Redescribing Christian Origins invites proposals for two sessions:
(1) Cultural Production and Social Networks in Early Christianity: Civic and Literate Religion(s): This panel will continue a set of conversations from our 2020 sessions on questions of typology, descriptive categories, practices, and the production of knowledge. Some questions provoked by our previous presentations and discussions include: To what extent are our current scholarly categories (e.g., domestic, civic, syncretism) appropriately nuanced? To what extent do we continue to reify an idealist/romantic or Neo-Kantian understanding of the role of Christianity among other Mediterranean religions? To what extent are concepts like “(the) Jesus movement” useful designators? Of particular interest in this panel are intersections or network theory related to literate cultural producers and acts of translation and/or the use of theoretical categories.
(2) Cultural Production and Social Networks within Greco-Roman Religion: The Religion of Enslaved Peoples and Freedpersons: Of particular interest for this panel is evidence for the religious discourses and practices of the enslaved and formerly enslaved (freedpersons). Potential foci for this topic include analyses of both literate and illiterate enslaved/freedperson populations throughout the ancient Mediterranean world: their day-to-day lives, literate training, and/or relative cultural capital within a household or other networks. We are open to a variety of forms of evidence in exploration of this subject matter, including so-called material culture, texts and other literary evidence, epigraphic evidence, and archaeological data related to reconstructed ritual practices. All regions and time periods are open for consideration; however, we are particularly interested in evidence from the Roman Imperial period. * Joint Session With: Greco-Roman Religions and Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions (SAMR)
Program Unit Chairs