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.


	M25-106 Horizons in Biblical Theology Theme: Editorial Board Meeting Monday, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Hilton Bayfront-Indigo C (Second Level) Horizons in Biblical Theology (BRILL) Editorial Board Meeting
	A25-200 Afro-American Religious History Unit and Sociology of Religion Unit Theme: *The Long and Shifting Shadow of ‘Negro’ Religion: A Critical Reappraisal of E. Franklin Frazier’s The Negro Church in America* on Its 60th Anniversary** Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-3 (Upper Level West) Nicole Turner, Princeton University, Presiding E. Franklin Frazier’s The Negro Church in America is a foundational text in African American religious studies, examining the intersection of religion, sociality, and politics. Published in 1964 amid the Civil Rights Movement, it analyzes the historical trajectory of African Americans, from the transatlantic slave trade to the Great Migration. This roundtable reevaluates Frazier’s work, assessing its enduring significance and offering contemporary insights. Presenters delve into specific chapters, discussing themes such as the impact of slavery on religious practices, the development of independent Black churches, and their roles post-Emancipation. Panelists critique Frazier’s theories on assimilation and gender dynamics, reflecting on their implications today. With diverse perspectives from scholars of various backgrounds, the roundtable aims to deepen our understanding of African American religious history. The discussion seeks to engage multiple audiences, highlighting Frazier's enduring legacy and the ongoing relevance of his scholarship in contemporary discourse. Panelists Juan Floyd-Thomas, Vanderbilt University Cori Tucker-Price, University of Southern California Kera Street, Brown University Ahmad Greene-Hayes, Harvard University Charrise Barron, Harvard University Responding Nicole Turner, Princeton University Business Meeting Vaughn Booker, University of Pennsylvania, Presiding Nicole Turner, Princeton University, Presiding
	A25-202 Arts, Literature, and Religion Unit, Chinese Religions Unit, Confucian Traditions Unit, and Daoist Studies Unit Theme: Arts and/as Chinese Religious Repertoires Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-11B (Upper Level West) Yong Cho, University of California, Riverside, Presiding This panel presents a topically and historically diverse array of papers for the sake of bringing a methodological point into focus. We examine how literary, cinematic, visual, and ritual arts have not merely transmitted but creatively engaged and reshaped Confucian, Buddhist, Daoist, and so-called popular-religious thought in China from the medieval period to the present. In each case, we consider how the formal and conceptual affordances of artistic media respond to the needs of their respective practitioners. By engaging these affordances, practitioners have synthesized concepts from disparate traditions; redefined or reinterpreted pre-existing concepts; and illuminated ideas in ways that are uniquely accessible through certain art forms. To make sense of such artistic adaptations of religious thought, it does not suffice to have a grasp of the religious traditions at play. Instead, arts should be understood as actively intervening in and contributing to the repertoires of Chinese religions. Ronghu Zhu, University of Chicago Cao Yanlu’s Dwelling-Securing (Zhenzai) Ritual in the Context of Medieval Chinese Household Religion Abstract Cao Yanlu, ruler of Dunhuang from 976 CE to 1002 CE, performed a dwelling-securing ritual as a response to a portentous incident that happened in his house. In this paper, I analyze the characteristics of the ritual by noting Cao’s consultation with the occult arts and the practical logic of his religious eclecticism. The ritual is testimony to the complexities of medieval Chinese religious life, in which the occult arts featured prominently. I then propose to take Cao’s dwelling-securing ritual as an instance of household religion that cuts across the distinction between popular religion and elite religion. When we appreciate Cao’s ritual in light of the continuing tradition of household religion in ancient and medieval China, we can go beyond the framework of interreligious interactions in accounting for the inclusion of Buddhist and Daoist spirits in the ritual but rather understand these spirits as new demonological idioms adopted by household religion. Zhuolun Xie, Princeton University Clearing Mountains, Quelling Waters: The Visual Narrative of a Soushan tu Painting and Its Textual Afterlife Abstract _Soushan tu_ (literally “painting of a search in the mountains”) is a Chinese narrative painting tradition that derives its name from the central scene of a group of ferocious-looking heavenly soldiers expelling animal spirits led by a commanding deity and his retinue in the mountains. The commanding deities featured in the paintings have been variously identified in previous scholarship as the Buddhist protective deity Vaiśravaṇa, a group of Daoist divinities (_sisheng_), Erlang—a “syncretic” deity capable of controlling floods and subduing mountain ghosts, and Guan Yu, the Chinese god of war. This paper examines one little studied _soushan tu_ painting dated to the Ming era. Through iconographical analysis and close reading of the colophon, the paper demonstrates how the painting constructs a visual narrative without a fixed grounding text, and how it may have communicated new religio-mythological and political messages through a creative reworking of pre-existing visual tropes. Alia Goehr, The Moral Mind’s Outrage in Zhang Nai’s “Must-Read Classical Literature” 必讀古文 Abstract In 1626–27, in the wake of court eunuch Wei Zhongxian’s (1568–1627) persecutions, scholar-official Zhang Nai (_jinshi_ 1604) published a multigenre anthology of writings elucidating the relationship between writing and morality. Confucian thinkers had long regarded the former half of this dyad warily, as that which conveyed sagely morality yet risked giving way to personal interest. In this context, writing was a site of contest between the moral mind embodying the Way and the human mind’s inclination to exceed the square and compass of sagely teachings. I show how Zhang Nai and his collaborators engaged the anthology’s formal features to synthesize an aesthetically esteemed tradition of enmity and indignation (_yuan_, _fen_) with sagely teachings traditionally resistant to these extreme affects. In doing so, they redrew the moral mind’s boundaries to incorporate writing’s expressive affordances into Confucian moral discourse, allowing space for the moral mind’s outrage in late-Ming political life. Justin R. Ritzinger, University of Miami Bodhisattva Noir: Agency, Theodicy, and Genre in "Running on Karma" Abstract In _Running on Karma_, the Hong Kong commercial auteur Johnnie To and his partner Wai Ka-fai offer a meditation on the themes of agency and theodicy within a karmic worldview that sheds fresh light precisely through its improbable pastiche of genres and themes drawn from both Chinese and Western cinematic and literary traditions. By framing the tropes of superhero movies and film noir within a karmic universe, To and Wai subvert those genres’ expectations and assumptions to create a Buddhist morality tale for a global, twenty-first century Asia in which force is futile and nihilism is overcome with compassion. Responding Yong Cho, University of California, Riverside
	A25-203 Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Unit and Religion in Southeast Asia Unit Theme: Roundtable on Social Media and Social Movements within Myanmar and its Diasporas Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire L (Fourth Level) Beiyin Deng, University of Missouri, Presiding This Roundtable focuses on religion, social movements, and social media of Myanmar and its diasporas. Because of the 2021 military coup d'état and prior conflicts, millions born in Burma/Myanmar have been displaced while resistance to military rule has been ongoing. The Myanmar diaspora are committed stakeholders at the “forefront of activism in response to the coup” as the “single most important source of funding” for the resistance movement. Given how much work of nation-building has been occurring within and outside the borders of Myanmar, this Roundtable reflects on Myanmar from multiple perspectives with a public theologian, an anthropologist, a scholar of religion, a political scientist and her PhD student, and a feminist comparativist. This roundtable offers a rare overview of Myanmar and would also be the second time in AAR history that a discussion fully focuses on the often-overlooked multiethnic nation-state of Myanmar. Panelists David Thang Moe, Yale University Tamara C. Ho, University of California, Riverside Joseph Cheah, University of Saint Joseph Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, University of Massachusetts, Lowell Myat Su Tin, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
	A25-204 Bonhoeffer: Theology and Social Analysis Unit Theme: Bonhoeffer, Formation, and Education Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-6D (Upper Level West) Matthew Puffer, Valparaiso University, Presiding The papers in this session explore Bonhoeffer's theological legacy in relation to various aspects of theological education, including decolonial methods, theological formation, and pastoral care. Dianne Rayson, Pacific Theological College Teaching (With) Bonhoeffer: Decolonising and Contextualising Theologies from the Otherside Abstract This paper describes the experience of teaching Bonhoeffer in Oceania from the perspective of Pacific Theological College in Suva, Fiji, and in turn, the influence of Bonhoeffer on pedagogy and methodology. The paper uses this context to interrogate contemporary issues in contextual theology, dialoguing with Jione Havea’s important chapter, “The Cons of Contextuality…Kontextuality” (2011). It then describes some emerging Pasifika theologies that centre relationality with land and ocean, identifying some resonances with Bonhoeffer’s key notions of sociality, Christocentrism, and ethics of responsibility. Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero, Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon Bonhoeffer, Lutheran Theological Formation, and Learning at the Margins Abstract Writing about the “changing landscape of theological education” is nothing new; in fact, it has constantly been changing through various stages over the past millennia. While his context was different, Dietrich Bonhoeffer also experienced a highly structured system on one side and rapid (and deadly) change on the other. His book Life Together details his experiment in intentional communal theological education, and his writings on theology and spiritual care demonstrate what is at stake for the Church in contemporary society, especially among those at the margins. This paper traces Bonhoeffer’s theological and pedagogical insights to offer proposals for the future of theological education, focusing on embracing innovation with humility, prioritizing relational pedagogy, engaging contextually and prophetically, and fostering lifelong learning and vocational discernment. Aaron Klink, Duke University Theology’s Primacy in the Care of Souls: Bonhoeffer on Formation for the Ministry of Pastoral Care Abstract Bonhoeffer's seminary at Finkenwalde has sometimes been referred to as an experiment in Protestant monasticism. His lectures on Pastoral Care, reconstructed from his outlines and surviving student notes make clear that he believes that Gospel-centered pastoral care requires both intellectual and spiritual formation to achieve its task. For Bonhoeffer, psychological distress comes from a human sin that prevents an individual from hearing the Gospel, and identifying this sin is the primary task of pastoral care. Bonhoeffer also attempts to differentiate pastoral care based on what seems to be a polemical portrait of psychoanalysis. This paper explores the usefulness and limitations of Bonhoeffer's focus on theology and how it might be enriched by greater dialouge with psychological sciences and medicine. Business Meeting Karen V. Guth, College of the Holy Cross, Presiding Matthew Puffer, Valparaiso University, Presiding
	A25-205 Buddhist Philosophy Unit Theme: A Discussion of Sara McClintock and John Dunne's translation of Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland (Ratnāvalī) Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-25A (Upper Level East) William Edelglass, Emerson College, Presiding Both classical and contemporary scholars have raised critical questions regarding the consequences of Nāgārjuna’s analysis of emptiness for ethics and politics. If all distinctions, phenomena, values, ideas—even suffering, karmic fruit, vulnerable sentient bodies, and ethics—are empty of inherent existence, what does this mean for how we act in the world, both as individuals and as members of social and political groups? Does the Madhyamaka analysis of emptiness undermine ethics and political values? And if not, what is the basis and motivation right action in a world in which suffering is ultimately empty of inherent existence? Nāgārjuna’s Precious Garland: A Teaching for a King (Rājaparikathāratnāvalī), is widely regarded as one of the most important Indian Buddhist texts to address this question of the relationship between Madhyamaka ideas of emptiness and ethics and politics. Despite its stature in Buddhist traditions and contemporary scholarship, it has not received as much attention as other texts attributed to Nāgārjuna. This is perhaps because it is a dense, enigmatic, and provocative text, primarily devoted to addressing leadership and the Buddhist path, integrating philosophy, ethics, politics, and the aspiration to become a bodhisattva. Panelists Emily McRae, University of New Mexico Sonam Kachru, Yale University Amber Carpenter, Yale-NUS College Jay Garfield, Smith College Stephen Jenkins, Humboldt State University Constance Kassor, Lawrence University Charles Hallisey, Harvard University Pierre-Julien Harter, University of New Mexico Responding John Dunne, University of Wisconsin Sara L. McClintock, Emory University Business Meeting Constance Kassor, Lawrence University, Presiding Karin Meyers, Mangalam Research Center, Presiding
	A25-234 Catholic Studies Unit and Native Traditions in the Americas Unit Theme: Critical Mission Studies: California Indian and Allied Perspectives on the History of Spanish Catholic Missions. Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-30A (Upper Level East) Jennifer Scheper Hughes, University of California, Riverside, Presiding Critical Mission Studies offers a radical revision of the history of the California missions and their legacies in the present from a California Indigenous perspective. Our use of the word “critical” makes transparent that colonialism, genocide, and historical trauma are central to the California missions, both in the past and in the present. The field of critical mission studies intervenes in conventional accounts of California Indian-Spanish relations during the mission period by foregrounding the perspectives and epistemologies of Native peoples. The objective is not simply to counterbalance conventional accounts with an Indigenous epistemological alternative, but also to correct the historical record and to dismantle the triumphalist narrative—both of which “continue to undermine the real and present consequences of the colonization and genocide” of Native peoples and cultures. Our panelists are Kumeyaay, Iipay, and Amah Mutsun California Indian scholars, tribal leaders, and allied scholars/collaborators. Olivia Chilcote, San Diego State University Struggle for the San Luis Rey Village Abstract The San Luis Rey Village emerged as a community in the face of Spanish colonization where Luiseño people converged to preserve land, culture, and an Indigenous sovereignty. Spanish missionization influenced the composition of the village, yet an Indigenous understanding of cultural and political space transcended the imposition of Catholicism. As California came under the control of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, the San Luis Rey Village navigated and resisted settler encroachment upon their land. This presentation analyzes key moments in the tribe’s efforts to secure their village, including treaty negotiations and strategic protest, that ultimately set the stage for the tribe’s contemporary pursuit of federal recognition of its inherent sovereignty. Renya Ramirez, University of California, Santa Cruz Collaboration, Decolonization, and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Abstract My presentation will revolve around my work as a Ho-Chunk/Ojibwe scholar in collaboration with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB) to work towards decolonization. I will discuss our efforts to develop educational curriculum from an Indigenous perspective that can be incorporated into the California public schools. Respectful collaboration with the AMTB is essential, and includes developing a memorandum of understanding, following Amah Mutsun protocol, meeting regularly for feedback, and gaining tribal approval every step of the way. I will also discuss what allyship means and what it means to be a good ally. In order to decolonize educational curriculum, it takes Natives and non-Natives working together as allies in respectful collaboration. I will also discuss that decolonization must also include land back to California Indians. For this to happen, we must work together as allies of California Indians too. I will discuss how land was stolen from California Indians to create the UC system so returning land to Indigenous people is of central important for decolonization. Stanley Rodriguez, Kumeyaay Community College “Remember the Kumeyaay Rebellion: A Pilgrimage to Sites of California Indian Resistance to Spanish Missions” Abstract San Diego mission was the site of our largest Kumeyaay rebellion. We burned it several times, killing the missionary Father Luis Jayme and two others on November 5, 1775. The Kumeyaay destroyed missions in San Diego and Baja California, leaving them as rubble. This was a form of strategic resistance focused on systematically destroying the missions. The Kumeyaay still have our Native language because we burned the missions down. One difficult question that remains is why were some groups able to successfully resist Spanish missionization and keep a majority of their culture intact while others succumbed to the foreign missionizing of their people. This paper is based on community knowledge including histories gathered through the use of interviews and conversations with descendants of those who were missionized during a pilgrimage I guided to sites of Indian resistance to Spanish mission on the U.S.-Mexican border. . Theresa Gregor, California State University, Long Beach “Restor(y)ing the Santa Ysabel Mission During Its Bicentennial (1818–2018); Reckoning with Critical Mission History” Abstract This paper uses an historical and ethnographical lens to document the restoration process and restor(y)ing of the Santa Ysabel Mission (Santa Ysabel Reservation in San Diego County). The Mission Myth is a settler colonial fantasy used to justify the eradication of First Peoples, our history, and our land tenure and stewardship. The term “restor(y)ing” is derived from several critical Tribal theories and methodologies. By utilizing oral history and personal correspondence with tribal members, this talk features their perspectives and understanding about local Spanish Mission history to present a critical analysis of California Mission Studies. This talk combines the work of California American Indian community members, academics, allied researchers, and activist partners to establish California American Indian understandings and to center California American Indian perspectives in telling the history of California Indian-Spanish relations during the mission period and the continuing ramifications of that historical era. Valentin Lopez, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Jennifer Scheper Hughes, University of California, Riverside A California Confessionario: Reckoning with the Sins of the Church in the California Missions Abstract California Indian Amah Mutsun response to an early 19th century confessional manual written in Mutsun, an Ohlone language from northern California, by the missionary friar Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta OFM. Spanish missionaries to the Americas published and disseminated confessionarios, confessional guides or handbooks that priests used to instruct Indigenous people through the sacrament, including in Alta California. In California, the sacrament of confession was also related to the Papal Bulls. Those that did not convert and practice confession were to be “vanquished”. What does it mean to be ‘vanquished” in the California Indian context? At Mission San Juan Bautista 19,421 Indigenous people died between 1797-1823. 3,200 were buried in a tiny graveyard, a mass grave, at San Juan Bautista. The California missions were not about conversion but about punishing a resistant population, about domination and control. The working definition of sin is problematic because it centers the Spanish view. The California Indian voice should become the moral standard in evaluating the crimes of the mission system and the colonizeers. Bernard Gordillo, Center for Iberian and Latin American Music, University of California, Riverside Mission Sensoriums: Sounds, Silences, and Vestiges of the Mission Bell in California Abstract This paper examines the mission bell in California as an aural and visual instrument of colonization: from the crucial role of church bells and their sounds at the California missions during the Spanish and Mexican periods, to the processes that shaped the El Camino Real Bell Marker as an enduring presence in California tourism, and the Raincross Bell as emblematic of the business ventures booster-entrepreneur Frank A. Miller in the City of Riverside. I will argue that these historical developments transformed the mission bell into a Native Californian symbol of struggle and reckoning.
	A25-206 Christian Spirituality Unit Theme: Spirituality and Artificial Intelligence: Strangers, Partners, or Rivals? Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-24A (Upper Level East) Bernadette Flanagan, Spirituality Institute Ireland, Presiding Given that a core foundation for Christian spirituality and spirituality in general is the human capacity for self-consciousness and the concept of slow knowing (lectio / visio divina) and given that designers of artificial intelligence are working towards greater capacity for “AI self-awareness” and speed in knowing, what do we conceive as the future interaction between AI and Spirituality? AI’s potential contribution to spirituality, morality, contemplative practices, and prayer are engaged in this session. Euntaek Shin, Baylor University Constructing the Ark of Wisdom in the Age of AI Abstract If Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enhance human morality, could AI also enhance spirituality? In considering the relationship between AI and spirituality, this paper examines the potential benefits and risks of moral enhancement through AI and relates some of these arguments to Hugh of St. Victor’s notion of the ark of wisdom. I argue that while AI can indeed assist morality, a key aspect of spirituality, there are other key facets in the cultivation of morality such as the practice of memorization and the internalization of reading that belongs exclusively to the human agent. If Hugh’s spirituality as depicted in the ark of wisdom is sound, then it follows that while AI can enhance spirituality, it only does so to a limited degree. While AI and spirituality should remain partners, they must remain partners by delineating key practices of spirituality. Matthew Wickman, Brigham Young University The Spiritual Life of AI, as Imagined by Way of R. S. Thomas Abstract A famous poem by R. S. Thomas, “The Empty Church,” one of the poems that widely associates him with Holy Saturday, describes an existential search for God in a post-religious age. But today, the poem also captures something telling about spiritual life in our era of artificial intelligence—indeed, perhaps the spiritual life of artificial intelligence itself. This is because, in addition to its existential theme, the poem takes the form of a broken sonnet. The sonnet form evokes completion, closure, harmony, though in “The Empty Church” its fracture instead registers as noise, mimicry, simulation. The poem thus functions as an allegory of artificial intelligence, mimicking the quest for God in a search for the poet who might complete or repair its busted form. Thomas’s poem helps us understand the emergence of AI as a neural network with its own pathologies, its spiritual life a weakened version of our own. Kevin Goodrich, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary Relating to the Powers, Human, Spiritual, and Technological: A Contemplative Appraisal Abstract Christian spirituality is inherently relational. As a discipline, Christian spirituality is devoted to the study and practice of being in relationship with God, oneself, others, and all of creation. The development of artificial intelligence and the anticipation of future, more advanced, artificial intelligences, raises questions about the practice and scope of Christian spirituality. This paper explores cautionary and constructive possibilities for partnerships between human beings and artificial intelligence. For example. how can the development of potential artificial consciousness expand the understanding of not only how, but who or what, may practice contemplative Christian spirituality? This appraisal draws upon several ideas and sources, including the 14th century mystic, Richard Rolle, Walter Wink’s social theology, Michael Burdett’s theology of technology, and the practice of contemplative prayer. Noreen Herzfeld, St. John's University Is an AI-generated Icon an Icon? Theological, Ecological, and Communal Considerations Abstract Images created by generative AI have raised controversy in the art world, where critics question the ability of AI to be creative since generative programs base their output on that of previous artists. The formulaic nature of icon painting would seem to make it ideally suited to generative AI. Nor would the virtual world preclude the veneration of icons. Yet most Orthodox theologians remain suspicious of digital technology. Theologically, AI generation raises fears of a new Docetism that separates spirit and matter. A second concern is rooted in the role of both icon and iconographer within the temporal community and the community of saints. Through prayer and contemplation, an icon establishes a relational triad linking iconographer, saint, and viewer. AI severs the relationship between iconographer and saint and has the potential to mislead viewers, since it is embedded in neither the community of the faithful nor of the saints.
	A25-207 Cognitive Science of Religion Unit Theme: Out of Our Minds? Toward a New Science of Cognitive Companion Construction Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Cobalt 520 (Fifth Level) Wesley J. Wildman, Boston University, Presiding Approaches to formalize CCC include neuroimaging studies, computational modeling, phenomenological analysis, and ethnographic research. Each approach aims to identify cognitive capabilities involved, understand cultural influences, and integrate findings into a biocultural theory of CCC. The proposed panel, comprising diverse studies on demonic presences, tulpamancy, alien encounters, and shamanic guides, seeks to synthesize these insights. It aims to delineate variations in experiences and their underlying neurocognitive mechanisms while considering cultural dynamics. The panel also intends to engage in discussions with attendees, potentially leading to a collaborative book on a comprehensive theory of CCC phenomena. Ari Brouwer, University of Wisconsin - Madison On Demons: Spiritual, Psychedelic and Psychotic Experiences of Malevolent Agency Abstract How is the subjective experience of demons different from the experience of benevolent spirit companions? This presentation explores how negative emotional valence, lack of control, and high-arousal characterize malevolent agent encounters. Moreover, the ways we respond to malevolent spirits, both spontaneously and in religious/therapeutic contexts, resemble strategies for responding to (e.g., resisting or reconciling with) hostile agents in real life. Benevolent spiritual companions, much like friends in real life, diminish the perception of hostile spiritual forces, and can be summoned as allies in spiritual struggles. The dynamics of Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC), both hostile and benevolent, reflect an amplified imaginative process of social-cognitive simulation – in which the mind synthesizes negative and positive agent encounters into a symbolic (generalized) form, so as to update and generalize our responses to social actors (including the self) in real life. Elizabeth Hale, University of California Santa Barbara Agents in Space: Alien Interfacings as Cognitive Companion Constructions Abstract This paper explores the phenomenon of alien abductions and other sustained personal relationships with aliens—what I term “alien interfacings”—through the lens of Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC), an approach which seeks to understand the cognitive underpinnings allowing the human mind to construct and perceive an ostensibly external agent through internal mechanisms. Aliens are one such type of constructed companion. Through combined factors of expectation, cultural priors, and sensory deprivation through hypnosis or meditation, experiencers generate dense narratives of alien interfacings which often bear powerful transformative results in their lives. These narratives, and the alien interlocuters with whom experiencers build relationships, are created by a combination of cultural and cognitive mechanisms. This paper seeks to better understand the internal narration mechanism, the mental vocabulary upon which it draws, and what such a narrative says about the culture in which it is generated. Luca Del Deo, Harvard University Tulpamancy as Agent Cognition in Cognitive Companion Construction Abstract Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC), as a provisional model, suggests the examination of the preceding factors in encounters with immaterial beings or agents often deemed supernatural. A meditation tradition rising out of the internet in the past decade offers a seemingly novel exposition of how one might create a persistent encounter with an immaterial being or supernatural agent. Tulpamancy prescribes a training curriculum of visualization and narrative development that is equal parts excogitation and phenomenological creation of the imagined agent. Through the lens of CCC, the agents encountered in Tulpamancy are situated as cognitive constructs. The emic terminology and prescriptive practices of Tulpamancy resemble an experiential model supported by the CCC framing, in which a Tavesian building blocks approach and predictive coding theory structure the agent encounter as trainable, repeatable, and companionate as a result of cultural priors both inherent and explicit in Tulpamancy practice. F. LeRon Shults, University of Agder The Cognitive Construction of Companions in Shamanism Abstract The presentation discusses Cognitive Companion Construction (CCC) within shamanism, drawing on insights from CSR and addressing traditional and neo-shamanic practices. Methodological challenges in studying shamanism cross-culturally are acknowledged, emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary approaches. Cognitive capacities observed in shamanism include altered states of consciousness, symbolic thought, narrative construction, and the search for meaning. Research suggests that such experiences are facilitated by cognitive processes like hyperactive agency detection and theory of mind. Cultural contexts significantly shape the expression of shamanic practices, with variations reflecting societal understandings of the cosmos and social cohesion mechanisms. Distinguishing between collective and distributive modes of effervescence on a continuum, the paper theorizes the mechanisms that contribute to the emergence and expansion of novel practices like contemporary neo-shamanisms. The conclusion emphasizes the interplay between cognitive capacities and cultural contexts in shaping CCC within shamanism, contributing to a deeper understanding of religious beliefs and practices within CSR. Business Meeting Jed Forman, University of California, Berkeley, Presiding Paul Robertson, University of New Hampshire, Presiding
	A25-208 Comparative Religious Ethics Unit Theme: Ethics and Advocacy Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Indigo H (Second Level) Peng Yin, Boston University, Presiding Collectively, the papers on this panel help us consider the proper role (if any) of advocacy and normative arguments within the academic study of religious ethics. Papers dealing with specific issues related to sexual ethics, femininity, and the role of chaplains, as well as with a variety of religious traditions including Christianity, Confucianism, and Daoism will provide diverse perspectives on this important question. Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia Analysis and Advocacy in Comparative Religious Ethics Abstract Comparative Religious Ethics seeks to promote multiple “encounters with difference,” but what capacities should we be developing, in ourselves and our audiences, to engage genuinely with multiple views? A careful attention to analysis, leading to appreciation though not assent, has marked many of the most interesting efforts in CRE over the past few decades. But some critics think that such efforts fail, and that the protocols of contemporary culture and scholarship turn encounter into consumerist amusement and genuine toleration into indifference, diluting subjects’ own convictions and producing “Don Juans of the myths, courting each one in turn.” This paper directly addresses these challenges, trying to appreciate their power while still proposing that constructive encounters with difference are possible, though they may require more serious self-reflection than scholars have often theorized. Sarah Robinson, Dominican University of California Informed Ethics and Advocacy: Comparative Ethics in Cross-boundary Buddhist Spaces Abstract Ethics is not only anemic, but vacant without a modicum of advocacy, as ethics defines the good without remaining starkly neutral. Comparative religious ethics charts real-time communities, facing salient and timely issues. Yet, informed ethics complicates the good by viewing it comparatively. Comparative ethics requires attention not only to textual, traditional, or theoretical factors, but dynamic, historically-rooted social circumstances. The first case concerns Soto Zen norms during Japanese annexation of Korea in the early 20th century, in which many celibate Korean monastics were required to marry. By Korean independence in 1945, a small minority of celibate Korean monastics remained. The second case charts San Francisco Zen Center’s leadership transitions from a beloved root teacher of Soto Zen lineage, Shunryu Suzuki, whose American successor’s misdeeds pushed restructuring of the community to prevent ethical violations. Comparing Buddhist community adjustments after ethical challenges, this study affirms aspects of advocacy in comparative, informed ethics. Eunchul Jung, Drew University Reimagining Femininity: Toward an East Asian Feminist Discourse Beyond Masculine Constructs Abstract This paper will attempt to translate East Asian thinking into a new cultural setting where feminist and pluralist discourses prevail by pointing out certain limitations of Western feminist discourse and comparatively reinventing femininity as an alternative concept. Firstly, Western mainstream epistemology and ontology will be critically reviewed from the gender perspective. The paper will argue Western mainstream thought operates through masculine discourse and that some feminism is actually a byproduct of and reinforces it. Next, it will examine East Asian gendered cosmology, systematically completed in Neo-Confucianism and discuss how the gender binary framework of yinyang can remove the charge of essentialism and modify Western masculine discourse and feminism. It will be argued that the Dao can offer a new feminist paradigm. Here, femininity is not an antithesis of masculinity in the confrontational male-female dichotomy, but an alternative discourse at a larger level that transcends and encompasses that dichotomy. Lucinda Mosher, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace That Professional Spiritual Care May Be Just: Comparative Religious Ethics and Chaplain Formation Abstract Convinced of the value of Comparative Religious Ethics as a framework both for conveying foundational concepts and for nurturing multireligious fluency, an ethicist with deep experience in chaplaincy education presents an approach to ethics instruction for professional spiritual caregivers that is informed by interreligious studies, comparative theology, and post-colonial methods and concerns. It is a model through which chaplains-to-be learn best practices of comparison-making as they broaden and deepen their understanding of worldviews and ethical theories beyond their own. At least as importantly, it is a model that facilitates the understanding of the interconnectedness of individual and systemic issues that impede equity; hence it develops competencies that enable spiritual care to be provided justly. Among its goals is to ensure that, when confronted with calls to serve as advocates, chaplains be well equipped to know whether, when, and how to respond.
	A25-209 Comparative Theology Unit Theme: Dalit Traditions, Liberation, and Comparative Theology Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Cobalt 502A (Fifth Level) Katie Mahowski Mylroie, Boston College, Presiding Dalit communities, experiences, and theologies provide a critical and decolonial approach to comparative theologies and Christian theologies of liberation. Attending to Dalit traditions through comparative theology may lead to multireligious and interreligious solidarity and co-resistance against local and global structures of oppression and ideological discourses of marginalization. One paper explores how Christian Dalit theologians may learn from the liberation struggles of Dalits of other faith traditions, seeking to elevate the liberative possibilities inherent in such an attempt in the context of the emergence of new empires of majoritarian nationalism and religious supremacies. The second paper contrasts Hindu and Christian theological ideals of liberation and equality with the social reality of Hindu and Christian oppression of the marginalized. The third paper examines the intersections of Korean Han and Dalit Pathos, both to enrich theological understanding and to inspire a collective pursuit of justice and liberation that transcends cultural and religious boundaries. Peniel Rajkumar, Many Liberations? Dalit Theology and the Interreligious Challenge Abstract This paper explores the promise that a comparative shift in Dalit Theology will hold both for the development of Dalit Theology in the context of its ongoing critiques (of its epistemological binarism, as well as insufficient comprehensiveness), as well as the changing Indian context of growing religious nationalisms, which necessitates significant levels of subaltern as well as interreligious solidarity as an antidote. It takes into serious consideration the changing global theological contexts where liberation theologies are no longer the prerogative of Christians, but are also being articulated by Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim scholars, it lifts up liberative motifs within different Dalit traditions that can transform Dalit Theology. Through a careful reading of the signs of our times, the paper seeks to outline the shape and scope of a comparative theology of Dalit liberation, which would be more aligned with the visions of some of the earliest proponents of Dalit theology. Jess Navarette, Boston College Striving For Religious Ideals – Hinduism and Christianity, Dalits and Oppression Abstract The Dalit situation in India and its relation to Hinduism has parallels that can be drawn to the slavery and oppression of Black and African Americans in the United States, a country founded on overtly Christian theological sentiments. Both countries have religious majorities with theological ideals of equality and non-discrimination, and yet both have long histories of oppression and dehumanization of minority populations. However, the civil rights movement in the United States was ultimately inspired by the reaffirmation of Christian religious ideals; this work seeks to reaffirm Hindu ideals of non-discrimination and equality present in fundamental texts and embodied by figures both historical and modern, from the Alvars in South India (7th-10th century) to 20th century Hindu leaders. This comparative approach brings the sociocultural scenarios of the U.S. and India into dialogue around issues of oppression and religious ideals, providing a new angle to the often-oppositional Hindu-Dalit relationship. Shinjae Lee, Boston College Comparing Korean “Han” and Dalit “Pathos” for Dalit Theology Abstract This research delves into a comparative study of Korean "Han" and Dalit "Pathos" within the framework of Dalit Theology, employing comparative theology to explore themes of injustice, resilience, and liberation across cultural and religious contexts. Examining primary literature and secondary sources uncovers the emotional and cultural depths of Han and Pathos, their historical development, and their theological implications. The study highlights how Han, rooted in Korean spirituality and reflecting a narrative of sorrow and justice, resonates with universal themes within Christian theology, while Dalit Pathos, arising from the caste-based oppression in Hinduism, articulates a profound sense of injustice and longing for liberation. Through a comparative theological methodology, this research seeks to enrich Dalit Theology by integrating insights from Korean Han, emphasizing the importance of inclusive, empathetic, and action-oriented theological frameworks to reaffirm and deepen the Christian commitment to justice and liberation. Responding Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar, Lutheran Pastor, Womanist Theologian Business Meeting Axel Marc Oaks Takacs, Seton Hall University, Presiding Catherine Cornille, Boston College, Presiding
	A25-210 Evangelical Studies Unit Theme: *Author Meets Critics Panel: Who Is a True Christian? Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture* (Cambridge University Press, 2024), by David W. Congdon** Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-24B (Upper Level East) W. Travis McMaken, Lindenwood University, Presiding David W. Congdon’s book Who Is a True Christian? Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2024) critiques orthodoxy as a violent form of religious identity. By providing a thorough intellectual history of modern Christian boundary-making from the Reformation to today’s MAGA evangelicals, he shows that conservative defenders of so-called “historic Christianity” are just as modern as the mainline liberals whom they oppose. Congdon proposes “polydoxy” as a pluralistic and liberating alternative. Four scholars will discuss his book and its relevance for Christian theology and understanding evangelicalism in today’s political environment: Jill Hicks-Keeton (University of Southern California), Cambria Kaltwasser (Northwestern College), Evan Kuehn (North Park University), and John J. Thatamanil (Union Theological Seminary, NYC). Panelists Jill Hicks, Cambria Kaltwasser, Northwestern College, Orange City Evan Kuehn, North Park University John Thatamanil, Union Theological Seminary Responding David Congdon, University Press of Kansas
	A25-211 Gay Men and Religion Unit Theme: Fraternal Healing: Brotherhood as Gay Men’s Source of Healing from Homophobia Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-29D (Upper Level East) Richard McCarty, Mercyhurst University, Presiding This session explores the violence done upon gay men by Christian norms and related ecclesiological structures and the correlating effects they have on the internalized homophobia that challenges both the individual as well as the communal experiences of gay and queer men. This conversation draws on systematic review of anti-gay moral norms perpetuated by Christian churches and other major community influencers, along with case studies of gay theologians impacted by the AIDS crisis in the United States and the life and work of Bayard Rustin within and without the Black Church in healing the wounds of racism and homophobia. Collectively, the discussion aims to unravel the violence ecclesiological and civil structures perpetuate upon and within the gay community while positing the notion of fraternity as a source of countering such violence and presenting a new norm of queer-male inclusivity and relationality. The presentations and discussion will be followed by the business meeting of the GMaR. Jason Carson Wilson, Pacific School of Relision Bayard Rustin at the Intersection of the Black Church, the LGBTQIA+ Community, and Public Policy Abstract The intersection of faith, public policy, and LGBTQIA+ advocacy within the context of the Black Church is a dynamic and multifaceted area of study. This paper proposal aims to explore the challenges faced by the Black Church in advocating for the rights and well-being of the Black LGBTQIA+ community. From the perspective of a Black cisgender gay theologian, we will critically analyze public policies, evaluate advocacy strategies, and delve into the profound influence of Bayard Rustin’s Quaker faith on his work. Additionally, we will imagine how Rustin’s approach to community organizing and LGBTQIA+ rights might have evolved in the late 20th century and beyond. Samuel Ernest, Yale University Fraternity: In Pleasure and Death Abstract In response to AIDS, gay theologians reconsidered sex and its relationship to gayness. In the context of AIDS, they asked, is risky sex a self-hating and selfish, homicidal pursuit or an insistence on pleasure and relationship in the midst of death? This paper will approach this discussion obliquely by drawing on fraternity, or brotherhood, as a form of gay relationality open to sexual pleasure. It will consider fraternity as a theological category in the work of Kevin Gordon, a Christian Brother theologian and ethicist who died of AIDS while he was working through his own doctrine of fraternity. Gordon’s work will be explicated in relation to other uses of brotherhood in projects interrupted by death, like Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men, started by Joseph Beam and finished by Essex Hemphill, and The Crisis of Desire: AIDS and the Fate of Gay Brotherhood by Robin Hardy, finished by David Groff. Ross Potter, Independent Scholar Silent Violence: M. Shawn Copeland and Reconciling the Violence of Homophobia Abstract Looking to the various sources of anti-gay and anti-MLM/MSM rhetoric, this paper explores the violence, both physical and non-physical, done on gay and queer men’s bodies and how that violence can lead to internal violence, external violence, and counterviolence. Utilizing M. Shawn Copeland’s notion of embodiment to ground the lived experience of gay and queer men with their own physicality and the physicality of those they come in contact with, a framework can be developed for reconciling violence, whether intentional or unintentional, while restoring healthier relationships with the self, others, and community. Business Meeting Richard McCarty, Mercyhurst University, Presiding Michael Pettinger, New York University, Presiding
	A25-335 Graduate Student Committee Theme: Prospering in the Profession: Finding Success on the Academic Job Market Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-16A (Mezzanine Level) This roundtable session addresses the challenges and strategies for navigating the competitive landscape of academia. Participants engage in discussions surrounding the essential skills, experiences, and tactics needed to secure and thrive in academic positions. Topics include crafting compelling application materials, cultivating a strong professional network, and effectively showcasing teaching, research, and service accomplishments among others. With insights from recent job market entrants working in a variety of academic and institutional contexts, attendees will gain practical advice on navigating the academic job market's nuances and uncertainties. The session aims to empower graduate students and early-career academics with the tools and confidence to navigate the job market successfully, fostering a supportive community of scholars committed to advancing their careers in academia. Panelists Yasmine Flodin-Ali, University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill Martha Smith, Fullerton College
	A25-212 Islamic Mysticism Unit Theme: Origins of the Occult: Medieval Lineages of Magical Knowledge Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-6C (Upper Level West) Seth Auster-Rosen,, Presiding Modern theories of disenchantment often relegate enchantment to distant times and places: the "enchanted Dark Ages," the "irrational Orient." But how did medieval practitioners and theorists of the occult sciences vest their ideas with particular genealogies and geographies? This panel explores the ways in which premodern Muslim, Jewish, and Christian writers in the Islamicate world created lineages and genealogies of occult knowledge in order to render it legitimate. Ideas of occult origins were informed by the real circulation of occult texts across linguistic, communal, and temporal boundaries. References to Greece, Egypt, Chaldea, India, and elsewhere, attest to the cosmopolitanism of these texts. Combining the historical diversity of their sources and their own creativity, medieval Muslims (and some Iberian kings and Jews) contrived ancient and diverse lineages for the history of astrology, magic spells, and more. This panel considers the politics of associating a place, religion or linguistic group with the occult. Alexa Herlands, Useful Prologues and Bad Geography: Magic’s Origins Between Ghāyat al-ḥakīm and the Picatrix of Alfonso X Abstract The Andalusī grimoire known as the Aim of the Wise One or Ghāyat al-ḥakīm (ca. 4th/10th c.) was famously translated century by Alfonso X el Sabio of Castile (d.682/1284). Relying on bilingual Jewish intermediaries, Alfonso created the mysteriously-named Castilian Picatriz and Latin Picatrix, monikers he took as the author’s name. Bursting with planetary prayers and gory rituals, the idiosyncratic and influential Ghāya/Picatrix is, like most occult texts, erased from mainstream intellectual history. I argue that the text, in both Arabic and Latin, uses Ancient and foreign lineages to legitimize its project of the production of magical knowledge. In other words, both the Muslim author and Alfonso located the origins of occult knowledge with peoples who were temporally and culturally Othered (the Arabs of Picatrix, and the Kurds, Nabateans, and Ethiopians of Ghāya) even as they claimed magical authority for themselves. Lillian McCabe, Yale University The Four Schools of Magic: An Islamic Theory of Comparative Religion Abstract This paper traces and analyzes a theory of comparative magic that circulated in premodern Arabic bibliographic and magical texts: that there are four schools of magic, each identified with a particular nation or group of people. The four groups are the Indians, the Nabateans, the Greeks, and the monotheists—referred to as Hebrews, Copts, and Arabs. My analysis focuses on one particular application of this theory by Muḥammad al-Kashnāwī al-Sudānī (d. 1142/1741-2) in his text titled al-Durr al-Manẓūm, a commentary on and expansion of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s (d. 606/1210) popular handbook of practical magic, the Book of the Hidden Secret (Kitāb al-Sirr al-Maktūm). The paper argues that Kashnāwī’s discourse of comparative magic conceals a theory of comparative religion. His four schools describe different religious groups and their practices. By labelling them magic, he enfolds those practices into an Islamic framework, thereby accounting for their efficacy and enabling their use. Alex Matthews, University of Chicago An Ismā‘īlī Shekhinah: the Divine Magic of Egypt in Fāṭimid Ta'w Abstract Historians, both contemporary and medieval, have regarded the Fāṭimid conquest of Egypt as merely one stop on their path to a worldwide Shī‘ī empire. The Fāṭimid Ismā‘īlī dā‘īs (missionaries), however, tell a different story. For Ja‘far b. Manṣūr al-Yaman in particular, Egypt was not an intermediary stage nor a layover on the way to Baghdad and Constantinople, but a land of divine magic where God's connection with His chosen regents was particularly strong, where miracles could take place, and where God's favor upon His imams was most strongly felt. Ja‘far’s notion that a particular land could be more favorable for prophecy may have influenced the writings of the Andalusian Jewish thinker Judah Halevi (1075 – 1141), who argued for a proto-nationalistic view of Israel as a land where prophecy descends on God's elite (ṣafwa) and where the shekhinah, or divine presence, can be most strongly felt, highlighting the already-established intellectual exchange between Fatimid Ismaili and Jewish thinkers Rachel Katz, University of Chicago Segulah as Index for Jewish Particularism Abstract Translating the Arabic khāssah, the Hebrew segulah had multiple valences: It could signify a characteristic property in Aristotelian taxonomy. More commonly, it signified an “occult” property of some natural object, verifiable by empirical experience but inexplicable according to the laws of Aristotelian science. While scholarly investigations of segulah have contributed to understandings of medieval Hebrew astral magic and medicine, I suggest they simultaneously obscure an important dimension indexed by segulah, suggested by the term’s appearance in the Biblical text itself: as a modifier for the Israelite people—viz., as indicative of Jewish chosenness. Accordingly, this paper traces shifting deployments of segulah from the 13th–15th centuries. Asking not what kind of property is a segulah, but rather, what kinds of things have segulot, I argue that the concept of segulah functions as an index for changing ideas about Jewish particularism in medieval Hebrew literature. Ariela Marcus-Sells, Elon University Science, Sorcery, or Superstition: Debating Cosmology in the Sahara Abstract In the early twentieth century, a Senegalese Sufi scholar named Musa Kamara composed a short work in Arabic entitled Sharḥ al-ṣadr fī kalām ʿalā’l-siḥr. Kamara addressed his work to a French colonial administrator, Albert Bonnel de Mézières, with the goal of explaining practices that fell under the category of sorcery (siḥr) in “lands near and far.” The Sharḥ al-ṣadr itself pulls from an earlier debate at the turn of the nineteenth century between two Saharan Muslim scholar, who disagreed over the permissibility of certain practices related to the realm of the unseen (ʿālam al-ghayb). Musa Kamara directly cites the work of these two figures, but recontextualizes their debates within a new constellation of discourses about race and rationality. My paper uses the Sharḥ al-ṣadr to examine the process of translation that stripped a pre-colonial debate of its cosmological foundations and brought it into a colonial-era debate about logic and rationality.
	A25-213 Japanese Religions Unit Theme: Wondering, Reading, Doubting: The Legacy of Scholarly Monks in Medieval Japan Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-6F (Upper Level West) Chris Callahan,, Presiding This panel looks to subjects conventionally categorized separate from Buddhism knowledge to examine the varied roles of scholarly monks as interpreters and producers of religious knowledge in medieval Japan. While recent studies on doctrinal debates (rongi) and Buddhist seminaries (dangisho) have shown how scholarly monks bridged intellectual, social, and political spheres, attention to medieval scholarly practices often remains limited to Buddhist doctrine. Instead, each paper analyzes the use of different spheres of knowledge by medieval scholarly monks, including discourses on music, medicine, regional deities (kami), and the precepts. In each case, we find multiple systems of knowledge and understanding in dialogue, rather than being appropriated within a Buddhist intellectual hegemony. Together, the papers highlight the knowledge and interpretative practices of scholar monks, and methods for recentering our modern research around medieval perspectives. Yagi Morris, McGill University Envisioning the Biwa: A Scholar-Monk’s Attempt to Re-Construct the Imperial Rule Abstract The works of the scholar-monk Monkan Kōshin (1278–1357) have become an emerging topic in the study of Japanese esoteric Buddhist thought. This presentation examines the Kinpusen himitsuden (‘The Secret Transmission of the Golden Peak’), an esoteric Buddhist ritual and mythological text compiled by Monkan in 1337 at the southern court’s refuge palace in Yoshino at the start of the civil war of the Nanbokuchō period. It focuses on a unique section of the text dedicated to the goddess Myōonten and her symbolic form, the biwa/lute, which epitomizes in the text the non-duality between religious and political sovereignty. Following an exploration of the biwa that goes back to early Confucian sources, to transmissions of musical liturgies from the Tang and to the inauguration of biwa initiations in Japan, the discussion reveals the central role of played by scholar-monks in constructing imperial legitimation. Andrew Macomber, Oberlin College The Demon Multiple: How Scholar-Monks Make Disease Pathogens Hang Together Abstract In this paper, I discuss how Buddhist scholar-monks in medieval Japan responded to disease outbreaks through knowledge management. In the twelfth century, following a devastating cascade of natural disasters, the nobility in the capital of Heiankyō (today’s Kyoto) found themselves facing an unprecedented disease. Whereas for centuries diseases were understood to be caused by resentful spirits, this new disease had an unusual cause: physical corpses. As the nobility fumbled against this curious postmortem contagion, Buddhist monks belonging to the Jimon lineage of the Tendai school invented a new healing ritual, which they crafted through the creation of a pair of ritual manuscripts. Rather than consider this ritual in terms of performance—a common approach in ritual studies—in this paper I examine these ritual manuscripts as epistemological sites, textual spaces in which Buddhist monks sought to produce compelling and coherent knowledge about disease and the pathogens imagined to cause them. Jesse Drian, University of California, Los Angeles Compiling and Comparing: The Work behind the Shōbōrinzō’s Itsukushima Shrine Origin Narrative Abstract In this presentation, I will discuss how the Shitennōji monks who compiled the Shōbōrinzō, a fourteenth century hagiography of Prince Shōtoku, incorporated an Itsukushima Shrine origin narrative into Shōtoku’s life story. Beyond explaining how the compilers framed Itsukushima as an example of Shōtoku unifying the realm by connecting sacred places across the archipelago, I will examine how the work of compiling origin narratives led to new connections between sacred places and deities. Focusing on different approaches to selecting and organizing a list of deities who revered Buddhism added to the end of the origin narrative, and particularly the inclusion of Zenkōji, in manuscript variants of the Shōbōrinzō, I will demonstrate that the scholarly monk compilers’ comparison of origin narratives as sources of religious and historical knowledge inspired new understandings about the relationships between Buddhas and kami deities, and the sacred spaces in Japan and the Buddhist world. Or Porath, Tel Aviv University Breaking the Precepts into Sets: Exegetical Treatises on the Sannō Deity Abstract Is it true that Japanese monks were less invested in monastic discipline than their counterparts in China and Tibet? Scholar-monks in Japan actively engaged in deciphering precepts, particularly the concept of kaitai, that constructed the precepts as a material force in the practitioner's body. This notion advocated absorbing the precepts within the body rather than adhering strictly to monastic codes. The paper explores how Tendai scholar-monks constructed the relationship between the precepts and Japanese regional gods, how they prioritized the sacralization of gods over Buddhas and how they reshaped the pantheon into a form of henotheism. In doing so, Sannō, the protective deity of the Tendai school, surpassed other deities through embodying the precepts while foundational principles underpinning the monastic code were rooted in Tendai doctrinal concepts. This perspective allowed the incorporation of Buddhist ideas to celebrate kami and justify antinomian behavior within a veritable discourse of Medieval Shinto. Responding Chris Callahan,
	A25-214 Law, Religion, and Culture Unit Theme: Author Meets Critics: Leslie Ribovich's Without a Prayer: Religion and Race in New York City Public Schools Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Aqua 310B (Third Level) Charles McCrary, Eckerd College, Presiding "This roundtable assembles scholars of religion to discuss Leslie Ribovich’s Without a Prayer: Religion and Race in New York City Public Schools, published in June 2024 in the North American Religions Series with New York University Press. The book is a detailed, skillful excavation of debates in midcentury New York schools, as administrators, school board members, parents, politicians, and other interested parties attempted to navigate desegregation and secularization. Our four panelists, scholars of religion with a variety of backgrounds and interests in the study of education, will highlight and discuss key themes from Without a Prayer that are pertinent to the study of law, religion, and culture. Among these are secularization and public institutions; the entanglements of race and religion, particularly as they intersect with nationalism and national identities; and the complex relationships between moral formation, religious ideologies, and race-making." Panelists Michael Graziano, University of Northern Iowa Jolyon Thomas, University of Pennsylvania Kim Akano, Princeton University Stephanie Thurston, University of Illinois Responding Leslie Ribovich, Transylvania University
	A25-215 North American Religions Unit Theme: Clearing: Afterlives of Spatialized Violence Roundtable Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Cobalt 500 (Fifth Level) Anthony Trujillo, Harvard University, Presiding This roundtable considers the actions and afterlives of clearing within the United States and its territories as a form of spatialized violence. Whether through the religious imaginations of sovereignty at play in the conception of terra nullius or the legal justification of eminent domain in urban renewal projects, clearing illuminates entanglements among constructions of religion, race, and space. Thinking through clearing as it interfaces with religious commitments and communities, the participants in this roundtable bring together case studies across a diverse scope of geographies, temporalities, and subjectivities: from the demolition of “blighted” neighborhoods, the draining of swamps, and the filling of land with water to the monumentality of imperial architectures. The roundtable will then open up for an extended discussion of these spaces and how they might inform our study of religion and spatialized violence. This format is designed to maximize meaningful dialogue among the discussants and audience. Panelists Ari Colston, Lisa Beyeler-Yvarra, Yale University Isaiah Ellis, University of Toronto Babak Manouchehrhifar, Princeton University Roberto R. Lint Sagarena, Middlebury College Charlette Caldwell, Columbia University Rebecca Potts, Yale University Sally M. Promey, Yale University Barbara Sostaita, University of Illinois, Chicago Alexander Luckmann, University of California, Santa Barbara Kelsey Moore, Georgetown University Darien Williams, Boston University
	A25-216 Philosophy of Religion Unit Theme: Theorizing Beyond Discourse: Music as Method Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-7B (Upper Level West) Stephen Bush, Brown University, Presiding Philosophy is a discourse. It is communicated in words in accordance with reason. Music, on the other hand, while it may contain lyrics, is non-verbal and seemingly non-rational. What might we learn by considering music and philosophy together. This panel considers various methodological issues that arise from the comparison. One presentation suggests that although music is non-discursive, it nevertheless teaches us something about life. Two of the presentations discuss jazz improvisation, suggesting that it bears some commonality with philosophical intuition or that it sheds light on lived religion. Two of the essays discuss polyrhythm as a kind of complex ordering. The presentations draw from affect theory, Islamic philosophy and practice, and African American history, as well as music theory. Samantha Kang, University of California, Santa Barbara 'Enchanted Temporality': Vladimir Jankélévitch on Music Abstract This paper examines the role of music in the work of 20th-century Jewish philosopher and musicologist Vladimir Jankélévitch. Within his philosophical work, nostalgia emerges a malady that is paradigmatic of the human condition. It is something like an affective response to our own finitude, and thus can never be cured once and for all. However, music reflects our—temporal, irreversible—situation, and in so doing makes it bearable and perhaps even beautiful. Scott Paeth, DePaul University A Love Supreme: Intuition and Improvisation in Philosophy of Religion Abstract In this paper, I will analyze the significance of the concept of intuition in the context of the philosophy of religion by examining the relationship between intuition and the role of improvisation in jazz music, with particular reference to the intersection of musical and religious intution in the work of John Coltrane. Improvisation, like philosophical intuition, is a rationally grounded practice through which a soloist freely interacts with the musical themes of the composition, composing "on the fly" on the basis of the melodic and chordal qualities of the composition, and yet not strictly constrained by those qualities. Particularly within the bop and avant-garde genres, the soloist may follow their musical intuition far beyond the musical base defined by the chorus of the composition, seeking ever deeper expressions of musical truth revealed within the composition. Bryce McCormick, University of North Carolina Affect Theory, Noise, and Rhythms of Resistance in 1819 New Orleans Abstract In 1819, Anglo-American architect Benjamin Latrobe observed an “Assembly of Negroes” in New Orleans, engaging in singing, dancing, and drumming. Dismissing the event's sacred and social dimensions rooted in Africana religious practices, he characterized it with terms such as “noise” and “brutally savage.” This paper leverages affect theory to reinterpret this historical moment, highlighting the non-discursive interplay between race, religion, and music. Affect theory, which posits knowledge as emerging from the junctures of thinking and feeling, unveils new analytical avenues for 1) deconstructing the economies of white racialized “logic,” and 2) framing Afro-diasporic music and rhythm as intellectual and corporeal counterpoints to the logic of racial oppression. It argues that Latrobe’s account exemplifies how racism is rationalized through affective means, and positions Afro-Creole rhythm as a multifaceted and embodied affirmation of black life, capable of articulating political, scientific, and social ways of knowing against the denial of black humanity. Oludamini Ogunnaike, University of Virginia Philosophy in Maqāms and Polyrhythms Abstract Agamben wrote, "Just as, for a soldier, the trumpet blast or the drumbeat is as effective as the order of a superior (or even more than it), so in every field and before every discourse, the feelings and moods that precede action and thought are musically determined and oriented." Such theorization of music, or perhaps, a musicalization of theory, has been taken up productively recently by thinkers like Fred Moten in his In the Break, and CJ Uy’s deployment of free jazz to theorize the dizzying rhetorical stylings of Sa‘d al-dīn Hammuya. In this paper, I would like to propose an exploration of the sonorous foundation of the Arabic maqām tradition (employed in the recitation of the Qur’an, poetry, and classical Arabic music) in the works of Ibn al-‘Arabī and Ibn al-Fārịd, the most influential Sufi authors of Arabic prose and poetry, respectively, followed by an investigation of that of Yorùbá ritual music used for òrìṣà worship in Yorùbá cosmologies as expressed in festivals and the performance of Ifá divination. Cyril Uy, James Madison University Riffing on/as Reality: Towards Jazz as a Framework for Medieval Sufism Abstract This paper develops jazz as a theoretical framework for the study of medieval Sufism. Recent work by Paul Berliner, Ingrid Monson, Fumi Okiji, and Dan DiPiero frame jazz improvisation as a way of being that unfolds fluidly across embodied, social, affective, and theoretical dimensions of diverse musical contexts. The paper will bring these insights to bear on the work of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240), a renowned Sufi shaykh whose writing left an indelible impact on almost all dimensions of Sufi thought and practice. By reading Ibn ʿArabī's Sufi training manuals, litanies, hagiographies, and philosophical treatises in dialogue with jazz, the paper will explore methods for textured analyses of the interwoven textual, embodied, and social performances of medieval Sufis. Put simply—if read training manuals as exercise books and philosophical treatises as scores and transcriptions, how might we imagine (and analyze) the dynamic improvisations of lived Sufi knowledge?
	A25-217 Practical Theology Unit Theme: Practical Theology and SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM Convention Center-25B (Upper Level East) Marc Lavallee, Barry University, Presiding Hee-Kyu Heidi Park, Ewha Womans University, Korea, Presiding Jaco Dreyer, University of South Africa, Presiding The practical theology unit continues to wrestle with the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), and this session invites practical theologians to ponder upon the 16th goal of peace, justice, and strong institutions. More specifically, the presentations in this session explore congregational leadership for justice, social transformation through theological education in Sub-Saharan Africa, violence and decolonial pedagogy in Haiti, urban social inclusion and food assistance in Finland, and Santeria's healing of displacement traumas among Cuban immigrants. The session will include interactive, small-group conversations with presenters. Jennifer Lewis, Boston University Claire Wolfteich, Boston University Wanda Stahl, Boston University Congregational Leadership and Sustaining Callings to Justice: Practicing Sabbath for Reconnection, Repair, and Resistance Abstract This paper builds upon a research project with New England congregations over the last five years, giving particular attention to congregations pursuing callings to justice. Even as their justice-seeking has borne fruit, many congregational leaders are weary. Drawing on interviews and a series of Sabbath retreats with congregational leaders, this paper explores how Sabbath-keeping supports congregational leaders as they embody and sustain vocations to justice. The paper begins by reflecting theologically on the relationship between Sabbath, calling, and creating just and peace-seeking communities. It then presents key ways that congregational leaders are practicing Sabbath as a means for reconnection, repair, and resistance, as well as identifies some of the challenges leaders face in engaging rest, including challenges related to systemic injustices. It concludes by discussing some implications for helping congregational leaders engage practices of Sabbath and rest as a way to support - and even enact - their callings and commitments to justice. Nomenjanahary Mamisoa Rakotomalala, Graduate Theological Union Embodied love for social transformation through theological education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Feminist practical theology perspectives Abstract This paper explores theological education as a methodological approach and academic discipline within practical theology, emphasizing its role in understanding and catalyzing transformation within individuals’ lived experiences and faith. Drawing from practical theology focuses on reflexive praxis, the research focuses on the teaching-learning environment of a theological school in Madagascar, contextualized within socio-political complexities. Employing critical qualitative research methodologies, practical feminist theology, and liberative transformative paradigms, the study assesses religious education’s alignment with a vision of justice and the efficacy of its practices. The paper advocates integrating theological inquiry with social scientific research methods, promoting dialogue, critical listening, and collective action toward justice within the theological school community. By bridging theory and practice in religious education, this research aims to foster positive societal change, with implications extending beyond geographical boundaries to address systemic oppression and advance justice globally. Emmanuel Buteau, Saving our brains from the violence of colonial education: the case for a practical theologically-informed decolonial pedagogy for Haitian Education Abstract This paper makes use of Freirean theory and decolonial theory to investigate the role practical theology can and must play in shaping pedagogy, especially in places like Haiti, where violence is systemic and all-pervasive. Framing coloniality as a disease, it argues for a pedagogy of decolonial healing that builds from a Boulagan reimagining of the Gospel. Rosa Huotari, University of Helsinki Urban theology of social inclusion: Ethnography on Faith-based Food Assistance in Finland Abstract Drawing from critical ethnography in urban, faith-based food assistance in Finland, this paper investigates 1) how and what kind of social inclusion (and possibly, exclusion) emerges in food assistance through the politics, practices, and lived experiences, and 2) what kind of lived urban theology these dynamics denote? The data was collected in 2020–2021 in six faith-based food banks aiming for social inclusion and community development. The data is analyzed by employing the theoretical concepts of social in- and exclusion and utilizing the lenses of lived urban theology. The findings propose that the participants perceiving themselves as socially excluded identify themselves as the ‘Others’ also within food assistance. Different framings, social distances, and power hierarchies further contribute to the dynamics of social in- and exclusion, addressing that the food banks are yet hesitant to imagine themselves as a source of liberation, that would challenge structural, epistemic inequalities. Joryán Hernández, University of Notre Dame Aché pa ti: Santería’s Healing of Traumas of Displacement and Fostering of Social Justice-oriented Political Action in Cuban Immigrants Abstract Research in psychology, pastoral care, and peace studies has increasingly recognized religious communities as vital sources of resilience and healing for immigrants. Religious communities can also empower immigrants in their process of reconstructing the losses experienced in the trauma of displacement. Focusing on the Afro-Cuban tradition of Santería, this paper delves into how Judith L. Herman’s healing stages model can be used to assess how the Cuban diaspora addresses the trauma of displacement. Santería’s role in fostering collective healing from the traumas of displacement and advancing social justice are also examined in this study, specifically how it addresses trauma by emphasizing relationships and social contracts and, therefore, healing trauma.

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