The American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) will be co-hosting their annual meeting just down the road in San Antonio, Texas! These conferences bring together faculty, students, authors, publishers, religious leaders, and others interested in religious studies to present new ideas, engage in scholarly dialogue, and connect with colleagues. This year, several graduate students from across subfields will be representing UT Austin and the Department of Religious studies. Be sure to check out their presentations!
Adeline Harrington — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“What are Apocrypha Worth? The Cost of Books in Christian Oxyrhynchus” in the Papyrology Unit. Monday, November 22 at 9:00 AM in room 006D (River Level) – San Antonio Convention Center.
Caroline Crews — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“Wisdom for Women: A Reader-Response Interpretation of the Berlin Codex (P. Berol. 8502)” in the Christian Apocrypha Unit. Monday, November 22 at 1:00 PM (virtual).
Daniel Charles Smith — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“Can We Read John of Patmos as a Ritual Expert of a Judean Cult?” in the John’s Apocalypse Unit. Saturday, November 20 at 4:00 PM in room CC-304B.
Respondent for the Senses, Cultures, and Biblical Worlds Unit. Tuesday, November 23 at 11:05 AM (virtual).
Gary Wallin — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“‘The Temple Processions Will Be Few’: Priests and Crisis in the Potter’s Oracle” in the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Unit. Sunday, November 21 at 4:05 PM in room 304B – San Antonio Convention Center.
Jeff Wilson — Religions in History
“On the Field of Dharma, the Field of Hypertime: The Mahābhārata and Its Ontological Dominant” in the Religion and Science Fiction Unit. Sunday, November 21 at 5:00 PM in room 225D – San Antonio Convention Center.
L. Nelson Leonard — Religion in Society
“Welcome to the Club! Using the Clubhouse Platform for Digital Ethnography” in the Sociology of Religion Unit. Monday, November 22 at 12:00 PM (virtual).
In addition to these graduate students, several members of our faculty will also be representing UT Austin and the Department of Religious studies. Learn more about their sessions!
Dr. Brent Landau — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Presiding, “Christian Apocrypha” session in the Apocalypses and Christian Apocrypha Unit. Saturday, November 20 at 1:00 PM in room 301B – San Antonio Convention Center.
Dr. Jonathan Schofer — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“Divine Forgiveness and Human Action in Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:15” in the Twenty-First Century Approaches to the Study of Midrash Unit. Monday, November 22 at 3:05 PM in room 005 – San Antonio Convention Center
Dr. Geoffrey S. Smith — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“Coptic Papyrus Fragments from Philippians 1 and 2 in the Chester Beatty Library (Pap 1009)” in the Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds Unit. Monday, November 22 at 4:00 PM in room 007A (River Level) – San Antonio Convention Center
Dr. Steven J. Friesen — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
“Labors of the Saints at Work, at Home, in the Assembly, and on the Road: Paul’s Jerusalem Collection” in the Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament and Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy (co-hosted) Unit. Monday, November 22 at 1:00 PM in room 210 – San Antonio Convention Center
Presiding, “The Affect of Objects I” session in the Archaeology of Religion in the Roman World Unit. Sunday, November 21 at 1:00 PM in room 217B – San Antonio Convention Center.
Dr. Ashley Coleman Taylor — Religion in the Americas
“‘Life and Life Beyond’: Women, Itutu, and Fluid Ancestrality in Fahamu Pecou’s Work” in the African Diaspora Religions Unit. Friday, November 19 at 12:30 PM (virtual).
“Atlanta Is a Sea of Bones: Memory, Sacred Space, and Black Queer Social Place” in the Queer Studies in Religions Unit. Monday, November 23 at 5:00 PM (virtual).
Dr. Oliver Freiberger — Religion in History
Presiding, “The Spiritual Genius of the Guru and the Rabbi” session in the Comparative Studies in Religion Unit. Sunday, November 21 at 12:30 PM (virtual).
Dr. Steven Friesen — Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Presiding, “Archaeology of Religion in the Roman World” Unit. Sunday, November 21st at 1:00 PM room 217B – San Antonio Convention Center
“Labors of the Saints at Work, at Home, in the Assembly, and on the Road: Paul’s Jerusalem Collection” in the Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament / Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy Unit. Monday, November 22 at 135 PM in room 210 – San Antonio Convention Center
Dr. Jennifer Graber — Religion in the Americas
“(Re)Inventing American Religion from around the Empire” in the North American Religions Unit. Saturday, November 20 at 5:00 PM (virtual).
“The Pathological and Religion in North America” in the North American Religions Unit. Monday, November 23 at 9:00 AM (virtual).
Dr. Mallory Matsumoto — Religion in the Americas
“Tracking Wahy: Distribution of a Classic Maya Concept in Text and Iconography” in the Indigenous Religious Traditions, Native Traditions in the Americas, and Religions in the Latina/o Americas (Co-Sponsored) Unit. Saturday, November 20 at 5:00 PM (virtual).
Dr. Martha Newman — Religion in History
Presiding, “The Place of the Premodern in Religious Studies” session in the Religion in Premodern Europe and the Mediterranean Unit. Sunday, November 21 at 3:00 PM (virtual).
Presiding, “Religious Negotiations with Natural Philosophy: Astrology, Magic, and Aristotle” session in the Religion in Premodern Europe and the Mediterranean and Western Esotericism (co-sponsored) Unit. Monday, November 22 at 3:00 PM in room 221A – San Antonio Convention Center.
Dr. Chad Seales — Religion in the Americas
“The Gospel According to Bono: A Critical Conversation Around Neoliberal Religion” in the Religion and Popular Culture Unit. Friday, November 19 at 6:00 PM (virtual).
