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SBL e-Newsletter
January 17, 2012 e-newsletter
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Publications

Journal of Biblical Literature

New Submission Policy: Beginning in January 2012, SBL is requesting that all manuscript submissions to JBL be sent electronically. Hardcopy submissions will no longer be accepted.
Download the updated instructions for authors for more information.

JBL 130.4 has been published and includes the following articles:

Echoes of Gilgamesh in the Jacob Story
Esther J. Hamori

The Origin and Interpretation of ṣāra'at in Leviticus 13–14
Joel S. Baden and Candida R. Moss

Lions, Serpents, and Lion-Serpents in Job 28:8 and Beyond
Scott C. Jones

The History and Linguistic Background of Two Hebrew Titles for the High Priest
Noam Mizrahi

Paul, the Goddess Religions, and Queer Sects: Romans 1:23–28
Jeramy Townsley

An Unworthy Foe: Heroic Ἔθη, Trickery, and an Insult in Ephesians 6:11
Jeffrey R. Asher

The Usefulness of an Onesimus: The Sexual Use of Slaves and Paul's Letter to Philemon
Joseph A. Marchal

Were the Early Christians Sectarians?
Eyal Regev

Apocalypticism or Prophecy and the Problem of Polyvalence: Lessons from the Gospel of Thomas
Stephen J. Patterson

New from SBL Publications
The Ahhiyawa Texts
Gary M. Beckman, Trevor R. Bryce, and Eric H. Cline
Paper $34.95 • 320 pages • ISBN 9781589832688 • Writings from the Ancient World 28

International Meeting

This is a friendly reminder that the call for papers period will end February 1, 2012. Remember to submit your proposals to the program units listed here. Please note the details about participation, registration, and membership for the 2012 meeting, which are available here.

The program schedule has been emended slightly this year to address some of the concerns you have voiced through the years. The new schedule is as follows.

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Morning sessions with coffee break from 10:15 – 10:45 AM
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Special, plenary sessions
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM Afternoon sessions with coffee break from 4:15 – 4:45 PM

Attendees will note the later starting time and the fact that special sessions have been moved from the evening into the early afternoon. We hope to bolster attendance at all sessions, while providing ample time for travel, meals, and other plans throughout the meeting. Please plan your schedule accordingly, noting that sessions typically involve two 75-minute parts, which are separated by a 30-minute "Coffee and Colleagues" break. The break ensures that we are all able to see colleagues, browse the Exhibit Hall, and—of course—imbibe our recommended daily allowance of caffeinated beverages.

The European Association of Biblical Studies, Oudtestamentish Werkgezelschap in Nederland en België, Society of Biblical Literature, and Society for Old Testament Study are pleased to be collaborating for this international congress that will be hosted by the Universiteit van Amsterdam July 22-26, 2012.

Registration and Housing for the International Meeting will be available online by the end of January. An email will be sent to all SBL members when registration opens.

Membership and Subscriptions

MEMBERSHIP: Optional Profile Winners: Every month, we randomly select two members from the pool of those who have filled out the Optional Profile for a free one-year membership. The January 2012 winners are:

Geoffry Hall
Thomas P. Osborne

As our privacy policy indicates, we will never divulge information from your profile to a third party. Thank you to all of you who have supplied this optional data. If you have not yet filled in the information (or you would like to update it), you may do so by logging into our website with your SBL Member number and going to the "my profile" tab, which will appear on the left hand side of the screen in the box where you logged in. While you are filling out the Optional Profile, please make sure all of your profile information is up to date!

SUBSCRIPTIONS: The Journal of Biblical Literature is the flagship journal of the field. It is published quarterly and includes scholarly articles and critical notes by members of the Society. Essential reading for over a century, it is now available online and in print.

In order to receive the printed first issue of 2012 (131:1) of the Journal of Biblical Literature your subscription and payment must be received no later than February 15, 2012. The subscription form can be found at: http://sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/JournalSubscriptions.pdf .

You can print the form, fill it out and mail it with your payment or payment information to 825 Houston Mill Road, Suite 350 Atlanta , GA 30329. Or, you can fax it to 404-727-2419. If you prefer you can renew your subscription online by logging into the website at http://www.sbl-site.org/membership/joinnow.aspx and following the directions.

Announcing the SBL Travel Grants Program!

The SBL Travel Grants offer opportunities to current SBL members to attend the Annual Meeting, participate in the program, enhance their professional development, and build their network with fellow scholars. These grants help facilitate the work of Program Units, the International Cooperation Initiative ("ICI"), the Status of Women in the Profession Committee, the Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, and other SBL Committees representing scholars in the field. These grants are intended to support underrepresented and underresourced scholars. As such, preference will be given to women, ethnic/racial minorities, and members from ICI-qualifying countries. A key criterion is an applicant's demonstrable financial need.

Two of the four Travel Grants ($2,000.00 each) will be offered to members whose proposals have been accepted by a Program Unit and have demonstrated that the work of the unit and the field will be enhanced by that member's participation. The other two grants ($1,000 each) will be given to members who have never attended an Annual Meeting. The Society will provide lodging (one room, single or shared) for four nights and complimentary meeting registration. The grants defray transportation, hotel accommodations, and other expenses incurred for the Annual Meeting.

More information, including the Travel Grant application, is available on the SBL website here.

Society Fund

Thank you for your contributions to the Society Fund. We look forward to working with you in 2012!

International Cooperation Initiative

SBL is pleased to announce that Wiley-Blackwell has become a partner in the ICI Online Books program. Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world's leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. The addition of Wiley-Blackwell titles to the Online Books depository will be of great benefit to students and scholars in ICI-qualifying countries. For more information about Wiley-Blackwell, visit their web site. See information about the SBL's ICI programs here.

Six titles were added to the Online Books depository in December:

Hidary, Richard. Dispute for the Sake of Heaven: Legal Pluralism in the Talmud. Brown Judaic Studies 351. Providence: Brown Judaic Studies, 2010.

O'Hare, Daniel M. "Have You Seen, Son of Man?": A Study in the Translation and Vorlage of LXX Ezekiel 40–48. Septuagint and Cognate Studies 57. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.

Reymond, Eric D. New Idioms within Old: Poetry and Parallelism in the Non-Masoretic Poems of 11Q5(=11QPsa). Early Judaism and Its Literature 31. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011.

Rollston, Christopher A. Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age. Archaeology and Biblical Studies 11. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010. This book is the 2011 winner of the Frank Moore Cross Award presented by the American Schools of Oriental Research.

Runia, David T. and Gregory E. Sterling, eds. The Studia Philonica Annual: Studies in Hellenistic Judaism, Volume XXII (2010). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.

Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth and Kent Harold Richards, eds. Transforming Graduate Biblical Education: Ethos and Discipline. Global Perspectives on Biblical Scholarship 10. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.

McCormick Theological Seminary Appoints New President

McCormick Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the inauguration of its 10th president, the Rev. Dr. Frank Masao Yamada. The inauguration will take place on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10am at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. The inauguration will be preceded by activities centered on the inaugural theme, The View from 2040: The Futures of Theological Education, including an education and service partnership event addressing immigration reform and refugee rights and a panel discussion featuring diverse and distinguished leaders in the academy and church. More information can be found online at www.mccormick.edu/inauguration

Jobs

See full job listings

New Teaching Initiative

Syllabus, a new peer-refereed journal, intends to provide an outlet for recognition and support to faculty who excel in teaching. It will publish original course syllabi, essays, and shorter "tool box" entries. All are subjected to blind peer review.

Calendar

Click here for full calender



January 2012
1/18 Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible
The Manifold Greatness project, marking the 400th anniversary of the 1611 King James Bible, is jointly produced by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, and the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, with assistance from the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Traveling program opens in Brownsville, Texas and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
More information
1/23 - 1/27 A program of ongoing training at the Pontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute begins a program of ongoing training for researchers in, and teachers of, Sacred Scripture in Faculties of Theology and other institutions of learning.
More information
1/27 Deadline: Call for Papers
For the first annual conference of Hekhal: The Irish Society for the Study of the Ancient Near East
Hekhal is an academic association established by four graduates and postgraduates of Trinity College Dublin. The society's primary aim is to facilitate rigorous research in Ireland in the fields of Biblical Studies, Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Archaeology and Historiography, towards a more comprehensive understanding of the Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern worlds and their texts.

The conference title is "The Other Temples". The role of the temple cult is extremely important for Judaism despite Deuteronomic centralisation never being fully realised. As such, other Jewish temples may offer a fruitful area for discussing the development of Judaism in the Ancient Near East. We are therefore calling for papers dealing with temple ideology and its material culture in the context of temples other than the one in Jerusalem, whether those be real ones such as Elephantine, Leontopolis or Gerizim, or conceptual ones like the Qumran Yahad or the new Jerusalem in Revelation. The committee would hope to receive submissions on topics as diverse as diaspora Judaism, early Christianity, Qumran, early Samaritan studies, and any other historiographic and/or archaeological fields of research referencing these paradigms.

We invite abstracts of under 500 words to reach us by email no later than 27 January 2012. Late submissions will not be considered. Abstracts for presentation shall be selected by peer review. The committee intends to publish the proceedings within a peer-reviewed and edited volume. Contributors should therefore only submit abstracts for publishable, original work. Abstracts should be emailed to: hekhal.dublinia@gmail.com

More information on the Society
1/28 Deadline: Call for Papers
"Religion in Pieces" An Interdisciplinary Conference Sponsored by the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University, April 27-29th, 2012

The quest to determine the contours and contents of ancient religion has always been a largely constructivist endeavor, subject to the exigencies of preservation. How do we, in our respective fields, approach the problem of fragmentary evidence? How do we construct such elusive categories as "belief" or "ritual" or "praxis" from an insufficient, scattered, or occasionally inscrutable base of primary source materials?

The Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions seeks papers for a conference to be held at Brown University, April 27-29th 2012, on the topic, "Religion in Pieces." In keeping with the society's broad interests in religions of the Mediterranean basin over the great chronological expanse from prehistory to late antiquity, we seek contributions from scholars in the fields of Classics, Ancient History, Religious Studies, Archaeology, Near Eastern Studies, Egyptology, and Art History. We are particularly interested in papers that present case studies in reconstructing religious practice from fragmentary evidence, or which problematize or lay out the methodological challenges inherent in constructing religion from a paucity of sources. Relevant subfields include (but are not limited to) papyrology, codicology, archaeology, and textual studies of fragmentary or poorly attested sources; especially welcome are transdisciplinary papers which synthesize a variety of textual, archaeological, and art historical and/or material culture sources.

We invite abstracts from 250-500 words, accompanied by a curriculum vitae, to socamr@gmail.com. Deadline for submission is midnight of January 28th, 2012. Participants will be contacted with an invitation to participate by the beginning of March, 2012.
1/31 Call For Papers:  In Sickness and in Health: Theology, Medicine, and Care for the Whole Person:
A conference at Villanova University inVillanova, PA to be held October 1, 2012 .
More information
February 2012
2/6 Ancient Near Eastern Temples: Form, Function, Symbolism
13 Shevat 5772, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva

For further information contact Victor Hurowitz by email or phone 08-6461036
2/10- 2/12 The SBL Midwest Regional Meeting
Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL
More information
2/13- 2/14 Digital Humanities Workshop
The Program in Judaic Studies in collaboration with the Brown University Library's Center for Digital Scholarship is pleased to announce plans for a two-day workshop devoted to investigating the ways in which the digital humanities has or can change the study of religion in antiquity. The workshop will take place on February 13-14, 2012, at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

We invite proposals for papers and presentations that explore the intersection of ancient religion and the digital humanities. We are particularly interested in presentations of projects that have the potential to open up new questions and avenues of research. Can digital tools not only allow us to do our work faster and more thoroughly but also enable entirely new kinds of research? How might different digital data (e.g., textual, geographic, and material culture) be used together most productively? The workshop will concentrate primarily on research rather than directly on pedagogy or scholarly communication. One session will be devoted to "nuts and bolts" issues of funding and starting a digital project.

The focus of the workshop will be on the religions of West Asia and the Mediterranean basin through the early Islamic period. Proposals relating to other regions, however, will also be considered.

More and updated information 
2/15 Call for Papers Deadline
The 2012 European Association of Biblical Studies Graduate Symposium will bring together PhD candidates and post doctoral researchers from a variety of subfields relating to biblical studies. The symposium will be held in Hamburg, Germany. As always, senior scholars will attend the event. In 2012, EABS president Jorunn Økland (University of Oslo) and Dr Diana Edelman (University of Sheffield) are going to attend. There will be a joint session with graduate students from the University of Alberta, organised with Professor Ehud Ben Zvi. The format of the event is a small, residential gathering, which will allow for extended discussion, networking, and in-depth feedback. Graduates are invited to present a paper, run a workshop session, lead a round-table discussion or use any other format they see fit to present their topic.
Candidates should submit their abstracts of no more than 300 words to f.uhlenbruch@derby.ac.uk no later than February 15th, 2012. Please mention the preferred format in the abstract (i.e. paper, workshop, pre-circulated paper, discussion etc.) and whether you are going to need a 30 minute or a 45 minute time slot. More information
2/24 Third Annual Charles Coil Lecture
M. Patrick Graham, Emory University, will present two lectures (8:30am, 1:00pm) on the subject "Studies in the Books of Chronicles" on the campus of Heritage Christian University in Florence, Alabama.
More information..
2/28 Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible
The Manifold Greatness project, marking the 400th anniversary of the 1611 King James Bible, is jointly produced by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, and the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, with assistance from the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Traveling program opens in Austin, Texas; Holland, Michigan; Kennewick, WA; and Mobile, Alabama.
More information
March 2012
3/1 Deadline: Call for Papers
"Paul's Letter to the Galatians & Christian Theology", University of St Andrews' Fourth Triennial Scripture & Theology Conference St Andrews, Scotland. Conference date: 10-13 July
We invite proposals for short papers that relate Galatians to Christian theology and culture including: Galatians and Art; Christian Doctrine; Ethics; The Hisotry of Interpretation; Eschatology; Jewish and Christian Readings of Galatians. Abstracts of not more than 300 words should be sent to galatians@st-andrews.ac.uk.
See keynote speakers list under the conference July entry.
 More information >>>

3/2-3/4 SBL Southeastern Regional Meeting
Atlanta Marriott Century Center Atlanta, Georgia
More information
3/9- 3/11 SBL Southwestern Regional Meeting
Marriott Hotel, DFW Airport North, Irving, Texas
More information
3/15- 3/16 SBL Mid Atlantic Regional Meeting
Hyatt Regency New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
More information
3/16-3/19 Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society
Boston, Massachussetts, Omni Parker House Hotel
More information
3/18- 3/19 SBL Central States Regional Meeting
St. Louis Marriott West St. Louis, Missouri
More information
3/22-3/23 SBL Eastern Great Lakes Regional Meeting
Quality Inn & Suites, Richfield, Ohio
More information
3/23- 3/24 SBL Rocky Mnts - Great Plains Regional Meeting
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
More information
3/24-3/26 SBL Pacific Coast Regional Meeting
Santa Clara University Santa Clara, California
More information
3/30 - 4/1 2012 European Association of Biblical Studies Graduate Symposium
Hamburg, Germany
The event will bring together PhD candidates and post doctoral researchers from a variety of subfields relating to biblical studies. As always, senior scholars will attend the event. In 2012, EABS president Jorunn Økland (University of Oslo) and Dr Diana Edelman (University of Sheffield) are going to attend. There will be a joint session with graduate students from the University of Alberta, organised with Professor Ehud Ben Zvi. The format of the event is a small, residential gathering, which will allow for extended discussion, networking, and in-depth feedback. Graduates are invited to present a paper, run a workshop session, lead a round-table discussion or use any other format they see fit to present their topic.
More information
April 2012
4/27 SBL New England Regional Meeting
Andover-Newton Theo. School, Newton Centre, MA
More information
4/30- 5/4 The 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
The conference will be held in Warsaw, Poland. It will be organised jointly by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw and Institute of Archaeology University of Warsaw.
More information

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