Last week was a busy one with presentations, papers, show deadlines and just daily life. I did recieve the schedule for the Upper Midwest Regional AAR meeting which was a good reminder to get to work on the New Topographics and Catholicity project. I am thankful, and a little intimidated that I am presenting this year on the first day and first battery of sessions. Last time I presented I was the second to last paper on the last day. This week I will be trying to get a few posts back to these topics.2009 AAR SBL ASOR
Upper Midwest Regional Meeting
Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota
27-28 March 2009
FRIDAY
9:00-1:00 Workshop (Room 230)
“Teaching Native American Religions as a Matter of Fact”
Facilitators:
Michelene Pesantubbe, University of Iowa
Dennis Kelley, Iowa State University
11:00-1:00 SBL Graduate Student Seminar, “The Do’s and Don’t’s of Networking”
1:00-2:30 SBL Plenary Session:
Dr. Joel Kaminsky
“The Other in Late Biblical and
Early Rabbinic Texts”
(Auditorium)
2:45-4:15 First Sessions
4:15-4:30 Refreshment Break in the Atrium
4:30-6:00 Second Sessions
6:00-7:00 Reception in the Atrium
SATURDAY
8:00-9:30 Coffee, Juice and Rolls in the Atrium
9:00-10:00 AAR Plenary Session:
Dr. Frederick Denny
“Perceptions of Islam and Muslims: Scholarship and Public Opinion over the Past Four Decades”
(Auditorium)
10:15-11:45 Third Sessions
12:00-1:15 Buffet Lunch and Business Meetings
(Olsen Campus Center)
1:30-3:00 Joint AAR/SBL Discussion:
“Teaching Reflectively in Theological Contexts”
Presiders: Amy Marga and Karoline Lewis, Luther Seminary
Panelists:
Stephen Brookfield, University of St. Thomas
Rolf Jacobson, Luther Seminary
Mary E. Hess, Luther Seminary
David J. Lose, Luther Seminary
(Auditorium)
3:00-3:15 Refreshment Break in the Atrium
3:15-4:45 Fourth Sessions
All sessions are in Northwestern Hall unless otherwise indicated
WORKSHOP
Friday, 9:00-1:00
Workshop: Teaching Native American Religions as a Matter of Fact (Room 230)
Facilitators: Michelene Pesantubbe, University of Iowa and Dennis Kelley, Iowa State University
This workshop will address the complex issues informing the development of an introductory Native American religious traditions course. Selecting thematic approaches, tribal cultures, and religious practices or ideas will be covered. Participants are encouraged to bring to the workshop their own course syllabi to share.
FIRST SESSIONS
Friday, 2:45-4:15
Session 1: Christian Apocrypha
Presider: C.D. Elledge, Gustavus Adolphus College
A Fresh Look at Laodiceans
Richard Pervo, Independent Scholar
Jesus the Murder Victim: Appropriating Scripture in the Gospel of Peter’s Narrative of Deicide
Tim Henderson, Marquette University
From Meal to Morsel: An Anthropological Reading of Christian Eucharistic Practice in the First and Second Centuries C.E.
Cody A. Schmitz, University of Minnesota
Session 2: Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
Presider: Juan Miguel Betancourt, University of St. Thomas
Reversed (Chrono)Logical Sequence in Isaiah: Some Implications for the Redaction of the Book
Eric Ortlund, Briercrest Seminary
Creation Traditions in Isaiah 40-66: Their Origin and Purpose
Douglas T. Mangum, University of Wisconsin—Madison
The Prophetic Lineage of Penitential Piety
Dale Patrick, Drake University
Session 3: Systematic Theology/Philosophy of Religion
Presider and Respondant: Paul Capetz, United Theological Seminary
“Resurrecting the Analogia Entis Debate?: A Response to John R. Betz”
Ry O. Siggelkow, University of St. Thomas
Gordon Kaufman vs. Karl Marx?: Alienation, Re-presentation, and the Commodification of Theology
Michael Andres, Northwestern College (Iowa)
“Religious Experience and its Metaphysical Foundation: A Necessary Connection”
Brian Pizzalato, Diocese of Duluth and Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, UK
Session 4: Religion, Arts and Culture: Logos, Place and Embodiment
Presider: Philip Stoltzfus, University of St. Thomas
Benedictus contra Dionysus: Music and Logos in Dialogue with Joseph Ratzinger
J. Andrew Edwards, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto
Places of Memory: Philip Sheldrake and the New Topographic Legacy
Ryan Stander, University of North Dakota
Deforming and Reforming Beauty: Disappearance and Presence in the Theo-Political Imagination of Ricardo Cinalli
Kimberly Vrudny, University of St. Thomas
Session 5: Native American Religions
Presider: Dennis Kelley, Iowa State University
Representing Religion: Media Portrayal of the 1890 Ghost Dance
Sarah Dees, University of Iowa
Indigenous Knowledge Documentation Project (IKDO): The Morrison Sessions
Mark F. Ruml, University of Winnipeg
Reflections of Self: Presentations of the “Other” in the Early Modern Period
Ezra Plank, University of Iowa
Session 6: Historical Perspectives on Religion
Presider: Jim Kroemer, Marquette University
Three Contradictory Portrayals of Lady Jane Gray
Sherry Jordan, University of St. Thomas
Friends of Violence: Early Quaker Persecutions in England
Kari Thompson, University of Iowa
The German Christians in Print, 1933-45
Mary M. Solberg, Gustavus Adolphus College
Session 7: Undergraduate Session #1
Presider: Bruce Forbes, Morningside College
NEED TITLE
Nicky Kerr, Graceland University
NEED TITLE
Maria Bady, University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh
Blood Theology: Race as Religion in the Contemporary Pagan Movement
Laura Jan Jones, University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire
Session 8: Open Session
Presider: Lawrence H. Williams, Luther College
Natural Childbirth as Icon in an Iconoclastic Culture
Susan Windley-Daoust, St. Mary’s University of Minnesota
Religion as a Source of Emotional and Material Support
Darin Mather, University of Minnesota
The Theological and the Political in an Era of Globalization: With Reflections on Ethics, Theology and Kant
Hans Gustafson, Claremont Graduate University
SECOND SESSIONS
Friday, 4:30-6:00
Session 1: New Testament: Gospel Studies
Presider: Dan Scholz, Cardinal Stritch University
The Metanarrative Hermeneutic as the Understanding for an Ecclesial Theology
Ross Manders, Bethel University
The Cardiography of Biblical Narrative
Karl Kuhn, Lakeland College
Where has Yahweh Gone? Reclaiming Unsavory Images of God in New Testament Studies
James A. Metzger, Luther College
Session 2: Early Judaism and Judaic Studies
Presider: Michael Wise, Northwestern College
NEED TITLE
Jessica L. Tinklenberg de Vega, Morningside College
According to the Brothers: First-person Narration in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Brian O. Sigmon, Marquette University
Naturally Unnatural? Women in Midrash
Sarah Imhoff, University of Chicago
Session 3: Systematic Theology/Philosophy of Religion
Presider and Respondant: Paul Capetz, United Theological Seminary
“The Bible and Mikhail Bakhtin's Philosophy of Polyphony. Towards a Non-Authoritarian and Trinitarian Theology of Scripture”
Sorle S. Hovdenak, Luther Seminary
Figural Time: Christian Figural Reading and the “Reciprocal Interiority” of Past, Present and Future
Matthew Gerlach, University of St. Thomas
“Maturity is Salvation”: The Will to Power in the Theological Ethics of Paul Lehmann
Christopher Holmes, Providence Theological Seminary
Session 4: Greek and Roman Religion
Presider: Philip Sellew, University of Minnesota
Thucydides’ Rationalizing Idea of Miasma in Book II of His History
Matthew Briel, University of Minnesota
Sacred Texts, Salvation, and the Derveni Papyrus in Light of Traditional Greek Religion
Justin J. Buol, University of Minnesota
Eternity and Divinity in Early Christian Philosophy
Daniel Lloyd, Marquette University
Session 5: Religion, Gender and Sexuality
Presider: C. Neal Keye, The College of St. Scholastica
(Body)Image is Everything: Reflections on Female Faith Identity from the Stories of Gender Project
Claire Bischoff, Emory University
Revisiting the Nicene Creed: A Feminist Perspective
Thomas Jackson, Luther Seminary
The Theopolitics of Motherhood: Deborah’s Song, Hannah’s Prayer, and Mary’s Magnificat as Responses to the ‘Other ’Mothers
Vicki Gaylord, Independent Scholar
Session 6: Religion and Science: History and Perspectives
Gregory Peterson, South Dakota State University
Wolfgang Pauli, Carl Jung, and the Acasual Connection Principle: A Case Study in Transdisciplinarity
Charlene P.E. Burns, University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire
Social Darwinism, Racism, and a Theology of the Human Person
Marguerite L. Spencer, University of St. Thomas
Revisiting Explanation and Description in Religion and Science
Steven Lee, University of Wales Lampeter
Session 7: World Religions: Comparison, Conversation and Character
Need Presider
The Confucian Junzi and Global Ethics
Douglas P. Green, Independent Scholar
The Challenge of Chan 'Encounter Dialogue' Literature to the Speech Act Theory of Questions
Nathan Eric Dickman, University of Iowa
Comparative Theology and Its Possibilities in Three Moments
Peter Feldmeier, University of St. Thomas
Session 8: Undergraduate Session #2
Presider, Lori Brandt Hale, Augsburg College
A Question of Guilt: Religious Reaction to National Wrong in Postwar Germany
Jennifer Gonsalves, Concordia College—Moorhead
A Need to be a Little Less Luther-an: Luther, Jews and Contemporary Responses
Abby Ferjak, Augsburg College
Holding God to Account: The Anti-Theodicies of Job and Elie Wiesel
Katherine Chatelaine, St. Olaf College
NEED TITLE
Charles Buehler, Augustana College
THIRD SESSIONS
Saturday, 10:15-11:45
Session 1: New Testament
Presider: Juan Hernandez, Bethel University
An Ironic Turn of “paradidomi”: Defining “His People” in Matthew 1:21
InHee Cho, Concordia University College of Alberta
Following a Trail of Bread Crumbs: A Study of Intertextuality
D. Mark Davis, Heartland Presbyterian Church
Forty Days and Forty Nights: The Gospel of Matthew (4: 1-11) and the Scriptures of Israel
Daniel M. Gurtner, Bethel Seminary
Session 2: Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
Presider: David Penchansky, University of St. Thomas
Breaking the Baqbuq as Ritual Analogy: A Prophetic Action in Jeremiah 19 and its Ancient Near Eastern Context
Katherine S. D. Brink, University of Chicago
Birds of a Feather? The Doves of Genesis 15 in Light of Leviticus
Paul G. Monson, Marquette University
Rhetorical Reversal and Usurpation: Isaiah 10:5-34 and the Use of Neo-Assyrian Royal Ideology in the Construction of Anti-Assyrian Theology
Michael Chan, Luther Seminary
Session 3: Systematic Theology/Philosophy of Religion
Presider and Respondant: Courtney Wilder, Midland Lutheran College
Bondage, Lights, and the Good News: The Need for Proclamation in the Bondage of the Will
Erick Thompson, Lutheran School of Theology—Chicago
"On the Limits of an Ecumenism of Convergence: The Role of Anthropology in Gerhard Ebeling's Rejection of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification"
Scott Celsor, Marquette University
Reinhard Hütter’s Concrete Catholicity: Sic et Non
Kimlyn Bender, University of Sioux Falls
Session 4: Religions of North America
Presider: Murphy Pizza, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee
The Varieties of Ultimate Concern at Jonestown and Waco
Dan Morris, University of IowaViolent Communication and the Limits of Tolerance
Ryan T. O’Leary, University of Iowa
The Future from Your Point of View: Science Fiction and the Limits of Exemplary Dualism in Our Approach to New Religious Movements
Douglas FitzHenry Jones, University of Iowa
Session 5: Conversation with Frederick Denny
Presider: Bruce Forbes, Morningside College
Session 6: Historical Perspectives on Religion
Presider: Jim Kroemer, Marquette University
“Obeyed Like a God”: A Case Study on Rhetorical Violence in 19th Century Anti-Mormon Novels
Peter J. Yoder, University of Iowa
Revivalism and Social Concern: An Examination of Charles G. Finney’s Involvement in the 19th Century Abolitionist Movement
Rebecca Meier-Rao, Marquette University
An American Catholic Response to Racism and Discrimination
Anthony M. Bonta, Marquette University
Session 7: Teaching the Bible and Religion
Presider: Karoline Lewis, Luther Seminary
Bible School for Public School Teachers: Biblical Scholarship, Teacher Training, and the Teaching of the Bible in Public Schools
Nathan Raybeck, University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign
Service Learning as Tool in Teaching Benedictine Values: A Case Study
Suzanne Hequet, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University
Seminary Secrets: How Foundationalism, Faith Stage, and “God Genes” Affect Students’ Reactions to Scholarly Analysis of Scripture
Julie Black Harder, Independent Scholar
Session 8: Undergraduate Session #3
Presider: Jessica L. Tinklenberg de Vega, Morningside College
Gnosticism in the Johannine Prologue
Amanda R. Morrow, Morningside College
Abraham’s Seed and the Hermeneutical Agility of the Apostle Paul
Justin Pannkuk, Northwestern College (Iowa)
NEED TITLE
Holly Pederson, Simpson College
FOURTH SESSIONS
Saturday, 3:15-4:45
Session 1: New Testament
Presider: Juan Hernandez, Bethel University
The God of Glory in the Johannine Prologue (1:1-18):Narrative Symmetry as the Sculpting Tool for John’s Christology
Scott Hamley, Bethel Seminary
An Earthly Entity: Trans-(local)-church Unity in Ephesians
Ross Jahnke, Bethel Seminary
Rene Girard’s Mimetic Theory in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians
Eric Vanden Eykel, Marquette University
Session 2: Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
Presider: Michael Chan, Luther Seminary
Beauty, Power and Attraction: Aesthetics and the Hebrew Bible
David Penchansky, University of St. Thomas
Two High Priesthoods? Evidence for Changes in the Priesthood from First to Second Temple
David J. Larson, Marquette University
Weeping as They Went: The Implications of Viewing 2 Sam. 15: 23-30 as a Literary Unit
Juan Miguel Betancourt, University of St. Thomas
Session 3: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Religion
Presider: Jim Kroemer, Marquette University
St. John Chrysostom and His Message of Social Justice for Us Today
Joel Cassady, St. John’s University
The People vs. The Mice: Animal Ethics that Worked
Rebecca Proefrock, Lutheran School of Theology—Chicago
The Contemporary Black Church and Economic Development
Lawrence H. Williams, Luther College
Session 4: Religion, Arts and Culture: Religious and Cultural Intersections in the Multicultural Midwest
Presider: Kimberly Vrudny, University of St. Thomas
Magical Children, Meddling Elders: Paradoxical Patterning in Contemporary Pagan Cultural Transmission
Murphy Pizza, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee
“We Dance So That the People Will Live”: Modernity, Tradition and Cultural Performance in the Contemporary Intertribal PowWow
Dennis Kelley, Iowa State University
Intersections of Filipino Culture, Ritual, Theology, and Symbols of Resistance in Anton Juan’s Plays El Flamenco Senaculo and Golgotha Theresa Mason, Independent Scholar
Session 5: Ethics
Need Presider
Conscientious Objection: Judging Which Beliefs and Convictions Count
Joan Henriksen Hellyer, Mayo Clinic/Luther College
“Why Should I Care?”: Responding to the Genocide in Darfur
Stephen Pattee, St. Mary’s University, Minnesota
Ethics as Lived Faith: Bonhoeffer’s Changing Forms of Political Involvement as Personal Faith Responses
David M. Gides, Christian Brothers University
Session 6: Religion and Science: Science, Theology and Scripture
Glen Enander, South Dakota State Univeristy
The Monism-Dualism Debate Regarding Humanity: Handling the Data of the Bible
Douglas S. Huffman, Northwestern College (Minnesota)
The Scriptures and Science: The Value of the Bible in a Science-Dominated World
Vincent M. Smiles, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University
Science and the Eternal Clarity of Scripture—Basic Issues
Dennis Bielfeldt, South Dakota State University
Session 7: Undergraduate Session #4
Presider: Elna Solvang, Concordia College—Moorhead
Mother Teresa: Abandoned by God or Model of Markan Discipleship?
Logan Richman, Concordia College—Moorhead
NEED TITLE
Jennifer Lind, University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire
NEED TITLE
Ashley Anderson, Augustana College
Session 8: Religion and Ecology
Presider: Marguerite Spencer, University of St. Thomas
Beyond Ecocentrism: Examining Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic Through a Theological Lens
Jeff Reed, St. John’s School of Theology
Global Warming and the Ethics of Virtue
Nancy Menning, University of Iowa
Vaishnava Ecology: Lessons for the Future from an Ancient Faith
Virajita Singh, University of Minnesota
Plenary Speakers:
Dr. Joel Kaminsky teaches courses on the Hebrew Bible and on ancient Jewish Religion and Literature in the Religion Department at Smith College where he also Co-Directs the Program in Jewish Studies. Kaminsky received his doctorate in 1993 from the University of Chicago and came to Smith College in 1997 after teaching at a number of other institutions including: St. Olaf College, Muhlenberg College, Whitman College, and Loyola University of Chicago. Professor Kaminsky was a Visiting Fellow in the Durham University Department of Theology and Religion in 2006, as well as serving as a Visiting Associate Professor at Yale Divinity School in 2007. His research interests include narrative and theological analysis of the Hebrew Bible as well as an abiding fascination with Rabbinic techniques of biblical interpretation. He is the author of two books and one co-edited collection of essays and has published a number of articles and many book reviews in various scholarly journals. His most recent book, Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election (Abingdon Press, 2007) examines the idea of chosenness in the Hebrew Bible, and explores how this central and pervasive idea both unites and divides Jews and Christians.His first book Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995) explored the topic of intergenerational punishment.
His next independent project will be a theological commentary on Judges for the OTT series being published by Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Frederick Denny is Professor Emeritus of Islamic Studies and the History of Religions at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Among his many publications, two of the most widely recognized are the college textbook An Introduction to Islam (3rd edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005) and his work as lead editor for the second edition of the Atlas of World Religions (Oxford University Press, 2007), succeeding the late Ninian Smart who edited the first edition. Denny earned degrees from the College of William and Mary and Andover Newton Theological School, with an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a Certificate in Advanced Arabic Studies from the American University of Cairo. His lifetime of teaching has included appointments at Colby-Sawyer College, Yale College, the University of Virginia, and Colorado (Boulder), plus Fulbright-sponsored teaching in Indonesia and Malaysia, through which he has observed, supported, and nurtured the development of a new generation of Islamic scholars. Denny also has been fully involved in responsibilities within the American Academy of Religion, serving eleven years on the AAR’s national board, as president and regional director of the Rocky Mountain Great Plains Region, and in extensive committee service to the profession.
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