Online Program Book

"Extraordinary individuals (saints, sages, heroes, etc.) are often transgressors. They cross boundaries (actual and imagined), they break rules (sacred and profane), and they challenge norms (about sex, gender, class, etc.). How does the extraordinary status (or sanctity) of these individuals endow them with the power to transgress, for better and/or worse? How do those who honor such personages make sense of their transgressive power? What can this power tell us about the role of the extraordinary individual for the community that gathers in their wake?
In keeping with the collaborative ethos of the Hagiology Seminar, this roundtable will involve participation in three virtual conversations leading up to an in-person session at the 2024 AAR Annual Meeting."

Presentations in this panel revolve around passages drawn from Śikṣānanda’s early eighth-century Chinese translation of the *Laṅkāvatārasūtra* (Taishō no.672), which is the focus of a new translation project. The *Laṅkāvatārasūtra* is well-known as an influential if also unorthodox source of Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda thought that was particularly impactful in East Asia. With reference also to other versions of the text, the panel will attend to key passages from Śikṣānanda’s version concerning aspects of earlier Buddhist thought inherited by the *Laṅkāvatārasūtra* and (re)formulated by it, including the substratum consciousness (*ālayavijñāna*), karmic ‘seeds’ that burden it (*bīja*), and some notion of ‘buddha-nature’ (*tathāgatagarbha*). In discussion, the panel will reflect on questions arising from translating Śikṣānanda’s Chinese into English: how best to render its philosophical and doctrinal profundity (and obscurity); what distinguishes it from our other versions of the text, and the perennial difficulties surrounding the translation of what are already translated Buddhist texts.

The central question for this roundtable discussion is, How do we, as scholars of religion, teach about the Middle East? This question recalls the deep historical roots of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions in the region and the contemporary diversity of those communities. This question is also pressing in light of the current events and the requests for information that many of us are receiving from other scholars, students, and members of our broader communities. What pedagogical approaches should we consider for courses focusing specifically on the Middle East, for courses that can only touch briefly on the region, or for other venues in which we may be asked to teach about the Middle East? What resources are available – including textbooks, audio/visual sources, and digital tools – for teaching and understanding the region and its religious communities?

This session centers the history and perspectives of Kumeyaay peoples, the Indigenous peoples of San Diego. In 1769, The Mission San Diego de Alcalá, became the first Spanish Colonial Mission that sought to colonize California Native peoples. The Kumeyaay fought to dismantle the Spanish mission, the Mexican government, and later, the American colonial system. They continue to steward their ancestral homelands. Contemporary Kumeyaay include tribal members and their descendants from multiple Kumeyaay Bands in San Diego County and northwestern Mexico. This session focuses on the intricacies of Kumeyaay Spirituality and Religious intersections in cities, reservation communities, and beyond. Highlighting historical moments within Kumeyaay history, we will explore how “Spirituality,” prior to the settler colonial encroachment, laid the foundational understanding of relationality and reciprocity of all things. Lastly, we will consider how Kumeyaay Spirituality and Religion has changed over time, influencing how tribal communities relate to “tradition” through a contemporary lens.

Secularism’s (or the secular’s) role in the constitution of coloniality has been underattended in the fields of religious studies and decolonial theory. In The Coloniality of the Secular, An Yountae investigates the collusive ties between the modern concepts of the secular, religion, race, and coloniality in the Americas, as well as decoloniality’s conception of the sacred. In this roundtable, scholars at the intersection of philosophy of religion, postcolonial and decolonial theories, black religious thought, Christian theology, feminist study of religion, and theories of secularization and postsecularity come together to celebrate the publication of and respond to the arguments of The Coloniality of the Secular.