When the world’s largest gathering of scholars interested in the study of religion gathers virtually November 29 – December 10, members of the Perkins and SMU communities will be well-represented. The 2020 Annual Meetings, hosted by the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature, were originally scheduled to take place in Boston, but moved online due to COVID-19.
Organizers say the virtual format will expand access for members without funding or resources to attend an in-person meeting, including international participants, and will allow possibilities for both synchronous (live) and asynchronous (recorded) participation.
Perkins faculty and SMU Graduate Program in Religious Studies (GPRS) students are scheduled to speak, preside or serve as panelists at more than a dozen events during the gathering. They include:
Monday, November 30
S30-108
Theme: Midrash at the Nexus of Other Texts and Traditions
Monday, November 30, 2020 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Kelsey Spinnato, Southern Methodist University
The Character of Abram in the Book of Jubilees
A30-105
Theme: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time (Shambhala, 2020)
Monday, November 30, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Ruben L. F. Habito, Southern Methodist University, Panelist
A30-112
Theme: 25 Years On: Re-Imagining, Expanding, Enriching Nancy Eiesland’s “The Disabled God” (Abingdon Press, 1994)
Monday, November 30, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Lisa Hancock, Southern Methodist University
Moving Beyond *The Disabled God*: Christology in Disability Theology
A30-304
Theme: Participation and Life in God
Monday, November 30, 2020 – 4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Natalia Marandiuc, Southern Methodist University, Presiding
Tuesday, December 1
S1-101
Theme: Bible and Visual Art
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Susanne Scholz, Southern Methodist University
Reading the Reference to Lot’s Wife as an “Unknown Women’s Monument”: A Study of Yehuda Levy-Aldema’s Artworks on Gen. 19:26
P1-303
Theme: Contemplative Practices and Religious Experiences: Buddhist-Christian Perspectives
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 – 4:00 PM-6:30 PM
Ruben L. F. Habito, Southern Methodist University, Presiding
Wednesday, December 2
S2-114/A2-109
Theme: Joint Session with AAR Evangelical Group – “The Intersection of Bible
and the United States 2020 Politics”
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 – 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Marie Purcell, Southern Methodist University
A Battle between Good and Evil: Ethnographic Reflections on the Election from First Baptist Dallas
A2-112
Theme: Women with 2020 Vision: Boston and the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, Southern Methodist University, Presiding
Thursday, December 3
A3-107
Theme: The Business of Asceticism during the Long 1st Millennium CE
Thursday, December 3, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Johan Elverskog, Southern Methodist University
No-Self, Money, and Status
A3-109
Theme: Accountability at the Intersections of Theology and Ethnography
Thursday, December 3, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Marie Purcell, Southern Methodist University
“But You Love Jesus, Right?”: Ethnographic Accountability Across Polarized Worldviews
A3-110
Theme: Drag, Ballroom, Celibacy, and BDSM: LGBTQ Religious Histories, Rituals, and Public Performances
Thursday, December 3, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Meghan Beddingfield, Southern Methodist University
Ritualistic Rupture: Transgression, BDSM Piercing Practices, and a Sense of Community
A3-111
Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Unit and Religions in the Latina/o Americas Unit
Business Meeting
Thursday, December 3, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Ángel Gallardo, Southern Methodist University, Presiding
Monday, December 7
S7-105
Theme: Human Violence in the Hebrew Bible, Early Jewish Writings, and the New Testament
Monday, December 7, 2020 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Susanne Scholz, Southern Methodist University
Exploring Interpretations of Biblical Rape Texts with the Inter(con)text of the Public Discourse on the Coronavirus Pandemic
P7-205
Theme: Ethnic Chinese Biblical Studies in the Context of COVID-19
Monday, December 7, 2020 –1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Sze-kar Wan, Southern Methodist University, Panelist
A7-208
Theme: Kierkegaard, the Problem of Patriarchy, and Related Social Ills, Part 1
Monday, December 7, 2020 –1:45 PM to 3:15 PM
Natalia Marandiuc, Southern Methodist University
Can Queer Feminism Save Kierkegaard from Charges of Patriarchy?
Tuesday, December 8
M1-03
Theme: Puzzles in Science-Engaged Theology (New Visions in Theological Anthropology)
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Natalia Marandiuc, Southern Methodist University, Panelist
Wednesday, December 9
S9-110
Theme: Review of Matthew Thiessen, Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism (Baker 2020)
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Abraham Smith, Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University, Presiding
S9-112
Theme: Women in the Biblical Legal Codes
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Kelsey Spinnato, Southern Methodist University
Ruth and the Interpretation of Biblical Law
Wildcard Session
Theme: Making Sense of/from the 2020 US Election
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 – 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Ángel Gallardo, Southern Methodist University, Panelist
S9-201
Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 –1:00-3:00 PM
April Hoelke Simpson, Southern Methodist University
The Gods and (Dis)Honor: The Relationship between Divinely Caused Suffering and Honor in Metamorphoses, Callirhoe, and Mark
A9-312
Theme: Women Making Religion: Identity, and Transnational Activism
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 – 4:00 PM-6:00 PM
Tamara Lewis, Southern Methodist University, Presiding