Social History of Formative Christianity and Judaism

Call For Papers: For 2014 we are planning four sessions. The first will be a pre-arranged session, co-sponsored with Early Jewish Christian Relations, on Susanna Drake's new book, Slandering the Jew: Sexuality and Difference in Early Christian Texts. For the other three sessions, we seek proposals on the following topics: 1. Fun, Games, Laughter and Play. (Co-sponsored with Religious World of Late Antiquity - please submit copies of a single proposal for this session to both co-sponsoring sections). We are particularly interested in proposals that address what kinds of entertainments, games and jokes and forms of play were part of the religious expression of people in Late Antiquity. We welcome papers on "frivolous" activities that religious authorities complained about, as well as on the kinds of entertainment that they, themselves, enjoyed; on surviving games or texts about them as well as visual representations of feasting, frolicking, and comical creatures. We also welcome methodological explorations of how to identify "fun" in ancient sources. 2. The Senses and Emotions. How did adherents of late antique Judaism and Christianity conceive of the senses and/or emotions? What were their delights and dangers? How did teachers, preachers, and writers mobilize and adjust contemporary philosophical theory to accommodate their ethical programs? How do senses and emotions figure in legal discussions? In what ways do liturgical rites intersect with and influence perceptions and feelings? 3. Sacrifice: We welcome proposals that address any aspect of sacrificial cult and imagery in formative Judaism and Christianity. What were the approved materials, places, and protocols of sacrifice? How did sacrifice adapt to or influence its urban or rural environment? Who could officiate, and how did sacrificial imagery convey authority, structure communities, and authorize behaviors? When the conditions necessary for sacrifice no longer obtained, what replaced sacrifice?

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