Thomas Swimme about our role as humans in this awe-inspiring universe, and his insights will light up the night skies. As our host, co-writer, and fellow traveler, he shares his infectious curiosity about life’s biggest questions in the epic JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE. This documentary film project, companion book, and 20-part educational series is a collaboration of Swimme and historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker. They weave a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe. Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, Swimme connects such big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago – to the invisible frontiers of the human genome – as well as to our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics. Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life. From the Big Bang–to the epic impact humans have on the planet today–this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis. |
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A19-3 ***Tours Other Theme: Muir Woods After a short ride from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, you will be awed by one of the most magnificent Redwood forests in the world — Muir Woods. Early winter is one of the best times to visit Muir Woods — the weather is cool and rainy; and Redwood Creek is full and melodious. You will travel by bus and have an opportunity to walk through the forest and explore this magnificent National Monument. Bring rain gear! After a short ride from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, you will be awed by one of the most magnificent Redwood forests in the world — Muir Woods. Early winter is one of the best times to visit Muir Woods — the weather is cool and rainy; and Redwood Creek is full and melodious. You will travel by bus and have an opportunity to walk through the forest and explore this magnificent National Monument. Bring rain gear! |
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A19-102 Special Topics Forum Theme: Delicious Peace: Fair Trade, Religions, and the Academy Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force
As part of the AAR Sustainability Task Force’s focus on educating about sustainable food practices, and in recognition that San Francisco is a Fair Trade city, this session focuses on issues related to Fair Trade best practices. The international Fair Trade movement has involved over a million growers and countless consumers with its focus on ethical and environmentally-responsible economics. Religious groups have played an important role, both among the producers and in promoting Fair Trade products. This panel will present and discuss the award-winning film Delicious Peace (Mirembe Kawomera) Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean, which chronicles the Peace Kawomera cooperative with over 1,000 Jewish, Christian, and Muslim farmers/members. Panelists will also discuss Fair Trade and religious practice, the Fair Trade university movement, challenges that the Fair Trade movement faces, and the possible connections between the AAR and Fair Trade. This Special Topics Forum welcomes discussion on all the ways that the AAR can take a greater role in incorporating environmental sustainability efforts. |
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A20-116 Contemporary Pagan Studies Group and Religion and Ecology Group and Religion and Ecology Group Theme: Elemental Theology and Feminist Earth Practices Starhawk is the well-known feminist Witch, Earth activist, and writer who initiated the Reclaiming Witchcraft Tradition in San Francisco in 1979. Her books on Pagan ecospirituality, such as The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion (HarperOne, 20th anniv. ed., 1999) and the novel The Fifth Sacred Thing (Bantam, 1993), are still bestsellers. Over the last four decades her thinking and practices have spun off the emergent Goddess spirituality movement, but have also provoked and influenced feminist theologians. One of them is Rosemary R. Ruether, herself a major contributor to feminist theologizing in all Western traditions — be it Christian, Jewish, or Pagan. Over the last ten years, Ruether and Starhawk have developed similar interests in feminist earth practices, honored the four elements and permacultural social principles, and have quoted each other’s work respectfully. In this session all are invited to reflect on the notion of “elemental theology” and/or “feminist Earth practices” as a possible crossroad for feminist theology of different faiths to meet. Starhawk is the well-known feminist Witch, Earth activist, and writer who initiated the Reclaiming Witchcraft Tradition in San Francisco in 1979. Her books on Pagan ecospirituality, such as The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion (HarperOne, 20th anniv. ed., 1999) and the novel The Fifth Sacred Thing (Bantam, 1993), are still bestsellers. Over the last four decades her thinking and practices have spun off the emergent Goddess spirituality movement, but have also provoked and influenced feminist theologians. One of them is Rosemary R. Ruether, herself a major contributor to feminist theologizing in all Western traditions — be it Christian, Jewish, or Pagan. Over the last ten years, Ruether and Starhawk have developed similar interests in feminist earth practices, honored the four elements and permacultural social principles, and have quoted each other’s work respectfully. In this session all are invited to reflect on the notion of “elemental theology” and/or “feminist Earth practices” as a possible crossroad for feminist theology of different faiths to meet. |
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A20-251 Special Topics Forum Theme: Conversation with Gary Snyder, 2011 AAR Religion and the Arts Award Winner Sponsored by the Religion and the Arts Award Jury
A key member of the mid-twentieth century San Francisco Renaissance literary movement, Snyder is currently professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and lives in Northern California. Born in San Francisco, Snyder has traveled the world, working as a logger, a carpenter, and on a steam-freighter crew, among other things. He has spent ongoing time in Japan, undertaking extensive training in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. In announcing the 2008 Lilly Poetry Prize, chair of the jury selection Christian Wiman said, “Gary Snyder is in essence a contemporary devotional poet, though he is not devoted to any one god or way of being so much as to Being itself. His poetry is a testament to the sacredness of the natural world and our relation to it, and a prophecy of what we stand to lose if we forget that relation.” Snyder and his ongoing work and words open up many conversations across the AAR constituency. Gary Snyder has been named the 2011 Religion and the Arts Award winner. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning poet, essayist, and environmental activist. He has published eighteen books, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. Snyder’s work and thinking has been featured in video specials on BBC and PBS, and in every major national print organ. He is the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Bollingen Prize for Poetry, American Poetry Society Shelley Memorial Award, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and in 1975 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. A key member of the mid-twentieth century San Francisco Renaissance literary movement, Snyder is currently professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and lives in Northern California. Born in San Francisco, Snyder has traveled the world, working as a logger, a carpenter, and on a steam-freighter crew, among other things. He has spent ongoing time in Japan, undertaking extensive training in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. In announcing the 2008 Lilly Poetry Prize, chair of the jury selection Christian Wiman said, “Gary Snyder is in essence a contemporary devotional poet, though he is not devoted to any one god or way of being so much as to Being itself. His poetry is a testament to the sacredness of the natural world and our relation to it, and a prophecy of what we stand to lose if we forget that relation.” Snyder and his ongoing work and words open up many conversations across the AAR constituency. |
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A20-324 Religion and Ecology Group Theme: Author Meets Critics: Bron Taylor's Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (University of California Press, 2009) This panel is devoted to Bron Taylor’s book Dark Green Religion (University of California Press, 2010). Panelists/critics have expertise in religion and the environment, science and religion, religion and social movements, Neopagan religions, and religion and radical environmentalism. Taylor distinguishes the phenomenon of “Dark Green Religion” (DGR) from the broader movement of greening “traditional” faiths. According to Taylor, adherents of DGR regard nature as “sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and worthy of reverent care.” Our panelists will critically engage a cluster of themes, including: the possibility that DGR will contribute/is contributing to the rise of a global, planetary religion; the role of science in the emergence of DGR and how science shapes the spiritual and ethical commitments of DGR; the relationship between DGR and “traditional” faiths; panelists will also draw on their own research on radical environmentalism/grassroots green spiritualities as test cases with which to probe and critique Taylor’s definition of DGR. This panel is devoted to Bron Taylor’s book Dark Green Religion (University of California Press, 2010). Panelists/critics have expertise in religion and the environment, science and religion, religion and social movements, Neopagan religions, and religion and radical environmentalism. Taylor distinguishes the phenomenon of “Dark Green Religion” (DGR) from the broader movement of greening “traditional” faiths. According to Taylor, adherents of DGR regard nature as “sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and worthy of reverent care.” Our panelists will critically engage a cluster of themes, including: the possibility that DGR will contribute/is contributing to the rise of a global, planetary religion; the role of science in the emergence of DGR and how science shapes the spiritual and ethical commitments of DGR; the relationship between DGR and “traditional” faiths; panelists will also draw on their own research on radical environmentalism/grassroots green spiritualities as test cases with which to probe and critique Taylor’s definition of DGR. |
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A21-136 ***Tours Other Theme: Edible Cityscapes — Religion, Justice, and Sustainable Food Culture Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force
Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force This bus tour features leaders and community organizations working to bring fresh food to urban food deserts, to address global hunger and ecological degradation, and to educate children about gardening, cooking, and health. During site visits in Oakland and Berkeley, we will learn how committed community activists nourish a progressive, sustainable food culture in the East Bay Area, as well as contribute to international NGOs dealing with food security. The tour will include talks from and visits with local religious and secular leaders within these movements, who will share the specific religious and/or spiritual values and ethics that drive their sustainable food and policy activism. Itinerary: 9:30 am- 10:15 amMeet with Marilyn Borchardt, Development Director of Food First 10:30 am- 11:15 amMeet with Nikki Henderson, Executive Director of People's Grocery 11:30 am - 12:30 pmMeet with HuNia Bradley, Program Manager for Farm Fresh Choice, a program of the Ecology Center, and Wendy Johnson, Zen Buddhist teacher and master gardener involved with the College of Marin, Green Gulch Farm, and the Edible Schoolyard 12:30 pm- 1:00 pmReturn to San Francisco to be dropped off at the Moscone Center or at the San Francisco Ferry Building for a sustainable lunch *participants who elect to have lunch will be responsible for their own transportation after lunch. |
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A21-328 Religion and Ecology Group Theme: Religion and Conservation in Context This session explores the encounter between religion and ecology in specific cultural and geographic contexts, ranging from Asia to the US. This collection of papers demonstrates how environmental issues, such as farming and waste management are understood and negotiated within religio-cultural contexts and highlights the importance of place. This session explores the encounter between religion and ecology in specific cultural and geographic contexts, ranging from Asia to the US. This collection of papers demonstrates how environmental issues, such as farming and waste management are understood and negotiated within religio-cultural contexts and highlights the importance of place. Daoism and Sustainability in Contemporary China This paper reports on recent fieldwork on Daoist sites in China that emphasize the connection between Daoism and ecologically sustainable development. In so doing the paper argues that Chinese Daoism resists simplistic Western notions of Daoism as "the Way of Nature" in favor of a complex engagement with the recent concept of "ecological civilization" (shengtai wenming). When understood in this light, Daoist ecology comes to be understood as a Way of economic development, a Way of science and technology, and a Way of national development. Liminal Beasts: Dogs, Pigs, and Other Challenges to Ecological and Ritual Purity in Bhutan Much of the discussion of the role of religion and spirituality in ecological issues has focused on affinities for wild nonhuman nature found in undeveloped wilderness areas. However, this focus what can be called the ‘green’ aspects of environmentalism – concern for wilderness, open spaces, and wild species – overlooks many ecological issues that lie much closer to home: those of waste disposal and pollution prevention. This paper examines issues of urban and rural waste management in Bhutan through a Buddhist lens, with particular attention to the liminal position of dogs and pigs. Backpacking the Long Trail: Sacred Ritual in Vermont's Viridis Montis Drawing extensively on research and interviews with individuals who have participated in extended journeys on the Long Trail. this paper explores the spiritual and religious dimensions of long distance hikers. The Long Trail is a wilderness footpath, running 273 miles along the ridge line of Vermont’s Green Mountains. On average, over 100 people hike the entire length of the trail each year. After spending several weeks on the trail, how has the journey changed the hikers? Do they find spiritual or religious significance in these journeys? My research suggests that there are common aspects of religious system to be found, including philosophical and ethical systems, rites of passage, and rituals. Furthermore, it looks at how hiking the Long Trail transforms hikers lives, particularly processes of meaning making, healing, and worldview construction. Indian Hermeneutics of Nature and the Hermeneutic of Nature of Hindu Nationalism Specialists in Religion and Ecology recognize that in the course of its development the Hindu religious tradition has generated interpretations of nature that often support the environment. In the insights of this tradition environmental movements in India have found support for effective protests against the exploitation and abuse of nature. Such insights have also drawn the attention of Hindu nationalism, for whom they stand as a symbol of Hindu religious identity, and support for the superiority of a particular Hindu religious ideology over other Indian religious traditions. In recent years the encounter of environmental activism with Hindu nationalism has caused confusion and sometimes undermined the credibility of environmental movements. In this paper I argue that the environmental values of Hindu nationalism are derived from a hermeneutic of nature distinct in its history, purpose, and ethos from the hermeneutic of nature expressed in contemporary Indian environmental movements. Understandings of Christian Stewardship in Farming Through the Work of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, Canada Rural communities, in-between urban and wild spaces, find themselves also in-between the human demands of industry, economics and a hungry growing population, and those of the domesticated plants, animals and land they farm. Religion is not absent from this picture. Many post WWII Dutch Calvinist immigrants to Canada settled into farming. They founded the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (Canada) (CFFO) in the 1950’s, which still functions today as an interdenominational general farming organization. CFFO emphasizes stewardship in farming, and builds on Calvinist theological principles in their search for a Christian approach to contemporary issues such as biotechnology, land use, and food policy. Based on ethnographic interviews with CFFO members and leadership, this paper examines contemporary issues in farming through the perspective of this Christian organization. Moreover, it situates CFFO understandings of stewardship, from dominion to earth-keeping, in the context of the diversity of the contemporary global food system. |
(JJJ) Sessions with a Focus on the Mediterranean
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A19-101 Special Topics Forum Theme: The Mediterranean: Material Cultures and the Study of Religion — Understanding the Past Sponsored by the International Connections Committee
This is one of a two-panel session inviting scholars familiar with the Mediterranean World to analyze the materiality of religion. Focusing either on the implications for understanding the past (Session 1) or for interpreting the present (Session 2), the panelists will examine the uses of material culture — including research that considers art, artifacts, archaeology, or architecture. Among the questions they will consider are the following: 1) What are the diverse functions of artifacts in religious life?; 2) How do artifacts allow the religious to imagine the past and construct collective identity?; 3) How do they orient devotees in space and time?; 4) How do they compete with other artifacts and, thereby, negotiate power as they make meaning? 5) What do we gain and lose by focusing on artifacts? In other words, what do they illumine and obscure?; 6) To what extent are artifacts mute and in need of texts to give them voice? In that sense, what is the relation between materiality and textuality in religion?; and 7) How do literary texts function as material culture, and how does material culture function as text? |
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A19-114 Contemporary Islam Group and Middle Eastern Christianity Group and Middle Eastern Christianity Consultation Theme: Religion and Diversity in Practice: Christianity and Islam in the Middle East Muslim–Christian relations in the Middle East defy simple categorization as peaceful or conflicted. This panel looks at a range of cases from Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, and at both Muslim and Christian theologians to explore how Muslims and Christians in the contemporary period negotiate with one another and with their respective traditions as they find ways to coexist, engage, compete, and thrive in a variety of contexts. By examining rituals (sacrifice and pilgrimage), theological debates (within and between communities), and legal formulations for defining group identity, the papers presented aim to move our understanding of the theories and realities that shape multireligious life across the Middle East. Muslim–Christian relations in the Middle East defy simple categorization as peaceful or conflicted. This panel looks at a range of cases from Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, and at both Muslim and Christian theologians to explore how Muslims and Christians in the contemporary period negotiate with one another and with their respective traditions as they find ways to coexist, engage, compete, and thrive in a variety of contexts. By examining rituals (sacrifice and pilgrimage), theological debates (within and between communities), and legal formulations for defining group identity, the papers presented aim to move our understanding of the theories and realities that shape multireligious life across the Middle East. Interreligious Pilgrimages in Southern Turkey: Saint George/Khiḍr, Material Culture, and the Transforming Agency of Local Sacrifice Rituals This paper presents an ethnographic account of the interreligious worship of Saint George (Hızır or Khiḍr) in Southern Turkey. With its enigmatic history incorporating pagan, Christian and Muslim traditions, Saint George/Khiḍr is one of the most reoccurring religious figures found in various pilgrimage sites of contemporary Hatay. Throughout the year, members of various religious local communities, be it Christian or Muslim, consult the same sites for purposes of sacrifice, healing, and wish making. Among these pilgrims, which include Orthodox and Armenian Christians, and Sunni Muslims, are the Nusayri, one of the most hybrid among these communities, on which my paper focuses. I demonstrate how the rituals of sacrifice and veneration performed at these sites shape these places and reshape their reality through the transforming agency of these rituals. By engaging in the latest theoretical works of Gell and Deleuze, I ponder upon how theoretical concepts such as indexical' and ‘virtual’ can allow me to analyze ethnographic data on these pilgrimage sites common also in other parts of the Mediterranean in a new key. Sharing the Umma: The Ritual-making of Communities in Translocal Muslim Spheres This paper will argue that in the wake of globalization and transmigration the practice of sacrifice (*dhabīha*) as a canonical Islamic ritual connected to donations and charity underlies fundamental changes that impact on the ways in which idealized communities (such as the Islamic *umma*) materialize and become re-imagined. Focusing on trans-ethnic Islam in Germany as well as on Turkish village Islam, the religious sacrifice, which is part of the annual festival *īd al-adhā*/kurban bayramı but also occasionally conducted on other, more personal occasions, will be analyzed as a ritual interface between socio-economic practice and the discursive construction of social collectives based on normative principles such as unity and solidarity. In doing so, markers of distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims as well as within and between Muslim communities will be given equal attention. The boundaries of such collectives, however, are not necessarily defined in terms of religion. Dār al-Islām Revisited: Concepts of Territoriality in the Context of Fiqh al-Aqalliyyāt This paper argues that the various concepts of an Islamic jurisprudence for Muslims living in non-Muslim majority countries that have been developed since the 1990s rest upon diverse concepts of territoriality, reflecting the relation of Muslims to non-Muslim societies. Shedding light on the approaches by the two pioneers of *fiqh al-aqalliyyāt*, Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī and Ṭāhā Jābir al-Alwānī, I suggest that the former adheres to an antagonistic view of the world, dichotomising between Islamic and non-Islamic territories, whereas al-Alwānī imagines the world as an all-embracing *dār al-islām*. While al-Qaraḍāwī shapes this “land of Islam” along political boundaries, al-ʿAlwānī's deterritorialized conceptualization of *dār al-islām* rests upon a minimum provision for religious freedom. I conclude by arguing that al-ʿAlwānī conceives Muslims as integral members of non-Muslim societies, unlike al-Qaraḍāwī who draws a sharp contrast between their religious identity and their identification with societies that are located outside his conception of *dār al-islām*. Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi: A Contemporary Example of Christian–Muslim Encounter This paper examines the work of Paolo Dall’Oglio and the mixed (men and women) monastery that he founded and presently guides, namely Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian), which is located around fifty kilometers outside Damascus, in Nebek, Syria. The paper addresses three topics, namely a summary of efforts at the monastery to appropriate Arab and Islamic culture, an analysis of the intellectual and spiritual roots of Dall’Oglio’s work, particularly the influence of Louis Massignon and Charles de Foucauld, and a hypothesis about how Dall’Oglio’s project might inform wider trends in Christian-Muslim relations, particularly at the highest levels of the Catholic Church. |
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A19-200 Special Topics Forum Theme: The Mediterranean: Material Cultures and the Study of Religion — Interpreting the Present Sponsored by the International Connections Committee
This is one of a two-panel session inviting scholars familiar with the Mediterranean World to analyze the materiality of religion. Focusing either on the implications for understanding the past (Session 1) or for interpreting the present (Session 2), the panelists will examine the uses of material culture — including research that considers art, artifacts, archaeology, or architecture. Among the questions they will consider are the following: 1) What are the diverse functions of artifacts in religious life?; 2) How do artifacts allow the religious to imagine the past and construct collective identity?; 3) How do they orient devotees in space and time?; 4) How do they compete with other artifacts and, thereby, negotiate power as they make meaning? 5) What do we gain and lose by focusing on artifacts? In other words, what do they illumine and obscure?; 6) To what extent are artifacts mute and in need of texts to give them voice? In that sense, what is the relation between materiality and textuality in religion?; and 7) How do literary texts function as material culture, and how does material culture function as text? |
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A20-100 Special Topics Forum Theme: Religion and Constructions of the Mediterranean Sponsored by the International Connections Committee
Located at the intersection of three continents — Africa, Europe, and Asia — and considered the historical home of three major religions — Christianity, Islam, and Judaism — the “Mediterranean” has long been characterized by immense differences and disputed meanings, religious and otherwise. In addition, it is a center of unsettled global politics where ancient and modern cultures play a fundamental role in defining social reality. This panel interrogates the complex forms, trajectories, processes, ideologies, and power dynamics in — among others — religious, historical, social, cultural, ecological, aesthetic, and literary constructions of the “Mediterranean” as an open, contested, and fluid category. Scholars are invited to examine how the “Mediterranean” has been and can be constructed and interpreted from and through particular identity factors like race, religion, gender, or sexuality. Using different methods and tropes of analysis, panelists will address how the “Mediterranean” is imagined and reimagined in the name of memory, identity, power, and religion in various contexts. They will inquire into what these imaginaries signify; how they have changed; and how — both negatively and positively, as well as both historically and currently — they continue to affect and contribute to the production of different religious and sociopolitical realities. |
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A20-102 Buddhism Section Theme: Greco-Roman Cultures and Buddhism This session presents new perspectives on Buddhist contexts for cross-cultural encounters and exchanges between South Asia, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean by focusing on contact zones in northwestern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. New discoveries of documents, inscriptions, archaeological sites, and other materials as well as recent scholarly advances necessitate a reconsideration of models and theories for understanding the historical interplay between Buddhist and Hellenized cultures. Presentations of current research and classroom applications will demonstrate interdisciplinary approaches to clarifying the possible extent and significance of transcultural pollination between the Mediterranean and Buddhist Asia through asymmetrical appropriation of indexical elements by intermediary agents. Participants will contextualize dynamic patterns of historical contact between South and Central Asian Buddhist cultures and Greco-Roman cultures of the Hellenistic East and Mediterranean in order to develop frameworks applicable to other multicultural environments. This session presents new perspectives on Buddhist contexts for cross-cultural encounters and exchanges between South Asia, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean by focusing on contact zones in northwestern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. New discoveries of documents, inscriptions, archaeological sites, and other materials as well as recent scholarly advances necessitate a reconsideration of models and theories for understanding the historical interplay between Buddhist and Hellenized cultures. Presentations of current research and classroom applications will demonstrate interdisciplinary approaches to clarifying the possible extent and significance of transcultural pollination between the Mediterranean and Buddhist Asia through asymmetrical appropriation of indexical elements by intermediary agents. Participants will contextualize dynamic patterns of historical contact between South and Central Asian Buddhist cultures and Greco-Roman cultures of the Hellenistic East and Mediterranean in order to develop frameworks applicable to other multicultural environments. Greek Buddhists in Gandhāra: Epigraphic Self-representation and Literary Appropriation In the early second century BCE, the Bactrian Greeks expanded their political influence from Bactria to Gandhāra, where they encountered a complex religious landscape including Buddhist stūpas and monastic centers founded, according to tradition, by emperor Aśoka a century earlier. From the mid‐second century BCE onwards, Gāndhārī relic and donative inscriptions provides primary evidence for the religious activity and aspirations of the Gandhāran Greek and Hellenized community (and other groups). The main literary treatment of the Greek contribution to Buddhism is the *Milindapañha*, a dialog between king Menander (around 150 BCE) and the monk Nāgasena on the central tenets of Buddhism. The present paper will contrast the self‐representation of Greek Buddhists in Gandhāra, as well as the evidence of the numismatic and archeological record, with the appropriation of the Greeks in the Buddhist monastic literary production, drawing parallels to the representation of Aśoka and Kaniṣka in Buddhist and other sources. Hellenistic Afterlives in Gandhāran Buddhist Material Culture The Indo-Greek presence in the northwestern borderlands of South Asia has stimulated ongoing debates about possible Hellenistic impacts on the history of Buddhism in ancient Gandhāra. While the survival of Hellenistic stylistic features in Gandhāran Buddhist art, architecture and material culture may seem apparent, what their prolonged afterlife may actually reflect about the depth and quality of cross-cultural interactions raises many questions. The dynamic hybridity of Gandhāran Buddhist material culture was due to the appropriation of symbols and motifs from the Mediterranean to Egypt and the Iranian plateau, but which agents were responsible for the prolongation and transformation of these elements? Which qualitative factors of trans-cultural exchange account for extensive re-contextualization of Hellenistic imagery in Gandhāran Buddhist art? Might the Gandhāran aesthetic have played a mediating role in Buddhist transmission beyond South Asia? Indo-Greek Bactrian Buddhist Documents: Remnants of Greek Culture in Afghan Buddhism In this paper, I would like to discuss Greco-Roman influences on Buddhism in North Afghanistan mainly from the evidence based on Bactrian Buddhist documents/inscriptions, in comparison with that in South Afghanistan, represented by Hadda, the oasis Buddhist complex destroyed by the Taliban lately. Bactrian Buddhist documents are only Buddhist texts written in Greek script in the ancient world. These Bactrian Buddhist documents and inscriptions, deciphered by Dr. Sims-Williams, show that the last Greek cultural elements, namely the Greek script, continued to exist over 500 years in North Afghanistan until the beginning of Islamic period. Greek influences are evident in the entire history of Afghan Buddhism but the nature of cultural manifestations/interactions is different, dependent on the region and time. The Greek Buddhists of Asia: Interpretations of Sources and Speculations about “Stimulus Diffusion” In this paper I will argue that the ‘Greeks’ and ‘Buddhists’ of Central Asia and Northwest India are not tidy or discrete ethnic and cultural categories, but to a large extent overlap and intersect with each other with considerable variations and to differing degrees. The similarities they share are neither simply the result of external borrowings nor the outcome of completely independent internal processes at work within each culture. As we will see from an analysis of Aśoka’s edicts and references in Pāli and Tibetan sources, there are historically plausible instances of knowledge-transfer and stimulus-diffusion between the Greeks of Hellenistic Asia and Indian Buddhists. Their historical connection through trade and politics reveals a gradual, reciprocal and unenforced process of asymmetrical proselytism that gave rise to original forms of representation and provided Buddhism with its cosmopolitan character and universal outlook. Encountering the Buddha and Pythagoras: Teaching Comparative Religion with Ancient India and Greece This paper will present the reflections of Professor Todd Lewis, Dept. of Religious Studies at Holy Cross and myself, Dept. of Classics, from our long-term preparation for and then teaching of an undergraduate seminar in the spring of 2011 comparing selected topics from the religious thought and practice of ancient India and Greece, emphasizing Buddhism and early Greek philosophy. The talk will cover the advantages and pitfalls of doing such comparisons, the challenge of providing theoretical, historical, and cultural background information to empower students' participation, and concrete issues such as the nature of the textual traditions of the respective cultures under study and of scholarly responses to them, the differing orientations of Indian and Greek sages to social and political interaction, and the tendencies of the respective cultures to attribute their "wisdom" on how best to live one's life to inspirations drawn from others/barbarians/foreigners, or to see it as independently embedded in their indigenous traditions. |
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A20-129 Middle Eastern Christianity Group and World Christianity Group and World Christianity Group Theme: Engaging the History of Middle Eastern Christians: New Studies on the Coptic Papacy Recovering the history of Middle Eastern Christians is still a work in progress. In this panel, scholars representing a variety of disciplines will offer their assessment of the three-volume series The Popes of Egypt: A History of the Coptic Church and Its Patriarchs (American University in Cairo Press, 2005–2008). Deploying a variety of methods suited to the use of sources available for each period under study and concentrating on the portrayal of the patriarchs in their varied sources, the authors tell the story of the Coptic Orthodox Church and trace the history of Coptic identity-formation and self-understanding. Observing the various methodologies and materials used, the discussants will analyze the significance of these three volumes for the study of Coptic history as well as for related or parallel fields, including the study of other Middle Eastern Christian traditions, Islamic studies, or world Christianity. Recovering the history of Middle Eastern Christians is still a work in progress. In this panel, scholars representing a variety of disciplines will offer their assessment of the three-volume series The Popes of Egypt: A History of the Coptic Church and Its Patriarchs (American University in Cairo Press, 2005–2008). Deploying a variety of methods suited to the use of sources available for each period under study and concentrating on the portrayal of the patriarchs in their varied sources, the authors tell the story of the Coptic Orthodox Church and trace the history of Coptic identity-formation and self-understanding. Observing the various methodologies and materials used, the discussants will analyze the significance of these three volumes for the study of Coptic history as well as for related or parallel fields, including the study of other Middle Eastern Christian traditions, Islamic studies, or world Christianity. |
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A21-202 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Gods and Monsters in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Imagination Over the course of the last century, Biblical scholars, oral traditionalists, archeologists, and ancient historians increasingly have observed proof of ideological as well as material exchange among Greco-Roman, Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Levantine cultures. This panel is dedicated to exploring shared religious and mythological themes among these ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, extending as far east as Mesopotamia, as far west as Greece, and from Egypt in the south to Anatolia in the north. Gods and monsters are a particular focus, but the papers also address various artifacts of ancient Mediterranean religious imagination – art, archeology, poetry, prose, royal annals, law codes, ritual instructions, etc. – stemming from Bronze Age to late Roman civilizations. For future meetings we plan to include papers addressing comparative topics in later periods, such as the early Islamic period. Over the course of the last century, Biblical scholars, oral traditionalists, archeologists, and ancient historians increasingly have observed proof of ideological as well as material exchange among Greco-Roman, Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Levantine cultures. This panel is dedicated to exploring shared religious and mythological themes among these ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, extending as far east as Mesopotamia, as far west as Greece, and from Egypt in the south to Anatolia in the north. Gods and monsters are a particular focus, but the papers also address various artifacts of ancient Mediterranean religious imagination – art, archeology, poetry, prose, royal annals, law codes, ritual instructions, etc. – stemming from Bronze Age to late Roman civilizations. For future meetings we plan to include papers addressing comparative topics in later periods, such as the early Islamic period. Hearing the Chaoskampf in Iliad 21 The supernatural battles of Iliad 20 and 21 used to be treated as disappointing art or black comedy. Lately a poetic perspective has prevailed over a literalist, and scholars have come to hear in those battles an echo of the Near Eastern Chaoskampf, wherein a lightning-wielding and order-promoting deity prevails over chaos-monsters. This is conceivable in Book 21, when Achilles nearly drowns in the muck and gore of the raging river and it takes Hephaestus to burn off the surging waters and to cremate the flotilla of dead corpses, trees, roots, and mud, which threatens to bury him alive. This paper will argue for a distinct echo of the Chaoskampf in Iliad 21, but also that the poetic tradition once again has manipulated a West Asian motif for its own purpose, in order to inject a sacrosanct intensity into battlefield struggles involving the hero Achilles. Further Parallels in Greco-Anatolian Disappearing God Rituals: The Hittite Kurša Hunting Bag and the Dios Kōidion (Fleece of Zeus) Parallels between Anatolian, Minoan, and later Greek ritual practices invoking disappeared gods — including Demeter, Kore, and Dionysus — provided a commonly understood setting allowing for unique developments as the rituals interacted and were reshaped, moving across space and time. In particular, one piece of Anatolian invocatory paraphernalia, the fleecy kurša hunting bag, in which symbols of good things were carried, was reworked in a variety of ways — becoming the breastplate of Artemis of Ephesus, Athena’s aegis, Jason’s golden fleece, and the Dios kōidion (fleece of Zeus). I focus on the last, rarely discussed item. The Dīos kōidion was carried in the Athenian Pompaia in the month of Maimakterion (November) to bring on the winter rains. I explore the Anatolian background of the weather-making magic of the Dios kōidion, relating it to other descendants of the kurša and arguing that the Greeks learned of the technique via festival performances. Syncresis and the Cult of Isis in the Greco-Roman World Isis was an Egyptian mother goddess, the firstborn daughter of earth and sky. She married and had a child — the god Horus — by her brother Osiris. After Osiris was murdered by Seth, Isis resurrected him. She became the goddess of the dead and rebirth, the mother goddess from whom all beginnings came. Mummification and rebirth in Egyptian religion were associated with her. The Greeks conquered Egypt in the fourth century BCE and began to worship Isis. They syncretized her with the mother goddesses Demeter and Aphrodite. When Rome in turn conquered Egypt in 30 BCE, the worship of Isis and her temples spread throughout the Roman Empire. Syncretized with so many goddesses, the Romans called her the Queen of Heaven and Isis of Ten Thousand Names. With the rise of Christianity, the mother goddess Isis and her child Horus, who brought life and rebirth, were syncretized into the Virgin Mary and Jesus. The Greek Gigantomachy and the Israelite Gigantomachy: Giants as Chaosmacht in Israel and the Iron Age Aegean In this paper, I explore correspondences — and disjunctions — between giants in Greek and Northwest Semitic traditions. First, I review the relevant textual and iconographic motifs in the Aegean world and demonstrate the prominent place ancient audiences accorded to the Gigantomachy/Titanomachy scene. The Gigantomachy was not only viewed as an abstract, purely “mythical” moment from the distant past, but rather was a deeply political story that could be historicized for contemporary audiences. Turning to the world of the Ancient Near East, I argue that several biblical stories (e.g., Gen 6:1–4; Num 13:28–33, 21:33, 32:33; Deuteronomy 1–3; Joshua 11:15; 1 Samuel 17; 2 Sam 21:16–22) reflect a deep participation in the broader Mediterranean world(s) of epic, myth, and politics involving giants and the end of a heroic age. Through their monstrous bodies and ability to rise and threaten order even when they should have been completely exterminated, these giants serve as a counterpart to other, deeply-ingrained patterns of the Chaoskampf in the Hebrew Bible. The God Aion in a Mosaic from Paphos and Helleno-Semitic Cosmogonies in the Roman East The god Aion, or personified Eternal Time, appears at the center of a multipaneled mosaic from Paphos (Cyprus). Dated to the fourth century CE, the mosaic also prominently features the god Dionysos among many other figures, including a personified Theogonia. This paper will situate the unique group of deities surrounding the key figure of Aion (which appears in some other mosaics of the region) within the context of a type of cosmogonic tradition circulating in Roman times and attested in scattered written sources (e.g., Orphic texts, Neoplatonic testimonies of Phoenician cosmogonies, and the Euhemeristic account by Philon of Byblos). These cosmogonies and their high placement of a Time god (Chronos, Aion, Oulom/Olam) represent a particular fusion of Greek and Phoenician elements, exemplifying the complex fabric of eastern Mediterranean culture surviving into Roman times. |
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A21-236 Religion in Europe and the Mediterranean World, 500–1650 CE Group Theme: Mapping Medieval Boundaries: Textual, Physical, and Institutional This session explores the delineation and permeability of religious boundaries in medieval Europe. These include boundaries between sacred and temporal histories, between the various authors of a text, between religious communities, and between ecclesiastical dioceses. Together, the papers in this session will consider what is at stake in maintaining such boundaries and what factors influence their fluidity and malleability. This session explores the delineation and permeability of religious boundaries in medieval Europe. These include boundaries between sacred and temporal histories, between the various authors of a text, between religious communities, and between ecclesiastical dioceses. Together, the papers in this session will consider what is at stake in maintaining such boundaries and what factors influence their fluidity and malleability. The Anachronistic Crone: Margery Kempe and the Hands that (Re/Un)Wrote Her Theology of History In *The Book of Margery Kempe*, as the voices of her fifteenth- and sixteenth-century scribes and Margery herself repeatedly tell the reader, Margery did not live within the chronological, causal progression of time-bound history, but within the mysterious, cyclical unfolding of sacred history: Christ’s past, his redemptive irruption into temporal history, became so inextricably woven into Margery’s present that their histories became inscrutably undifferentiated. In this paper, by focusing on the “voice” of Margery itself, as it is constructed in both the dialogue of the Book and in the third-person narration of the scribes, I seek to recover the theology of history voiced and performed by Margery and to answer the question of why this theology scandalized and was circumscribed by the Book’s earliest critical readers, for not everyone who witnessed the manner of Margery’s living, either in its historical or textual expression, saw its divine legitimacy as she did. Kabbalah for the Masses: Reconsidering the Elitism of Medieval Jewish Mysticism One of the most important intellectual innovations of medieval Jewry was the development of a form of esotericism that addressed a wide range of ideas, including theosophy, theurgy, and mystical techniques. Since the pioneering work of Gershom Scholem in the mid-20th century, medieval Kabbalah, and the Zohar in particular, has been understood in the scholarship on the subject as an elitist movement, reserved for, and largely only of interest to, a small cohort of erudite medieval Jews. By examining a wide range of kabbalistic texts from the productive period in late 13th century Castile, this paper will reconsider Scholem’s claim and explore how medieval kabbalists sought to advance a new popular paradigm for imagining Judaism and the meaning of Jewish religious and historical experience. From Dominican to Benedictine, from Benedictine to Dominican: Religious Women and Reform in Late Medieval Italy "In the years around 1500, the Dominican convent of San Giovanni Battista embarked on a program of reform in Bologna. Though the first house it reformed was another Dominican convent, it would eventually intervene in nunneries outside its order, including two venerable Benedictine communities, another of the Camaldolese order, and yet another following Cistercian conventions. Some of these efforts involved the exchange of personnel. For example, the convent’s prioress transferred to a Cistercian convent, converting it to a Dominican house. Dominicans from San Giovanni Battista became Camaldolese in an attempt to reform another nunnery, Santa Cristina. These actions provide an opportunity to investigate how nuns conceived of their participation in various communities – their own convent, their city, their order. This paper will look at reforms undertaken by religious women within and across monastic orders to explore ways that local events could influence monastic life for nuns. " Core and Periphery in Christendom: The Malleability of Diocesan Formation This paper considers the extent to which pre-existing, indigenous political and religious territorial organization or past Christian ecclesiastical architecture influenced the formation of dioceses on conquered territories in different peripheral zones of Christendom during the high medieval period. An examination of two ostensibly different frontier territories captured by crusader armies – Iberia “reconquered” from the Muslims and the Baltic states captured from indigenous pagans – demonstrates that the dynamics of diocesan formation, in fact, tended to feature important structural similarities. While local Church authorities and the papacy, in many cases, maintained theoretically rigid guidelines concerning the creation of ecclesiastical architecture that (in the case of Iberia) could hinge on the circumstances of poorly evidenced ancient dioceses, these restrictions were usually manipulated or dispensed with altogether in ad hoc compromises that responded chiefly to present concerns within the local religio-political environment. |
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A21-323 Law, Religion, and Culture Group and Religion in Europe and the Mediterranean World, 500–1650 CE Group and Religion in Europe and the Mediterranean World, 500–1650 CE Consultation Theme: Religion and Law in the Medieval Mediterranean World Religion and law were inseparable phenomena in the medieval Mediterranean world. Indeed, if the English word “religion” denotes a shared system of beliefs and practices by which individuals seek a common bond with the divine, then the Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew equivalents of this term are lex, sharī`ah, and dat (law). This relationship between religion and law is especially evident in the religiously plural societies of the medieval Mediterranean, in which social and economic relations necessitated the navigation of differences in identity, belief, and practice. Legal thought functioned within this region as a driving force shaping religious communities. Because of its central location within Christianity, Islam, and Judaism during the Middle Ages, comparison of legal norms and related rhetoric sheds valuable light on these religions and, indeed, on the aspects of Mediterranean culture that shape religious thought. Religion and law were inseparable phenomena in the medieval Mediterranean world. Indeed, if the English word “religion” denotes a shared system of beliefs and practices by which individuals seek a common bond with the divine, then the Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew equivalents of this term are lex, sharī`ah, and dat (law). This relationship between religion and law is especially evident in the religiously plural societies of the medieval Mediterranean, in which social and economic relations necessitated the navigation of differences in identity, belief, and practice. Legal thought functioned within this region as a driving force shaping religious communities. Because of its central location within Christianity, Islam, and Judaism during the Middle Ages, comparison of legal norms and related rhetoric sheds valuable light on these religions and, indeed, on the aspects of Mediterranean culture that shape religious thought. Religion as Law in the Latin West: A Philological and Conceptual Study "Contemporary readers presume a distinction between religion and law, but this can lead to the misinterpretation of medieval Latin texts. Focusing on 12th- and 13th-century Latin authors, I begin with a philological study of lex and religio, finding that _lex_ connotes the English equivalent of “religion” (i.e., _lex Mahumet_) and _religio_ indicates the subjective reverencing of God (_virtus religioni_). I then re-assess the “political philosophy” of Aquinas (+1274), who is understood to hold the “goodness of government” because he asserts that, even in a perfect world, humans live under “the law.” His lex indicates the determinate external actions by which the internal virtue of religio expresses itself. Thus, Thomas’ commentary on Jewish lex collapses its dictates into the service of religio. If “religion” denotes a shared system of beliefs and practices by which individuals seek a common bond with the divine, religion is _lex_ in the Middle Ages." Prayer and the Apocalypse of 841/1438 A rumor spread across Cairo that the world was to end on Friday Shawwal 9, 841 (April 5, 1438). As people jammed into *al-Azhar* mosque to pray, the *Khatib* began to preach but collapsed midway through his sermon. Worshippers feared that the Imam had died, and many interpreted the pandemonium as a sign of the apocalypse. Although the preacher revived, an argument erupted over how to continue the interrupted prayer. The paper examines the differing accounts of this strange incident and the debates following the crisis. For those present, the correct solution to the problem of interrupted communal prayer intersected with efforts to forestall the pending apocalypse. This event offers a window on the importance of ritual in Mamluk Muslim culture and the ways in which people believed that strict adherence to ritual norms, and the invention of new rituals, could appease God and postpone the end of the world. Commanding Charity in the Medieval Mediterranean In this paper, I survey medieval Jewish and Islamic legal practices surrounding the payment of charity – what I describe as a charity tax. This research concentrates on juristic discussions of both who should pay charity and how much charity should be paid on specific types of wealth in order to explore the socio-economic contexts and effects of the charity tax; the paper thereby illustrates how legal history can inform social history. In addition, I consider the political aspects of charity by investigating the administrative dynamics of charity taxation. A portion of this paper focuses on how and why some medieval Muslim jurists made the charity tax incumbent on minors or others lacking full legal capacity. I correlate this doctrinal issue to religious identity in order to modify common conceptualizations of religious identity as purely confessional. Religious Orthodoxy, Ethnoreligious Plurality, and Legal Compromise in the Medieval Mediterranean Religious Orthodoxy, Ethno-Religious Plurality and Legal Compromise in the Medieval Mediterranean Medieval Mediterranean may be characterized as a socio-cultural environment defined by a high degree of ethno-religious diversity and inter-penetration. Both Christian and Islamic Mediterranean societies included substantial ethno-religious minorities living as legitimate if secondary subjects in their midsts. This generated a tension, given that the orthodox orientation of Abrahamic religion supposes the exclusive validity and legitimacy of the majority religion and the role of religion as the foundation of social order and law. As a consequence, practical compromises that contradicted established notions of orthodoxy were necessary for religiously diverse societies to function. This paper examines those the nature of those compromises in Christian and Islamic societies, and demonstrates how these are a manifestation of a dynamic which can be characterized as "Mediterranean." Religious Polemics and Legal Boundaries in the Medieval Mediterranean World The Medieval Mediterranean world was marked by legal plurality. In the Islamic World, legal rights to Christian and Jewish minorities were granted within the dhimma structure (also known as the millet system). In the Iberian kingdoms religious privileges were granted to Jewish and Muslim minorities. On both sides of the Mediterranean these rights were not taken for granted by all social groups. For example, at the beginning of the fifteenth century al-Maghili tried to end the dhimmi treatises with Jews in North Africa. During the fifteenth century voices arguing against legal and religious pluralism in Castile and Aragon grew in strength. In this paper I study Christian, Jewish and Muslim polemics aiming at changing or maintaining legal and religious boundaries. I focus on the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco during the fifteenth and early sixteenth century and deal with the complex relationships between religious and legal notions in the texts selected. |
(KKK) Sessions on Professional Practices & Institutional Location
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A18-100 Overcoming Barriers to Underrepresented Scholarship: A Strategy and Action Workshop Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee, Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, and the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
Despite more than four decades of feminist, antiracist, queer, and other insurgent scholarship, this work and the scholars who produce it still face many barriers in the academy. This strategy and action workshop will focus on developing a plan of action for overcoming these barriers. The morning session will feature a panel that will discuss barriers to and strategies for promoting and disseminating paradigm-shifting intellectual projects in the academy. In the afternoon, participants will work on developing concrete proposals for collective action that can be implemented within the AAR and home institutions. We do not want anyone to be prevented from attending the workshop due to cost. If you need a subsidy, please contact judith.plaskow@manhattan.edu. |
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A18-102 Religion and the Media Workshop — What’s Next for Texts: Scripting Religion in a Networked World In 2011, the AAR will not only be meeting concurrently with the SBL, it will be doing so near Silicon Valley, the global epicenter of the digital revolution. Taking its cue from this conjuncture, the workshop will ask, “What’s next for texts?” Although it might seem that the diffuse networks of the internet should have exploded the sacred book once and for all, “scripture” continues to shape the contemporary world in ways that are at once unexpected and determined by the textual past. To engage this newly digital world, still running on texts, we need to ask how texts work beyond their content. How do production, circulation, and appropriation of texts create communities and movements? How are texts taken up and mobilized by the communities that precede them? How can scholars, activists and media makers engage these new waves of digitization and what will such engagement do? In 2011, the AAR will not only be meeting concurrently with the SBL, it will be doing so near Silicon Valley, the global epicenter of the digital revolution. Taking its cue from this conjuncture, the workshop will ask, “What’s next for texts?” Although it might seem that the diffuse networks of the internet should have exploded the sacred book once and for all, “scripture” continues to shape the contemporary world in ways that are at once unexpected and determined by the textual past. To engage this newly digital world, still running on texts, we need to ask how texts work beyond their content. How do production, circulation, and appropriation of texts create communities and movements? How are texts taken up and mobilized by the communities that precede them? How can scholars, activists and media makers engage these new waves of digitization and what will such engagement do? |
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A18-200 Theatre as Pedagogy Workshop Sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Committee and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion
Participants will explore specific techniques (i.e., theatre games, improvisations, and writing exercises) to encourage students’ creative engagement with class content. The first part of the workshop introduces teachers to theatre techniques. The second part of the workshop focuses on how theatre can open up the experience of teaching and learning in religious and theological studies. This workshop will also be a time for learning about and practicing pedagogical methods that move beyond “learning from the neck up.” In this way this workshop will promote theatre as another part of our pedagogical repertoires, in ways that are integrally connected to course material and to critical thinking, speaking, and acting. The goals of this workshop are to: 1) Introduce the theories of the use of theatre as pedagogy; 2) Practice a variety of theatre techniques, with direct connections to religious and theological curriculum; 3) Explore the implications for building community within the classroom, in the larger campus and beyond (in internship courses, etc.); 4) Play critically and creatively with our own assumptions about teaching and who we are as teachers (Augusto Boal); 5) Create a learning community of teachers for an afternoon through the modeling of theatre games and improvisation; and 6) Reimagine the word and the world (Paulo Freire) and the possibilities for transformative classrooms. We will be exploring ways to link the teaching of course content with theatre pedagogies, to create multicultural learning communities, and to create transformative spaces in teaching and learning. Our facilitator is Victoria Rue, a popular workshop leader and the author of Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies (Pilgrim Press, 2005). Registration is limited to the first thirty participants. To register, send an e-mail to Tina Pippin at tpippin@agnesscott.edu. There is no cost for participants, but we ask for commitment to the full session. This workshop introduces teachers of religious studies and theology to the use of theatre as a pedagogical tool. The pedagogies of theatre have been largely underutilized both in theology and religious studies. Theatre and its techniques offer students methods to engage material by embodying it. While conventional teaching stresses analysis and critical thinking by lecture and class discussion, enactment offers somatic, kinesthetic learning. Participants will explore specific techniques (i.e., theatre games, improvisations, and writing exercises) to encourage students’ creative engagement with class content. The first part of the workshop introduces teachers to theatre techniques. The second part of the workshop focuses on how theatre can open up the experience of teaching and learning in religious and theological studies. This workshop will also be a time for learning about and practicing pedagogical methods that move beyond “learning from the neck up.” In this way this workshop will promote theatre as another part of our pedagogical repertoires, in ways that are integrally connected to course material and to critical thinking, speaking, and acting. The goals of this workshop are to: 1) Introduce the theories of the use of theatre as pedagogy; 2) Practice a variety of theatre techniques, with direct connections to religious and theological curriculum; 3) Explore the implications for building community within the classroom, in the larger campus and beyond (in internship courses, etc.); 4) Play critically and creatively with our own assumptions about teaching and who we are as teachers (Augusto Boal); 5) Create a learning community of teachers for an afternoon through the modeling of theatre games and improvisation; and 6) Reimagine the word and the world (Paulo Freire) and the possibilities for transformative classrooms. We will be exploring ways to link the teaching of course content with theatre pedagogies, to create multicultural learning communities, and to create transformative spaces in teaching and learning. Our facilitator is Victoria Rue, a popular workshop leader and the author of Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies (Pilgrim Press, 2005). Registration is limited to the first thirty participants. To register, send an e-mail to Tina Pippin at tpippin@agnesscott.edu. There is no cost for participants, but we ask for commitment to the full session. |
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A18-201 The Study of Religion as an Analytical Discipline Sponsored by the Critical Theory and Discourses on Religion Group, Sociology of Religion Group, SBL Bible and Cultural Studies Group, and the SBL Ideological Criticisms Group
Registration is free, but limited to the first 50 participants. To register, send an e-mail to Ipsita Chatterjea at ipsita.chatterjea@vanderbilt.edu. When the AAR and SBL meets concurrently this November, this preconference workshop will attempt to take advantage of this reunification and explore the possibility of creating a space in both organizations where those engaged in the study of religion as an analytical discipline can discuss the future of our work and develop cooperative long terms ties across the organizations. The sessions of the workshop will be devoted to assessing common ground, the current terrain of our part of the field, and will conclude with a discussion of the strategy we will employ to develop religious studies as an analytical discipline and renew our efforts to put forth analytically sound research. Registration is free, but limited to the first 50 participants. To register, send an e-mail to Ipsita Chatterjea at ipsita.chatterjea@vanderbilt.edu. |
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A18-202 Rethinking Islamic Studies Workshop — Gender, Sexuality, and Bodies in the Text Sponsored by the Islamic Mysticism Group and the Qur’an Group
In this workshop, eight scholars will lead discussions on reading gender, sexuality, and bodies in the classical sources. We will address matters such as historically-grounded readings of gender and sexuality in the Hadith; bodily representations of the Prophet’s wives in the Sira; gender and bodies in Sufi metaphysics and hagiography; the role Fatima’s esoteric body plays in theological and hagiographical sources; masculinity in Qur’anic accounts of the prophets and prophecy; and iconoclastic practices as they are embodied in the text of image, ritual action, and architecture. Each scholar will head a table focusing on a different topic and set of sources and discuss the methods — and even the salience — of reading gender, sexuality, and bodies in the sources. The cost for the workshop is $30, which includes the entire afternoon of sessions and a coffee break. Registration is limited to the first 75 participants. |
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A18-208 Islam in a World of Sound Bites: New Approaches, New Media Sponsored by AAR and Religion Dispatches. Funded by a grant from the Social Sciences Research Council
This panel aims to create a network amongst academics and individuals working to create Muslim-American presences in American culture. One of our aims is to broaden the conversation about Muslims in America and to have different constituencies engage in new debates.
Theme: Journalists on the Inside This panel includes voices from writers covering Islam for various publications. We will explore some of the dominant narratives and media frames, as well as some of the challenges and possibilities for reimagining representations of Islam in new and old media. Registration is free, but limited to the first 50 participants. To register, send an e-mail to Gary Laderman at gladerm@emory.edu. 2:30 pm 4:00 pm Hussein Rashid, Hofstra University, Presiding Theme: Artists and Activists This panel aims to create a network amongst academics and individuals working to create Muslim-American presences in American culture. One of our aims is to broaden the conversation about Muslims in America and to have different constituencies engage in new debates. Panelists: 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Sarah Posner, Religion Dispatches, Presiding Theme: Journalists on the Inside This panel includes voices from writers covering Islam for various publications. We will explore some of the dominant narratives and media frames, as well as some of the challenges and possibilities for reimagining representations of Islam in new and old media. Panelists: |
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A18-300 Special Topics Forum Theme: Women's Lounge Roundtable — Women of the "Sandwich Generation" Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee and the Womens' Caucus
Come join us for an informal conversation for and about women who find themselves caring for both the generation above them (their aging parents) and the generation below them (their not-quite-adult children) and who may be attempting to balance these demands with their careers and with self-care. |
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A19-100 Special Topics Forum Theme: Beyond Identity Politics Sponsored by the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
How do queer people move beyond identity-based politics, and how can or should we do so? This panel brings together five scholars and activists to offer their perspectives on this theme. |
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A19-103 Special Topics Forum Theme: Scholars and the Public Representations of Islam in the United States: The Park 51 Mosque Controversy and the Peter King Hearings on the Radicalization of American Muslims Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
This session focuses on the role of scholars — such as those consulted by reporters and government agencies — in shaping conversations about the public representations of Islam in the United States. Panelists will discuss the issues involved in two major controversies: the proposed Park 51 Mosque near Ground Zero in Manhattan and the recent hearing by Representative Peter King, head of the Committee on Homeland Security, on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response.” Panelists will also discuss their own experiences as scholars in being questioned by the media and government agencies. |
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A19-104 Special Topics Forum Theme: An Open Conversation about Departments, Programs, and Institutions Sponsored by the Academic Relations Committee
This session is intended to provide new and continuing Department Chairs the space to explore the challenges and opportunities of their work, especially in the current context of shrinking funds and under-siege humanities programs. Participants will: 1) Hear from present and former Chairs and consult with each other, and 2) Provide feedback on departmental needs and recommendations to the Academic Relations Committee as it contemplates its ongoing service to the discipline. Continental breakfast will be provided. |
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A19-125 Christianity and Academia Group Theme: The Role of Theology in the Shape of the Academy These papers offer theoretical, historical, and practical analyses of how the overall shape of the academy might be affected by a more robust inclusion of the discipline of theology in the way the academy narrates its own identity. The papers approach the subject from a variety of angles, ranging from broader investigations of academic administration and academic freedom, to the role of theology in the humanities, to the importance of theology within a particular discipline — that of history. All four of the papers encourage us to consider how theology might be brought into deeper conversation with the wider concerns of the academy. These papers offer theoretical, historical, and practical analyses of how the overall shape of the academy might be affected by a more robust inclusion of the discipline of theology in the way the academy narrates its own identity. The papers approach the subject from a variety of angles, ranging from broader investigations of academic administration and academic freedom, to the role of theology in the humanities, to the importance of theology within a particular discipline — that of history. All four of the papers encourage us to consider how theology might be brought into deeper conversation with the wider concerns of the academy. Theologies of Academic Freedom In the first half of the twentieth century, significant pressure towards a more secular identity for church-related institutions came from advocates for academic freedom best exemplified by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). As a result, a narrative about higher education has been constructed that juxtaposes academic freedom and sectarian religious identity. However, over the last twenty-five years, distinctively theological arguments for academic freedom have emerged seeking to offer the same protections as the principles of the AAUP but grounded in Christian theology rather than arguments about professional competence, independence, and democratic values. This paper will argue that important cultural and theological trends have necessitated this theological development. Renewed denominational identity by many colleges and universities compelled a theological accounting for how a denomination’s theology could be reconciled with academic values, and attacks against academic freedom from inside denominational circles required responses from shared denominational sources of authority. A Historical Theologian Among Historians: A Case Study of the Revolt of the Vendée This paper examines the negative view of theology found among historians, with a focus on the scholarship surrounding the Revolt of the Vendée, a counter-revolutionary revolt in northwestern France from 1793 to 1795. I highlight examples of the scholarship on this topic in light of historiographical texts, arguing for the importance of an understanding of theology for those who study religious history. I also propose a new way of considering religious motivations in the study of history, by examining "a Proclamation issued by the Generals of the Army of the Royalists in La Vendée." My proposal suggests that the best way to account for religious motivations in history is to use methods of historical theology, in spite of the reluctance of historians to welcome historical theologians into their discipline. Historians should reexamine their negative view of theology and listen to the voice of the historical theologian. Towards a Theology of Administration: An Interfaith Approach This paper explores the theological foundations of academic administration. It takes for its point of departure George Makdisi’s work on the origins of the Western doctorate in the structure of Islamic legal guilds and the complex issues which arose when the category of autonomous religious scholar migrated from one political theological context to another (i.e. from Dar-al-Islam to Christendom). The paper then uses this migration as a model for analyzing the relationships between scholars (especially but not only religious scholars and scholars of religion) and the various authorities with to which they relate: academic, religious/ecclesiastical, civil, etc. in the context of an increasingly pluralistic public arena. From there it defines theologically the task of academic administrators in public, private, and church related institutions as one of creating the conditions necessary for scholars to carry out their work of leading public deliberation regarding fundamental questions of meaning, value, and public policy. Incarnational Logic and the Revitalization of the Humanities This paper offers a constructive theology of the humanities as a solution to the growing crisis over the future of those academic disciplines. At a time when the humanities are falling into obsolescence due to the utilitarian pragmatism of the contemporary university, this paper argues that it is Christian theology, specifically the doctrine of the Incarnation, that most satisfactorily preserves the humanities’ place in the academic curriculum of the Christian university. It is only incarnational theology that satisfactorily justifies the humanities because it is precisely in the Incarnation that humanity is united to the divine nature. Human nature- the very locus of the humanities- now bears the weight of the divine. To study the humanities is to come to know that which God has fundamentally endorsed in the decision to unite divine and human nature. Thus a theological account of the humanities locates the necessity of the humanities not in their financial or vocational utility but rather in their doxological role as the location of the union of God with humanity. |
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A19-139 Special Topics Forum Theme: LGBTIQ Mentoring Lunch Sponsored by the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
All students and junior scholars who identify outside of normative gender histories and/or sexualities are welcome to join us for an informal lunch. No fee or preregistration is required; please bring your own lunch. |
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A19-201 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Town Hall Meeting — Stepping Stones: Finding Your Footing in the Academy Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Comprising one-third of the total AAR membership, student members bring innovative scholarship and fresh ideas to the table, but navigating the field as a budding scholar can be a daunting task! Please join the Graduate Student Committee and the AAR Student Director for an informal conversation about our place in the Academy. In addition to open dialogue regarding student issues, we will have members from various Task Forces and Committees speak to us about the work they do on behalf of the students. The Town Hall meeting provides an important opportunity to meet your student representatives, learn about student programming, and voice your concerns and needs as undergraduate and graduate student members of the American Academy of Religion. Come for camaraderie, conversation, and coffee! |
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A19-202 Special Topics Forum Theme: A Noble Tradition: On the Meaning and Relevance of the History of Religions Lectureship in Its Second Century Sponsored by the American Lectures in the History of Religions and the History of Religions Jury
In this, the third panel discussion organized by the History of Religions Jury of the AAR, we have invited several of our most distinguished colleagues to reflect on their experiences as fellows with the American Council of Learned Societies History of Religions Lecture Series. This series, which dates back to 1893, was traditionally designed to provide a venue for prominent scholars in what was then exclusively known as the History of Religions, to share their work with a wider audience in a year-long series of public speaking events. Contractual support from Columbia University Press ensured that a great many of these remarkable speaking engagements reached even wider audiences subsequently as books of great and lasting value to many subfields. Caroline Walker Bynum’s The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336 (1995), Wendy Doniger’s The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth (1998), and Bruce B. Lawrence’s New Faiths, Old Fears: Muslims and Other Asian Immigrants in American Religious Life (2002) all appeared within this important scholarly imprint. The History of Religions Jury imagines this panel as a prelude to the relaunching of the History of Religions Lectureship in 2012–2013. To that end, this year we have elected these distinguished ACLS Lecturers to share their reflections on the Lecture Series, as well as the books that came of this year-long intellectual journey. |
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A19-208 Teaching Religion Section and Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion and Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies Theme: A Teaching Roundtable Cosponsored by SBL's Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies Section and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion
In response to member requests for extended conversations about teaching successes and challenges, you are invited to join a sustained conversation on an issue or topic proposed and facilitated by AAR and SBL members who are committed to excellence in teaching. Drinks and snacks are provided for participants. Enhancing Critical Thinking: Theories from Art and Theological Reflection Implementing the theories for teaching art developed by Corita Kent can enhance critical thinking skill development for theological reflection. Kent (1918 – 1986) was a social activist artist and former Roman Catholic nun. Kent’s theories are relevant for theological reflection because her theories enable students to critically engage the text through close analysis of both the content and method of the author. By adapting Kent’s theories, students are enabled to: 1) develop their ability to consider the text from multiple perspectives including identification of their own presuppositions and what is implied or missing, and 2) develop their capacity to identify the significance of facts, concepts and methodologies for theological reflection on the text. "Uncovering" the Introductory Course in Religion Introductory and survey courses always raise the problem of content coverage. How much is enough? What is essential? What do and should students take away from surveys? This discussion will focus on exploring "uncoverage" and "religious literacy" models. The focal question for the gathering will be “What is gained and what is lost in ‘uncovering’ the introductory course in religion?” Hub-and-Spoke Blogging in Introductory Courses This paper offers an introduction to “hub-and-spoke” blogging in the classroom. In this model of blogging the professor maintains a “hub” blog which links out to the student “spoke” blogs. After describing the basics of the medium itself, this paper offers concrete reflections on its advantages and disadvantages – including its public nature – and focuses particularly on student blogging as a powerful tool for generating critical reflection and dialogue in the classroom. Special attention is given to how this can help in facilitating sustained and regular conversation within university-required, introductory religion courses. Supporting Discussion Based Teaching in Courses with Large Enrollments As many Religion departments at colleges and universities face the challenges of increased course enrollments, faculty who prioritize student-centered pedagogy and discussion based class formats face new teaching challenges. I propose to host a lunch time table discussion at the co-sponsored Wabash Center lunch on developing pedagogical strategies to maintain engaged discussions in courses with a large numbers of students. I will invite lunch time participants to consider both methods and strategies for generating engaged discussions and how we can best nurture a learning community amongst students to encourage broad participation in class discussions. We will also consider how the particular challenges and opportunities a Religious Studies course brings to these issues. Worship Field Study in Introductory Theology Courses: A Comparative Approach to the Study of Theology In this workshop we will discuss various strategies for incorporating field study into the introductory course in theology, starting with the convener’s own experience with requiring congregational visits for worship observation in the introductory theology course at a mainline denominational seminary. Field work in such a course has the potential to facilitate deeper integration of students’ seminary coursework, particularly in theology and liturgics or pastoral theology, into their preparation for ordained ministry. Additionally, such an assignment has the potential to open new avenues for understanding theology, ecumenism, and the diversity of American Christianity. We will share experiences we have had with such methods and discuss pedagogical issues and benefits of this strategy for teaching theology to seminarians preparing for ordained ministry. Teaching Bible in a Small Liberal Arts Context Teaching Bible courses at the undergraduate level is challenging. Students enroll in the class for different reasons. Some take these classes to fulfill a distribution requirement, but have little interest in the topic; how can you share your fascination with the material? Other students are interested in the topic, but dislike a non-devotional approach to the text; how can you teach biblical criticism without being labeled a “faith-buster”? Institutions may have different goals for introductory classes: are they supposed to teach content or transferrable skills? This table will offer participants the opportunity to share both the difficulties they have experienced in teaching Bible classes and the solutions they have developed to address them. On Teaching "The Bible" in One Semester The discussion will focus on the challenges of introducing students to the entire biblical canon in just one semester. We will explore the benefits, strategies and problems of taking a historically chronological vs. a canonical approach to the material. We will also discuss options for weaving a particular narrative thread through the course to help students organize and process the material and to help the instructor determine what to include and what to leave out (however painful to do so!) Teaching Biblical Literacy Recent studies in literacy suggest that people often do not recognize biblical references in art, literature, and film. How can teachers in the Undergraduate Liberal Arts address this knowledge gap effectively? Share your questions and your ideas. We will also consider whether literacy training is enough: What do we gain? What do we miss? Teaching the Bible with Technology Modern electronic technologies are transforming many aspects of society and culture, including the art and science of teaching. Pressing questions arise: What role does technology play in teaching the Bible? What role does technology play in student learning? Should we use technology to teach the Bible and related texts? What types of technologies are best suited to accomplish specific teaching and learning purposes? What are the best practices, pedagogical and otherwise, in the use of technology for teaching and learning, especially related to Biblical literature? How do we stay up-to-date with the ever changing landscape of instructional technologies? Our table discussion will center on these and related questions. |
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A19-300 Special Topics Forum Theme: How to Get Published Sponsored by the Publications Committee
Based on notions that scholars have an understanding of the books needed in the fields of religion, religious studies, and theology, the AAR publishing program with Oxford University Press (OUP) produces quality scholarship for religious scholars and their students. OUP is an outstanding international publisher and the AAR has published hundreds of titles, many of which have become critical tools in the development of our fields and in training new scholars. AAR/OUP books include five published series: Academy Series; Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion Series; Religion, Culture, and History Series; Religion in Translation Series; and Teaching Religious Studies Series. The panel provides an opportunity to hear from experienced OUP and AAR editors and to ask any and all questions you might have regarding the AAR/OUP series. Also, the JAAR Editor will discuss essay publishing. You will have opportunities to speak with individual editors. In addition, come meet an author who has journeyed from start to finish in the publishing process and can answer your most pressing questions. |
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A19-301 Special Topics Forum Theme: Women's Lounge Roundtable — Women in Second Careers Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee and the Womens' Caucus
An informal discussion session for and about women making the transition from church to academy or vice versa, or making the transition from some other field (including homemaking) into religious studies. |
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A19-309 Teaching Religion Section and Native Traditions in the Americas Group and Native Traditions in the Americas Group Theme: Teaching about Native Traditions: Pedagogical Insights for Specialists and Nonspecialists Alike Teaching about Native traditions in the Americas presents complex pedadogical challenges. In this panel, specialists in the area of Native traditions will discuss pedagogical and ethical issues and offer their insights and expertise. Topics to be discussed include course design, teaching methods, and classroom dynamics, among others. This session will be especially valuable to non-specialists, such as those teaching courses on religion in America, world religions, or environmental issues. Specialists in Native traditions who are new to teaching and experienced instructors looking for new ideas will also benefit. Time will be reserved for question and answer and discussion. Teaching about Native traditions in the Americas presents complex pedadogical challenges. In this panel, specialists in the area of Native traditions will discuss pedagogical and ethical issues and offer their insights and expertise. Topics to be discussed include course design, teaching methods, and classroom dynamics, among others. This session will be especially valuable to non-specialists, such as those teaching courses on religion in America, world religions, or environmental issues. Specialists in Native traditions who are new to teaching and experienced instructors looking for new ideas will also benefit. Time will be reserved for question and answer and discussion. |
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A19-336 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — “I Can Hold up TWO Books as I Hop on a Ball... But That Is Not All! Oh, No. That Is Not All!”: Balancing Family and Work in the Academic World Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Academic life is often a struggle to find a balance between one’s academic and “real world” responsibilities. Beth and Jon Stovall have spent their marriage learning this fine art of balance as they studied together for their Masters and then PhD. Now standing at the conclusion of their studies and commencement of their careers, Beth and Jon will draw on their difficult (and often humorous) experiences. |
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A20-108 Teaching Religion Section and Sacred Space in Asia Group and Sacred Space in Asia Group Theme: Teaching Religious Studies Abroad in Theory and Practice There is a growing literature on the pedagogy of study abroad, its benefits to students and faculty, its purpose and nature. But very little of this literature addresses religious studies at all. Thus this panel is a first attempt at linking pedagogical research of study abroad and religious studies. The panel begins with a paper applying the distinct methodologies of Religious Studies to issues in Study Abroad. The second paper analyzes the similarities and differences between site visits and study abroad (using, as a case study, visits to Hindu temples in the Bay Area versus a course taught in India). The third paper considers immersive experiences common to religious studies abroad courses and the dissonant experiences they engender. The final paper discusses assignments for assessing the religious studies abroad experience. There is a growing literature on the pedagogy of study abroad, its benefits to students and faculty, its purpose and nature. But very little of this literature addresses religious studies at all. Thus this panel is a first attempt at linking pedagogical research of study abroad and religious studies. The panel begins with a paper applying the distinct methodologies of Religious Studies to issues in Study Abroad. The second paper analyzes the similarities and differences between site visits and study abroad (using, as a case study, visits to Hindu temples in the Bay Area versus a course taught in India). The third paper considers immersive experiences common to religious studies abroad courses and the dissonant experiences they engender. The final paper discusses assignments for assessing the religious studies abroad experience. Working Through the Problems of Study Abroad Using the Methodologies of Religious Studies After briefly sketching out the history and institutional context of study abroad, I enumerate some practical reasons why Religious Studies educators may or may not want to teach study abroad, in light of many universities’ push towards “globalization” and “internationalization.” This push only accentuates some of the pedagogical and ethical challenges in teaching study abroad. I argue that some of the hallmarks of religious studies might address these challenges. Also, religious studies have been turning away from the abstract (texts, beliefs, theologies) and towards the concrete (bodies, places, rituals). Finally, we are moving away from teaching religions as unchanging, ancient verities and instead emphasizing the impact that colonialism, modernization and secularism have had on religions. These two relatively recent turns in religious studies can be productively introduced by teaching religion abroad, while also ensuring the study abroad experience is educationally successful. Inverting the Object of Study: Recalibrating the Frame of Reference in Study Abroad Experiences A standard assignment in world religions courses is a site visit to a local religious institution. Increasingly, faculty-led study abroad trips are being offered as extended or more intensive ways to concretize otherwise abstract course material. At the heart of this paper is the contention that such study abroad experiences function not simply as longer, more intense versions of site visits but rather as experiences that invert the object of study such that the worldview of the student is examined as much as it is the particulars of the religion being studied. If site visits offer students the opportunity to visit the “strange” amidst the familiar, study abroad trips offer opportunity for students to become “strange” within a recalibrated familiar. This paper draws on many years of experience leading students in the study of Hindu temples in California’s Bay Area as well as on month-long study abroad trips to India. The Immersion Experience: Lessons from Studying Abroad in Religion This paper discusses strategies I employed during three years of teaching within a study abroad program focusing on religion. This year-long program travels to four Asian countries and includes immersion experiences in monasteries, ashrams, and other religious institutions. I identify four principles and discuss accompanying exercises that guided my teaching: 1) Accept and observe anxiety. Inability to understand is a sign that direct and deep contact is taking place. 2) Educate about education. Help students to see the aims, assumptions, and context of the teaching strategies religious practitioners employ. 3) Make it practical. Devise exercises that students can do and do well and that do not demand synthetic, systematic comprehension even as a goal. 4) Stop making sense. Build pauses and breaks into the train of reflection on the meaning of experience. These spaces give room for the shifts in the ways of learning that study abroad demands. From Experience to Text: Assignments in Comparative Religion and Study Abroad The study abroad program provides students with a radically different environment in which to learn and work. How can assignments address this radical difference? This article will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different types of assignments and will concentrate on one assignment in particular, the final integrative essay. Reviewing the work of over fifty study abroad students over a multi-year period, the author will discuss the preparation, production, and effectiveness of this essay as a tool for helping students process their encounter with a foreign religion and culture in an enduring and significant way. |
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A20-128 Jain Studies Group Theme: Global Perspectives on Teaching Jaina Studies: Strategies, Pitfalls, and Changing Paradigms This thematic panel cross-cuts all levels of teaching Jainism. The participants represent the innovation and dynamism of this area, as its scholarship need not be encumbered by the classical era of South Asian studies. Modern information technologies have also played a role in expanding and diversifying resources for teaching and learning about the Jains. This means that studies at all levels of scholarship may offer teaching possibilities not previously considered. In particular, the participants will discuss undergraduate and graduate teaching, engaged learning strategies, the role of narrative, the pitfalls of sensationalism and textualism, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary research for teaching Jaina studies. The panel gathers renowned authors along with experienced and new faculty. The discussion promises to contribute a host of lessons learned and worthwhile strategies. This thematic panel cross-cuts all levels of teaching Jainism. The participants represent the innovation and dynamism of this area, as its scholarship need not be encumbered by the classical era of South Asian studies. Modern information technologies have also played a role in expanding and diversifying resources for teaching and learning about the Jains. This means that studies at all levels of scholarship may offer teaching possibilities not previously considered. In particular, the participants will discuss undergraduate and graduate teaching, engaged learning strategies, the role of narrative, the pitfalls of sensationalism and textualism, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary research for teaching Jaina studies. The panel gathers renowned authors along with experienced and new faculty. The discussion promises to contribute a host of lessons learned and worthwhile strategies. |
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A20-137 Special Topics Forum Theme: SWP, REM, and LGBTIQ Women's Mentoring Lunch Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee; Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, and the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
The annual Women’s Mentoring Lunch provides an opportunity for graduate students and junior faculty members to meet informally with faculty mentors to discuss professional questions and concerns. |
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A20-138 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Preparing for Teaching Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
Teaching is a great responsibility; while student-instructors may have the opportunity to improve on a class in future semesters or quarters, our students get one shot to learn what we have to teach them. I will focus on several vital considerations for instructors as they prepare for courses, especially developing substantive syllabi and fair classroom policies, preparing lesson plans, learning technology and grading systems, and balancing teaching responsibilities with research priorities. |
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A20-201 Special Topics Forum Theme: Getting Published! Sponsored by the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee |
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A20-210 Teaching Religion Section Theme: Time to Bring Religion to Life: Teaching Religion at the Crossroads of Textual Study and "Thick Description" Scholars have long recognized that the study of religious ideas and history, as embodied in analysis of historical sources, needs to be balanced with the study of lived religion, most dramatically captured by ethnographers and other field-based participant observers. But many religion courses continue to feature history and ideas by showcasing texts, with only secondary reference to the description of practice, place and time emphasized by ethnographers. Teachers wishing to use ethnography and other modes of “thick description” to focus in a more balanced way on lived religion must invest significant time and energy compiling suitable sources and integrating them with historical texts, as most textbooks do not support such teaching. Panelists representing five religious traditions discuss ongoing efforts to integrate ethnography and historical texts in their teaching, focusing especially on the seasonal passage of time as a primary resource for representing lived religion in historical context. Scholars have long recognized that the study of religious ideas and history, as embodied in analysis of historical sources, needs to be balanced with the study of lived religion, most dramatically captured by ethnographers and other field-based participant observers. But many religion courses continue to feature history and ideas by showcasing texts, with only secondary reference to the description of practice, place and time emphasized by ethnographers. Teachers wishing to use ethnography and other modes of “thick description” to focus in a more balanced way on lived religion must invest significant time and energy compiling suitable sources and integrating them with historical texts, as most textbooks do not support such teaching. Panelists representing five religious traditions discuss ongoing efforts to integrate ethnography and historical texts in their teaching, focusing especially on the seasonal passage of time as a primary resource for representing lived religion in historical context. |
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A20-236 Special Topics Forum Theme: Mentoring Matters: Part I Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee
Graduate students and faculty members will address a range of topics related to mentoring: 1) Mentoring of graduate students and junior faculty; 2) Different types of mentoring, such as institutional and noninstitutional, or formal and informal; 3) Inequalities in mentoring, both in terms of who gets mentored and who carries the burden of mentoring; and 4) Parameters and boundaries of mentoring. Come and raise your questions and concerns. |
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A20-250 Special Topics Forum Theme: Mentoring Matters: Part II Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee
Graduate students and faculty members will address a range of topics related to mentoring: 1) Mentoring of graduate students and junior faculty; 2) Different types of mentoring, such as institutional and noninstitutional, or formal and informal; 3) Inequalities in mentoring, both in terms of who gets mentored and who carries the burden of mentoring; and 4) Parameters and boundaries of mentoring. Come and raise your questions and concerns. |
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A20-252 Special Topics Forum Theme: Fearing the Future: Challenges in Developing Online Programs in Religious Studies Sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Committee and the Teaching Religion Section
It is here — online teaching — but many are trying to avoid or argue it out of existence. What happens to “community,” when you teach online? What about those great ecstatic intellectual moments in the classroom — will they be gone forever? Won’t teaching online destroy the traditional role of a professor? Will I lose my status? Teaching online can’t be quality education, can it? Are they going to replace us with adjuncts? Then what...? The academy will be ruined. Presentations and discussion will highlight organizational structure, creative audiovisual aids, testing, discussing, cheating, projects, and more. Presenters will share their creative successes and failures in ways that will be helpful to the audience. The Politics of Religious Studies Online and On Campus As Director and Founder of the Center for Religious Studies, I have developed most of the face-to-face classes and a great percentage of the online classes for the minor and major. My presentation will consist of reasons for placing the program online and strategies in its development, including recruitment and support of faculty. I will also report on the acquisition of many types of resources to support the program and the politics of the major. Lastly, I will share screenshots of some of my classes and successful teaching strategies. The Challenges of a Long-distance Adjunct I will share my experiences of developing myself into an experienced online instructor by teaching and developing courses within and outside the area of my specialization. I will also share strategies in how I balance my online teaching with scholarly work and face-to-face teaching. I will also discuss specific issues unique to cyber-classrooms such as how online classes challenge students as well as the instructor to become more focused, open, and interactive without being controlled by physical and digital dynamics. Downloading Pedagogy: Online and Face-to-Face Classes Recent advances and experiences in online teaching have demonstrated that successful online courses result not simply from uploading a traditional syllabus onto a website, but rather from the translation of classroom experience into a virtual environment. The effective online course will look quite different than its traditional classroom instantiation. An opposite effect of online teaching, though, is likewise true. That is, the experience of online teaching can change the way an instructor approaches a traditional classroom setting. The constraints of a virtual environment force instructors to make creative choices to create a classroom experience online, and reflection upon those choices can likewise improve traditional pedagogy. This “downloading” of pedagogical lessons is an unexplored benefit of the experience of teaching online and it forms the focus of this paper. Topics explored include the hybrid use of virtual technologies to free up or restructure time in the traditional classroom, the creation of community in a classroom beyond classroom discussion, and the use of instructor feedback on student assignments as teaching moments. Words and Music in Online Teaching: A Report from Louisiana after Katrina My paper will outline the lesson plans for a course in “Religion and Music,” and how specific musical examples are united with lecture and PowerPoint presentations in a course on “World Religions.” After Katrina hit Louisiana in August 2005, and my teaching duties at Tulane University were temporarily suspended, I began to learn how to teach online courses — beginning with the University of Mississippi, then at Tulane, and now with Tulane and the University of Central Missouri. I normally involve music in my teaching of religious studies and world religions, yet now there was the added challenge of finding ways to incorporate music into online classes. Fortunately, just as Katrina disaster relief was underway, my new book Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music in World Religions (Wilfrid Laurier University Press), was in the finishing stages and was released in 2006. This text, including a CD of chants and music from six religions, was designed for courses in both world religions and world music. As I worked on learning Blackboard and PowerPoint, I was delighted to find ways of uploading music files, from the text CD and other sources, to the content of the courses. Students reacted very favorably to these additions and commented upon how well they were able to integrate the study of religion with the sounds and music of each religion. The wonderful thing is that students can listen repeatedly to the tracks at their leisure, and are thus able to benefit from the words and music of religion. My work has also involved fieldwork in India under two Fulbright Research Fellowships, resulting in the collection of rare devotional music from temples in India. I am now using some of these recordings in the online classes, with amazing responses from students. I also reach out to other campuses in the southern region to lecture and perform sacred music so that my online students can keep up with my travels and presentations. All of these developments in online teaching have greatly enhanced my classroom teaching as well, as it is slowly returning to life after Katrina. |
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A20-258 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: The Blog that Dares Not Speak Its Name: New Media and Collaborative Scholarship - CANCELLED This panel will explore engagements with new media as a potential horizon in the academic scholarship of religion both in terms of content (what is studied/written about), form (how it is studied/written), and audience (for whom it is studied/written). In particular, we will examine the interactive, ad hoc, immediate nature of blogging as a new form of collaborative scholarship and a form particularly suited to the analysis of and engagement with new objects of study. The panelists, all working in academic fields of theology or philosophy, converse about their collaborative work exploring the core questions of their disciplines and experimenting in new forms of trans-disciplinary scholarship by writing a blog about popular visual culture together. This practice of commenting on popular culture via blog is not an alter-identity from our scholarly lives, but, in fact, has become constitutive of how we understand ourselves as scholars. This panel will explore engagements with new media as a potential horizon in the academic scholarship of religion both in terms of content (what is studied/written about), form (how it is studied/written), and audience (for whom it is studied/written). In particular, we will examine the interactive, ad hoc, immediate nature of blogging as a new form of collaborative scholarship and a form particularly suited to the analysis of and engagement with new objects of study. The panelists, all working in academic fields of theology or philosophy, converse about their collaborative work exploring the core questions of their disciplines and experimenting in new forms of trans-disciplinary scholarship by writing a blog about popular visual culture together. This practice of commenting on popular culture via blog is not an alter-identity from our scholarly lives, but, in fact, has become constitutive of how we understand ourselves as scholars. |
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A20-285 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Tricks of the Trade for Students Seeking Acceptance into Ph.D. Programs Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
The process of getting into a Ph.D. program can seem shrouded in mystery. Candidates often face seemingly innumerable questions, and venture into the unknown without the tools needed to succeed. In this roundtable we will have an informal discussion over coffee and cookies with selected directors, faculty, and students who are currently a part of several doctoral and/or funding programs to explore the dynamics or “tricks” involved in pursuing the “trade” of applying for a Ph.D. |
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A20-300 Special Topics Forum Theme: Women's Lounge Roundtable — Women and Self-care Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee and the Womens' Caucus
This session will discuss common experiences of mental and psychological health risks that accompany a career as an academic and/or clergyperson; the need to name anxiety, depression, etc. as health issues; and seek support from those who have experienced such issues. |
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A20-301 Special Topics Forum Theme: Conversation with Katie Geneva Cannon, 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner Sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Committee
The Teaching and Learning Committee is pleased to announce that Katie Geneva Cannon is the recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award winner. Cannon is the Annie Scales Rogers Professor of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. She will make remarks and engage questions and answers from the audience. |
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A20-308 ***Wildcard Session Other Theme: Institutionalizing Interfaith: Emerging Models for Educating Religious Leaders in a Multireligious Context How do we train the next generation of spiritual leaders, rooted in their own religious tradition with the skills and motivation to work across faith lines? What are the underlying assumptions of the various models for training seminarians for a multireligious context? What are the benefits and challenges of training seminarians alongside students from other traditions? This panel will focus on emerging models for training Jewish, Christian and Muslim seminarians. We will explore the growing emphasis on interfaith in seminaries and rabbinical schools along with the theological, educational and institutional implications. Scholars, educators, and practitioners from Andover Newton Theological School, Claremont School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Hartford Seminary, Hebrew College, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will share their insights, reflections, and analysis of the emerging trend toward interfaith at each of these institutions. How do we train the next generation of spiritual leaders, rooted in their own religious tradition with the skills and motivation to work across faith lines? What are the underlying assumptions of the various models for training seminarians for a multireligious context? What are the benefits and challenges of training seminarians alongside students from other traditions? This panel will focus on emerging models for training Jewish, Christian and Muslim seminarians. We will explore the growing emphasis on interfaith in seminaries and rabbinical schools along with the theological, educational and institutional implications. Scholars, educators, and practitioners from Andover Newton Theological School, Claremont School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Hartford Seminary, Hebrew College, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will share their insights, reflections, and analysis of the emerging trend toward interfaith at each of these institutions. |
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A21-100 Special Topics Forum Theme: Beyond Atheistic and Religious Fundamentalisms: Imagining the Common Good in the Public Sphere Sponsored by the Theological Education Steering Committee
In recent debates about the place of religion and belief in the public square, the loudest voices on both sides of the argument are fundamentalists — of both the atheistic and theistic stripe. Can this conversation move beyond the charges and caricatures of “godless relativists” or “genocidal religionists,” to one where a diversity of belief- and practice-formed communities, religious and otherwise, can contribute to imagining and realizing the common good? This panel will explore this question from discrete locations of practice-shaped communities and communities of religious belief. |
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A21-140 Special Topics Forum Theme: Student Lounge Roundtable — Creating Syllabi Your Students Will (Really!) Use Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
A well-crafted syllabus can save a teacher time, increase student engagement, and decrease frustration for all, but how can you be sure your students will actually use your syllabus? At this roundtable discussion, you will learn how to transform your syllabus into a resource packet that helps students succeed in your course. Participants will view several syllabi and discuss the pros and cons of each design, and are encouraged to bring syllabi of their own to share. |
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A21-200 Special Topics Forum Theme: Retooling for a New Job Market Sponsored by the Graduate Student Committee
In light of the economy’s impact on employment opportunities in religious studies, the Graduate Student Committee is dedicating this year’s Special Topics Forum to “Retooling for a New Job Market.” This event will consist of two parts. The first will feature a panel of recently hired professors, professors who have been active on search committees, and a representative from the nontraditional (i.e., nonprofessorial) job market. The second part of this event will be a forum in which attendants will have the opportunity to engage in smaller, separate, roundtable conversations with the panelists. Each panelist will lead a conversation aimed at addressing particular issues, such as how to prepare for the on-campus interview, how to creatively present and market yourself, how to determine which type of teaching position is best for you, and how to negotiate once a job is offered. Please join us for what promises to be an important and informative time! |
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A21-211 Teaching Religion Section Theme: Self, Other, and the Uses of Technology in the Religious Studies Classroom These papers address various strategies for using different forms of technology to facilitate student learning about religious diversity, inter-religious dialogue, and their own, and others' religious history. The technologies to be discussed include Skype, the creation of websites, Google Earth, and Genealogy.com. Participants will provide concrete examples of their uses of technology, recommendations for appropriate uses of various forms of technology, and discuss barriers to faculty and student uses of different technologies. These papers address various strategies for using different forms of technology to facilitate student learning about religious diversity, inter-religious dialogue, and their own, and others' religious history. The technologies to be discussed include Skype, the creation of websites, Google Earth, and Genealogy.com. Participants will provide concrete examples of their uses of technology, recommendations for appropriate uses of various forms of technology, and discuss barriers to faculty and student uses of different technologies. New Media, Real World Research, and Student Engagement: Mapping Religious Diversity in the North State How can new technologies be used to engage students in large introductory classes? This presentation will report on a departmental pilot study in which students research regional religious communities and use new media technologies to contribute to a student-faculty collaborative research website. The presentation will address course redesign and implementation and the ways our process might be helpful as a model (positive or negative) for others. We will address specific practical challenges such as criteria for selecting appropriate technologies; strategies for developing assignments; barriers to faculty and student participation, and techniques for overcoming them. We will also raise important theoretical questions, such as whether the use of these technologies caters to a media-driven model of teaching as entertainment; the potential ethical problems of representing religious communities in new media spaces; the challenges of positioning students as “expert” researchers, and the implications of technologies that make our teaching scalable and replicable. Muslim–Christian Dialogue: Using Technology to Connect Students Internationally and Interreligiously This presentation explores the challenges, dangers and benefits of using SKYPE (or a SKYPE equivalent technology) to connect Muslim and Christian students in a classroom context. In the fall of 2010, an interdisciplinary seminar at Ashland University connected Middle Eastern, U.S. American and European undergraduates for weekly, group discussions online. The groups included Christians, Muslims, agnostics and atheists. The U.S. American students met weekly to process and analyze these discussions. Using this course as a springboard, the paper examines issues of cross-cultural and inter-religious communication, administrative questions, technological glitches, student preparedness, handling conflicts, how to organize, plan, and teach such a course (including potential pitfalls). It explores the risks and advantages uncovered during this particular experience of using this type of technology as a pedagogical tool. The final product of the course, a video news story developed from *Al Jazeera* footage by the students, generated passionate, informative, and surprising outcomes. www.Genealogy.com, Google Earth, and Grandma: Old and New Resources for Teaching American Religious History History comes alive when students can relate it to their own lives. A religious studies professor, an archivist, a teaching librarian, and a specialist in Geographic Information Systems at a small university teamed up to help undergraduates do so. Students’ task: create a “Religious Family Tree” tracing their families’ religious histories at least four generations back. Students illustrated their findings, mapped them digitally, and situated them within larger historical contexts. They collected oral histories, searched genealogical databases and other archives, depicted their lineages visually, used Google Earth or Google Maps to show their families’ movements over time, and used library resources to understand how their personal histories fit into broader trends in American religious history. Even the difficulties some students encountered were revealing: e.g., they indicated the effects of immigration, migration, and slavery. This presentation will demonstrate the tools, process, and results of this project. |
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A21-238 Special Topics Forum Theme: Public Understanding and Education on Religion Roundtable Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
This roundtable brings together scholars, public intellectuals, and other thoughtful interlocutors of publics on issues of religion and theological education. The design of the session is a dialogue––in fact, the roundtable will mark the beginning of an ongoing conversation that the AAR has committed to taking up over the coming years as it comes to more fully appreciate its changing identity and constituencies as a learned society. At the core of the AAR's mission is a commitment to engage the public on questions of religion, theological education, and civic life. These engagements take the form of education, broadly construed, including higher education but also critical considerations of issues of public policy, religious literacy, public education, civil society, international relations, and other pressing concerns. The AAR also understands that there is not one "public" to which it is responsible and accountable but rather multiple publics: AAR members; faculty and independent scholars; students; the reading public (news, trade publications, blogs); members of religious communities and their leaderships; and other academic disciplines. The AAR seeks to fulfill this mission of public engagement fully understanding that its members work in many spheres well outside of the academy. Just as a professional society we seek to be accountable to multiple publics, the AAR also views public engagement as "education," meaning teaching publics outside of the academy, including students of all ages, disciplines other than religious studies and theology, the press, policy makers, educators, and so on. Consider just one example: the students that many members of the AAR teach are not graduate students but rather undergraduates who will neither major in religious studies nor go on to graduate studies. This roundtable brings together scholars, public intellectuals, and other thoughtful interlocutors of publics on issues of religion and theological education. The design of the session is a dialogue––in fact, the roundtable will mark the beginning of an ongoing conversation that the AAR has committed to taking up over the coming years as it comes to more fully appreciate its changing identity and constituencies as a learned society. |
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A21-300 Special Topics Forum Theme: Who Speaks for Us?: Responses to Representations of Islam and Christianity in America Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee and the Religion, Media, and Culture Group
How do American Muslims and American Christians think about the challenges of public representation in journalism and entertainment media? Do Christian and Muslim leaders have different understandings of the place of religion in the public sphere? How do they judge the way their faith is portrayed in news and entertainment media? Are they passive in the face of these portrayals, or do they have deliberate media strategies to shape the way they are portrayed? Researchers raised these and related questions in a series of focus groups in a major Western city that gathered Muslim and Christian leaders, women, activists, social-media entrepreneurs, and young people. In this session they discuss the implications of their findings with practicing journalists |
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A21-301 Special Topics Forum Theme: Women's Lounge Roundtable — Women and Difference Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee and the Womens' Caucus
Join us for an informal discussion session for sharing experiences of hostility within an academic or religious institution due to racial, religious, sexual, or ethnic difference; including constructive proposals for dealing with such experiences and healing relationships among women along such lines of difference. |
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A21-313 Teaching Religion Section Theme: Teaching Interreligious Engagement?: Exploring Models for Teaching Religion in Light of Religious Diversity As debate about the role of religion in U.S. public discourse and public life intensifies, this panel is concerned with what role, if any, religious studies might play in fostering positive attitudes and behaviors toward religious diversity and creating intentional opportunities for interreligious engagement both in the classroom and beyond. As such, this panel will explore new models and methodologies for teaching religion that intentionally shape how students encounter and understand religious diversity. Additionally, it will discuss the emerging field of “interreligious studies” and ask what challenges and opportunities exist for its growth, as well as the possible influence this field may have beyond religious studies to other disciplines. As debate about the role of religion in U.S. public discourse and public life intensifies, this panel is concerned with what role, if any, religious studies might play in fostering positive attitudes and behaviors toward religious diversity and creating intentional opportunities for interreligious engagement both in the classroom and beyond. As such, this panel will explore new models and methodologies for teaching religion that intentionally shape how students encounter and understand religious diversity. Additionally, it will discuss the emerging field of “interreligious studies” and ask what challenges and opportunities exist for its growth, as well as the possible influence this field may have beyond religious studies to other disciplines. |
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A22-112 Teaching Religion Section Theme: Documenting Diversity: Religious Perspectives in Oral History Collecting and archiving oral history interviews provides the opportunity to give voice to the diverse religious experiences of ordinary people in a format accessible to students in the religion classroom. Exposure to these interviews should help students develop empathy with representatives of diverse religious groups and a more nuanced understanding of religious belief in general. This panel will present two ongoing oral history projects that engage students in primary research, expose them to a broader array of beliefs and practices, and build important bridges to the community. The proposed panel will share what has been learned thus far in training interviewees, conducting interviews, and best practices for incorporating this material in the classroom. Collecting and archiving oral history interviews provides the opportunity to give voice to the diverse religious experiences of ordinary people in a format accessible to students in the religion classroom. Exposure to these interviews should help students develop empathy with representatives of diverse religious groups and a more nuanced understanding of religious belief in general. This panel will present two ongoing oral history projects that engage students in primary research, expose them to a broader array of beliefs and practices, and build important bridges to the community. The proposed panel will share what has been learned thus far in training interviewees, conducting interviews, and best practices for incorporating this material in the classroom. |
(LLL) Films
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A18-401 ***Films Other Theme: Journey of the Universe Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force, the Religion and Ecology Group, and the Forum on Religion and Ecology
Ask acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher Brian Thomas Swimme about our role as humans in this awe-inspiring universe, and his insights will light up the night skies. As our host, co-writer, and fellow traveler, he shares his infectious curiosity about life’s biggest questions in the epic JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE. This documentary film project, companion book, and 20-part educational series is a collaboration of Swimme and historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker. They weave a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe. Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, Swimme connects such big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago – to the invisible frontiers of the human genome – as well as to our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics. Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life. From the Big Bang–to the epic impact humans have on the planet today–this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis. One day on a Greek island, and your perception of the universe will change forever... Ask acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher Brian Thomas Swimme about our role as humans in this awe-inspiring universe, and his insights will light up the night skies. As our host, co-writer, and fellow traveler, he shares his infectious curiosity about life’s biggest questions in the epic JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE. This documentary film project, companion book, and 20-part educational series is a collaboration of Swimme and historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker. They weave a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe. Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, Swimme connects such big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago – to the invisible frontiers of the human genome – as well as to our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics. Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life. From the Big Bang–to the epic impact humans have on the planet today–this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis. |
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A18-402 ***Films Other Theme: Living Along the Fenceline Sponsored by the Religion, Social Conflict, and Peace Group
The film connects the stories of women from Texas, Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, Guam, the Philippines, Korea, and Okinawa (Japan) and their efforts to create genuine security in their home communities. They take us into their homes, walk us through their neighborhoods, and introduce us to their communities. We see how military operations and bloated military budgets have affected their lives as we listen to their experiences and take in their surroundings. Through the power of personal story this film also tells a wider story of the negative impacts of US bases on host communities. It shows the strength and creativity of women’s activism in challenging prevailing assumptions about military security. Living Along the Fenceline offers provocative insights and information for audiences to think about these contentious issues in new ways. It lifts up alternative ideas of peace and security, embedded in the work of grassroots women leaders who are acting on their visions and beliefs. Living Along the Fenceline, a ground breaking 80-minute documentary by award-winning filmmaker Lina Hoshino, tells the stories of seven women whose lives have been affected by the US military presence in their backyards. Their individual journeys of strength and courage represent the unheard stories of myriad communities across the globe that live alongside US bases and bear tragic hidden costs to their land, culture, and spirit. The film connects the stories of women from Texas, Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, Guam, the Philippines, Korea, and Okinawa (Japan) and their efforts to create genuine security in their home communities. They take us into their homes, walk us through their neighborhoods, and introduce us to their communities. We see how military operations and bloated military budgets have affected their lives as we listen to their experiences and take in their surroundings. Through the power of personal story this film also tells a wider story of the negative impacts of US bases on host communities. It shows the strength and creativity of women’s activism in challenging prevailing assumptions about military security. Living Along the Fenceline offers provocative insights and information for audiences to think about these contentious issues in new ways. It lifts up alternative ideas of peace and security, embedded in the work of grassroots women leaders who are acting on their visions and beliefs. |
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A18-403 ***Films Other Theme: Highgate United: The Transformation of a Canadian Church Sponsored by the Anthropology of Religion Group and the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
Highgate United: The Transformation of a Canadian Church”deals with the deconsecration and transformation of a rural, Canadian United Church. The work is part of a larger project, titled “Abandoned Sacred.” Ritual sites have life histories. After they are conceived, they grow, undergo transformations, and eventually die. Sometimes they, or parts of them, are recycled. We are studying buildings and sites that have been abandoned or radically transformed. Abandonment does not necessarily bring down the curtain on a place’s religious significance but can instead be the first act in a larger, longer social drama: a synagogue becomes a mosque; a Hopi kiva, the centre piece of a national park; a city-center church, a thriving pub. Historically considered, religious sites and buildings have often been built by one religion and later appropriated by another. In addition, religious architecture, built for liturgical purposes, may be converted into a theatre, home, or condominium. Like people, buildings can be converted, bringing about a sense of heightened emotion and dramatic transformation. The phrase “abandoned sacred” refers to the process of un- and re-making that can overtake consecrated buildings and locales. Even when this process seems to propel a site from sacred to secular, sacralized residues, such as stories and cemeteries, may remain. Using a combination of ethnographic, visual, and historical methods, we are examining this at sites selected to illustrate the range of transformative possibilities. Typically, research on sacred places has focused on statically conceived symbolic meanings of religious architecture. Our project emphasizes moments of change in the uses and meanings of sacred places, because studying sacred sites during moments of crisis offers valuable insight into the dynamic interactions of religion and culture. The film is based on fieldwork conducted in 2010, tracking events surrounding the deconsecration of a United Church. The film braids together the deconsecration service, stories told by members of the Church community, interviews, and a concert designed to re-launch the building as an arts and community centre. The research and film is a joint project of two researchers. |
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A19-406 ***Films Other Theme: Enlighten Up! Sponsored by the Yoga in Theory and Practice Group
Filmmaker Kate Churchill's Enlighten Up! is a documentary that explores a range of contemporary yoga traditions through the lens of the personal journey of a skeptical would-be modern yogi. The film follows Nick Rosen, a writer and yoga novice, as he experiments with a range of contemporary traditions, encountering a number of prominent figures in modern yoga, such as B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. The film examines the potential for spiritual transformation in yoga, while keeping an eye on the commodification of yoga and the often-skeptical perspectives of scholars of yoga's history in India and in the transnational context. |
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A19-407 ***Films Other Theme: “NO!” Breaking Silences Around Black Women and Rape Sponsored by the Black Theology Group and the Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group
Speak with an intergenerational panel following the screening of NO!, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning, feature-length documentary that unveils the reality of rape, other forms of sexual violence, and healing in African-American communities. NO! also explores how rape is used as a weapon of homophobia. The featured panelists will discuss how religion, race, and politics can both negatively and positively influence attitudes and solutions to end rape and other forms of sexual violence. They will engage in a conversation that will explore some of the issues highlighted in the documentary: 1) Black feminist/womanist Christian and Islamic perspectives that address the wrongfulness of the rape of women; 2) Black men as profeminist/womanist allies in rape prevention; 3) Rape as a community issue that reinforces interlocking systems of oppression, such as racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism; and 4) Activism and spirituality as healing modalities. Gender-based violence is an international atrocity that knows no boundary. This panel will address these global acts of violence through the first-person testimonies, scholarship, activism, and cultural work of African-Americans. As Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple says, “If the Black community in the Americas and in the world would save itself it must complete the work NO! begins.” |
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A19-408 ***Films Other Theme: UMEMULO: A Girl's Rite of Passage in the Context of AIDS in South Africa Sponsored by the Anthropology of Religion Group and the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
This ethnographic film documents how a township family in KwaZulu Natal and their extended kin and community adapt an old Zulu rite of passage to protect a 16 year old girl from the risk of being infected with HIV. Women cross customary norms and take ritual leadership by reference to the authority of Dr. Jesus and the calling from the ancestors, transmitted in dreams. Animal sacrifice and the mediated exchange of meat, blood, skin, grass, herbs, blessings, and honorary song and dance movements are integral to the rite which culminates in a big feast. The overall aim is to forge protection for the girl by invoking and memorizing a new-old bond between ancestors, humans, animals, plants and the land, and alternatively celebrating life and community. The DVD (31') was edited in December 2008 with video footage and still pictures from the actual ritual performance in February 2005. |
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A20-404 ***Films Other Theme: Of Gods and Men Sponsored by the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
This film is the cinematic retelling of the true story of eight French Cistercian Trappist monks who were caught in the eye of the protracted civil war in Algeria during the 1990s. In the crossfire between the authoritarian government and brutal Islamic extremists, the monks came to the difficult, altruistic decision of remaining with their impoverished Muslim flock at the risk of their own lives. The film evinces the delicate dance between the monastic call to solitude and contemplation and the Christian imperative to love one’s neighbor, here expressed in profound interreligious solidarity and sociopolitical engagement. Based largely on John Kiser’s The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria (Saint Martin's Press, 2002), the film has been applauded in religious and critical circles and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. |
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A20-405 ***Films Other Theme: Poetry Sponsored by the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
Mija has been diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s. She enrolls in a poetry class, perhaps eager to put words to life before they fail her. Mija’s grandson is implicated in a horrible crime. Can Mija find poetry amidst tragedy? Prior to making movies,director Lee Chang-dong served as South Korea’s culture minister. He coaxed legendary actress Yun Jung-hee out of retirement to play Mija. This award-winning picture awakens our senses. Shocking, mesmerizing, and rewarding, Poetry lives up to its title. |
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A20-406 ***Films Other Theme: Syrian Bride Sponsored by the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
The Syrian Bride (2004) is a romantic comedy that considers the Arab-Israeli conflict through the lens of two families that are about to be joined by an arranged marriage. Mona, the bride-to-be, must cross the demilitarized zone that lies between her Druze home in Golan Heights and Syria, where her husband and his family wait for her. The problem is that, according to Syria, Mona's home is in fact Syrian, while Israel claims the territory as its own. The focus of the narrative is thus Mona's attempt to overcome both sides' refusal to agree on where the border lies, so that she can cross it. Along the way the film has a very good time exploring issues of family, relationships, commitment, and history. Directed by Eran Riklis, The Syrian Bride is the winner of several international awards, including the "Grand Prix" for best film at the 2004 Montréal World Film Festival. |
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A20-407 ***Films Other Theme: Connected Sponsored by the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
With wonderful heart and an impressive sense of scale, Tiffany Shlain’s vibrant and insightful documentary, Connected, explores the visible and invisible connections linking major issues of our time—the environment, consumption, population growth, technology, human rights, the global economy—while searching for her place in the world during a transformative time in her life. Employing a splendidly imaginative combination of animation and archival footage, plus several surprises, Shlain constructs a chronological tour of Western modernization through the work of her late father, Leonard Shlain, a surgeon and best-selling author of Art and Physics and The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. With humor and irony, the Shlain family life merges with philosophy to create both a personal portrait and a proposal for ways we can move forward as a civilization. Connected illuminates the beauty and tragedy of human endeavor while boldly championing the importance of personal connectedness for understanding and coping with today’s global conditions. |
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A21-400 ***Films Other Theme: La Mission Sponsored by the Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Group
Growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco, Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) has always had to be tough to survive. He's a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, he'll have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown. |
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A21-401 ***Films Other Theme: We Were Here: Voices from the AIDS Years in San Francisco Sponsored by the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
Early in the epidemic, San Francisco’s compassionate, multifaceted, and creative response to AIDS became known as “The San Francisco Model”. The city’s activist and progressive infrastructure that evolved out of the 1960’s, combined with San Francisco’s highly politicized gay community centered around the Castro Street neighborhood, helped overcome the obstacles of a nation both homophobic and lacking in universal healthcare. In its suffering, San Francisco mirrors the experience of so many American cities during those years. In its response, The San Francisco Model remains a standard to aspire to in seeking a healthier, more just, more humane society. 2011 marks 30 years since AIDS descended. Like an unrelenting hurricane, the epidemic roiled San Francisco for two decades and only began granting some reprieve with medical advancements in the late 90s. The death years of AIDS left the City ravaged and exhausted, yet, as in most of the developed world, the worst seems past. Though thousands are still living with HIV, and new infections continue at an alarming rate, the relentless suffering of the 80s and 90s has given way to a kind of calm, and, understandably, a degree of willful forgetfulness. We Were Here utilizes San Francisco’s experience with AIDS to open up an overdue conversation both about the history of the epidemic, and the lessons to be learned from it. We Were Here documents the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. It offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and responded to, the onset of AIDS. It opens a window of understanding to those who have only the vaguest notions of what transpired in those years. It provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the way of medical care, social services, and community support. Early in the epidemic, San Francisco’s compassionate, multifaceted, and creative response to AIDS became known as “The San Francisco Model”. The city’s activist and progressive infrastructure that evolved out of the 1960’s, combined with San Francisco’s highly politicized gay community centered around the Castro Street neighborhood, helped overcome the obstacles of a nation both homophobic and lacking in universal healthcare. In its suffering, San Francisco mirrors the experience of so many American cities during those years. In its response, The San Francisco Model remains a standard to aspire to in seeking a healthier, more just, more humane society. 2011 marks 30 years since AIDS descended. Like an unrelenting hurricane, the epidemic roiled San Francisco for two decades and only began granting some reprieve with medical advancements in the late 90s. The death years of AIDS left the City ravaged and exhausted, yet, as in most of the developed world, the worst seems past. Though thousands are still living with HIV, and new infections continue at an alarming rate, the relentless suffering of the 80s and 90s has given way to a kind of calm, and, understandably, a degree of willful forgetfulness. We Were Here utilizes San Francisco’s experience with AIDS to open up an overdue conversation both about the history of the epidemic, and the lessons to be learned from it. |
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A21-402 ***Films Other Theme: Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer Sponsored by the Eastern Orthodox Studies Group
A Pilgrimage to the Heart of an Ancient Spirituality. "Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer" a new documentary feature film from SnagFilms (Comcast & Fios On-Demand) and HarperOne book, focuses on the mysteries behind the prayer that is thought to have first been practiced by the Apostles some 2,000 years ago. The prayer is still chanted by monks and nuns in far away caves and monasteries but is mostly unknown to the rest of the western world. Many say that with this prayer, it is possible to communicate directly with God. Very Rev. Dr. John A. McGuckin and Dr. Norris J. Chumley bring you to ancient lands of peace and solitude, filming for the first time hermits, monks and nuns in caves, monasteries and convents who share this ancient mystical prayer. The documentary retraces their steps and beyond, bringing the wisdom of both ancient saints and living Christian spiritual masters to worldwide audiences. |
(MMM) Arts Series
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A20-408 ***Arts Series Other Theme: Miri Hunter Haruach and Sheba's Caravan Miri Hunter Haruach, is a scholar, actor, and a singer/songwriter. She is currently adjunct professor in women’s spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, lecturer at Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, CA, and founder of Project Sheba. She is also past president of the AAR’s Western Region and presents at conferences around the world, speaking on topics such as women’s spirituality, diversity and multiculturalism, social activism, and various topics related to the Jewish and African diasporas. Her musical CD, based on the Book of Psalms, is entitled The Ways of Love. The song My Soul Will Be Restored, from that CD, was voted International Folk Song of the Year in 2007 by Toronto Exclusive Magazine. Haruach currently lives in Hollywood where she writes, performs, and teaches workshops on the wisdom of the Queen of Sheba and the Tree of Life. She also facilitates workshops and meditation groups on kundalini energy. Miri Hunter Haruach, is a scholar, actor, and a singer/songwriter. She is currently adjunct professor in women’s spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, lecturer at Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, CA, and founder of Project Sheba. She is also past president of the AAR’s Western Region and presents at conferences around the world, speaking on topics such as women’s spirituality, diversity and multiculturalism, social activism, and various topics related to the Jewish and African diasporas. Her musical CD, based on the Book of Psalms, is entitled The Ways of Love. The song My Soul Will Be Restored, from that CD, was voted International Folk Song of the Year in 2007 by Toronto Exclusive Magazine. Haruach currently lives in Hollywood where she writes, performs, and teaches workshops on the wisdom of the Queen of Sheba and the Tree of Life. She also facilitates workshops and meditation groups on kundalini energy. |
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A20-409 ***Arts Series Other Theme: Amalia Mesa-Bains: Circle of Ancestors The Circle of the Ancestors narrates through a circle of chairs eight historic moments through eight historic women our cultural genealogy as Chicanas. The circle refers to the arrangement of the eight chairs facing inward around a spiral of candles placed on the floor. The chair, as a metaphor of the body, recalls the suffering and sacrifice present in the lives of these women. At the same time the circle of chairs is a recalling of the intimacy and collective strength of women's lives in the home, in the fields, even in the Church. The eight figures refer to the ancient, the Mexican Cuatlique, and Coyolxauhui; the Virgen de Guadalupe; the colonial paintings, the Castas; the colonial nun and scholar Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz; the revolutionary woman soldier, Adelita and my own Abuelita (grandmother); the Chicana farm worker; the Pachuca/Chola and my First Holy Communion. The women represented in the chair altars offer us a circle of time where we remember our future, constructing for ourselves a spiritual and cultural genealogy as Mexicana/ Chicana women The Circle of the Ancestors narrates through a circle of chairs eight historic moments through eight historic women our cultural genealogy as Chicanas. The circle refers to the arrangement of the eight chairs facing inward around a spiral of candles placed on the floor. The chair, as a metaphor of the body, recalls the suffering and sacrifice present in the lives of these women. At the same time the circle of chairs is a recalling of the intimacy and collective strength of women's lives in the home, in the fields, even in the Church. The eight figures refer to the ancient, the Mexican Cuatlique, and Coyolxauhui; the Virgen de Guadalupe; the colonial paintings, the Castas; the colonial nun and scholar Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz; the revolutionary woman soldier, Adelita and my own Abuelita (grandmother); the Chicana farm worker; the Pachuca/Chola and my First Holy Communion. The women represented in the chair altars offer us a circle of time where we remember our future, constructing for ourselves a spiritual and cultural genealogy as Mexicana/ Chicana women |
(NNN) Pre-Conference Workshops
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A18-100 Overcoming Barriers to Underrepresented Scholarship: A Strategy and Action Workshop Sponsored by the Status of Women in the Profession Committee, Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, and the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
Despite more than four decades of feminist, antiracist, queer, and other insurgent scholarship, this work and the scholars who produce it still face many barriers in the academy. This strategy and action workshop will focus on developing a plan of action for overcoming these barriers. The morning session will feature a panel that will discuss barriers to and strategies for promoting and disseminating paradigm-shifting intellectual projects in the academy. In the afternoon, participants will work on developing concrete proposals for collective action that can be implemented within the AAR and home institutions. We do not want anyone to be prevented from attending the workshop due to cost. If you need a subsidy, please contact judith.plaskow@manhattan.edu. |
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A18-102 Religion and the Media Workshop — What’s Next for Texts: Scripting Religion in a Networked World In 2011, the AAR will not only be meeting concurrently with the SBL, it will be doing so near Silicon Valley, the global epicenter of the digital revolution. Taking its cue from this conjuncture, the workshop will ask, “What’s next for texts?” Although it might seem that the diffuse networks of the internet should have exploded the sacred book once and for all, “scripture” continues to shape the contemporary world in ways that are at once unexpected and determined by the textual past. To engage this newly digital world, still running on texts, we need to ask how texts work beyond their content. How do production, circulation, and appropriation of texts create communities and movements? How are texts taken up and mobilized by the communities that precede them? How can scholars, activists and media makers engage these new waves of digitization and what will such engagement do? In 2011, the AAR will not only be meeting concurrently with the SBL, it will be doing so near Silicon Valley, the global epicenter of the digital revolution. Taking its cue from this conjuncture, the workshop will ask, “What’s next for texts?” Although it might seem that the diffuse networks of the internet should have exploded the sacred book once and for all, “scripture” continues to shape the contemporary world in ways that are at once unexpected and determined by the textual past. To engage this newly digital world, still running on texts, we need to ask how texts work beyond their content. How do production, circulation, and appropriation of texts create communities and movements? How are texts taken up and mobilized by the communities that precede them? How can scholars, activists and media makers engage these new waves of digitization and what will such engagement do? |
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A18-200 Theatre as Pedagogy Workshop Sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Committee and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion
Participants will explore specific techniques (i.e., theatre games, improvisations, and writing exercises) to encourage students’ creative engagement with class content. The first part of the workshop introduces teachers to theatre techniques. The second part of the workshop focuses on how theatre can open up the experience of teaching and learning in religious and theological studies. This workshop will also be a time for learning about and practicing pedagogical methods that move beyond “learning from the neck up.” In this way this workshop will promote theatre as another part of our pedagogical repertoires, in ways that are integrally connected to course material and to critical thinking, speaking, and acting. The goals of this workshop are to: 1) Introduce the theories of the use of theatre as pedagogy; 2) Practice a variety of theatre techniques, with direct connections to religious and theological curriculum; 3) Explore the implications for building community within the classroom, in the larger campus and beyond (in internship courses, etc.); 4) Play critically and creatively with our own assumptions about teaching and who we are as teachers (Augusto Boal); 5) Create a learning community of teachers for an afternoon through the modeling of theatre games and improvisation; and 6) Reimagine the word and the world (Paulo Freire) and the possibilities for transformative classrooms. We will be exploring ways to link the teaching of course content with theatre pedagogies, to create multicultural learning communities, and to create transformative spaces in teaching and learning. Our facilitator is Victoria Rue, a popular workshop leader and the author of Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies (Pilgrim Press, 2005). Registration is limited to the first thirty participants. To register, send an e-mail to Tina Pippin at tpippin@agnesscott.edu. There is no cost for participants, but we ask for commitment to the full session. This workshop introduces teachers of religious studies and theology to the use of theatre as a pedagogical tool. The pedagogies of theatre have been largely underutilized both in theology and religious studies. Theatre and its techniques offer students methods to engage material by embodying it. While conventional teaching stresses analysis and critical thinking by lecture and class discussion, enactment offers somatic, kinesthetic learning. Participants will explore specific techniques (i.e., theatre games, improvisations, and writing exercises) to encourage students’ creative engagement with class content. The first part of the workshop introduces teachers to theatre techniques. The second part of the workshop focuses on how theatre can open up the experience of teaching and learning in religious and theological studies. This workshop will also be a time for learning about and practicing pedagogical methods that move beyond “learning from the neck up.” In this way this workshop will promote theatre as another part of our pedagogical repertoires, in ways that are integrally connected to course material and to critical thinking, speaking, and acting. The goals of this workshop are to: 1) Introduce the theories of the use of theatre as pedagogy; 2) Practice a variety of theatre techniques, with direct connections to religious and theological curriculum; 3) Explore the implications for building community within the classroom, in the larger campus and beyond (in internship courses, etc.); 4) Play critically and creatively with our own assumptions about teaching and who we are as teachers (Augusto Boal); 5) Create a learning community of teachers for an afternoon through the modeling of theatre games and improvisation; and 6) Reimagine the word and the world (Paulo Freire) and the possibilities for transformative classrooms. We will be exploring ways to link the teaching of course content with theatre pedagogies, to create multicultural learning communities, and to create transformative spaces in teaching and learning. Our facilitator is Victoria Rue, a popular workshop leader and the author of Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies (Pilgrim Press, 2005). Registration is limited to the first thirty participants. To register, send an e-mail to Tina Pippin at tpippin@agnesscott.edu. There is no cost for participants, but we ask for commitment to the full session. |
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A18-201 The Study of Religion as an Analytical Discipline Sponsored by the Critical Theory and Discourses on Religion Group, Sociology of Religion Group, SBL Bible and Cultural Studies Group, and the SBL Ideological Criticisms Group
Registration is free, but limited to the first 50 participants. To register, send an e-mail to Ipsita Chatterjea at ipsita.chatterjea@vanderbilt.edu. When the AAR and SBL meets concurrently this November, this preconference workshop will attempt to take advantage of this reunification and explore the possibility of creating a space in both organizations where those engaged in the study of religion as an analytical discipline can discuss the future of our work and develop cooperative long terms ties across the organizations. The sessions of the workshop will be devoted to assessing common ground, the current terrain of our part of the field, and will conclude with a discussion of the strategy we will employ to develop religious studies as an analytical discipline and renew our efforts to put forth analytically sound research. Registration is free, but limited to the first 50 participants. To register, send an e-mail to Ipsita Chatterjea at ipsita.chatterjea@vanderbilt.edu. |
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A18-202 Rethinking Islamic Studies Workshop — Gender, Sexuality, and Bodies in the Text Sponsored by the Islamic Mysticism Group and the Qur’an Group
In this workshop, eight scholars will lead discussions on reading gender, sexuality, and bodies in the classical sources. We will address matters such as historically-grounded readings of gender and sexuality in the Hadith; bodily representations of the Prophet’s wives in the Sira; gender and bodies in Sufi metaphysics and hagiography; the role Fatima’s esoteric body plays in theological and hagiographical sources; masculinity in Qur’anic accounts of the prophets and prophecy; and iconoclastic practices as they are embodied in the text of image, ritual action, and architecture. Each scholar will head a table focusing on a different topic and set of sources and discuss the methods — and even the salience — of reading gender, sexuality, and bodies in the sources. The cost for the workshop is $30, which includes the entire afternoon of sessions and a coffee break. Registration is limited to the first 75 participants. |
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A18-204 Sustainability Workshop — Teaching About Religion and Sustainability: The Animal Question Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force and the Animals and Religion Group
2:15 pm -3:15 pm: Central Topics in Animals and Sustainability Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University 3:15 pm - 3:30 pm: Break 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Teaching Animals, Religion and Sustainability Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College Laurel Kearns, Drew University Christine Gutleben, Humane Society of the United States 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm: Small Group Discussions, Selected Topics with Facilitators Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College David Clough, University of Chester Sara Tlili, University of Florida David Aftandilian, Texas Christian University 5:15 pm - 5:30 pm: Wrap-up – Idea Sharing, Follow-up A comprehensive bibliography will be given to all participants. The cost for the workshop is $40, which includes the entire afternoon of sessions and a coffee break. Registration is limited to the first 75 participants. 1:45 pm - 2:15 pm: Introductions and Small Group Icebreakers/Warm-up 2:15 pm -3:15 pm: Central Topics in Animals and Sustainability Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University 3:15 pm - 3:30 pm: Break 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Teaching Animals, Religion and Sustainability Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College Laurel Kearns, Drew University Christine Gutleben, Humane Society of the United States 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm: Small Group Discussions, Selected Topics with Facilitators Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Paul Waldau, Canisius College Laura Hobgood-Oster, Southwestern University Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College David Clough, University of Chester Sara Tlili, University of Florida David Aftandilian, Texas Christian University 5:15 pm - 5:30 pm: Wrap-up – Idea Sharing, Follow-up A comprehensive bibliography will be given to all participants. The cost for the workshop is $40, which includes the entire afternoon of sessions and a coffee break. Registration is limited to the first 75 participants. |
(OOO) Plenary and Presidential Addresses
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A19-138 Plenary Address Theme: Walking with the Unmourned “What is it that makes both talks and silences stained with shame? Sometimes the mind freezes and the heart goes on fasting: name, nation, identity, citizenship disappear. With every step, the world comes to the walker, and all around, on the immense screen of life, every event speaks.” In the dense jungle of events, doings, and happenings, history comes in interrelated fragments to be sniffed out, tracked, swallowed, held on, or vomited while walking for survival. The spirit of the walk has led the writer to a whole tradition of independent walkers in ancient Asia, at the same time as it provides her with a link to struggles around the world, more specifically to the transnational struggles of women in the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, China and Tibet. “What is it that makes both talks and silences stained with shame? Sometimes the mind freezes and the heart goes on fasting: name, nation, identity, citizenship disappear. With every step, the world comes to the walker, and all around, on the immense screen of life, every event speaks.” In the dense jungle of events, doings, and happenings, history comes in interrelated fragments to be sniffed out, tracked, swallowed, held on, or vomited while walking for survival. The spirit of the walk has led the writer to a whole tradition of independent walkers in ancient Asia, at the same time as it provides her with a link to struggles around the world, more specifically to the transnational struggles of women in the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, China and Tibet. |
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A19-404 Plenary Address Theme: Presidential Address -- Empire and the Study of Religion The academic study of religion emerged in the nineteenth century was shaped by the cultural imaginary of empire. How has this legacy impacted the field in today’s postmodern and postcolonial world? With the rise of China and other emerging markets and the shift of geopolitics, what will religious studies look like in the future? Kwok, author of the critically acclaimed volume Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology and editor of the award-winning book Hope Abundant: Third World and Indigenous Women’s Theology, will offer her reflections, drawing examples from the study of Christianity and Asian religious traditions. The academic study of religion emerged in the nineteenth century was shaped by the cultural imaginary of empire. How has this legacy impacted the field in today’s postmodern and postcolonial world? With the rise of China and other emerging markets and the shift of geopolitics, what will religious studies look like in the future? Kwok, author of the critically acclaimed volume Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology and editor of the award-winning book Hope Abundant: Third World and Indigenous Women’s Theology, will offer her reflections, drawing examples from the study of Christianity and Asian religious traditions. |
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A20-136 Plenary Address Theme: Envisioning the Study of Religion in the Twenty-first Century The panelists will offer, from different perspectives, their reflections on how the field of religious studies has changed during their career, some of the issues the field needs to address, the turns and twists in their own scholarship, the challenges and changing roles of the American Academy of Religion, and the visions and constraints for change in the study of religion in the United States and Europe. The panelists will offer, from different perspectives, their reflections on how the field of religious studies has changed during their career, some of the issues the field needs to address, the turns and twists in their own scholarship, the challenges and changing roles of the American Academy of Religion, and the visions and constraints for change in the study of religion in the United States and Europe. |
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A20-402 Plenary Address Theme: New Thoughts on Solidarity This lecture will consider the relationship between sexual and religious minorities in the context of the right to appear in public. Additionally, the lecture will address the affiliative meanings of queer in light of new efforts to separate queer politics from anti racist and anti colonial struggles. This lecture will consider the relationship between sexual and religious minorities in the context of the right to appear in public. Additionally, the lecture will address the affiliative meanings of queer in light of new efforts to separate queer politics from anti racist and anti colonial struggles. |
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A21-137 Plenary Address Theme: Lifetime of Learning In this plenary, Katie Geneva Cannon, a trailblazer in womanist thought and ethics and Judith Plaskow, a pioneer in Jewish feminist theology and religious thought, will discuss lessons gleaned from learning of a lifetime. Cannon’s books include Black Womanist Ethics, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, and Teaching Preaching: Isaac Rufus and Black Sacred Rhetoric. Plaskow is the author of Sex, Sin and Grace: Women’s Experience and the Theologies of Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, and The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics 1972-2003. In this plenary, Katie Geneva Cannon, a trailblazer in womanist thought and ethics and Judith Plaskow, a pioneer in Jewish feminist theology and religious thought, will discuss lessons gleaned from learning of a lifetime. Cannon’s books include Black Womanist Ethics, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, and Teaching Preaching: Isaac Rufus and Black Sacred Rhetoric. Plaskow is the author of Sex, Sin and Grace: Women’s Experience and the Theologies of Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, and The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics 1972-2003. |
(QQQ) Tours
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A18-203 ***Tours Other Theme: San Francisco City Tour The perfect introduction to the city of San Francisco...a fun-filled bus journey through the vibrant neighborhoods, such as North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, the Embarcadero, and historic areas of the City by the Bay. Some of the famous sights you will see on the tour may include Coit Tower, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, the Chinatown Gate, Transamerica Tower, Alamo Square — home to the famed Painted Ladies — the Ferry Building, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, where the tour will stop for a photo op. You will travel to Twin Peaks for panoramic views of the City and a chance to take group photos (weather dependent). Finally, if time permits, you will have a chance to explore Ghirardelli Square or Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf on your own. The perfect introduction to the city of San Francisco...a fun-filled bus journey through the vibrant neighborhoods, such as North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, the Embarcadero, and historic areas of the City by the Bay. Some of the famous sights you will see on the tour may include Coit Tower, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, the Chinatown Gate, Transamerica Tower, Alamo Square — home to the famed Painted Ladies — the Ferry Building, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, where the tour will stop for a photo op. You will travel to Twin Peaks for panoramic views of the City and a chance to take group photos (weather dependent). Finally, if time permits, you will have a chance to explore Ghirardelli Square or Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf on your own. |
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A18-205 ***Tours Other Theme: Swedenborgian Church Tour This on-site tour goes behind the scenes at the Swedenborgian Church, the first and only house of worship in San Francisco presently designated a National Historic Landmark. Built in 1895, the building's distinctive use of natural materials was a crucial forerunner for what became the west coast "Arts and Crafts" movement. The circle of artists, philosophers, and theologians behind the building's design included the noted architect Bernard Maybeck and the landscape painter William Keith. The tour will discuss these various fine arts contexts, as well as the importance of Swedenborgian theology for the building's nature aesthetics and their vital relation to early San Francisco environmentalism. An on-site reception (coffee, tea, finger sandwiches) will follow the tour in the church's historic Parish House. Sponsored and coordinated by the Swedenborgian House of Studies (Pacific School of Religion) and the Art and Religion Area Group at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. The tour is free of charge. Please contact Devin Zuber at dzuber@psr.edu to register or for more details. This on-site tour goes behind the scenes at the Swedenborgian Church, the first and only house of worship in San Francisco presently designated a National Historic Landmark. Built in 1895, the building's distinctive use of natural materials was a crucial forerunner for what became the west coast "Arts and Crafts" movement. The circle of artists, philosophers, and theologians behind the building's design included the noted architect Bernard Maybeck and the landscape painter William Keith. The tour will discuss these various fine arts contexts, as well as the importance of Swedenborgian theology for the building's nature aesthetics and their vital relation to early San Francisco environmentalism. An on-site reception (coffee, tea, finger sandwiches) will follow the tour in the church's historic Parish House. Sponsored and coordinated by the Swedenborgian House of Studies (Pacific School of Religion) and the Art and Religion Area Group at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. |
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A19-137 ***Tours Other Theme: Historic Castro District Explore a diverse neighborhood that you only thought you knew. You will walk through the area taking in the sights and sounds of the lively and ever-changing Castro/Eureka Valley neighborhood. What were once dairy farms and dirt roads is now one of the city’s most vibrant and cohesive communities, saturated with popular and stylish shops, restaurants, and bars. Some of the highlights of the Castro/Eureka Valley tour will include Harvey Milk Plaza, Pink Triangle Memorial Park, and the famous Castro Theatre. Those who wish may also tour the GLBT History Museum for an additional $5 admission fee. You will ride public transportation as a group to the Castro neighborhood. Explore a diverse neighborhood that you only thought you knew. You will walk through the area taking in the sights and sounds of the lively and ever-changing Castro/Eureka Valley neighborhood. What were once dairy farms and dirt roads is now one of the city’s most vibrant and cohesive communities, saturated with popular and stylish shops, restaurants, and bars. Some of the highlights of the Castro/Eureka Valley tour will include Harvey Milk Plaza, Pink Triangle Memorial Park, and the famous Castro Theatre. Those who wish may also tour the GLBT History Museum for an additional $5 admission fee. You will ride public transportation as a group to the Castro neighborhood. |
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A20-234 ***Tours Other Theme: Girls in Trouble and Contemporary Jewish Museum 736 Mission Street Leave the confines of the conference scene and take a short stroll over to the Contemporary Jewish Museum for an invigorating Sunday afternoon break of music, discussion, and contemporary Jewish culture. A concert by indie-folk-rock band Girls in Trouble blazes the way with their poetic interpretations of the inner worlds of biblical women. Lead singer, songwriter, poet, and fiddler Alicia Jo Rabins gives plangent voice to the stories of Judith, Tamar, Sotah, Chana, Bat Yiftach, and Miriam. Afterwards, SBL members Carol Bakhos (UCLA) and Alan Cooper (JTS) engage the artist in a discussion on midrash, biblical women, poetry, and music. Audience questions and comments are encouraged. After the discussion, registrants may tour the museum for free. Leave the confines of the conference scene and take a short stroll over to the Contemporary Jewish Museum for an invigorating Sunday afternoon break of music, discussion, and contemporary Jewish culture. A concert by indie-folk-rock band Girls in Trouble blazes the way with their poetic interpretations of the inner worlds of biblical women. Lead singer, songwriter, poet, and fiddler Alicia Jo Rabins gives plangent voice to the stories of Judith, Tamar, Sotah, Chana, Bat Yiftach, and Miriam. Afterwards, SBL members Carol Bakhos (UCLA) and Alan Cooper (JTS) engage the artist in a discussion on midrash, biblical women, poetry, and music. Audience questions and comments are encouraged. After the discussion, registrants may tour the museum for free. |
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A21-3 ***Tours Other Theme: Vedanta Society of Northern California Sponsored by the North American Hinduism Consultation
The Vedanta Society of Northern California was founded in 1900 by Swami Vivekananda. It is spiritually affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order, which today is considered to be one of the foremost important religious institutions in India. The New Temple, located at the corner of Fillmore and Vallejo Streets in San Francisco, is the Society’s headquarters. Dedicated in 1959, the New Temple houses a variety of activities. The Altar of the New Temple has been designed to represent, as fully as possible, the Vedantic concept of God. On the upper part is the Sanskrit word OM, which is looked upon as the word symbol of Divinity in all its aspects. Beneath OM are enshrined Lord Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Sri Ramakrishna. Also enshrined on the altar are Sri Sarada Devi, Ramakrishna’s first disciple, and Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna’s foremost apostle. |
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A21-237 ***Tours Other Theme: Sacred and Religious Sites of San Francisco The tour will visit a number of sites that reflect the religious diversity of San Francisco. We will travel by bus to First Chinese Baptist Church — organized in 1880 — a multigenerational bilingual bicultural church. We will then walk through Chinatown, stopping at two temples dedicated to the Empress of Heaven, Goddess of the Sea: 1) Tin Hou Temple, established in 1852, which is popular among Buddho-Daoist Chinese/Chinese Americans; and 2) Ma-tsu Temple, founded in 1986, which is based on a Taiwanese/Taiwanese American representation of the goddess that informs different ritual traditions. We will then reboard the bus for Misión San Francisco de Asís (better known as Mission Dolores), constructed in 1791 as a Franciscan mission intended to convert the native communities in the Bay Area. Today this Roman Catholic parish complex also includes a cemetery and basilica — completed in 1918. If time permits, we may explore one or two more sites in the Mission Dolores area. The tour will visit a number of sites that reflect the religious diversity of San Francisco. We will travel by bus to First Chinese Baptist Church — organized in 1880 — a multigenerational bilingual bicultural church. We will then walk through Chinatown, stopping at two temples dedicated to the Empress of Heaven, Goddess of the Sea: 1) Tin Hou Temple, established in 1852, which is popular among Buddho-Daoist Chinese/Chinese Americans; and 2) Ma-tsu Temple, founded in 1986, which is based on a Taiwanese/Taiwanese American representation of the goddess that informs different ritual traditions. We will then reboard the bus for Misión San Francisco de Asís (better known as Mission Dolores), constructed in 1791 as a Franciscan mission intended to convert the native communities in the Bay Area. Today this Roman Catholic parish complex also includes a cemetery and basilica — completed in 1918. If time permits, we may explore one or two more sites in the Mission Dolores area. |
(SSS) Sessions with a Focus on California
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A18-203 ***Tours Other Theme: San Francisco City Tour The perfect introduction to the city of San Francisco...a fun-filled bus journey through the vibrant neighborhoods, such as North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, the Embarcadero, and historic areas of the City by the Bay. Some of the famous sights you will see on the tour may include Coit Tower, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, the Chinatown Gate, Transamerica Tower, Alamo Square — home to the famed Painted Ladies — the Ferry Building, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, where the tour will stop for a photo op. You will travel to Twin Peaks for panoramic views of the City and a chance to take group photos (weather dependent). Finally, if time permits, you will have a chance to explore Ghirardelli Square or Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf on your own. The perfect introduction to the city of San Francisco...a fun-filled bus journey through the vibrant neighborhoods, such as North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, the Embarcadero, and historic areas of the City by the Bay. Some of the famous sights you will see on the tour may include Coit Tower, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, the Chinatown Gate, Transamerica Tower, Alamo Square — home to the famed Painted Ladies — the Ferry Building, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, where the tour will stop for a photo op. You will travel to Twin Peaks for panoramic views of the City and a chance to take group photos (weather dependent). Finally, if time permits, you will have a chance to explore Ghirardelli Square or Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf on your own. |
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A18-205 ***Tours Other Theme: Swedenborgian Church Tour This on-site tour goes behind the scenes at the Swedenborgian Church, the first and only house of worship in San Francisco presently designated a National Historic Landmark. Built in 1895, the building's distinctive use of natural materials was a crucial forerunner for what became the west coast "Arts and Crafts" movement. The circle of artists, philosophers, and theologians behind the building's design included the noted architect Bernard Maybeck and the landscape painter William Keith. The tour will discuss these various fine arts contexts, as well as the importance of Swedenborgian theology for the building's nature aesthetics and their vital relation to early San Francisco environmentalism. An on-site reception (coffee, tea, finger sandwiches) will follow the tour in the church's historic Parish House. Sponsored and coordinated by the Swedenborgian House of Studies (Pacific School of Religion) and the Art and Religion Area Group at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. The tour is free of charge. Please contact Devin Zuber at dzuber@psr.edu to register or for more details. This on-site tour goes behind the scenes at the Swedenborgian Church, the first and only house of worship in San Francisco presently designated a National Historic Landmark. Built in 1895, the building's distinctive use of natural materials was a crucial forerunner for what became the west coast "Arts and Crafts" movement. The circle of artists, philosophers, and theologians behind the building's design included the noted architect Bernard Maybeck and the landscape painter William Keith. The tour will discuss these various fine arts contexts, as well as the importance of Swedenborgian theology for the building's nature aesthetics and their vital relation to early San Francisco environmentalism. An on-site reception (coffee, tea, finger sandwiches) will follow the tour in the church's historic Parish House. Sponsored and coordinated by the Swedenborgian House of Studies (Pacific School of Religion) and the Art and Religion Area Group at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. |
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A19-3 ***Tours Other Theme: Muir Woods After a short ride from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, you will be awed by one of the most magnificent Redwood forests in the world — Muir Woods. Early winter is one of the best times to visit Muir Woods — the weather is cool and rainy; and Redwood Creek is full and melodious. You will travel by bus and have an opportunity to walk through the forest and explore this magnificent National Monument. Bring rain gear! After a short ride from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, you will be awed by one of the most magnificent Redwood forests in the world — Muir Woods. Early winter is one of the best times to visit Muir Woods — the weather is cool and rainy; and Redwood Creek is full and melodious. You will travel by bus and have an opportunity to walk through the forest and explore this magnificent National Monument. Bring rain gear! |
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A19-137 ***Tours Other Theme: Historic Castro District Explore a diverse neighborhood that you only thought you knew. You will walk through the area taking in the sights and sounds of the lively and ever-changing Castro/Eureka Valley neighborhood. What were once dairy farms and dirt roads is now one of the city’s most vibrant and cohesive communities, saturated with popular and stylish shops, restaurants, and bars. Some of the highlights of the Castro/Eureka Valley tour will include Harvey Milk Plaza, Pink Triangle Memorial Park, and the famous Castro Theatre. Those who wish may also tour the GLBT History Museum for an additional $5 admission fee. You will ride public transportation as a group to the Castro neighborhood. Explore a diverse neighborhood that you only thought you knew. You will walk through the area taking in the sights and sounds of the lively and ever-changing Castro/Eureka Valley neighborhood. What were once dairy farms and dirt roads is now one of the city’s most vibrant and cohesive communities, saturated with popular and stylish shops, restaurants, and bars. Some of the highlights of the Castro/Eureka Valley tour will include Harvey Milk Plaza, Pink Triangle Memorial Park, and the famous Castro Theatre. Those who wish may also tour the GLBT History Museum for an additional $5 admission fee. You will ride public transportation as a group to the Castro neighborhood. |
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A19-306 Religion and Politics Section and Religion Education in Public Schools: International Perspectives Group and Religion Education in Public Schools: International Perspectives Consultation Theme: Ethics, Religion, and Civil Discourse in California Public Education Civil discourse in response to increased religious diversity became a major concern of the National Endowment for the Humanities more than a year before the Ground Zero mosque controversy and shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucscon, Arizona. Nearby at California State University Fresno, a mosque attack and animosity directed towards undocumented college students added to a fearful climate. If part of the mission of public universities and public schools is to create safe places for civil discourse, then California educators need improved classroom tools for encouraging democratic participation and critical thinking about controversial issues. What are the key ethical concerns involved? How has fifty years of Religious Studies teaching prepared us for the challenges of increased diversity in 21st century California? Four CSU professors in Philosophy and Religious Studies invite AAR participants to contribute to a new NEH sponsored project. Civil discourse in response to increased religious diversity became a major concern of the National Endowment for the Humanities more than a year before the Ground Zero mosque controversy and shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucscon, Arizona. Nearby at California State University Fresno, a mosque attack and animosity directed towards undocumented college students added to a fearful climate. If part of the mission of public universities and public schools is to create safe places for civil discourse, then California educators need improved classroom tools for encouraging democratic participation and critical thinking about controversial issues. What are the key ethical concerns involved? How has fifty years of Religious Studies teaching prepared us for the challenges of increased diversity in 21st century California? Four CSU professors in Philosophy and Religious Studies invite AAR participants to contribute to a new NEH sponsored project. |
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A20-219 Contemporary Pagan Studies Group Theme: West Coast Pagan Practices and Ideas Papers will examine the influence of the “California cosmology” of Alston Chase, Theodore Roszak, Alan Watts, and others — together with feminism and environmentalism — on the growth of contemporary Paganism in the western United States and Canada. Papers will examine the influence of the “California cosmology” of Alston Chase, Theodore Roszak, Alan Watts, and others — together with feminism and environmentalism — on the growth of contemporary Paganism in the western United States and Canada. "Wish They All Could Be California Grrrls?": The Influence of California Women on the Goddess Movement and Neo-Paganism Starhawk, Z Budapest, Shekhinah Mountainwater, Charlene Spretnak, Vicki Noble, Ruth Barrett. These are some of the women who were living in California when they articulated their visions of Goddess spirituality, Witchcraft, and/or Neopaganism, and their influence is far wider than merely regional. Is it meaningful to speak of this group of women as having a unique influence specific to California? In this paper, I examine the influence of a handful of women living in California in the 1970s/1980s on how we practice and imagine Neopaganism today, and ask whether there is a Californian regional flavor to their writings and teachings. Building a California Bildung : Theodore Roszak's and Alan Watts's Contributions to Pagan Hermeneutics This presentation contends that California authors Theodore Roszak and Alan Watts provided crucial theoretical work that stimulated the development of an American 'Pagan Hermeneutic' as part of the larger emergence of Aquarian religion from the mid-part of the 20th century onward. Through challenging dogmatism in both institutional science and religion, they embraced a Romantic and Gnostic valorization of the "imagination" as a visionary power and method of knowing. The presentation sets their work in the context of Hans-Georg Gadamer's concept of the "*Bildung*," an expanding and playful education of human consciousness in relationship to the "Other." Re-riting Woman: Dianic Wicca Dianic Wicca is a women-only religion that invokes exclusively female concepts of the Divine. This exploration interrelates my four-year ethnographic study of the Dianics to the critical philosophical work of Luce Irigaray to elucidate the cultural significance of the divine imagined in female form. Irigaray’s critical analysis of Western culture provides a subtext of what is at stake in this practice. A religion that reflects the prescriptions of Irigaray’s earlier writings would have to entail Goddess spirituality in some form, and separatism. Dianic space offers women that elsewhere experience of women-among-themselves, able to express and create without patriarchal hindrance, a culture, religion, and identity of their own. Irigaray attempts to create an alternative, female-valuing symbolic system in her word-play and advocacy for “sexual difference,” whereas the Dianics effectively create an alternative symbolic — one which is created by, for, and is about a different valuation of women — through ritual practice. |
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A20-233 Queer Studies in Religion Group and Religion and Cities Group and Religion and Cities Consultation Theme: Queer Practices in San Francisco Investigations of queer religious practices that are specifically related to the city of San Francisco: 1.The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco between 1982 and 1997 explored strategies of theodicy that disrupted a social theodicy that understood HIV/AIDS as punishment of God for the sin of homosexuality. MCCSF’s strategies of theodicy culminated in the performance of the Body of Christ with AIDS. 2. Paul’s messianic politics, more specifically, his understanding of messianic sociality as it is articulated in his Letter to the Romans, is radically queer. The author explores implications of Paul’s messianic/queer sociality for a contemporary queer politics through further connections with Foucault, Bersani, and San Francisco bathhouses. 3. The last paper seeks to explain why ministers of the (San Francisco based) Buddhist Churches of America (Jodo Shinshu) were so quickly and consistently affirmative of same-sex weddings. A historian and archivist of GLBT San Francisco responds to the papers. Strategies of Theodicy in an Epidemic: Worship, HIV/AIDS, and the Intimacy of God at the Metropolitan Community Church, San Francisco Worship at the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco between 1982 and 1997 performed strategies of theodicy that disrupted the common social theodicy of the time, which understood HIV/AIDS as the punishment of God for the sin of homosexuality. Based on an extensive historical ethnography of worship and activism at MCCSF, this paper will focus on their deployment of an understanding of God as intimately involved in human lives, linked to human suffering through relational solidarity. It will also discuss the ways in which MCCSF’s performed theodicy that deconstructed the binary oppositionality of human suffering and God’s love through a strategy of simultaneity, revealing their constitutive interrelationality. Ultimately, these strategies of theodicy culminated in the performance of the Body of Christ with AIDS. Employing an understanding of worship as performed theology, this paper draws on Queer Theory, with its understanding of the performativity, as its methodological starting point. The Apostle Paul's "Queer Politics"? There is a rather significant tradition of interpretation that makes the apostle Paul responsible for homophobic, heterosexist, anti-body, and misogynistic thought. In fact, the aforementioned way of reading Paul may mark a point of agreement between those who support a queer world and those who do not support such a world. The general goal of this work, then, is to open (new) lines of communication between queer thinkers and Paul. In this paper it will be argued that Paul’s messianic politics, more specifically, his understanding of messianic sociality as it is articulated in his *Letter to the Romans,* is radically queer. It will be argued that Paul’s messianic politics is a queer politics because what is at stake is disinterested friendship or a mode of life that traverses differences in order to “come” together in love and in unexpected ways. This paper will conclude by exploring the implications of Paul’s messianic/queer sociality for a contemporary queer politics by connecting Saint Paul, Michel Foucault, Leo Bersani, and San Francisco bathhouses. "All Beings are Equally Embraced by Amida Buddha": Jodo Shinshu Buddhism and Same-Sex Marriage in North America Ministers of the Buddhist Churches of America began performing same-sex marriages in the early 1970s. These were among the very first religious ceremonies for same-sex couples performed in the modern era, regardless of location or religion. Since that time, the BCA and its sister organization the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii (HHMH) have become increasingly willing to take prominent public stands on behalf of such relationships/ceremonies. In this paper, I seek to explain why these particular Buddhist institutions, among all the other denominations in North America, were so quickly and consistently affirmative of same-sex weddings. My argument is that there are three factors in particular that must be attended to as fundamental contributing causes: their long-standing institutional practice of Buddhist weddings, sensitivity to minority rights due to a history of oppression by white Christians in America, and core egalitarian theological elements of Jodo Shinshu (the BCA/HHMH’s school of Buddhism). |
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A20-234 ***Tours Other Theme: Girls in Trouble and Contemporary Jewish Museum 736 Mission Street Leave the confines of the conference scene and take a short stroll over to the Contemporary Jewish Museum for an invigorating Sunday afternoon break of music, discussion, and contemporary Jewish culture. A concert by indie-folk-rock band Girls in Trouble blazes the way with their poetic interpretations of the inner worlds of biblical women. Lead singer, songwriter, poet, and fiddler Alicia Jo Rabins gives plangent voice to the stories of Judith, Tamar, Sotah, Chana, Bat Yiftach, and Miriam. Afterwards, SBL members Carol Bakhos (UCLA) and Alan Cooper (JTS) engage the artist in a discussion on midrash, biblical women, poetry, and music. Audience questions and comments are encouraged. After the discussion, registrants may tour the museum for free. Leave the confines of the conference scene and take a short stroll over to the Contemporary Jewish Museum for an invigorating Sunday afternoon break of music, discussion, and contemporary Jewish culture. A concert by indie-folk-rock band Girls in Trouble blazes the way with their poetic interpretations of the inner worlds of biblical women. Lead singer, songwriter, poet, and fiddler Alicia Jo Rabins gives plangent voice to the stories of Judith, Tamar, Sotah, Chana, Bat Yiftach, and Miriam. Afterwards, SBL members Carol Bakhos (UCLA) and Alan Cooper (JTS) engage the artist in a discussion on midrash, biblical women, poetry, and music. Audience questions and comments are encouraged. After the discussion, registrants may tour the museum for free. |
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A21-3 ***Tours Other Theme: Vedanta Society of Northern California Sponsored by the North American Hinduism Consultation
The Vedanta Society of Northern California was founded in 1900 by Swami Vivekananda. It is spiritually affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order, which today is considered to be one of the foremost important religious institutions in India. The New Temple, located at the corner of Fillmore and Vallejo Streets in San Francisco, is the Society’s headquarters. Dedicated in 1959, the New Temple houses a variety of activities. The Altar of the New Temple has been designed to represent, as fully as possible, the Vedantic concept of God. On the upper part is the Sanskrit word OM, which is looked upon as the word symbol of Divinity in all its aspects. Beneath OM are enshrined Lord Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Sri Ramakrishna. Also enshrined on the altar are Sri Sarada Devi, Ramakrishna’s first disciple, and Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna’s foremost apostle. |
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A21-136 ***Tours Other Theme: Edible Cityscapes — Religion, Justice, and Sustainable Food Culture Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force
Sponsored by the Sustainability Task Force This bus tour features leaders and community organizations working to bring fresh food to urban food deserts, to address global hunger and ecological degradation, and to educate children about gardening, cooking, and health. During site visits in Oakland and Berkeley, we will learn how committed community activists nourish a progressive, sustainable food culture in the East Bay Area, as well as contribute to international NGOs dealing with food security. The tour will include talks from and visits with local religious and secular leaders within these movements, who will share the specific religious and/or spiritual values and ethics that drive their sustainable food and policy activism. Itinerary: 9:30 am- 10:15 amMeet with Marilyn Borchardt, Development Director of Food First 10:30 am- 11:15 amMeet with Nikki Henderson, Executive Director of People's Grocery 11:30 am - 12:30 pmMeet with HuNia Bradley, Program Manager for Farm Fresh Choice, a program of the Ecology Center, and Wendy Johnson, Zen Buddhist teacher and master gardener involved with the College of Marin, Green Gulch Farm, and the Edible Schoolyard 12:30 pm- 1:00 pmReturn to San Francisco to be dropped off at the Moscone Center or at the San Francisco Ferry Building for a sustainable lunch *participants who elect to have lunch will be responsible for their own transportation after lunch. |
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A21-232 North American Hinduism Group and Yoga in Theory and Practice Group and Yoga in Theory and Practice Consultation Theme: Mother India Meets the Golden State: California Gurus and West Coast Yoga From the 1905 opening of “the first Hindu Temple in the Whole Western World” in San Francisco to the contemporary Hollywood yoga craze, California has been a privileged site for the creative fusion of Asian and Western religious and cultural horizons. This panel has two aims: first, to illuminate some of the key moments in the history of California that have shaped the assimilation of yoga and Hinduism in America, and second, to analyze some of the specific ways that yoga and the guru-disciple model have been transformed through a Californian lens. Exploring the translation of yoga into psychology, music, text, performing arts and the counter-culture, each paper will examine a particular intersection of place, time, religion and culture that has given birth to a new hybrid form of East-West spirituality with a distinctively Californian flavor. From the 1905 opening of “the first Hindu Temple in the Whole Western World” in San Francisco to the contemporary Hollywood yoga craze, California has been a privileged site for the creative fusion of Asian and Western religious and cultural horizons. This panel has two aims: first, to illuminate some of the key moments in the history of California that have shaped the assimilation of yoga and Hinduism in America, and second, to analyze some of the specific ways that yoga and the guru-disciple model have been transformed through a Californian lens. Exploring the translation of yoga into psychology, music, text, performing arts and the counter-culture, each paper will examine a particular intersection of place, time, religion and culture that has given birth to a new hybrid form of East-West spirituality with a distinctively Californian flavor. |
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A21-237 ***Tours Other Theme: Sacred and Religious Sites of San Francisco The tour will visit a number of sites that reflect the religious diversity of San Francisco. We will travel by bus to First Chinese Baptist Church — organized in 1880 — a multigenerational bilingual bicultural church. We will then walk through Chinatown, stopping at two temples dedicated to the Empress of Heaven, Goddess of the Sea: 1) Tin Hou Temple, established in 1852, which is popular among Buddho-Daoist Chinese/Chinese Americans; and 2) Ma-tsu Temple, founded in 1986, which is based on a Taiwanese/Taiwanese American representation of the goddess that informs different ritual traditions. We will then reboard the bus for Misión San Francisco de Asís (better known as Mission Dolores), constructed in 1791 as a Franciscan mission intended to convert the native communities in the Bay Area. Today this Roman Catholic parish complex also includes a cemetery and basilica — completed in 1918. If time permits, we may explore one or two more sites in the Mission Dolores area. The tour will visit a number of sites that reflect the religious diversity of San Francisco. We will travel by bus to First Chinese Baptist Church — organized in 1880 — a multigenerational bilingual bicultural church. We will then walk through Chinatown, stopping at two temples dedicated to the Empress of Heaven, Goddess of the Sea: 1) Tin Hou Temple, established in 1852, which is popular among Buddho-Daoist Chinese/Chinese Americans; and 2) Ma-tsu Temple, founded in 1986, which is based on a Taiwanese/Taiwanese American representation of the goddess that informs different ritual traditions. We will then reboard the bus for Misión San Francisco de Asís (better known as Mission Dolores), constructed in 1791 as a Franciscan mission intended to convert the native communities in the Bay Area. Today this Roman Catholic parish complex also includes a cemetery and basilica — completed in 1918. If time permits, we may explore one or two more sites in the Mission Dolores area. |
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A21-400 ***Films Other Theme: La Mission Sponsored by the Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Group
Growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco, Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) has always had to be tough to survive. He's a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Che's path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is gay. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, he'll have to embrace a side of himself he's never shown. |
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A21-401 ***Films Other Theme: We Were Here: Voices from the AIDS Years in San Francisco Sponsored by the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
Early in the epidemic, San Francisco’s compassionate, multifaceted, and creative response to AIDS became known as “The San Francisco Model”. The city’s activist and progressive infrastructure that evolved out of the 1960’s, combined with San Francisco’s highly politicized gay community centered around the Castro Street neighborhood, helped overcome the obstacles of a nation both homophobic and lacking in universal healthcare. In its suffering, San Francisco mirrors the experience of so many American cities during those years. In its response, The San Francisco Model remains a standard to aspire to in seeking a healthier, more just, more humane society. 2011 marks 30 years since AIDS descended. Like an unrelenting hurricane, the epidemic roiled San Francisco for two decades and only began granting some reprieve with medical advancements in the late 90s. The death years of AIDS left the City ravaged and exhausted, yet, as in most of the developed world, the worst seems past. Though thousands are still living with HIV, and new infections continue at an alarming rate, the relentless suffering of the 80s and 90s has given way to a kind of calm, and, understandably, a degree of willful forgetfulness. We Were Here utilizes San Francisco’s experience with AIDS to open up an overdue conversation both about the history of the epidemic, and the lessons to be learned from it. We Were Here documents the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. It offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and responded to, the onset of AIDS. It opens a window of understanding to those who have only the vaguest notions of what transpired in those years. It provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the way of medical care, social services, and community support. Early in the epidemic, San Francisco’s compassionate, multifaceted, and creative response to AIDS became known as “The San Francisco Model”. The city’s activist and progressive infrastructure that evolved out of the 1960’s, combined with San Francisco’s highly politicized gay community centered around the Castro Street neighborhood, helped overcome the obstacles of a nation both homophobic and lacking in universal healthcare. In its suffering, San Francisco mirrors the experience of so many American cities during those years. In its response, The San Francisco Model remains a standard to aspire to in seeking a healthier, more just, more humane society. 2011 marks 30 years since AIDS descended. Like an unrelenting hurricane, the epidemic roiled San Francisco for two decades and only began granting some reprieve with medical advancements in the late 90s. The death years of AIDS left the City ravaged and exhausted, yet, as in most of the developed world, the worst seems past. Though thousands are still living with HIV, and new infections continue at an alarming rate, the relentless suffering of the 80s and 90s has given way to a kind of calm, and, understandably, a degree of willful forgetfulness. We Were Here utilizes San Francisco’s experience with AIDS to open up an overdue conversation both about the history of the epidemic, and the lessons to be learned from it. |
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A22-123 North American Hinduism Group Theme: California Dreaming: South Asian Religions Encounter the Counterculture The three papers in this panel seek deeper understanding of the transmission of South Asian religions to the United States in the twentieth century, especially as these religions were refracted through the prism of California’s unique religious culture. Here at the edge of the continent, continual waves of migration over three centuries have prevented the consolidation of any one religion’s hegemony in the region. Sited at the intersection of the religious history of California and the study of South Asian religions in diaspora, our papers examine how the transmission and appropriation of Hinduism and Sikhism in California has been influenced by this legacy of religious pluralism and eclecticism. The papers examine how dialogic exchanges between South Asian Hindu and Sikh religious leaders and lay communities and Euro-American seeker-converts from the 1930s to the 1990s gave rise to exciting, and sometimes controversial, new conceptions of sacred space, community, and health. The three papers in this panel seek deeper understanding of the transmission of South Asian religions to the United States in the twentieth century, especially as these religions were refracted through the prism of California’s unique religious culture. Here at the edge of the continent, continual waves of migration over three centuries have prevented the consolidation of any one religion’s hegemony in the region. Sited at the intersection of the religious history of California and the study of South Asian religions in diaspora, our papers examine how the transmission and appropriation of Hinduism and Sikhism in California has been influenced by this legacy of religious pluralism and eclecticism. The papers examine how dialogic exchanges between South Asian Hindu and Sikh religious leaders and lay communities and Euro-American seeker-converts from the 1930s to the 1990s gave rise to exciting, and sometimes controversial, new conceptions of sacred space, community, and health. Utopian Settlements, Californian Vedanta, Huxley, Isherwood, and Friends My paper ties together two themes: the creation of utopian settlements and the creation of a perennial philosophy or neo-Vedanta in California. I begin with a consideration of Aldous Huxley’s last novel---*Island* (1962) completed shortly before his death – and argue that this novel is part and parcel of a larger landscape of spatiotemporal utopianism that includes California itself as an imagined site of limitless possibilities and experimentation, its mosaic of new religions and Asian movements, and counter-cultural settlements. In particular, my paper focuses on the participation of Aldous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood and others in the Vedanta Society of Southern California and the production of a perennial philosophy in their written work between the 1930s and 1960s, especially in the journal, *Vedanta and the West.* I also link this literary production to material place-making in Vedanta Centers in California (for example, through architecture and visual culture) in the same period. The Reception of Kundalini Yoga in California and Its Relation to Sikh Dharma/3H0 In 1968, Yogi Bhajan (Harbhajan Singh Puri) emigrated from Delhi to California and began teaching Kundalini Yoga, initially to Los Angeles-area hippies. He soon established the ‘Happy, Healthy, Holy’ (3HO) organization in California, which regards Kundalini Yoga as an essential spiritual practice. Following his direction, 3H0 members are also involved in relatively traditional Sikh beliefs and practices and they regard themselves as upholding orthodox Sikh Dharma. This paper will explore the possible connections of Kundalini Yoga to Sikhism in light of criticisms that have been raised against Yogi Bhajan: In what ways did the socio-cultural conditions of the 1960s in California contribute to the initial popularity of Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga and influence its development? What are the nature of the transformative processes and altered states of Kundalini Yoga? Are they related to Sikh ideals of spiritual transformation and liberation? Given its stress on Kundalini Yoga, should Sikh Dharma/3HO be considered an 'alternative' form of Sikhism? California Hinduism: The Shiva Lingam of Golden Gate Park, 1989–1994 Sometime in 1989, a Shiva lingam was spotted in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. By 1993, crowds of Indian-American Hindus, along with Buddhists, neo-pagan witches, and New Age enthusiasts, were drawn to the 4-1/2 foot high granite structure, once a traffic bollard abandoned in this neglected grove by city workers. The fate of this apparently spontaneous irruption of the sacred into public space resembles that of Hindu roadside shrines in India in its ability to vex the order-seeking conscience of public officials. But the story of its emergence and eventual relocation by the city to the art studio of a Euro-American seeker-convert, Michael Bowen aka Baba Kali Das, illuminates the complex dynamics of Hinduism in the Bay Area, where both South Asian Hindu immigrants and Euro-American seeker-converts have long laid claim to the tradition, and yet rarely interact. |
