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SBL E-Newsletter               February 20, 2014

Annual Meeting Call for Papers Deadline
Careers Outside the Professoriate
CFP-Bible in American Life
New journal on the Karaites of Eastern Europe
SBL Green Open Access Policy
ICI Volunteer Opportunities
Calendar of Events

 
 

Annual Meeting Call for Papers Deadline

The call for papers period closes at 11:59 PM (23:59) Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5) on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Program unit chairs will review and decide upon proposals by Wednesday, April 2. Dates, policies, and best practices are available in the requirements for meeting participation.

Careers Outside the Professoriate

In addition to information about the jobs posted with SBL, which tend to be faculty positions, we also want to provide members with resources for pursuing other types of employment. Such career opportunities go by many names (“alt-ac”, “post-ac”, “non-ac”) and awareness of and information about them has grown significantly in recent years. One notable source is the VersatilePhD website. The site claims “a strong no-flaming policy, [which] makes VPhD one of the few places on the web where you can express doubt, confusion or vulnerability and be confident that you will receive help and compassion, not snark.” Premium content is provided through a number of higher education institutions and includes access to hiring success stories, career autobiographies, and archived panel discussions. Even if you are not at such an institution, the site will provide you with a number of resources. The list of resources continues to grow, as does the community the site serves. We look forward to any feedback you may have about VPhD and related sources, as we continue to serve our members and address the career-related issues that they face.

Call for Papers: “The Bible in American Life” Conference, 6-9 August 2014

The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis welcomes individual paper proposals on the topic of the Bible in American Life. Focusing on how Americans past and present have used the Bible in their daily lives, the conference will be interdisciplinary in nature, with scholars offering analyses from historical, cultural, sociological, and theological approaches, among others. The culmination of a three-year study, the conference will have as its touchstone The Bible in American Life Report, which will be released in February 2014. This report offers sociological data about the role of the Bible in the daily lives of Americans. Please consult the Call for Papers at http://www.raac.iupui.edu/events/call-papers-bible-american-life-conference/.

New Journal on the Karaites of Eastern Europe

The Karaite Archives journal was founded in 2013 by a group of European and Israeli scholars. It is dedicated to the languages, literature and history of the Karaites in Poland, Ukraine, Russia and other East-European countries. Detailed information on the contents of the first issue and subscriptions is available on this website: www.karaitearchives.amu.edu.pl

SBL Green Open Access Policy

The SBL has established the following policy for authors of journal articles, book reviews, and book essays who wish to make their SBL-published work digitally available on a personal or institutional website and in an institutional repository. The policy specifies the circumstances under which authors may make available SBL-published material on the Internet and notes any limitations on the distribution of such material.
More Info

New Year's Resolutions?

If one of your resolutions for the new year was to become more involved in SBL, opportunities abound with the International Cooperation Initiative (ICI). Please visit the web page to explore the many ways you can use your expertise to foster biblical scholarship globally.

Calendar of Events

Submit your events to Sharon Johnson

Click here for full calender



February 2014
2/23-2/24 Jewish Origins: New Insights & Scholarship
The roots of contemporary Judaism in the 2nd Temple period and late antiquity, with presentations by Steven Fine, Charlotte Fonrobert, Robert Goldenberg, Erich Gruen, Christine Hayes, Martha Himmelfarb, Ruth Langer, Adele Reinhartz, Seth Schwartz, and James VanderKam. Event Will take place at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL.
More information or contact Frederick Greenspahn
2/28 Call for Papers Deadline - Matthew Henry: The Bible, Prayer, and Piety
A conference at the University of Chester, 14th-16th July 2014
To commemorate the tercentenary of the death of Matthew Henry (22 June 1714) and his 25-year ministry in Chester (1687–1712), the University of Chester, in collaboration with Chester Cathedral Library and the University of Manchester, is holding an interdisciplinary conference (14th–16th July 2014) to bring together historians, biblical scholars, and theologians to explore the work, context, and legacy of Matthew Henry, especially as it relates to his engagement with and use of Scripture. With keynote lectures from Prof. Clyde Binfield, Dr Ligon Duncan, Dr David Wykes, and Prof. Jeremy Gregory, this conference will not only offer a fresh opportunity to appreciate Henry’s ministry within the local context of Chester, it will also evaluate Henry in a wider historical context, and consider his contribution to the interpretation of the Bible in the early 18th century and its legacy up to the present day.
For further information and booking, see the listing under July 2014.

Proposals for 25-minute papers are invited on any aspect of Matthew Henry’s context, life and work, or reception, including but not limited to:
• Religion and dissent in 17th- and 18th-century England (particularly Cheshire and Lancashire);
• Use of the Bible in the 17th and 18th centuries;
• The reception and impact of Matthew Henry’s work;
• The Bible and prayer in the 17th and 18th centuries;
• Matthew Henry’s contribution to Christian spirituality and prayer.

We welcome contributions from both senior and junior scholars with interests in the history of the period and the reception of the Bible. Abstracts of not more than 300 words, together with the name and institutional affiliation of the proposer should be sent to MatthewHenry@chester.ac.uk by 28th February 2014.
March 2014
3/2 Deadline- Visiting Scholars and Ministers Fellowships
Bridwell Library of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University is accepting applications for the 2014-2015 Visiting Scholars and Ministers Fellowships. Six one-month fellowships, including a $3000 stipend, will be awarded. The program is open to all active scholars from Ph.D. students to retired professors, and to religious leaders of all faiths.
Deadline for applications is March 2, 2014. Awards will be announced by March 17, 2014. For more information see: http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/About/BridwellFellowships or call 214-768-3483; or e-mail: bridadmin@smu.edu
3/14 Call for Papers: The Bible in American Life Conference
The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis welcomes individual paper proposals on the topic of the Bible in American Life. Focusing on how Americans past and present have used the Bible in their daily lives, the conference (6-9 August 2014 in Indianapolis) will be interdisciplinary in nature, with scholars from various perspectives offering analyses from historical, cultural, sociological, and theological approaches, among others.
Thanks to a generous grant from Lilly Endowment, the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture will cover travel, lodging, and food expenses related to the conference. Additionally, authors will receive a $1000 stipend for participation in the project.
The culmination of a three-year study, the conference will have as its touchstone The Bible in American Life Report, which will be released in February 2014. This report, the result of survey questions on both the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study III, offers sociological data about the role of the Bible in the daily lives of Americans. Conference papers need not interact with the report directly, but we encourage proposals that consider some of the report’s findings in their larger historical, cultural, sociological, or theological contexts.
The Bible in American Life Project seeks to provide the first large-scale investigation of the Bible in American life. It is driven by the recognition that though the Bible has been central to Christian practice throughout American history, many important questions remain unanswered in scholarship, including how people have read the Bible for themselves outside of worship, how denominational and parachurch organizations have influenced interpretation and application, and how clergy and congregations have influenced individual understandings of scripture. These questions are even more pressing today as denominations are losing much of their traditional authority, technology is changing people’s reading and cognitive habits, and subjective experience is continuing to eclipse textual authority as the mark of true religion.
We welcome proposals for papers (20-25 minutes) that focus on some aspect of Americans’ reading and use of scripture outside formal worship services. Papers that complement one another and expand on the historical and cultural understandings of the report will be published in a collected volume. Paper proposals must include a general overview of the argument and evidence to be presented in no more than three pages and a short CV (3 pages). Deadline for receiving proposals is March 14, 2014. Proposals should be sent electronically to raac@iupui.edu; please use “Bible in America” as the subject heading.
 More information 
3/19-3/22 Archaeology: Rewriting Early Christian History-Westar Institute Spring 2014 Meeting 
In the past thirty years archaeologists have helped to rewrite the history of the first Jesus movements and emerging Christianity in the Roman World. How does this affect working models of the development of Christianity? And what are the cultural repercussions today? Program Highlights:
• New Discoveries at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee – Jodi Magness
• Ossuaries and the Burials of James and Jesus – Jodi Magness
• Damned Nation – Kathryn Gin Lum
• What can Archaeology tell us about Christian Origins? – Milton Moreland
• Re-Imagining Christian Origins – L. Michael White
• Christianity Seminar
To see the full program, visit http://www.westarinstitute.org/national-meetings/spring-2014-meeting/.
Westar staff can be contacted with questions at 503-375-5323 or westar@westarinstitute.org.
3/30-4/1 Philo's Readers: Affinities, Reception, Transmission and Influence
Conference will be held at the Maurice R. Greenberg Conference Center at Yale University.
Our conference will center around the Jewish philosophical exegete, Philo. A member of the Jewish elite in early Roman Alexandria, Philo explored the meaning of Torah by uniting Second Temple interpretations and traditions with a Greek philosophical orientation. Philo's interpretations, interpretive strategies, and philosophical explanations provide us with a glimpse into ancient Judaism, particularly the world of Alexandria in the first century CE. This conference will situate Philo in his geographical, philosophical, and ideological context, looking for affinities and precursors in other ancient texts. But Philo does not just offer a glimpse into the past. He also provided a framework and a collection of hermeneutical tools that would prove invaluable to future readers. This conference will thus examine Philo's reception and influence, particularly among Jewish and Christian readers.
More information
April 2014
4/1 Call for Submissions: Practical Matters
Practical Matters is now seeking submissions on the theme of Worship, Ritual and Theory. Practical Matters is an online, multimedia, transdisciplinary journal designed to ask and provoke questions about religious practices and practical theology. Practical Matters is funded by a grant from the Lilly Foundation, Inc. and is supported by Candler School of Theology and the Emory University Graduate Division of Religion. The journal contains both peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed content.

Issue 7 of Practical Matters will be published in three installments—May, August and December of 2014. The submission deadlines will be April 1st for consideration in May, July 1st for consideration in August and November 1st for consideration in December.
 More information 
4/3- 4/5 Material Philology and the Dead Sea Scrolls: New Approaches for New Text Editions
The Dead Sea Scrolls hold a unique position in ancient Mediterranean literature because of the old age of the manuscripts. The bulk of the material has become available to the public both in print and electronically, and a massive interest is taken in reconsidering and developing the theoretical and methodological basis of Dead Sea Scrolls Studies. This conference is initiated because there is a need for up to date, usable text editions for specialists and non-specialists of tomorrow. It is organized by the Qumran Initiative, University of Copenhagen, in cooperation with the project “Biblical Texts Older than the Bible,” University of Agder. See the invitation and call for papers here.
4/11- 4/12 The Prophetic Voice at Qumran and Contemporary Communities
The Leonardo Museum in downtown Salt Lake City has been chosen to host a major exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls entitled, “Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times,” November 22, 2013 — April 27, 2014.

In connection with the conclusion of the exhibit, the museum is hosting an academic conference, “The Prophetic Voice at Qumran and Contemporary Communities.”

The conference is co-sponsored by the Religious Studies Center and the Evans Professor of Religious Understanding at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. We plan to publish the conference proceedings.

For more information, email Dana M. Pike (please put DSS Conference in the subject line)
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