Online Program Book

This is the preliminary program for the 2024 in-person Annual Meeting, hosted with the Society for Biblical Literature in San Diego, CA - November 23-26. Pre-conference workshops and many committee meetings will be held November 22. If you have questions about the program, contact annualmeeting@aarweb.org. All times are listed in local/Pacific Time.


	A24-201 Animals and Religion Unit Theme: Exploring "Animals and Religion": Meet the Authors Roundtable Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-6F (Upper Level West) Barbara Ambros, University of North Carolina, Presiding In this roundtable, the three editors and ten of the contributors will introduce their new volume on Animals and Religion. This book, released in February 2024, offers the first comprehensive multi-authored overview of the field of animals and religion since A Communion of Subjects was published in 2006. It also includes significant new research and analysis on the topic by many of the contributors. Each chapter is accessibly written to ensure that the volume can be used in undergraduate classrooms, and we are excited to share it at AAR. After the editors provide an overview of how we designed the volume and the theoretical work we intend it to do, contributors will discuss how they each use the concepts and cases presented in their chapters in their own teaching and/or research. Panelists David Aftandilian, Texas Christian University Aaron Gross, University of San Diego Katharine Mershon, Western Carolina University Christopher Carter, University of San Diego Lina Verchery, Harvard University Sarra Tlili, University of Florida Allison Covey, Villanova University Beth Berkowitz, Barnard College Andrea Dara Cooper, University of North Carolina Geoffrey Barstow, Oregon State University Barbara K. Darling, Wheaton College Eric D. Mortensen, Guilford College Laura Hobgood, Southwestern University Business Meeting Christopher Carter, University of San Diego, Presiding Eric Meyer, Carroll College, Presiding
	A24-237 Anthropology of Religion Unit and Buddhism Unit Theme: The Anthropology of Buddhism Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-9 (Upper Level West) Natalie Quli, Institute of Buddhist Studies, Presiding Anthropologists of Buddhism encounter marginalia constantly, from scribbled notes in a book or the smudge of pigment in a ritual manual, to figurative ducking in and out of the crowd at a possession event. Despite being far from young, the stunted development of the sub-field within Buddhist Studies is partly attributable to a pejorative view of this ethnographic project as the marginal scribbles to Buddhist Studies’ normative text critical and philological work. Heeding Gellner’s (1990) and Sihlé and Ladwig’s (2017) calls for an ethnographic, comparative, and inter-textual Anthropology of Buddhism, this panel brings together interdisciplinary scholars situated across the Buddhist world working towards a rapprochement of text and context by drawing on both these disciplines. Each paper plays with, trespasses, and reconstitutes boundaries by openly thinking through Buddhist Studies’ diverse marginalia, questioning the outmoded binary of text-primary and ethnographic approaches. Ian Turner, University of Toronto Cultures of expertise and ethnographic testimony: a multi-disciplinary approach to Newar Buddhist intellectualism Abstract Ethnographic writing is what anthropologists do. But interlocutors? This paper develops a response to intellectual projects encountered in the field that come uncomfortably close to the ethnographer's own terrain. By engaging with these intellectual projects on their own terms, I argue that Buddhist Studies offers models for the anthropologist of Buddhism to better approach textual cultures of expertise and intellectualism. Likewise, ethnographic engagement offers opportunities for Buddhist Studies to expand the scope of intellectual practices, especially who gets to count and how. Instantiated through reference to para-ethnographic writings and my own fieldwork on domesticity within Newar Buddhist cultures of expertise, I offer a methodologically plural and dialogical approach that emphasizes the complexity and perplexity of any iteration of a text or performance of an interlocutor. Kanae Kawamoto, Supernatural Powers in Buddhist Practice: Mastering Abhiññā in Pa-Auk Buddhist Meditation Technique in Contemporary Myanmar Abstract This research shows the practical importance of abhiññā (supernatural powers) in the Southeast Buddhist tradition. As a contemporary example, I focus on a Burmese Buddhist meditation technique formulated by the Burmese monk Pa-Auk Sayadaw (1934-). Supernatural powers, though acknowledged as one of the Buddha’s and Buddhist saints’ venerated qualities, have been marginalized as an unorthodox practice unessential for Buddhist liberation. Similarly, in Myanmar, the exhibition of supernatural powers has been suppressed as animistic magic by the government during the nation-rebuilding time. The devaluation of the practice is still evident after different Buddhist meditation techniques of Burmese origin became popular worldwide. The Pa-Auk meditation technique teaches supernatural powers to all practitioners as elective but requires it for prospective meditation teachers. I examine how teachers and practitioners understand the values for the true path through my observations and interviews with them at different branches of the Pa-Auk meditation centers since 2018. Nalika Gajaweera, University of Southern California Buddhist Vernaculars: Anthropology of Buddhism and the Problem of Orthodoxy in Buddhist Studies Abstract What might lay-Sri Lankan Buddhists who engage in charitable giving to the poor as merit-making practice and American convert-Buddhists who engage in mindfulness practice to explore racialized dukkha share in common? They both consist of Buddhists practicing the Theravada tradition in vernaculars that depart widely from the normative philological evaluative take on what does and does not constitute “real” Theravada Buddhism. Thinking comparatively on ethnographic research conducted in these widely different socio-historical contexts, this paper explores how as an anthropologist, the Buddhist social life exemplified by these two contemporary case-studies— often relegated to the marginalia of what counts as real Buddhism—surface an important problem in the field of Buddhist Studies. Namely, the tendency to judge contemporary Buddhist vernaculars against a canonically based conception of orthodoxy. On a more personal note, the paper also explores the complexities of being an ethnographer and a native “Buddhist” studying contemporary Buddhist marginalia. Kati Fitzgerald, Yale University Speaking Realization into Existence: Oral History and the Creation of Hagiographic Truths Abstract In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, hagiography (rnam thar) is a vast and popular genre of literature that tells the life-stories of Buddhist figures. Although hagiographic literature itself points to a complex relationship with oral narratives, scholars tend to categorize hagiography as written expression that is both stylized and distinct from history. This paper examines two ethnographic accounts of the life of a religious master – one oral history given by a 25-year-old lama and another account by his teacher. The lama presents a life that is filled with self-doubt, non-religious desires, and fatigue with his position. His teacher presents a narrative of miracles, extraordinary signs and an exaggerated educational history. This paper examines oral history as a dialectic process between intersubjective interlocutors, suggesting that by understanding this dialogic process we must rethink the stability of the hagiographic text and imagine the narrative interests of hagiographic-ethnographers of the past. Rachelle Saruya, University of Toronto Monastic Education in the Margins: Chanting, Marginalia, and Intertextuality in Myanmar Buddhist Nun-Making Abstract This paper looks at chanting, marginalia, and intertextuality in the making of Myanmar Buddhist nuns, preparing them for the government monastic exams. I demonstrate the need to understand both Buddhist texts themselves and how these texts are used, shaped, practiced, and in turn how these processes influence Buddhist knowledge communities. I find that understanding marginalia and chanting is instrumental in understanding the changes that have occurred in the transfer of knowledge within the last few decades. Without the observation, participation, and the questioning of teachers, students, and their methods and practices, we would only see scribbles on a page with no context. Austin Simoes-Gomes, University of Toronto But that's not Buddhism! Spirit Possession and Buddhist Studies Abstract This paper explores the often-overlooked phenomenon of spirit possession, in the Kathmandu Valley, among Newar Buddhist women, known as dyaḥmāṃ. Despite their integral role in local Buddhist practices, their practices, as those of other spirit mediums in the Buddhist world, often find themselves at the margins of what gets to count as Buddhism. Drawing on ethnographic data and vernacular texts, this paper challenges the dichotomy between possession and Buddhism, arguing that possession is a vital aspect of Buddhist practice rather than its other. By examining collaborative rituals between dyaḥmāṃ and Buddhist priests, the paper demonstrates how possession traditions are deeply intertwined with mainstream Buddhist beliefs and ethical norms. Additionally, it advocates for a more inclusive approach to Buddhist studies that incorporates vernacular texts and ritual perspectives, thereby expanding our understanding of what constitutes Buddhism. Responding Todd T. Lewis, College of the Holy Cross
	A24-202 Bonhoeffer: Theology and Social Analysis Unit and Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit Theme: Injury, Justice, Love, and Fate: Bonhoeffer’s Theo-Ethical Legacies Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Aqua 314 (Third Level) Dianne Rayson, Pacific Theological College, Presiding This co-sponsored session examines various dimensions of the legacy of Bonhoeffer’s political theology and ethics. Bonhoeffer’s theology emerges in dialogue with contemporary theory, Bonhoeffer’s own Lutheran contemporaries, or the work of Martin Luther himself. Papers in this session offer new perspectives on Bonhoeffer through the lenses of Moral Injury, dialogues with the Black Pentecostal Tradition, earthly love poetry in the Song of Songs, and Martin Buber’s personalism. Jacob Cook, Eastern Mennonite Seminary “Everyone Who Acts Responsibly Becomes Guilty”: Reading Bonhoeffer’s Free Responsible Action, Relative Sinlessness, and Participation in Conspiracy through the Lens of Moral Injury Abstract In “Moral Injury and Human Relationship,” Michael Yandell explores the many layers and scales of responsibility in the waging and fighting of war. After locating himself as a US veteran and reviewing core literature in the study of moral injury, which is yet only in its nascence, he draws on Bonhoeffer’s account of conscience and shame to offer substantive theological engagement with more clinical definitions. Against the backdrop of the growing understanding of moral injury and Yandell’s theological response that draws upon Bonhoeffer’s theology, this paper will reverse the hermeneutical flow to explore how moral injury might be a helpful category for understanding Bonhoeffer’s theological moves most nearly associated with his decision to join a conspiracy. These include the claim that “everyone who acts responsibly becomes guilty,” his preference for concreteness over abstract principles, and his notions of “free, responsible action” with hope for only a “relative sinlessness” in Christ. Christopher Whyte, University of St. Andrews Deliver Us From Evil: A Constructive Account of Prayer and Justice in Conversation with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ernst Käsemann, and the Black Pentecostal Tradition Abstract In this paper, I analyze the underlying logics of Bonhoeffer's view, found in Letters and Papers from Prison and Ethics, that the church can enjoy a clean break from injustice through prayer and confessional practices. I do so first by engaging the work of Ernst Käsemann, who offers a post-war critique of clean break thinking in light of the German Church’s ongoing entanglement with white supremacy. I then turn to the the Black Pentecostal Tradition, and its own confrontation of white supremacy through tongues speech, to develop an account, in conversation with Bonhoeffer and Käsemann, of the type of prayer that might confront white supremacy in our day and accomplish Bonhoeffer’s desire for the church to one day regain the authority to speak liberative and redemptive words evoking those spoken by Jesus. Michelle CAO, Institute of Sino-Christian Studies Song of Songs as an Earthly Love Poem: Exploring on Bonhoeffer’s Christological Interpretative Logic Abstract Though a student of Harnack, Bonhoeffer did not shy away from figural exegesis since his early period. He approached Genesis 1-3 from a theological perspective and interpreted the Psalms as Christ's own prayers. However, during his time in prison, he began to affirm earthly love by turning to the Song of Songs, a book traditionally interpreted through the lens of the love between Christ and the Church or believers. In a later letter, he even told Bethge that reading the this book as an earthly love poem was ‘probably the best “Christological” interpretation’.(DBWE 8, 410.)This affirmation of earthly love from the standpoint of holy scriptures and Christology is uncommon in Christian theology. So why could reading the Song of Songs as an earthly love poem be considered a Christological interpretation, and even the best one? This paper aims to explore Bonhoeffer’s exegetical logic behind this fragmented reflection. David Robinson, Regent College Resistance and Submission: Confronting Fate in Bonhoeffer’s Prison Letters Abstract Although the German title of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prison letters—Resistance and Submission [Widerstand und Ergebung]—suggests a direct reference to political activity, it actually comes from his reflection on two ways to confront one’s “fate.” “I’ve often wondered,” he writes in a 1944 letter to Eberhard Bethge, “where we are to draw the line between necessary resistance to ‘fate’ and equally necessary submission.” This essay situates Bonhoeffer’s remark within the frequent references to “fate” [Schicksal] among German theologians working between 1919-45, including Emanuel Hirsch and Werner Elert. It then shows how Bonhoeffer creatively engages with the question of fate by retrieving Martin Luther’s concept of social realities as “masks” of God, an insight that leads him to adapt his personalist philosophy. Finally, I demonstrate how Bonhoeffer’s treatment of fate is related to his disavowal of tragedy, both in his Ethics and in an unpublished note from the archive.
	A24-203 Buddhist Philosophy Unit, Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion Unit, Philosophy of Religion Unit, and Yogācāra Studies Unit Theme: Omniscience and the Buddha's Mind Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-24B (Upper Level East) Constance Kassor, Lawrence University, Presiding The Mahāyāna path is aimed at a buddha’s complete awakening. But what is the awakened mind of a buddha like? Is a buddha conscious—and, if so, of what is a buddha conscious? A buddha appears to act, but does any thought precede that action? Some Buddhist philosophers argue that a buddha’s awakening consists in a complete cessation of thought, a state of unconscious automaticity that Mark Siderits has characterized as “robo-Buddha.” At the other end of the spectrum, some say that a buddha’s awakening consists in total omniscience, the simultaneous awareness of every knowable object in the universe, past, present, and future, together with the capacity to respond appropriately to every situation. There are many other positions in between. This panel will explore some of the different positions on this spectrum in an effort to better understand how a buddha’s mind works. Ching Keng, National Taiwan University Toward a Double-layer Model for the Buddha’s Mind Abstract Does the Buddha possess a mind? Does the notion that the Buddha acts spontaneously imply that the Buddha lacks a mind? This paper posits that the Buddha can maintain cognitive faculties while interacting with sentient beings without the need for deliberation. This is attributed to the Buddha's mind consisting of two layers. At the foundational layer of the dharma-body, anchored by mirror cognition, the Buddha continuously perceives both emptiness and the specific characteristics of all phenomena. At the upper layer of the enjoyment-body and the transformation-body, the Buddha engages with sentient beings without deliberate thought because, along the path of cultivation, a bodhisattva has mastered and internalized all the essential skills for interacting with sentient beings. Thus, the Buddha's mind resembles that of a person deeply immersed in perpetual meditation on the same content, fortified with an armor that effortlessly deflects any external disturbances. Davey Tomlinson, Villanova University Omniscience and Mental Construction in Śāntarakṣita’s Tattvasiddhi* Abstract In classical Buddhist philosophy and contemporary scholarship alike, it’s said that a buddha’s awakening is a “non-conceptual gnosis” (nirvikalpakajñāna). In this paper, I’ll offer a challenge to this assumption based on Śāntarakṣita’s Tattvasiddhi. Śāntarakṣita claims here that a buddha’s omniscience (sarvajña) must involve mental constructions; that is, it must be savikalpakajñāna. Against Dharmakīrtian orthodoxy, he argues that any cultivation that involves mental constructions will per force result in an awareness-event that involves mental constructions. I’ll explicate Śāntarakṣita’s defense of this, showing that it crucially depends on our interpretation of the “vividness” (spaṣṭatā) of awareness-events that result from long-practiced cultivation. Vivid awareness-events, he argues, are devoid of conceptual content, but nevertheless involve distinctions and mental constructions that make the skillful immersion in practical undertakings possible. Finally, despite the heterodox nature of the claim, I’ll suggest ways it might help us understand the relation between habituation and buddhahood more generally. Vesna Wallace, University of California, Santa Barbara How to Speak of the Buddha’s Inexpressible Mind: Examples from the Late Indian Commentators on the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti* Abstract This presentation explores the ways in which the two, late Indian commentators on the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti, Raviśrījñāna (the 12th -13th centuries) and Vibhūticandra (the 13th century) sought to explicate the ultimate nature of the Vajrasattva’s mind by exhibiting the multiple interpretative approaches to a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of 812 names and attributes of Mañjuśrī lauded in the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti. Being the masters of the Kālacakra tantric tradition in India, which sees the ultimate nature of the Buddha’s mind as the cause, path, and result, those two interpreters structured their explanations and exegesis of the Vajrasattva’s mind in terms of the three, aforementioned ways in which it expresses itself as well as in accordance with their own understanding of the purpose and function of both, the nature of the Vajrasattva’s mind and the essence of the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti. Jay Garfield, Smith College An Awakened Mind: Omniscience Worth Wanting Abstract The Buddhist path is aimed at awakening, and the mind of a buddha is often characterized as omniscient. So, the Buddhist path is a path to omniscience. But what is that omniscience like? There is no consensus. Some say that this omniscience consists in a complete cessation of thought, in a state of insentient automaticity. Others say that it involves the simultaneous awareness of every detail of the universe, past, present and future. And some simply affirm that a buddha's mind is inconceivable. I will address the question from the standpoint of those who would take the Buddhist path seriously in the context of contemporary Western culture: "What would any omniscience to which we could rationally aspire be like?" I will argue that we can develop a recognizably Buddhist account of that omniscience that is consistent with what we know about human beings, but that is soteriologically non-trivial. Responding Sara L. McClintock, Emory University
	A24-204 Christian Spirituality Unit and Religion and Disability Studies Unit Theme: A Critical Analysis of how the Lives and Experiences of Persons with Disabilities and/or their Communities Express Prayer in Distinctive, Constructive, or Liberative Ways Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-26A (Upper Level East) Aizaiah Yong, Claremont School of Theology, Presiding Diversity in Christian spirituality has been the norm since the ancient development of its practices, traditions, and prayer forms. Regretfully individuals and communities – living with or in the shadows of disability – historically have not been included in this diversity and even at times have been willfully rejected from it. This session aims to critically analyze from multiple perspectives the positive contributions of how persons living with disabilities have provided a deeper understanding of, and contributed to, the dynamics of spiritual and human growth. Shelby Hall, Boston University Expressions of Divergence: Julian of Norwich as a model for a spirituality of autism Abstract This paper delves into the distinct spiritual expressions of autistic individuals by examining the life and writings of Julian of Norwich. I consider three elements of Julian’s spiritual life that correspond to key features of autism. Although it is speculative to interpret historical figures through contemporary concepts like autism, Julian as a model illuminates the importance of recognizing diverse ways of experiencing Christian spirituality. Such an exploration is necessary to broaden understandings of autism in theological discourse. First, I examine her life as an anchorite as a divergent social path that nonetheless allowed her to be in community on her own terms. Second, I explore the intensity of her focus as exhibited by her writing. Last, I consider her mystical experience in terms of heightened sensory sensitivity. Reconsidering Julian through the lens of autistic experience provides a fresh perspective on neurodivergent expressions of Christian spirituality. Kevin Lazarus, Emory University Praying into the Void: Crip Ancestry and Archival Violence Abstract This paper examines the practices of tracing and praying to crip ancestors among key disabled activist-writers. Through analysis of their essays, poetry, and memoirs, I argue that such practices function in part to resist a curative social imaginary that erases disability from our collective histories and futures. I contend that Christian theologians might learn from disabled activist-writers’ embodied attention to the past as a resource to reimagine the future without disability’s erasure. This paper develops a negative theological hermeneutic in which the search for crip ancestors in the archive and in scripture exposes the violence of the past that prevents the recovery of disabled lives. Ultimately, I argue, following Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, that our stumbling upon and seeking crip ancestors “in the void of not always knowing… what their legacy means” generates desires for liberated futures. Fernanda Garcia-Oteyza, Harvard Willful Illness, Crip-Time, and Curative Soteriology in Julian of Norwich's "A Revelation of Love" Abstract This paper reads Julian of Norwich’s 14-15th-century visionary text A Revelation of Love alongside Alison Kafer’s Feminist, Queer, Crip (2013). Kafer’s notion of “crip-time” provides a lens through which to theorize an “else-when” of disability in the medieval past and elucidate the mode of temporality deployed in mystical writing. Julian of Norwich’s A Revelation ––in its deep engagement with illness, impairment, and paralysis––has been read by scholars in religious/disability studies as a devotional and theological model of a disabled person experiencing God. However, considering the role of time in medieval mystical literature through disability studies exposes a complicated––perhaps theologically necessary––ambiguity between the somatic experience of illness and the curative temporality of Christian soteriology, inviting us to question whether the political goals of disability studies can work in tandem with the “crip” and curative temporalities of medieval mystical traditions. Emma Ceruti, Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto Prayer is Liberation Abstract Within the theological study of disability, prayer has most often been discussed in the context of creating inclusive liturgy, deconstructing harmful approaches (prayer used to “heal” someone with a disability), offering complimentary therapy to manage pain or promote psychological well-being. Prayer, as an individual spiritual practice by disabled people, remains underexplored within the field of disability theology. Prayer as a way to transcend the physical pain and social isolation that often accompanies disability (due to the social construction of disability). My paper explores the liberative aspects of prayer (transcendence) for disabled people. Drawing on her personal experience of disability, Susan Wendell articulates the need for transcendence from the “rejected body.” Simone Weil expands Wendell’s conception of spiritual transcendence, offering prayer as a mode of spiritual transcendence from affliction. I argue that prayer can lead to spiritual transcendence, which alleviates suffering for disabled people through union with God. Business Meeting Sarah Jean Barton, Duke University, Presiding David Scott, Independent Scholar, Presiding
	A24-205 Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion Theme: 2024 Journalism Awards Session Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire L (Fourth Level) David Newheiser, Australian Catholic University, Presiding .
	A24-206 Comparative Religious Ethics Unit Theme: Resistance, Violence, and Nonviolence Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-28D (Upper Level East) Shannon Dunn, Gonzaga University, Presiding Focusing on historical and contemporary examples, these papers address questions related to the ethics of resistance. In particular, the presenters analyze how resisters have justified the use of violence or nonviolent practices in their movements for justice. Specific issues treated include resistance against racism, oppressive governments, and environmental injustice. Joshua Beckett, Fuller Theological Seminary The Necessity and Insufficiency of Resistance in Contemporary Religious Ethics Abstract The urgent prioritization of resistance has recently reemerged as a prominent feature in religious and social ethics. This paper simultaneously celebrates this theme and argues for its integration with two others: reimagination and reconstruction. Though distinct, these tasks are interrelated. Resisting injustice and oppression, in their ideological underpinnings and material effects alike, is essential; resistance by itself, however, risks devolving into reactive pugnacity, ceding the initiative to malefactors. An expanded imagination, which envisions abundant life on the other side of the struggle, is also indispensable for social change; yet, reimagining alone is likewise insufficient, since isolated from action, it can function as escapist fantasy. Meanwhile, amidst institutional and societal unraveling, people need somewhere to live; thus, rebuilding—short-term and long-term, conceptual and communal, structural and systemic—is in order. Such reconstruction only finds coherence, however, in tandem with the deconstructive ground clearing of resistance and the creative foresight of reimagining. John Cole, Florida State University Reform or Revolution? A Comparison of the Resistance Narratives of Henry Highland Garnet and Christian Führer Abstract This paper compares two narratives of resistance—one advocating for violence, and the other nonviolence, one a pastor from a marginalized group and another a consummate “insider.” Henry Highland Garnet was a New York Presbyterian minister and black abolitionist who famously argued for slaves and other Black Americans to take agency for their own liberation. Christian Führer was the Lutheran pastor of the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, who used nonviolence to resist the East German state and help bring about its downfall through the “Revolution of Candles.” Historically, such narrative studies have been seen as “too sectarian,” but by expanding the inquiry beyond internal communal narratives to include legal and hegemonic narratives that shape and impact the path of resistance, comparison yields a deeper understanding of why narratives of resistance find expression in terms of reform or revolution. I argue that, by illuminating the constant interplay of narrative worlds within structures of power, privilege, and repression, such comparisons not only open new fields of inquiry for narrative ethics, but are capable of expressing normative claims about the conditional nature of law and justice, while utilizing emerging scholarship in law, human rights, and social justice. James Waters, Villanova University On Normalizing the Possibility of Violence: Religious Ethics and Eco-terrorism in a World on Fire Abstract Nonviolence is widely assumed to be the most effective form of religious-moral resistance. I argue this assumption is (1) ahistorical and (2) harmful to ongoing struggles to create positive social change worldwide. More specifically, I focus on how contemporary environmental activism is rendered ineffective due to its blind allegiance to nonviolence—a fidelity that religious studies and ethics have done little to assuage. I propose we change this, starting with examining why strategic acts of violence (property) might not simply be permissible but moral and necessary given our climate crisis. First, I provide a counter reading of the civil rights movement—one that shows that the possibility of violence was essential to creating social change (e.g., 1964 Voting Rights Act). I then turn to Eco-Leninism, Antonio Gramsci, and just war theory to construct a foundation for religious ethics to reflect on strategic violence’s moral role in seeking climate justice. Business Meeting Shannon Dunn, Gonzaga University, Presiding Rosemary Kellison, Florida State University, Presiding
	A24-207 Confucian Traditions Unit Theme: Buddhist Women, Confucian Propriety, and Funerary Practices: Conflicts and Convergence in Medieval Chinese Epigraphy Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire 400B (Fourth Level) Kate Lingley, University of Hawai'i, Presiding What insights do the epigraphic sources reveal regarding the roles of female Buddhists, including monastics and laywomen, in the development of Buddhism during medieval China? The incorporation of epigraphy for studying Buddhism offers the potential for a radical re-envision of our understanding of Buddhist women from the Northern Wei (386–534 CE) to the Tang dynasty (619–907 CE). This panel seeks to employ innovative methodologies in interpreting epigraphy to unveil the social roles and religious practices of these Buddhist women, which were overlooked in mainstream Buddhist scriptures and historical records, providing fresh insights into gender studies within Chinese Buddhism. Additionally, this panel examines the dynamic interactions between Buddhism and indigenous religious traditions like Confucianism through the lives of Buddhist women. It addresses the challenges and conundrums encountered by analyzing specific cases and texts and illustrates how contemporary Buddhists reconcile the conflicts between Buddhism and Confucianism, achieving a harmonious coexistence. Stephanie Lynn Balkwill, University of California, Los Angeles Doing Women’s History With Male-Authored Sources: the Conundrum of Entombed Biographies (Muzhiming 墓誌銘) as Source Material for the Study of Buddhist Women Abstract In this presentation I raise the question of the value that entombed biographies hold for the study of Buddhist women given that, as a genre, these texts were commonly written by men whom historians typically identify as Confucian. I argue that rather than dismiss these invaluable biographies because they were written by elite men with limited access to institutional spaces demarcated for Buddhist women, that we instead adopt a methodology of reading that seriously considers the ways in which Confucian men wrote about the virtues of Buddhist women even when those women’s virtues ran counter to traditional Confucian ones. I draw from three case studies of such biographies written for women who served the Northern Wei court in Luoyang in the early 6th century to reveal how Buddhism provided Confucian authors with a mechanism for appraising the public works of women in a time of intense cultural reinvention. Ruifeng Chen, Zhejiang University Filial Bhikṣuṇīs: More Aspects of Chinese Buddhist Nuns in the Reconciliation of Confucianism and Buddhism Abstract Scholars of Chinese Buddhism have shown how Buddhist nuns were depicted as ideals of filial women in the Biographies of Bhikṣuṇīs, and in epigraphical texts, as a Buddhist response to the criticism from Confucians. Most of the nuns’ impressive filial deeds in the hagiographies that have been discussed occurred before their renunciation. By employing examples found in the Continued Biographies of Bhikṣuṇīs and other epitaphs of Chinese Bhikṣuṇīs, I introduce more roles Chinese Buddhist nuns played and the efforts they made as filial women in the confrontation of these two traditions, highlighting how nuns maintained their images of filial women after their renunciation. This study sheds light on more aspects of Buddhist nuns in the transformation of leaving the family from an unfilial action to a filial behavior in China, and on how these women undermined the boundary between the religious and the secular spaces in this reconciliation. Lan Li, McMaster University “To Comply with Her Last Words”: Buddhist Women and Their Funerary Practices in Luoyang during the Tang Dynasty Abstract What are the last words of Buddhist women who resided and were interred in Luoyang, one capital of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE)? Why did they hold an unconventional attitude toward the burials of their bodies, in which they prioritized Buddhist identities above their roles in Confucian society? To address these inquiries, this study examines three primary sources: epigraphical materials, encompassing donative inscriptions that convey their viewpoints and epitaphs capturing their final words; Buddhist caves and images patronized by these women; and archaeological evidence from their burial sites, offering insights into the actual execution of their funerary choices. This paper aims to reconstruct the funerary practices of these Buddhist women and reveal their Buddhist thoughts, practices, as well as the religious networks they were involved with, while also addressing the dilemma faced by their executors and their eventual resolutions when Buddhist ideas conflicted with Confucian norms. Responding Jessey Choo, Rutgers University, New Brunswick Business Meeting Michael Ing, Indiana University, Presiding Bin Song, Washington College, Presiding
	A24-208 Contemporary Pagan Studies Unit Theme: "Have we met the Other? Is it Us?" : Pagan Identities Through Board Games, Music, Rhizomes and Conversion Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-7B (Upper Level West) Christopher Chase, Iowa State University, Presiding There is deep interest in the scholarly community of Pagan Studies in the processes of otherization and conscious estrangement. ‘Pagan’ as a discursive polysemy inflects along multiple metaphoric and metonymic trajectories both before and alongside the development of Contemporary Paganism as a religious category. Its role as anti-Christian slur finds developments in historic board games that reflect and reproduce popular prejudices, yet its role as transgressive Other carries currency for religious seekers. Roots in Romanticism and the Natural Sublime invite descriptions as “nature religion,” yet increasing numbers of witches identify as secular, rejecting religious identity altogether. This session looks to material and sonic culture, ideological competition and rhizomatic spread as substrates for elaboration, recursion and rejection. Grace Harrington, Boston University School of Theology (Working Title): Playing the Pagan: How a proselytizing board game led to violence Abstract It was 1844 in Salem, Massachusetts when the W. and S.B. Ives Company published a provocative new board game: “The Game of Pope and Pagan, or Siege of the stronghold of Satan, by the Christian army.” Likely inspired from The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, this two player, missionary-based game pits the “papal and pagan Antichrist” against the Christian (meaning Protestant Christian) army. According to the board, the white pieces representing Christian missionaries symbolize “innocence, temperance, and hope.” The pope and pagan are in black, denoting “their grief at the daily loss of empire.” Perhaps the makers thought it would just be fun and games, but The Pope and Pagan only fanned the Nativist flames of anti-Catholic and anti-pagan hatred and violence in America. Humberto Perez, Florida State University Power and Attachment: A Look at Conversion to the Wiccan Faith Abstract Wicca has been one of the fastest growing religions in the United States in recent times. Although the rate of individuals being born into the religion is increasing, the vast majority of adherents to the Wiccan faith are converts from other religions. What do these individuals find so appealing about Wicca that they shed their old religious beliefs and convert? The works of Pierre Bourdieu and attachment theory provide a sound basis for answering that question. This paper will look at the reasons given by converts to the Wiccan faith for their decision to convert to the faith, and they will be analyzed using Bourdieu's theory of power dynamics along with attachment theory to identify the psychological factors and motivations behind individuals converting to the Wiccan religion. Sam Cole-Osborn, Boston University The Old Ones Are With Us: Exploring Romantic Pagan Theologies in Contemporary American Black Metal Abstract Black metal – an inaccessible underground subgenre of heavy metal music – has a controversial relationship to mainline religion and theology. This paper interrogates the theological meanings in the lyrics, compositions, and aesthetics of a variety of contemporary American black metal bands to show that the musical scene is actively engaged in the work of constructive theology. These theologies employ a variety of wisdom traditions including Romantic philosophy, pre-Christian polytheism, occultism, Gnostic theology, pantheism, and surrealism. I argue that the contemporary black metal scene in America is currently describing a complex, participatory, pagan theology, inspired by pre-Christian religion as well as the Romantic movement in Europe and America. Finally, I will suggest, through specifics examples in the music, that this Romantic paganism proposes important ecological and ethical perspectives that are relevant in our era of extractivist ecocide. Mary Hamner, University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill Tired of Trees: Discarding Nature Religion for a Rhizomatic Model of Contemporary Witchcraft Abstract Witches on social media are not only redefining the boundaries of their traditions, they are eschewing the category of religion entirely, adopting the language of secularism to describe their magical identities. Secular witches compose a rapidly growing presence on sites like TikTok, Tumblr, and Instagram, and their perspectives are making their way into traditional publishing, sometimes to the bewilderment of both other witches and scholars alike. When witches of previous decades have fought so publicly to be members of a “religion,” how do practitioners who actively defy this categorization fit into these movements? With an understanding of religion as an inherently political category, this paper affirms the efforts of secular witches to recast their craft by using Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the rhizome to think about not just how we define religious groups, but how we consider groups that insist that what they are doing is firmly not religion.
	A24-235 Cultural History of the Study of Religion Unit and Religions, Social Conflict, and Peace Unit Theme: Constitutive Absence? The Cultural History of Palestine in Religious Studies Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-33A (Upper Level East) Sajida Jalalzai, Trinity University, Presiding Edward Said’s The Question of Palestine (1979) posed a raised which has yet to be answered by the liberal audiences to which it was directed: In what world is there no argument when an entire people is told that it is juridically absent, even as armies are led against it, campaigns conducted against even its name, history changed so as to ‘prove’ its nonexistence? This roundtable reckons with the ongoing implications of Said’s question for scholars of religion. Fifty years after he posed it, amid genocidal violence against Palestine that is itself underwritten by the erasure of Palestinian life and history in our academic discourse, we ask: How has religious studies figured Palestine in different contexts? Toward what political and intellectual horizons? With what stakes and consequences? Panelists Rosemary R. Corbett, Bard College Jack Downey, University of Rochester Samaah Jaffer, Yale University Santiago H. Slabodsky, Hofstra University
	A24-209 Drugs and Religion Unit and Ritual Studies Unit Theme: The Ritualization of Drugs across Religious Contexts Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Aqua Salon AB (Third Level) Michael Amoruso, Occidental College, Presiding Drugs and rituals often form a pair. Some religious rituals use drugs to induce altered states, while drug use and recovery often take place in ritualized contexts. The papers in this panel examine the interaction between drugs and rituals through case studies that analyze the creation of rituals for psychedelic-assisted therapy, ritualized practices used in Alcoholics Anonymous, and the hypothetical smoking of marijuana in the First Church of Cannabis. Amy Koehlinger, Oregon State University Structure, Function, and Implications of Rapid Ritualization in a Legal, Regulated Psychedelic Group Setting Abstract This paper describes the creation and evolution of a group psilocybin ritual developed under the Oregon Psilocybin Services program. The religiously-neutral regulatory structure of the Oregon program poses a challenge for facilitators, namely, how to cultivate bonds of trust and construct an interpersonal “container” that is solid enough for participants to accept the disorientation of altered consciousness, without transgressing state-mandated regulatory limits on religious content in psilocybin administration sessions? As regulated psychedelic-assisted therapy expands to other states, improvisational ritualization around psychedelics offers scholars an unprecedented opportunity to observe the rapid development ritual in non-religious, pseudo-religious, or religion-adjacent contexts. The high stakes and personal precarity inherent in psychedelic environments reveals the precise work that ritual accomplishes, of providing a bridge from “normal” life into liminal or even exceptional/transcendent states. The importance of pre-dose rituals to group psychedelic processes underscores the role ritual can play in developing social cohesion and social trust. Jennifer Hahn, University of California, Santa Barbara Cultivating and Experiencing “Conscious Contact” with a Higher Power in Alcoholics Anonymous Abstract Many people come to Alcoholics Anonymous less than enthusiastic about the “God part.” How then do they come to experience a relationship with some kind of higher power that they say helps them to stop drinking? Reluctant newcomers are often reassured that they can choose a higher power that works for them and are sometimes encouraged to “act as if” they believe, until they actually do. Using anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann’s helpful concept of spiritual “kindling,” this paper will explore how AA members make “conscious contact” (Step 11) with their higher powers to help them get and stay sober. Grounded in archive research, ethnographic observation, and interviews with 34 current and former members of AA, I will reveal how ongoing “conscious contact” became the proposed solution to alcoholism advocated by AA’s founders and how contemporary members seek such contact through ritualized practices and resulting spiritual experiences. Chad Bauman, Butler University Innovation, Affect, and "Hypothetical" Ritual at the First Church of Cannabis Abstract In 2015, Bill Levin established the First Church of Cannabis (FCOC) in Indiana, and claimed that the state’s newly passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act legalized his church’s central ritual, i.e., the corporate smoking of marijuana. Subsequent lawsuits determined otherwise, but the FCOC continues to operate today, gathering weekly to hear sermons, share testimonials, and engage in what I call a “hypothetical” version of the this central ritual. The endurance of the FCOC and of a denuded version of this central ritual raises fascinating religious studies questions. This paper focuses on three: 1) The power of even a “hypothetical” ritual to organize and link a community’s ethos and worldview, 2) the fact and nature of ritual innovation, and 3) affect in the context of religious rituals and beliefs that explicitly center the body and acknowledge its needs and desires. Responding Chad Seales, University of Texas, Austin
	A24-210 Ecclesiological Investigations Unit Theme: 500 Years of Christianity and the Global Filipin@: Postcolonial Perspectives Book Panel Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire 400A (Fourth Level) Cristina Lledo Gomez, BBI Australian Institute for Theological Education, Presiding This session features the co-edited volume by Cristina Lledo Gomez, Agnes Brazal and Ma. Marilou Ibita , “500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines and the Global Filipino/a: Postcolonial Perspectives” published in February, 2024. Panelists will discuss issues around indigeneity, being Filipino/a, and Christian colonialism. S. Lily Mendoza, Oakland University Back from the Crocodile’s Belly: Christian Formation Meets Indigenous Resurrection Redux Abstract In her essay, S. Lily Mendoza grapples with the question: What happens when the “one true story” encounters other faith stories? Subtitled "Christian Formation Meets Indigenous Resurrection," her work in this volume tracks her autobiographical journeying out of the absolutisms of her born-again Christian formation into the radicalizing challenge of her schooling into deep ancestry and indigenous tutelage. Antonio D. Sison, Catholic Theological Union Indigenous Inculturation: A Hermeneutics of Serendipity Abstract Beyond the uni-directional notion of inculturation moored on an older, Eurocentric missiology, I turn the prism at a new angle to reveal "serendipity," that epiphany of surprise and sagacity, as the nexus of the divine-human encounter; this allowed for the flourishing of Indigenous culture’s creative genius notwithstanding the cruel sentence of Spanish colonization and its aftermath. Serendipitously, Manila's renowned Black Nazarene devotion offers creative-liberative space for cultural memory and validation in the form of communitas and hidden transcripts that dance alongside the more structured, doctrinally based practices of “official religion," decentering ecclesiology in the inclusive, prophetic-liberating spirit of Lumen Gentium's "People of God." James W. Perkinson, Ecumenical Theological Seminary Re-Baptizing Spirit in Land and Ancestry: An Approach for Un-Doing Christian Colonialism Abstract As a white settler colonial educator/poet, partnered with a diasporan Filipina activist/scholar, and schooled by Black activist challenges over more than three decades of living and working in inner city Detroit, my work seeks to learn from the margins. In this piece, indigenous Filipino wisdom in re-baptizing a local Manobo community in older traditions of dwelling on Mount Apo, provoke a re-imagination of Jesus’ own “immersion” in his local ecozone, claimed by a storm, guided by a dove, tested by rocks, as the prerequisite to resisting settler colonialism in Roman occupied Palestine. Jamina Vesta Jugo, Ateneo de Manila Inang Diyos Inang Bayan The Virgin Mary and Filipino Identity Abstract Jamina's chapter in this book outliness the deployment of major Marian narratives at different stages in the Philippines' political development, with a special focus on how they impact, but are also claimed by, Filipinas. She shows how Marian motherhood promotes but can also exclude Filipinas' empowerment in both public and private, with the latest iteration of these dynamics at play in the OFW phenomenon as well as the latest national elections. Business Meeting Dennis Doyle, University of Dayton, Presiding Cristina Lledo Gomez, BBI Australian Institute for Theological Education, Presiding
	A24-211 Ethics Unit Theme: Book Discussion on Necropolitics: The Religious Crisis of Mass Incarceration in America Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-28B (Upper Level East) Blair Wilner, University of Virginia, Presiding In Necropolitics: The Religious Crisis of Mass Incarceration in America (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021), Christophe Ringer explores the pernicious and persistent presence of mass incarceration in American public life. He argues that mass incarceration endures largely due to the religious significance of animalizing and criminalizing black people in times of crisis. Ringer demonstrates how vilifying images of black people contribute to racism and political economy, creating a politics of death that uses jails and prisons to conceal social inequalities and political exclusion. This session assembles scholars of religion who also engage in abolitionist social, political, artistic, and ecclesial practices to reflect upon and respond to Ringer’s work. Panelists Traci C. West, Drew University Jeremy V. Cruz, St. John's University, New York Ashon Crawley, University of Virginia Responding Christophe D. Ringer, Chicago Theological Seminary
	A24-212 Evangelical Studies Unit Theme: Evangelicalism and Political Violence Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-3 (Upper Level West) Jessica Wong, Azusa Pacific University, Presiding This session examines the dangerous intersection of evangelicalism, politics, and violence. Paper topics range from the wedding of evangelicalism with Christian nationalism and organized campaigns of spiritual violence culminating in January 6th to the explorations of the ideational logic of “conspiritualism" and the correlations of atonement theory and gender complementarianism to violence. Drawing on historical, theoretical, and theological resources, these papers promise to deepen our understanding of evangelicalism's power to both foster and restrain violent political engagement. Christina Littlefield, Pepperdine University Adian Imbrogno, Pepperdine University Dancing on the Knife’s Edge: Violence in the Christian Nationalist Rhetoric of Turning Point Faith’s Founder Charlie Kirk Abstract This paper explores how Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk harnessed Christian Nationalist rhetoric to motivate evangelicals toward reactionary neoliberal political engagement. Analysis of the first 10 Freedom Square nights that Kirk launched in May 2021 out of Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, illustrates how Kirk danced on the knife’s edge of promoting violence. Kirk promoted “spiritual warfare” against the “dehumanizing” and “Satanic” tactics of the “woke left,” public educators, and marginalized identities that he believes threaten American society. He urged attendees to “demand the welfare” of their cities and “reclaim the country for Christ” by proscription and “political extinction.” Contrastingly, Kirk reminded listeners to seek “fruits of the spirit,” proclaim truth, and expose darkness. The freedom nights launched Turning Point Faith to embolden pastors to fight what Kirk called “the great reset,” a conspiracy-and-apocalyptic-laden narrative that COVID-19 was a smokescreen to usher in an authoritarian communist state. Kenneth Paradis, Wilfrid Laurier University Evangelical conspiritualism and Jordan Peterson as a bridge to “manosphere” violence. Abstract Conservative evangelicals have, through the 20th century, used violent, militarist language, to describe their relation to worldly society. They have, however, understood this language as figural because their warfare was supernaturally oriented: spiritual warfare conducted via prayer and proselytization against “the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:10-18). This paper explores the way that the ideational logic of conspiratorialism provides a vector for certain forms of the American evangelical imagination to import rhetorics that allow the literalization of its discourses’ figural militancy. It discusses psychologist Jordan Peterson as a bridge figure whose conspiratorialist homiletic rhetorical style, figural schemata, narrative and affect is congruent with the imaginative substructure of this kind of evangelical imagination and allows it to exchange and integrate ideas with other online domains whose concerns he engages, such as the “manosphere,” a corner of the internet devoted to legitimizing (white) male grievance, persecution anxieties and violent revenge fantasies. Matthew D. Taylor, Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies From the 10/40 Window to January 6th: How Evangelical Spiritual Warfare Violence Shaped the Capitol Riot Abstract Many commentators have noted the markers of evangelical theology and spirituality on display during the violence and chaos of the January 6th Capitol Riot. Rioters and the surrounding crowds prayed, sang evangelical worship songs, did spiritual warfare against demonic entities, and carried flags and wore apparel that signified their loyalty to Jesus, the Bible, and Donald Trump. But what was the relationship between these spiritual practices and the violence that occurred that day? This paper examines how spiritual warfare thought leaders and paradigms that were popularized among American and global evangelicals in the 1990s through the massive 10/40 Window missions prayer campaign became instrumental in the Christian mobilization for and participation in January 6th. Following the trajectory of three of these 1990s leaders, the paper will show how organized campaigns of spiritual violence became increasingly politicized over time and then tipped over into literal violence at the US Capitol. Kristen Hydinger, Boston University Steven Sandage, Boston University Peter Jankowski, Bethel University Shelly Rambo, Boston University When Atonement Theology Needs Atoning: Penal Substitution and the (lack of) Concern for Suffering Abstract From access to reproductive healthcare to border immigration policies to policies impacting the lives of trans people to opinions on the US involvement in international conflicts, US Christians hold divergent theologically influenced stances. However, for those US evangelicals that adhere to penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) and hold gender complementarianism as sacrosanct, these socio-political leanings may not be that surprising. Findings from an empirical study of evangelicals will be presented with the goal of identifying some of the ways PSA relates to the attitudes and beliefs of its adherents. 225 masters-level students at an Evangelical seminary were asked about their beliefs in PSA, complementarian gender roles, and sense of personal responsibility for reducing the pain and suffering of others. In short, stronger adherence to PSA was significantly associated with lower levels of concern for alleviating others’ suffering, with gender complementarian beliefs mediating the negative association. Business Meeting Peter Choi, Graduate Theological Union, Presiding Jessica Wong, Azusa Pacific University, Presiding
	A24-213 Hinduism Unit and North American Hinduism Unit Theme: The State of the Union-India Edition: Hindu Majoritarianism and the 2024 Indian Elections Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-30C (Upper Level East) Steven Vose, University of Colorado, Denver, Presiding This interdisciplinary roundtable discussion considers how Hindu majoritarianism has shaped Indian electoral politics and articulations of nationalism, belonging, and citizenship in the runup to the 2024 Indian elections. The panelists explore domestic, transnational, and diaspora-centered reactions to, and perceptions of, Indian electoral politics. The roundtable is specifically interested in articulations of religion, particularly Hinduism, in Indian political campaigns, and the mobilization of political rhetoric around religion and secularism in creating voting blocs, influencing policies, and engaging in hard and soft power gambits on international stages. The members of this panel chart various aspects of this discourse-the role of social media in manufacturing transnational support for BJP policies, how US Hindutva organizations represent Indian electoral politics to their constituents, the electoral impact of the language of secularism within political campaigns, and how the Ramjanmabhoomi movement becomes a political movement that buttresses the BJP's goals of reinventing India as a Hindu rashtra. Panelists Christine Marrewa-Karwoski, Columbia University Prathiksha Srinivasa, Harvard Divinity School Dheepa Sundaram, University of Denver Rohit Chopra, Santa Clara University Emma Thompson, Princeton University
	P24-201 International Society for Science and Religion Theme: Book panel discussion on God and the Book of Nature: Experiments in Theology of Science, ed. Mark Harris (Routledge, 2024) Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-17B (Mezzanine Level) This session brings together a panel of commentators to discuss the recent volume of essays published by the “God and the Book of Nature” group. Some of the panelists are contributors to the project, others offer a critical overview. The book develops views of the natural sciences in light of the recent theological turn in science and religion and science-engaged theology. Centered around the Book of Nature metaphor, it brings together contributions by theologians, natural scientists, and philosophers who explore complementary (and even contesting) readings of the Book of Nature, particularly in light of the vexing questions that arise around essentialism and unity in the field of science and religion. Taking an experimental and open-ended approach, the volume does not attempt to unify the readings into a single “plot” that defines the Book of Nature, still less a single “theology of nature,” but instead it represents a variety of hermeneutical stances. Panelists Mark Harris, University of Oxford Bethany Sollereder, University of Edinburgh Matthew Elia, Duke University Frederick Simmons, University of Cambridge Peter Jordan, University of Oxford Victoria Lorrimar, University of Notre Dame, Australia Sarah Lane Ritchie, University of Edinburgh
	A24-214 Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Unit Theme: Christian Imaginations of the Other: The Impact of Religionization and Racialization on (Inter)Religious Studies Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Indigo 204A (Second Level) Catherine Cornille, Boston College, Presiding A roundtable discussion using Marianne Moyaert's recent work, Christian Imaginations of the Religious Other: a History of Religionization (Wiley-Blackwell, 2024), aiming to explore its broader applications in interreligious studies, religion-racialization, and comparative theology. Moyaert's book traces the genealogy of religionization, examining how Christians historically established religious normativity and created categories of non-Christian "otherness." Addressing various processes and contexts, the work analyzes the intersections of religionization with racialization, sexualization, and ethnicization. The interdisciplinary panel will extend the discussion, evaluating religionization's significance for interreligious relations and its applicability beyond Christianity. Delving into North America's approach to religious diversity, particularly amid color-based racism and white Christian hegemony, the panelists will reflect on the interplay between religion and race. Exploring theological implications, the panel will discuss integrating religionization into interreligious dialogue and anti-racist theologies. Lastly, the pedagogical impact will be examined, discussing effective ways to teach the history of religionization in theological and interreligious settings. The interreligious and interdisciplinary panel aims to foster a comprehensive discussion, critically engaging with religionization's broader implications for understanding interreligious relations, drawing on perspectives from comparative theology, interreligious studies, and critical race studies. Panelists Rachel Mikva, Chicago Theological Seminary Amir Hussain, Loyola Marymount University Khyati Joshi, Fairleigh Dickinson University Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Fordham University Willie J. Jennings, Yale University Responding Marianne Moyaert, University of Leuven Business Meeting Rachel Mikva, Chicago Theological Seminary, Presiding Feryal Salem, American Islamic College, Presiding
	A24-215 Islam, Gender, Women Unit and Study of Islam Unit Theme: Feminist Pedagogy in Islamic Studies Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-29B (Upper Level East) Saadia Yacoob, Williams College, Presiding This session focuses on tangible teaching methods, assignments, classroom activities, curriculum design that foster a feminist pedagogical approach to the Islamic Studies classroom. The presenters will share a specific pedagogical tool and discuss its application in the classroom, rather than presenting about feminist pedagogy in Islamic studies. The presentations will be followed by group discussions, emphasizing hands-on approaches, activities, and assignments that engage students in critical thinking and reflection contribute to creating an inclusive and empowering learning environment. Alina Jabbari, American University of Iraq, Sulaimani ‘Talk to your elders’: Students’ own families as the location to draw from and analyze gendered Muslim realities in the Kurdish Region of Iraq Abstract In this paper I will reflect on my experiences, lessons and insights teaching Islam & Gender at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani and which pedagogical tools I applied to foster a feminist pedagogical approach to the Islamic Studies classroom. I will do so by reflecting on the specifics of teaching ‘Islam & Gender’ at an English speaking university in a Muslim majority context and which pedagogical tools I used. I will specifically zoom in on the assignments I designed and the teaching methods inside the classroom to ensure that their voices and stories were at the center of their learning journey, and that the content remained culturally responsive and meaningful. Mahjabeen Dhala, Graduate Theological Union Inclusive and Feminist Pedagogy in Islamic Studies: Empowering Experiences. Abstract My training in Islamic theology and women’s studies has awarded me a unique opportunity to develop a pedagogical paradigm that integrates the Qur’anic notion of prophetic pedagogy with bell hooks’s concept of a “holistic and engaged pedagogy,” aimed at fostering discourse in an Islamic studies classroom. Prophetic pedagogy, as I interpret it based on Q 62:2, encompasses a pedagogical approach that informs, unforms, reforms, and transforms learning communities. In this paper, I will focus on three key pedagogical elements of my Intro to Islam class: a required assignment, a classroom activity, and a curriculum design feature. These components are guided by feminist pedagogical principles that prioritize engaging bodies and experiences alongside intellectual inquiry. Through their implementation, I advocate for a learning environment that celebrates diversity and inclusion, embraces holistic engagement, and champions justice by critically examining prevailing gender, race, and sectarian biases within Islamic scholarship, both historical and contemporary. Jannatul Maoa, Writing Our Desire Abstract My proposal advocates for a transformative approach to Islamic Studies, emphasizing the significance of interdisciplinary methodologies, visual studies, and creative storytelling. It explores the challenges posed by epistemic colonization, urging a shift from reactionary stance to proactive action. Drawing inspiration from Audre Lorde and Helene Cixous the proposal underscores the role of language in decolonization, urging a reevaluation of power dynamics in scholarly discourse. The integration of visual studies, exemplified through a visual essay on a Bangladeshi surfer, Nasima, offers a unique perspective on subaltern voices. The proposal also delves into the meaning of religious symbol highlighting spacial and contextual variations. Emphasizing the dynamism of Islamic Studies through the visual storytelling, the proposal concludes with a call for increased engagement with visual media in Islamic Studies courses, fostering a more immersive and enriching educational experience for students. Justine Howe, Case Western Reserve University Developing Student Voice and Expertise in the Islamic Studies Classroom Abstract This presentation focuses on an op-ed assignment for a writing-intensive seminar course, "Islam, Gender, and Sexuality." The assignment has three feminist pedagogical aims: to develop and hone student voice; facilitate critical reflection around authority and expertise; and to build a collaborative writing community. The broader goal is to empower undergraduate students to develop their own voices, to deepen their persuasive skills, and to seek additional venues for the articulation of their views within and outside the university.
	A24-216 Japanese Religions Unit Theme: Alternative Perspectives on Japanese Religious History Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-26B (Upper Level East) Jessica Starling, Lewis and Clark College, Presiding This panel consolidates four papers analyzing aspects of Japanese religions often neglected in dominant historiographies. The first paper explores premodern Buddhist didactic tales featuring impoverished women who pray to Kannon for worldly blessings and argues that these “tales of poor women” associated with Kiyomizudera shaped the development of the temple as a cultic center in Heian Japan (794–1185). The second paper traces the movement of Chinese Buddhists who traveled to early twentieth-century Japan to study Esoteric Buddhism and the impacts these actors had on the revival of Esoteric Buddhism in China. The third paper examines an “occult metahistory” discourse connecting ancient Japanese and Jews and considers why such a discourse gained traction in modern Japan. Finally, the fourth paper highlights Billy Graham’s visit to Japan in 1956 and investigates the implications of the visit for Japanese society in the context of Cold War politics. Xiao Xiao, Columbia University Empowered Narratives— “Tales of Poor Women” and Kiyomizudera in Premodern Japanese Kannon Setsuwa Abstract This paper explores a sub-genre of premodern Japanese Kannon setsuwa known as “tales of poor women (貧女譚).” Unlike early Chinese Guanyin miracle tales, Japanese Kannon setsuwa are notable for their explicit focus on female sexuality, as well as their frequent (and approving) depiction of female protagonists of low social standing seeking wealth and other worldly benefits. By examining how such tales of marginalized women both shaped and were shaped by Buddhist institutions in 10th and 11th century Japan, this paper will explore how gender and marginality came to be intertwined with issues of pilgrimage, karmic efficacy and even literary genre in early medieval Japan. It also demonstrates how such narratives served as a medium through which underrepresented women influenced the history of Kiyomizudera, one of the best-known Buddhist institutions of Japan’s Heian period (794-1185). Alexander Atkins, Duke University Chinese Buddhists Abroad: Japanese Buddhism and the Chinese Esoteric Buddhist Revival Abstract This project follows Chinese Buddhists who traveled to Japan studying Esoteric Buddhism from 1910 to the 1930s, returning to China spreading their teachings among monastics and laity. It will start with Gui Bohua’s (桂伯華 1861-1915) turn to Esoteric Buddhism to deal with the death of his family and then consider a series of monks and laypersons who sought ought initiation at the Shingon headquarters of Koyasan 高野山. These Buddhists sought not only to study a lost part of Chinese Buddhism but also to develop a potential alternative to western modernity. They spread Esoteric Buddhism throughout the Chinese Buddhist landscape while simultaneously improving Sino-Japanese relations during the spread of Japanese colonies throughout the Sinosphere. Finally, a case study of Taixu’s 太虚 Wuchang Buddhist Studies Academy foxueyuan 武昌佛学院 highlights its lay community’s shift from academic to Esoteric Buddhism. Tomoya Fujihara, University of California, Santa Barbara Kojiki, the Jews, and the Emperor - Occult Metahistory in Modern Japan Abstract This paper discusses the complex cultural and intellectual situation in the early phases of Japanese modernization by studying certain occult metahistorical tendencies that developed at the time, with special attention to interactions with similar tendencies from the West. In particular, I address a metahistorical discourse about the alleged relationships between Japan and the Jews, based on the concept of ultra-ancient history (chōkodaishi) that flourished from around 1930 to 1945 and is still partially influential today. As a window into occult metahistory, I will especially explore texts by Ogasawara Kōji (1903-1982). It appears that there existed a sort of “Dark Side” of Japanese modernization, deeply influenced by spiritualism, occultism, and theosophy imported from the West, which produced alternative discourses about Japanese identity and nationalism based on discredited Western ideas combined with creative interpretations of Japanese cultural texts. Yusuke Aikawa, Hiroshima University Billy Graham's Crusades in Japan: Analyzing Non-Religious Newspaper Coverage and its Implications for U.S.-Japan Relations Abstract The evangelistic efforts of American evangelist Billy Graham in Japan were met with enthusiasm by Japanese Christians. Despite the small Christian population in Japan, Graham's crusades may have been viewed as a proxy for the U.S. in the context of the Cold War. In 1956, Graham visited Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, who was also a Christian. The significance of this meeting is particularly noteworthy within the context of the postwar U.S.-Japan alliance. This paper aims to analyze how Japan responded to Graham's crusade by examining articles about his visit to Japan from non-religious newspapers. Through this analysis, the study seeks to determine how Japanese non-religious newspapers, and by extension, Japanese society, viewed Graham and his message. This research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between U.S. diplomacy and politics in Asia, as well as the role of American evangelism during the Cold War. Responding Victoria Montrose, Furman University Business Meeting Jessica Starling, Lewis and Clark College, Presiding Takashi Miura, University of Arizona, Presiding
	A24-217 Kierkegaard, Religion, and Culture Unit and Men, Masculinities, and Religions Unit Theme: Kierkegaard and the Construction of Masculinities Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire 411B (Fourth Level) Deidre Green, Graduate Theological Union, Presiding This joint session with the “Men, Masculinities, and Religions” unit of the AAR explores themes related to masculinity in Kierkegaard’s writings, including how depictions of masculinity vary among his pseudonyms and the authorial voices in his signed works, as well as the understanding of masculinity implied by his authorship as a whole. The papers consider the ways that Kierkegaard’s constructions of masculinity and spirituality may inform, critique, expand, or reinforce conceptions of masculinity in contemporary culture. Katarina von Kühn, Princeton Theological Seminary The Power of Silence: A Comparison Between Judge William and Kierkegaard’s View of Women Abstract Feminist readers of Søren Kierkegaard’s corpus may be all too familiar with Judge William’s troublesome view of his wife in Either/Or Part II. As readers, we may be able to find refuge in the fact that Judge William is a pseudonym whose very worldview Kierkegaard seeks to undermine, but what are readers to do when they find similar words about marriage and domesticity under Kierkegaard’s own name in For Self-Examination? In this paper, I compare Kierkegaard and his pseudonym Judge William’s view on women, their relationship to men, and the implications this has on femininity and masculinity. It is not the goal of this paper to exonerate Kierkegaard’s view of women. Rather, it is the goal to discern the similarities and differences between the two views and ‘judge for ourselves’ what wisdom, if any, we may take from Kierkegaard’s words on women and their relationship to men and masculinity. Melissa Fox-Muraton, University Clermont Auvergne, France Mental Health and Being a Man: Depression and Gender in "Guilty/Not Guilty" Abstract This paper will explore how disability, or more specifically depression, informs selfhood in dialogue with the individual’s relation to gender in “Guilty?/Not Guilty” from Stages on Life’s Way. This imaginary psychological construction offers a first-personal account of the narrator’s inability to fulfil his own, and society’s, expectations, describing the fact that his depressed nature prevents him from taking up the roles that befall a man—to become a husband—but also his complex relation to outward performance of gender norms through masking. Behind the stereotypical depictions of masculinity, however, lies a deeper concern: a concern with the possibility of being and making oneself understood, and of the possibilities for true connectedness and sympathy. Through a dialectics of negativity, the text offers an intricate understanding of the interplay between the inner and the outer, and the ways in which gender and selfhood are constructed through public presentation and social interaction. Casey Spinks, Baylor University Edifying Masculinity and Kierkegaard's Socratic Questioning Abstract This paper explores constructive possibilities in Kierkegaard for masculinity in theology. In Sickness Unto Death, masculine despair arises from self-assertion and remove from total devotion to a deserving object. Feminine despair comes from total devotion to the object, without genuine selfhood. Ironically, ‘feminine despair’ applies well to current conversations around toxic masculinity and how to solve it, since many are arguing for a reformed masculinity only so men will benefit others in society. Instead, the Socratic approach to masculinity would do better: asking, what masculinity is (rather than what masculinity is good for) accepts a risk that one is not manly and must find out what manliness is for oneself. This search parallels the development of selfhood into faithful reliance on God. As Kierkegaard contends, risk is the condition for faith, and faith is the condition for selfhood. I will conclude that the same applies for constructive accounts of masculinity. Oliver Norman, Université de Poitiers Manners of Being: Masculinities and Despair in the Contemporary World Abstract How are we to use Kierkegaard’s 19th century views to inform a current discussion on the construction of masculinity and more specifically the normativity en-gendered therein? I will try to read the construction of masculinity as a specific form of despair. That is to say a form of willing to be oneself and of the willing to not be oneself Kierkegaard describes in the Sickness unto Death. This societal form of despair ascribes specific acts to “real” men and invalidates the existence of others. The “alpha” male seen as hyperbolic masculinity creates an exclusion of more feminine, exuberant masculinities such as the camp male (Sontag, 1963; Newton, 1979). However, both of these masculinities reveal themselves, within a context of theatrical ontology of social life (Goffman, 1956), as performances given to convince others of one’s adequation to a given social norm. The difference resides within the consciousness of the performance. The camp individual as conscious of his performative nature is conscious of his despair and therefore on the road to overcoming it.

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