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.


	A25-302 Augustine and Augustinianisms Unit Theme: Recent Books on Augustine, Slavery, and Race Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Indigo H (Second Level) Sarah Stewart-Kroeker, Princeton Theological Seminary, Presiding This roundtable panel centers on two books being published in 2024 on Augustine, slavery, and race: Toni Alimi's Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics (Princeton University Press) and Matthew Elia's The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery (Yale University Press). The topic of slavery Augustine's thought has been understudied, despite the prominence of the lexicon of slavery and mastery (metaphorical as well as scriptural) that Augustine deploys and his own positioning on the issue of Roman enslavement. Both of these works draw critical attention to this pressing topic and promise to advance the scholarship in field-changing ways. Panelists Matthew Elia, Duke University Olaoluwatoni Alimi, Princeton University Responding Han-luen Kantzer Komline, Western Theological Seminary
	A25-303 Buddhism Unit and Japanese Religions Unit Theme: Rebuking Error, Inverting Authority, and Transforming Institutions: Remonstration in the Nichiren Buddhist Tradition Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-30C (Upper Level East) Bruce Winkelman, University of Chicago, Presiding Followers of the Buddhist reformer Nichiren (1222-1282) have made his willingness to strongly admonish people and practices deemed slanderous of the true Dharma, no matter their power or status, into a core feature of Nichiren Buddhism. This panel brings together three researchers who consider ways Nichiren Buddhists from the thirteenth century to the present have influenced Japan’s religio-political order through risky rebuke. The papers introduce contrasting applications of Nichiren Buddhist admonishing that reveal how uncompromising confrontations with heterodoxy both destabilize and construct institutions and their practices. By considering how adherents’ defense of orthodoxy inspires self-legitimizing claims that invert doctrinal and temporary authority, and by analyzing examples of self-sacrificing admonishing from a wide historical range, these papers suggest ways attention to Nichiren’s rebukes helps us understand how religions take shape through conflict. Jacqueline I. Stone, Princeton University “Admonishing the State”: Challenging Worldly Authority in the Nichiren Buddhist Tradition Abstract During Japan’s medieval period, Nichiren Buddhist clerics engaged in kokka kangyō (“admonishing and enlightening the state”): direct remonstrations with the shōgun, his representatives, or local officials to abandon support for all other teachings and embrace the Lotus Sūtra alone. Such acts reenacted precedent set by the sect’s founder, Nichiren (1222–1282), who had remonstrated to this effect with the Kamakura shogunate. Famine, earthquakes, and other catastrophes ravaging Japan, Nichiren argued, stemmed from neglect of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha’s highest teaching; conversely, faith in the Lotus would make this world an ideal buddha land. At great personal risk, Nichiren’s successors established a tradition of such remonstrations, especially in times of widespread disaster. Kokka kangyō asserted the dharma’s claims over those of worldly rule. It illustrates how remonstrations with authority articulated from the margins in the name of a transcendent truth can symbolically invert power hierarchies and solidify group identity. Yulia Burenina, Osaka University Remonstrating in Modern Japan: An Analysis of Tanaka Chigaku’s Kokka kangyō as Media Event Abstract By focusing on Tanaka Chigaku (1861–1939), one of the key figures in modern Nichiren Buddhism, this paper sheds light on how the medieval practice of kokka kangyō (“admonishing the state”) was revived and refashioned in the Meiji era (1868–1912). This was the period in which Japan’s Constitution of 1889 guaranteed freedom of religion, establishing it as a matter of personal choice, and, barring civic responsibilities, excluded from government affairs. Drawing on “media event theory,” I argue that the Meiji Constitution’s parameters guided Tanaka’s kokka kangyō efforts to target ordinary subjects rather than the government itself. His remonstration strategies involved the conspicuous circulation of his self-published tracts that are best understood as a type of media event: intentionally preplanned and staged as “extraordinary” and “historic,” advertised in advance, and intensively reported on and experienced by engaged adherents who turned state remonstrating into a form of proselytizing via print media. Levi McLaughlin, North Carolina State University An Inverted Rebuke: How Nichiren Buddhist Remonstration Turned Inward in Soka Gakkai Abstract Over the last decade, the lay Nichiren Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai has seen a new constituency of adherents invoke Nichiren’s tradition of admonishing authority to confront administrators within their own religion and elected officials in its affiliated political party Komeito. This paper considers ways Gakkai members critical of the religion and party are returning to Nichiren’s “admonishing of the state” (kokka kangyō) to leverage the practice into a rebuke of Nichiren Buddhists by Nichiren Buddhists. The presentation will consider the position adopted by these critical members against a religion now undergoing dramatic transformations, the tactics they are employing to admonish while mitigating public suspicion about religious expressions, how they rely on doctrine to guide fellow adherents and inspire institutional reforms, and what their inversion of Nichiren’s admonitory practices into an internally aimed critique may tell us about the nature of religious rebuke. Responding Jacqueline I. Stone, Princeton University Yulia Burenina, Osaka University Levi McLaughlin, North Carolina State University
	A25-304 Buddhist Philosophy Unit Theme: New Voices in Buddhist Philosophy Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Aqua 314 (Third Level) Karin Meyers, Mangalam Research Center, Presiding This panel brings together presentations by five early-career scholars of Buddhist philosophy. Some presentations offer new perspectives on well-established problems, exploring Nāgārjuna’s tetralemma, Vasubandhu’s idealism, and omniscience in Abhidharma. Other presentations bring Buddhist philosophy into contemporary contexts, exploring Buddhist philosophy through the lens of quantum physics, or the philosophical pedagogy of the Tibetan monastic Geshe curriculum in the United States. Zachary Joachim, Denison University The Difficulty of Nāgārjuna Abstract Nāgārjuna is difficult to read. But in what way? This paper articulates the difficulty of Nāgārjuna as first and foremost a difficulty of form. I argue that by attending to the form of his texts—particularly, his use of authorial, first-person voice—we can make progress in interpreting his texts’ appearances of assertoric content, and above all concerning the ‘doctrine of emptiness.’ For more basic than the question of whether the doctrine of emptiness is (conventionally, ultimately) true is the question of whether the doctrine says anything. Traditionally, the latter question has been understood in terms of the Prasaṅgika/Svataṅtrika dispute. But the dispute rests on an assumption: that if all Nāgārjuna is doing is tetralemmic reasoning (prasaṅga), then he holds no thesis and only nihilates theses. Challenging this assumption, this paper seeks to hold space to see how Nāgārjuna might assert nothing independently of whether his tetralemmas succeed. Emma Irwin-Herzog, The College of Idaho Rethinking Idealism and Ineffability in Vasubandhu's Twenty Verses, Thirty Verses and Treatise on the Three Natures Abstract Use of the term “idealism” in relation to Vasubhandu’s Vimśikā, Triṃśikā and Trisvabhāvanirdeśa has provoked controversy. I endorse the view that the term “idealist” applies to Vasubandhu insofar as his citta-mātratā theory constitutes a variant of epistemic idealism—the view that knowables are mental—along with the view that Vasubandhu is only an epistemic idealist “in the realm of conventions” (Gold 2011). The mental construction of appearances as mind-independent objects is not, for Vasubandhu, equivalent to the nature of ultimate reality. Vasubandhu does not positively argue for the non-existence of anything not-mind-only at the conventional or ultimate level. I will avoid the pitfalls of presupposing that “early Yogācāra was a homogenous and distinctly defined doxographical entity” (Tzohar 2018) to which the concept deployed in the term “idealism” does or does not correspond, by narrowing my analysis of Vasubandhu’s language and to evaluation of Gold (2011; 2015) and Carpenter’s (2014) commentaries. David Simone, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa A Descent into Madness: Reconciling Omniscience with Buddhist pramāṇas in Abhidharma Abstract This paper argues that the Buddha’s purported omniscience through direct perception is a phenomenological shift in his experience, which is difficult to account for based on the Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika conception of omniscience (sarvajña), and two of their accepted means of knowledge (pramāṇas): perception and inference. First, the paper discusses the scope of the Buddha’s omniscience in Abhidharma Buddhism. Second, it discusses the path toward omniscience according to the Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika school. Third, it briefly summarizes the Sarvāstivādin theory of perception, showing that the Buddha cannot be omniscient through perception under the Sarvāstivāda model due to their metaphysical commitments. Following this, the paper considers whether the Buddha can be omniscient through inference and show that inference does not rescue the Sarvāstivādin view of omniscience by appealing to both Vasubandhu and Dhammapāla. Last, it posits that the Buddha’s omniscience is a phenomenological shift in his experience due to prajñā and not fully comprehensible through pramāṇa theory. Allan Furic, University of Edinburgh Relational versus Holistic theories in quantum mechanics and Buddhist philosophy: a convergence of the interconnectedness of reality? Abstract The alleged convergence of quantum physics and Buddhism has been a main standpoint of dialogue between science and Buddhism since its incipience in the 1980s. Notably, proponents of such ‘parallelism’ have argued that there is an underlying interconnectedness of the universe which bridges quantum theory and Buddhist philosophy through entanglement and interdependence (pratītyasamutpāda). Such conjecture is however not sufficiently informed by the considerable array of interpretative theories of quantum phenomena and various schools of Buddhism, which could invalidate the argument. This paper will investigate the object of ongoing research devoted to a comparative two-layered analysis of such compatibility for interconnectedness, through relational versus holistic theories (that is between Relational quantum mechanics and Nāgārjuna on the one hand, and David Bohm’s holism and Hua-yen Buddhism on the other). While both theories fall under the interconnectedness criteria, they differ substantially in promoting either the relationalism or interpenetration of all things in reality. Rory Tasker, University of Toronto Buddhist Philosophy Between Worlds: Gelug Presentations of Buddhist Philosophy at the Tibetan Monastery and the North American Dharma Centre Abstract This paper explores the monastic philosophical curriculum of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The curricula of the Gelug monasteries are rooted in the presentation of the 14th century scholar Tsongkhapa, who emphasized the importance of the classical Treatises (rgya gzhung). These texts were written in Sanskrit by great Indian scholars (paṇḍitas) between the 4th and 6th centuries CE and translated into Tibetan beginning in the 9th century CE. Upon completion of the curriculum emphasizing these great texts and their Tibetan commentaries over a period of eighteen to twenty years, monastic graduates receive the title of Geshe (dge bshes). Since the late 1960s, Tibetan monastic scholars have been teaching Buddhism in contemporary secular societies such as North America. This paper will examine how the Geshes present subjects of an ancient philosophical curriculum to diverse modern audiences, and the challenges they face in the process.
	A25-306 Chinese Religions Unit Theme: “Gendered Dilemma”: Medieval Chinese Perspective on Gender and Sexuality in Buddhism Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-6F (Upper Level West) Hsiao-wen Cheng, University of Pennsylvania, Presiding By coining the term “gendered dilemma,” the panel investigates the situations with the presence of multiple gender norms, leading to inconsistencies and contradictions, consequently forging a new set of power/knowledge regimes. The dilemma surrounding sexual constructs, the concept of lust, and visions configures a rich multivocality in response to the tension and reconciliation emerging from the clash between the Buddhist and pre-established socio-cultural gender norms. Three papers in this panel seek to broaden the historical scope, spanning a transformative period of Buddhism from the late second to the eleventh century, presenting an examination of the “gendered dilemma” by textual comparison and analysis of early Chinese Buddhist sūtras with Confucian classical texts, a discourse analysis of gender convertibility in Mahāyāna sūtra narratives, and art historical analysis of female agency in possessing visuality in Northern-Song scriptures. Yuxuan Tay, University of California, Los Angeles ‘Many Women in Hell’: Problem of Lust in Early Chinese Buddhist Text Abstract This paper investigates the problem of lust embedded within a few of the earliest renditions of Buddhist scriptures translated from second to third-century China. Earlier Confucian classical texts cemented a discourse that presupposed the male gender’s natural inclination to lust. However, the early translated Buddhist texts in China introduced a new discourse that ascribed bodily lust as the female gender’s natural inclination. It is commonly accepted that the literate elites eventually accepted both discourse sets. However, the initial period when the Buddhist discourse was introduced must have presented a dilemma for the elites to reconcile similar and different gendered notions with the existing discourse. The result was a new discourse that firmly amalgamated both sets of ideals and redefined lust expressed by the male and female genders. The consequences of three different discourses would set a new basis for future literati interpretations of gender relations in medieval China. Tiantian Cai, University of Wisconsin-Madison Female Magic: Performing Sexual Convertibility in Early Mahāyāna Buddhist Narratives Abstract This study examines performativity within inconsistent narratives surrounding gender and sexuality in early Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtras, particularly exploring the theme of sexual convertibility in Sūtra on Transforming the Female Form, Chapter 6 of Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra and Chapter 12 of Saddharma-puṇḍárīka-sūtra. By analyzing the magical displays of the Goddess to Śāriputra regarding body forms, and the transformative sexuality of Taintless Light Girl and dragon girl, juxtaposed with biological categories about sexuality in Brahmajāla-sūtra, the paper argues that sexuality, distinct from gender, plays a role in constructing gender dichotomy and hierarchies; its superimposition with gendered body forms results in inconsistent narratives that persist as gender dilemmas in the sūtras. The study underscores gender/sex convertibility displayed in a performative manner, showing a tendency of reconciliation of contradictions in narratives. This study introduces a novel intra-religious approach to gender issues in Buddhist sūtra literature, providing insights into narrative modes linked with Buddhist doctrines and rhetoric devices. Huajie Fan, University of Virginia Gendered Visions of Faith: Lady Sun's Printed and Painted Buddhist Frontispieces Abstract Ten sandalwood-scented Buddhist scrolls were discovered next to the body of Lady Sun (b. 995-1055), a Buddhist practitioner from a scholar-official family. Each scroll features frontispieces, printed or painted with ink and gold, with several bearing Lady Sun's signature. This study examines Lady Sun's visual preferences, her engagement with the materiality of these scrolls, and the sensory experiences she actively pursued within the constraints of medieval visual culture and gender norms. At a time when print culture was burgeoning, but dominated by literate male elites, Lady Sun's collection stands out. Not only did she own and sign printed scrolls that stylistic tracing to imperial printing projects of Buddhist canon, but she also commissioned hand-painted identical copies for printed sūtra with altered visual programs, thus personalizing her devotional practice and negotiating her religious and social identity with established patriarchal visual structures that restricted women's access to visual and religious autonomy. Responding Stephanie Lynn Balkwill, University of California, Los Angeles
	A25-307 Comparative Studies in Religion Unit Theme: Ablebodiedness and Religious Diversity: Comparative Religion and Disabilities Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-25B (Upper Level East) Margaret Talbot,, Presiding Comparative Religions and Disability Studies have often been explored separately within the academy. However, the intersectionality between these two fields offer rich avenues for future research on the nature of “ablebodiedness” and disabilities within and across religious traditions. This panel brings together scholars from various disciplines to explore this relationship further. By analyzing how different religious, theological, and textual traditions conceptualize “ablebodiedness” and disabilities, the panel aims to foster a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding these terms, including how they relate to normativity, healing practices, and cultural marginalization. Jessica Albrecht, Heidelberg University Buddhist Psychology and the Able-Bodied Mind Abstract This presentation will deal with the relationship between Buddhist Psychology and Dis/ability. This will be done by examining the history of Buddhist Psychology (late nineteenth and early twentieth century) within a Western psychological discourse and then looking at how this influenced present-day conceptualisations of mindfulness meditation as a form of treatment for disabilities and mental illnesses. I argue that any conceptualisation of disability within this discourse remains to be based on a hierarchisation of bodies and minds within an ableist discourse. This ableist discourse stems from Theravada Buddhist conceptualisations of disability and illness as bad karma as well as eugenicist and evolutionary thinking within early psychology. A short glimpse into recent theories of Dis/Ability will be used to find constructive ways of criticising this ableist basis of Buddhist Psychology. Candace Buckner, Virginia Tech “…Her child got stuck inside her and died [ⲭⲟⲧ̄ϩ︤ ⲛϩⲧⲏⲥ︦ ⲁϥⲙⲟⲩ]”: A Survey of Religious Approaches to the Danger of Childbirth (Life of Aaron 105) Abstract This paper examines the ways religious texts and artifacts have sought to mitigate the danger of childbirth. Noting that pregnancy and pregnancy related complications have the ability to lead to lifelong physical and psychological changes as well as death itself, I investigate how religious thought and practice has sought to mitigate these realities. Specifically, I begin with an account of a dangerous parturiency from the sixth-century Coptic Life of Aaron and then explore the way religion has historically sought to address the dangers of childbirth and the perinatal experience using non-medical practices including prayer, amulets, and ritual. Together, I endeavor to highlight how religion cultivates healing discourses that complicate modern notions of healthcare and medicine. David Schones, Austin College I-Shu and Embodiment: A Comparative Analysis of the Disabilities in the Synoptic Gospels and the Messiah Sutra Abstract This paper provides a comparative analysis of the conceptualization of disabilities in the Christian Synoptic Gospels and the Messiah Sutra, a harmonized retelling of the story which emphasized the fundamental teachings of Nestorian Christianity in China. The choice of these particular texts relate to their focus on embodiment and healing, combined with the Messiah Sutra’s blend of Christian, Confucian, and Buddhist concepts. The paper proceeds in three parts. The first part briefly addresses the historical context of the synoptic Gospels and addresses the formation of Nestorian Christianity. The second then highlights the birth of Jesus, noting how these texts convey the notion of embodiment and sacredness. The third section addresses the descriptions of disability in the Messiah Sutra, with examples from biblical texts. The conclusion then explores how the Synoptic Gospels and the Messiah Sutra together create space which complicates the conceptualization of disabilities in the field of Religious Studies.
	A25-308 Death, Dying, and Beyond Unit Theme: Going Beyond Human Death: Preserving, Mourning, and Keep Relics of Animals Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-7B (Upper Level West) John Borchert, University of North Carolina At Greensboro, Presiding This panel probes diverse aspects of non-human animal mortality. Participants examine models for mourning the extinction of species (Ryan Darr); the ways humans mourn the deaths of beloved pets (Chris Miller); and the preservation of non-human remains as sacred relics in museums (Natalia Schwien). Jamie L. Brummitt provides feedback, followed by audience Q&A. Join us for the business meeting immediately after the panel. Ryan Darr, Yale University Grief and Mourning in an Era of Extinction: Alternative Models Abstract Species are disappearing from our planet at an alarming rate as we move quickly toward a possible mass extinction event. Loss on such a tremendous scale ought to be recognized not only with grief but also with public acts of mourning. The most popular practices currently employed to mourn species loss are modeled after rituals for grieving human death: funeral rites and the creation of memorials. The grief, then, is focused on species death. In this paper, I argue that we need rituals of mourning species focused not on death but on the ongoing destruction of relationships between species and human communities. Chris Miller, University of Toronto The Furry Friends We Leave Behind: Human-Animal Relationships Commemorated in Obituaries Abstract Animals and humans have complex, deep, and meaningful relationships. Throughout history, people have commemorated animals with whom they were close through various mortuary practices. But what about when the human or owner dies first? Based on analysis of Canadian obituaries, this paper explores the ways that people commemorate human-animal relationships. Though hardly ever showing up prior to the 1990s, the last thirty years have seen a gradual rise in obituaries that mention these bonds. Animals appear in these texts in various ways, from people who fed birds in their backyard and lived/worked on farms, to pets who are listed alongside surviving family members. These examples point to different types of relationships, and different understandings of the bonds people form with animals. Overall however, the simple inclusion of other-than-human animals speaks to the perceived importance of these relationships as well as transformations in how people memorialize loved ones. Natalia Schwien, Harvard University “The Materialist Relic: Nonhuman Bodies in Zoological Museums” Abstract While the practice of collecting, displaying, and venerating the remains of the special dead is common across different cultural frameworks, the treatment of the bodies of endangered or extinct species as well as charismatic nonhuman-animal individuals in museum settings echoes the treatment of holy relics in the development of Christianity from the early Church up through the Middle Ages. Since the mid-19th century mechanistic revolution in biological research, the preserved and displayed remains of nonhumans have performed the role of a materialist relic, and this has only been augmented as scientists and the general public reckon with mass extinction, climate change, and dismantling the ontological positions underpinning environmental degradation. Responding Jamie Brummitt, University of North Carolina At Wilmington Business Meeting John Borchert, University of North Carolina At Greensboro, Presiding Jamie Brummitt, University of North Carolina At Wilmington, Presiding
	A25-309 Ecclesial Practices Unit Theme: Responding to Harm: Trauma, Theology, and Ecclesial Communities Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Indigo D (Second Level) Sarah Kathleen Johnson, Saint Paul University, Presiding Inspired by the conference theme of Violence, Nonviolence, and the Margin, these presentations use qualitative research methods to explore how churches and other forms of religious community respond creatively and constructively to violence and practice nonviolence. Ashley Theuring, Xavier University Healing Narratives: A Feminist, Trauma-Informed, Practical Theological Approach to Reimagining Clergy Sexual Abuse Abstract This paper outlines transformative approach to practical theology, emphasizing the integration of feminist theologies and trauma-informed research to address the clergy sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church. The researcher presents a novel practical theological method that combines qualitative data, trauma theory, feminist insights, narrative analysis, and creative writing. Centering on narratives from survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse, the study grounds itself in the real-life experiences of those deeply affected by the abuse crisis. It challenges traditional atonement theories and ecclesiological practices through a critical dialogue informed by trauma and feminist critiques, culminating in a theopoetic re-narration of the crucifixion and resurrection narratives. This methodology offers significant contributions to practical theology, proposing a multidimensional model that not only enriches academic study but also aims to transform ecclesial practices and theological narratives, paving the way for a more empathetic, inclusive, and justice-oriented approach. Elizabeth Lee, University of Divinity, Melbourne A Methodology to Explore a Trauma-sensitive Ecclesial Practice of Hospitality Abstract Faith communities frequently espouse to welcome all. But in a world of violence, this hospitable desire is challenging in communities where people have lived/living experiences of sexual and other trauma. The forthcoming research will address the failure of safe church approaches to attend to the needs of individuals and communities living with the aftermath of violence and trauma. This contemplative participative theological methodology aims to creatively and constructively interpret and interrupt current ecclesial practices of hospitality. Prompted by insights from feminist trauma-sensitive theology, members of a faith community will participate in guided conversations unpacking assumptions and beliefs informing the practice of hospitality. Through contemplative dialogue circles, the inquiry takes seriously a faith community’s communal experience of hospitality and their experience of God’s unfolding invitations in this time and context, offering an opportunity to articulate a theology that fosters trust, truth, justice, relationality, and the flourishing of all. Eunil David Cho, Boston University Shelly Rambo, Boston University Eric Brown, Boston University Shelby Hall, Boston University Trauma-Responsive Congregations: Equipping Thriving Urban Congregations to Respond to Collective Trauma Abstract “Trauma-Responsive Congregations: Equipping Thriving Urban Congregations to Respond to Collective Trauma” is Boston University School of Theology’s 3-year-long research project funded by the Thriving Congregations Initiative of the Lilly Endowment Inc. The purpose of the program is to assist urban congregations in developing models of trauma-responsive care that are deeply integrated into the mission of their congregations and draw upon the organic resources of congregational life. Based on our community-engaged research with two participating congregations in downtown San Diego, the interdisciplinary research team composed of theologians and psychologists looks at how these urban churches respond to the communal trauma of their congregations, namely in the face of systemic poverty, housing crisis, and immigration. This co-presentation examines how these churches develop trauma-informed toolkits and incorporate these psychological and theological tools into various aspects of their ministries in partnership with theologians, mental health counselors, chaplains, and expressive arts therapists.
	A25-310 Ethics Unit Theme: From the Ethical to the Existential: Tragic Knowledge and Religious Identity Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-11B (Upper Level West) Russell Johnson, University of Chicago, Presiding . Amanda Bolaños, Duke University The Existential Movement from Lament to Hope: How Identity is Formed through Spaces of Sacredness Abstract Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Nietzsche each attend to the role of identity in their existential thoughts. However, what is the role of space – physical and social – in relationship to identity? How does space function and affect identity in the depths of absurdity, in the midst of liberation? In seeking to discern identity in the midst of absurdity, a consistent movement from lament to hope is detected. Looking to postmodern existential thinkers, such as Mariana Ortega, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Toni Morrison, this paper will explore the importance of recognizing the development of one’s identity in this existential movement of lament to hope – an identity that is able to be discerned through spaces of sacredness beyond religion proper. I yearn to turn exclusively to women of color existential thinkers who offer critical viewpoints of euro-centered aestheticism, bringing to the forefront the effects of the diaspora space on those who have multifaceted identities. E. P. (Petruschka) Schaafsma, Protestant Theological University How evil is the tragic? On the differences between tragic, ethical and religious views of evil Abstract This paper explores characteristics of "tragedy" by distinguishing a tragic perspective on evil from an ethical and a religious perspective, respectively. Underlying this three-pronged approach is Paul Ricoeur's analysis of evil in La Symbolique du Mal. Symbolic language can express the ambiguity inherent in experiencing evil due to an intermingling of, in particular, an ethical and a tragic view. These views are studied here in Immanuel Kant (ethical) and Karl Jaspers (tragic). Kant turns out to incorporate a kind of tragic perspective in his ethical view when going into religion. Jaspers’ tragic view however is far less ambiguous. This difference is further clarified by Ricoeur’s notion of the ‘end of evil’ as characteristic of a religious view of evil. Understanding the three approaches in relation to each other gives insight into why evil might be seen as most ‘at home’ in a religious view. Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia Tragedy and Irony in Religious Ethics Abstract Recent interest in tragedy in religious ethics—exemplified by Kate Jackson-Meyer’s _Tragic Dilemmas in Christian Ethics_—suggest ongoing interest in the topic. This paper attempts to connect these recent researches with earlier philosophical, theological, and literary debates about tragedy, to argue that irony may offer a clue for thinking about tragedy in ways heretofore underappreciated. Scholars such as George Steiner, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martha Nussbaum, Bernard Williams and Jonathan Lear suggest important resources. This paper arguest that a category of irony, deployed by Niebuhr in theological terms and Lear in psychoanalytic terms, offers some insight into how Christianity, with a high providential view of Divine agency as supervening over the human situation, can accommodate the ontological insights of tragedy as a "broken knowledge" alongside a theological claim that such tragedy is always a partial knowledge, thus opening the space of irony for further affirmation and investigation of the phenomena under study.
	A25-311 Jain Studies Unit Theme: Exploring the Yaśastilaka Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire 411B (Fourth Level) Ana Bajzelj, University of California, Riverside, Presiding Somadeva authored the Yaśastilaka in the form of campū (mixture of prose and verse) in what is now Dharwar in Karnataka in 959 CE. This monumental composition narrates the tale of Prince Yaśodhara and his mother Candramati, who fall victim to poisoning orchestrated by Yaśodhara’s wife, Aṃrtamati. The Yaśastilaka incorporates extensive discussions on Jain dharma and serves as a rich repository of knowledge about the social, political, religious, and artistic aspects of medieval life, particularly within the court. Additionally, it stands as a comprehensive encyclopedia of language, aspiring to revive "words swallowed by the crooked beast of time” and features a vast collection of literary devices and tropes, alongside influences from Prakrit and the south Indian linguistic traditions. Because this text has been largely overlooked in scholarly discussions, this panel aims to initiate a conversation about it, focusing on its philosophical dialogues, poetic language, linguistic characteristics, and ethical considerations. Nabanjan Maitra, University of Texas, Austin Is There a Jain Way of Thinking? Poesis and Ethics in Somadeva’s Yaśastilaka Abstract This paper examines two literary ornaments from Somadevasūri’s Yaśastilaka–the śleṣopamā or punned simile and the virodhābhāsa or seeming contradiction–to explore the capacity of the poem to produce an ethical subjectivity, cultivated as much through comprehension as through its productive absence. The devices present similar hermeneutic challenges; they frustrate readerly expectations in yielding multiple layers of disjunctive meaning that are juxtaposed without resolution. Thus, the devices force the cultivation of an ethical orientation that defers complete understanding, either provisionally or indefinitely, while at the same time entertaining multiple simultaneous orders of existence. These devices give proof of the astonishing heterogeneity of phenomenal existence and provide a means of coping with it, without diminishing the surfeit of sense that the phenomenal world presents. Thus, each act of understanding, as evinced by these passages, consists of apprehending the sense of an utterance and holding the residue of meaning that resists apprehension. Aleksandra Restifo, Florida International University “In Tune with the Times: Paradox and Punning in Somadeva’s Ornate Prose” Abstract This paper builds upon the previous presentation and further explores the intricacies of poetic language in Somadeva’s Yaśastilaka, specifically examining how Somadeva employs the figures of virodhābhāsa (apparent contradiction) and śleṣopamā(punned simile) as methods of exposition in the text. They contextualize the Yaśastilaka within the broader landscape of earlier Sanskrit and Prakrit works composed in ornate prose and, specifically, explore the parallels in poetic language between the Yaśastilaka and two notable works—Bāṇa’s Kādambarī (seventh century) and Śīlāṅka’s Caupaṇṇamahāpurisacariyaṃ (ninth century). This analysis demonstrates that by introducing a level of perplexity and disorientation through literary paradox and punning, Jain authors such as Somadeva and Śīlāṅka create the poiesis of the inexpressible. Naresh Keerthi, The Elephant in the Poem: Everyday Sciences in Sōmadēva’s Scholarly Novel Abstract This paper looks at the encyclopedism of Sōmadēva’s novel, which he is supposed to have written because he was burnt out from too much philosophy, and needed to exercise his creative muscles. However, old habits die hard. In keeping with his literary predecessors in Sanskrit and Prakrit, the Sanskrit poets Bāṇa and Subandhu and the Prakrit novelists Uddyōtana and Haribhadra, Sōmadēva produced a scholarly novel where the abundant excurses and arcana almost seem to obscure the plotline. His poem is a cabinet of curiosities, rich in material from the “worldly sciences” (laukikaśāstra-s) such as Erotics, Equestry and Economics. This paper will reflect on the particular nature of the author’s polymathy, using his accounts of elephants and feasts; with occasional comparisons to his colleague, the Kannada poet Pampa. Andrew Ollett, The University of Chicago The Jains against the Atheists Abstract This paper focuses on the philosophical controversy between the Jain monk Sudatta and the Lōkāyata philosopher Caṇḍakarman. Although Caṇḍakarman, who also just so happens to be a Cāṇḍāla, is guaranteed to lose the debate, Sōmadēva presents the Lōkāyata position — which denies karmic retribution, rebirth, and a soul that survives after physical death — in some detail. Sōmadēva’s representation, doctrinally speaking, presents little that we don’t know from other sources, but the literary setting of the debate differs in several respects from similar “literary doxographies” that include Lōkāyata, including Sōmadēva’s model, Haribhadra’s Samarāiccakahā, as well as the Maṇimēkalai and the Upamitibhavaprapañcakathā. Business Meeting Ana Bajzelj, University of California, Riverside, Presiding Gregory Clines, Trinity University, Presiding
	A25-312 Kierkegaard, Religion, and Culture Unit Theme: Kierkegaard and the Traditions of Universal Salvation Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-24B (Upper Level East) Eric Ziolkowski, Lafayette College, Presiding Søren Kierkegaard sometimes gestured toward the universally efficacious power of God’s love even while he warned about the ultimate consequences of divine judgement. This session will explore Kierkegaard’s nuanced and unique treatment of the issue of universal salvation. Attention will be given to the roots of universalism in the thought of patristic theologians like Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, and echoes of these theological voices in Kierkegaard’s work. Lee Barrett, Moravian University Kierkegaard, Damnation, and Universal Salvation: Reading Works of Love* Backwards* Abstract . Marilyn Piety, Drexel University In the Footsteps of the Fathers, Part II: Kierkegaard and the Early Church on Universal Salvation Abstract . Jaeha Woo, California State University, San Bernardino Why Kierkegaard Should Have Affirmed Universal Salvation Abstract I argue that Kierkegaard could and should have been a proponent of a radical form of universal salvation that construes every human as saved here and now. This is part of the soteriology advanced by Marilyn Adams, who interprets Jesus as abolishing the power of the curse of sin by becoming the curse himself. While this line of thinking is at work in Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous writing Philosophical Fragments, he tends to find the solution to the human problem of sin in divine forgiveness, which he characterizes as a kind of forgetting by God. But this raises the question of whether we can forget our own sinfulness when it keeps manifesting itself, and we see Kierkegaard struggle intensely with this question in his journal entries. I take this to show that his focus on divine forgiveness should have been complemented by the affirmation of universal salvation à la Adams.
	A25-313 Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Unit Theme: Latin American and US Latino Religions in North America - A Roundtable Panel Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Indigo 204A (Second Level) Daniel Ramirez, Claremont Graduate University, Presiding This roundtable panel convenes contributors to the volume Latin American and US Latino Religions in North America: An Introduction. (Bloomsbury, July 2024). This volume is primarily geared toward students new to these fields of study, but researchers well acquainted with these fields stand to learn much from novel connections drawn by the authors and new insights. As such, this roundtable panel will first introduce the purpose of the volume along with some of its chapters, then shift to a conversation about pedagogy, namely what are effective ways of teaching courses on Latina/o/x Religion. Attendees are invited to share their perspectives about teaching these sorts of courses and share resources. Panelists Lloyd Barba, Amherst College Ángel Gallardo, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Daisy Vargas, University of Arizona Tatyana Castillo-Ramos, Joao Chaves, Baylor University Erica Ramirez, Auburn Seminary Responding Jonathan Calvillo, Emory University
	A25-314 Men, Masculinities, and Religions Unit Theme: Social Media, the Manosphere, and Making Masculinities Online Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire 400B (Fourth Level) Amanullah De Sondy, University College Cork, Presiding something here Shaheer Afaqi, California State University, Bakersfield Islamizing the Red pill: Muslim masculinity and the Online Manosphere Abstract In The New Arab Man, Marcia Inhorn, a prominent scholar of Muslim masculinities, challenges common stereotypes about contemporary Middle Eastern Muslim men. Her work is significant, for it highlights the emergence of egalitarian Muslim masculinities in the Middle East. However, this paper draws attention to a starkly different form of Muslim masculinity emerging among the young Muslim men of the West. This "Red pill Muslim masculinity" combines the teachings of popular youtubers such as Rollo Tomassi with a simplistic understanding of evolutionary psychology and neuroscience. It emphasizes that men and women are situated in a confrontational dynamic due to inherent and immutable evolutionary differences. Red-pill Muslim influencers view women as inferior, hypergamous, irrational, and solipsistic beings who must be controlled by an aggressive, judgemental, and manipulative Muslim masculinity. Crucially, prominent Muslim youtube influencers have begun to frame red pill ideology as “traditional” Muslim masculinity, thereby encouraging young religious men to embrace this trend. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, Northeastern University Robert Saler, Christian Theological Seminary Seduction, Post-Capitalism, and Sexual Asceticism: The Far-Right Transmutation of the “Manosphere” Among U.S. Eastern Orthodox Online Abstract The digital manosphere has been an object of scholarly analysis for several years. Crucial, but often missing, in the assessment of the manosphere is the role of religious belief and moral framings about the body. This paper intervenes by analyzing how online manosphere elements interact with both religious traditions and forms of political authority in order to produce discourses, technologies, and self-improvement regiments related to Orthodox masculinity. Drawing on three years of research, this paper offers a case study from the online Eastern Orthodox manosphere, showing that this mode of masculinist discourse unites reactionary religiosity with affective energy borrowed from, and recognizable to, participants within the manosphere. In doing so, we argue that manosphere culture, focused on social debate as a normative form of corrective instruction, helps Orthodox men craft vernacular theologies of the body that are inspired by Orthodox theology and manosphere culture but arguably at odds with both. Morgan Barbre, Yale University Rajiv Surendra's Home Rules: Gender and the Media Culture of Domestic Advice, Reconsidered Abstract This paper emplots the work of Rajiv Surendra, an emerging domestic advisor with a dedicated following, in the longer tradition of domestic advice. By locating his teaching in conversation with domestic advisors like Lizzie Kander of the Settlement Cook Book, the author seeks to reframe the intimate work of teaching homemaking as less stably feminine than presumed and more invested in masculinist structures of prescription and authority. In short, this paper asks, what different conceptions of masculinity, domesticity, and kinship become possible when we imagine domestic advice writing as not simply maternal and feminine but invested in systems of knowledge production that we might differently gender in their underlying paradigms? This paper argues that the Canadian actor-turned-influencer’s recognizability as a domestic advisor—and as a queer, unchaste, wealthy, Tamil man—both modulate and reinforce conclusions we have drawn about Americanization, racial formation, kinship, and gendered discipline through domestic advice writing. Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, Saint Louis University “Politics as Public Spectacle: Contesting Masculinity or Rigged Outcome?” Abstract Employing the analysis of professional wresting developed by Roland Barthes in his influential essay, “The World of Wrestling” (1972), this paper contends that American voters, like a professional wrestling audience, are not interested in facts, but desire a public spectacle in which good triumphs over evil. Given the vagaries of the Electoral College, the influence of dark money in elections, and the increasing role of the Supreme Court plays in validating or determining election outcomes, many Americans believe the electoral process, like a professional wrestling match, is rigged. An analysis of the symbols and rituals of professional wresting provides a lens through which we can analyze the American electoral process as a rigged public spectacle intended to reinforce cultural and national narratives of American triumphalism embodied in images of masculinity, violence, and power. Izzak Novak, Northwestern University “Feels Like Not Calling My Mother”: Hunting’s Religious-Ethical Significances for Men on the r/Hunting Subreddit Abstract Masculinized social media spaces are often associated with forms of oppression like misogyny, queer- and transphobia, and racism. Without dispelling that reality, my net ethnography of the subreddit r/Hunting uncovers the ethical and religious heavy lifting men do in social media spaces devoted to masculinized practices. For hunters on r/Hunting, the moment of violence, the kill, is at once the point and superfluous to it, serving as both the node of intimacy with the harvest animal as well as a necessary evil to be necessarily minimized. Even more, it triangulates them into relationships with their imagined and known male ancestors, their kin, and the totality of living things. Indeed, this moment of violence anchors ethical scaffolding as well as religious cosmologies. Hunting, then, is the implicitly intimate moment where violence meets compassion, where life meets life, where humans are honest about the death they bring into the world. Business Meeting Sarah Imhoff, Indiana University, Bloomington, Presiding Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada, Kalamazoo College, Presiding
	A25-315 Music and Religion Unit Theme: Religious Music Responding to Conflict Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-5B (Upper Level West) Alisha Jones, Indiana University, Bloomington, Presiding This panel explores the dynamic role of religious music in addressing societal conflicts across various contexts and historical periods. One paper examines the use of religious music and practices among war-displaced Syrian Melkite Christians in Germany. Another delves into a hymn composed during the American Civil War by an alumnus of Shaw University that articulated a narrative of hope and resilience that resonated within the African American community during tumultuous times. And a third focuses on the period from 1880 to 1920, where Muscular Christianity influenced the portrayal of Christ in religious hymnody, transforming Christ into a militant leader. Together, these studies illuminate how religious music not only reflects but actively shapes responses to conflict, reinforcing community bonds, providing spiritual solace, and redefining identities. Guilnard Moufarrej, United States Naval Academy Music, Spirituality, and Community-Building Among War-Displaced Syrian Melkite Christians in Germany Abstract This paper explores the role of religion in community-building and healing among the Syrian Melkites in Germany as they strive to overcome the atrocities of the war and displacement and rebuild their lives in exile. Drawing from Kenneth Pargament’s theory of religious coping during stressful life events (1997) and from recent scholarship on the relationship between religion and wellbeing among refugees and forced migrants (Dorais 2009; Ennser et al. 2018; Shubin 2012), I argue that faith and faith-based practices can support the moral and mental wellbeing of war-displaced Syrian Melkites by providing them with a sense of community, spiritual support, and coping mechanisms. Furthermore, I argue that the performance of musical and ritual practices of the Syrian Melkites are more than a religious need; rather, they are intertwined with a subculture strongly linked to a homeland from which these migrants have been uprooted and will help preserve their cultural identity. LaMont Johnson, The Anthem of 1865: The Musical Response to the Violence of the Civil War and Birth of Shaw Universtiy Abstract The Anthem of 1865: The Musical Response to the Violence or the Civil War and Birth of Shaw Universtiy. Hymnody and religious music within the Christian church has often overlooked the wide array of genres related to the African American experience. Violence imposed upon people of African descent has birthed a very specific subset of Christian music, negro spirituals and anthems written by African American composers. This paper seeks to explore the "back story" of the Anthem of 1865, written by an alumnus of Shaw University, the one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the South. The musical score was written to the tune of Nun danket alle Gott (Now Thank We All Our God), by a fellow alumnus of the same institution. The verses tell a specific story of the pain and violence the students of this institution had to endure, yet the anthem speaks to the hope and "bright future" of all who have been educated within it's sacred walls. A review of literature in hymnody, sacred texts, African American history, and violence during the period of Reconstruction will ground this research. Madison Lyonhart, University of Oxford Manly Hymns and Muscular Christians Abstract From 1880 to 1920 Muscular Christianity reconfigured the image of Christ into a celebrity persona, forsaking his divinity and recasting Jesus as the ultimate Nietzschean superman. The calls to refashion the image of Jesus, led to a reconfiguration of the musical literature that was to be sung regarding the Son of God. Jesus must no longer be represented as a servant in the lyrics of worship but sung out as a warrior and general who leads his troops to battle. Hymanals were created such as one created in 1910 titled, "Manly Songs for Christian Men." As the hymns and hymn books became disseminated in churches, no longer was the emphasis of church and Christ to be seen as a place where men were to serve and love their neighbor. Rather, with Christ as their model, they were to go forth as the ultimate American man and battle their enemies in the world. Business Meeting Joshua Busman, University of North Carolina, Pembroke, Presiding Alisha Jones, Indiana University, Bloomington, Presiding
	A25-316 Platonism and Neoplatonism Unit Theme: Nature and the Platonic Tradition Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-25A (Upper Level East) Douglas Hedley, University of Cambridge, Presiding The Platonic tradition has, throughout history, offered a radically alternative understanding of the relationship between humans and nature and between humans and non-human animals. This panel invites papers that explore historical and contemporary instances of the Platonic conceptualization of nature. We encourage contributions that explore this tradition's contemporary application for reconceptualizing our collective understanding of nature. Exploration of the relationship between Platonic realism across multiple religious traditions and constructive proposals for inter-religious ecologies are encouraged. Papers may draw upon sources from antiquity to the present, ranging from philosophical, theological, poetic, and artistic. We also highly encourage the submission of papers relating to the Platonic and Neoplatonic traditions generally, in both historical and constructive contexts. Papers on the metaphysics of participation are particularly encouraged. Sarah Griffin , Boston College Origen’s Account of Paideia in His Creation Cosmology and its Contemporary Ecological Merit Abstract According to Origen (c. 185-253), a Christian Platonist of the early church, creation is a location of paideia — the place in which the fallen soul, through education and development, can return to their original immaterial existence through the Logos. By inscribing the material world with the function of paideia, Origen betrays a moral, rather than scientific, interest in the examination of nature. I will draw on Origen’s structure of relation between the natural world and human person, and the Platonic principles that undergird it, to elucidate the function of paideia in view of the soul’s journey of return into God. I will conclude on a contemporary ecological note to suggest that Origen offers a non-exploitative and anthropocentric image of the relationship between the human person and the cosmos, making him an ideal candidate for a theological and theoretical consideration of contemporary ecological reform. Cole Bishop, University of Cambridge Thomas and Infinite Participation Abstract Understanding Thomas Aquinas’ Neoplatonic theology of ‘participation’ as μέθεξις is key to interpreting his broader theological system––especially the relationship between the doctrines of God and creation. In this paper, I first retrieve classical Aristotelian (κοινωνία/Koinonia) and Neoplatonic (μέθεξις/Methexis) articulations of the doctrine of participation. I then show that Thomas affirms a unique version of the Neoplatonic notion of participation via an exposition of his commentaries on the Liber de causis and Dionysius’ De divinis nominibus. Once a clear genealogical and textual foundation is laid, I perform an analysis of the ontological structure of Thomas’ rendering of participation. This involves a discussion of items such as divine simplicity, actus purus, creation, and his famous essence/esse distinction. From this, I perform a critical analysis of the relationship between Thomas’ doctrines of actus purus and participation, suggesting that a contradiction may be derived from concepts of infinity. I call this the “Argument from Infinity.” Benedetto Neola, Universiteit Leiden Philosophers or Angels? How the True Philosopher Participates in the Divine, according to Later Neoplatonists. Abstract This paper explores the reinterpretation of classical philosophical figures, such as Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato himself, by Neoplatonic philosophers during Late Antiquity, with a focus on the Neoplatonists Iamblichus and Proclus. It examines how they reimagined these wisdom figures from ancient Hellenic tradition as semi-divine beings, also drawing on the Chaldean Oracles. The study highlights a shift from the traditional portrayal of philosophers as mere rational thinkers to special souls endowed with the ability to save humanity through philosophical discourse. Their unique mode of participation in the divine allows them to ascend the divine hierarchy to establish themselves at the ontic level of angels. To support this thesis, the speech will explore theological concepts such as "establishment" and "revelation," challenging conventional views on the metaphysics of participation in Neoplatonism and arguing that Neoplatonists viewed true philosophers as theurgists, capable of uniquely participating in the divine realm. Robert M Wallace, How Plato Reconceives Nature as Self-Transcending Abstract It’s widely assumed that whatever interest Plato has in nature is entirely subordinate to his manifest interest in transcendence or “becoming like God.” This paper aims to show that in the Republic, Symposium, andTimaeus, Plato is equally interested in transforming our understanding of nature itself, and that he does this by transforming our understanding of transcendence itself. In these dialogues, Plato suggests that we “become like God” only when we understand both ourselves and nature in general as pointing beyond and (often) striving to go beyond merely materialistic or mechanical ways of functioning, toward rational self-government. Transcendence, as we see in the Romantic poets and Hegel and Whitehead, is nature’s self-transcendence. And people who see this kind of transcendence everywhere, as Plato and these writers do, aren’t likely to despoil nature as we currently do.
	A25-318 Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Study of Religion Seminar Theme: Serving more than one master?: Institution vs./and Community in Engaged Research Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-28B (Upper Level East) Lucas Johnston, Wake Forest University, Presiding One of the goals of this seminar is to examine how knowledge production has been re-envisioned at specific institutions or organizations. This panel explores partnerships and challenges between university systems or international institutionalized bodies, and community activism. Topics include reflection on pedagogies of the oppressed, the World Council of Churches Program to Combat Racism, and the University of California’s entanglement in repatriation policies and intrusive modes of knowledge production which marginalize indigenous and other voices. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Collaboratively Cultivating Subversive knowledge: Transgressing Community-Academy Boundaries Abstract This paper explores the collaborative production of knowledge regarding how to build agency for justice-oriented social change through teaching in religious studies and theology. It traces a six-year project of experiential research into method for teaching community organizing as a required course in theological education. The project began as a collaborative experiment between a community-based community organizing network and a university-based theological school. Pedagogy included interrogation of the whiteness historically dominant in community-organizing training. Assessment draws on evaluations by students, faculty, and community organizers, and on three theoretical fields: community-organizing theory developed by feminist and Black women organizers, critical pedagogy, and decolonial theory. Questions arise: What are guidelines for teaching social change arts in academic curricula, and for courses with explicit political agendas? How can such courses address white supremacist undergirdings of theological/religious studies education? What are lines of accountability and reciprocity between community-based and university-based leaders in such courses? Greg Johnson, University of California, Santa Barbara Good Cop, Bad Cop: Policing the University of California on Indigenous Rights Abstract Engaging the largest public university system in the US on two fronts involving the institution's treatment of Indigenous peoples has put me in an awkward but instructive position. In each case issues of law and policy are central. Wearing my good cop hat, I am member of a University of California (UC) campus repatriation committee and find this work compelling and productive. Wearing my bad cop badge, my misgivings pertain to the direct involvement of the UC in the Thirty Meter Telescope project in Hawai`i, about which I have gone on record with the University Regents on multiple occasions. I will describe my work on both fronts, pointing to the ironic way appeals to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples links them. Concluding, I will propose some thoughts about best practices and possible risks when engaging public universities from the inside. Michael Mawson, University of Auckland Andrew Picard, Carey Baptist College Protesting Faith: Knowledge Production through Anti-Racist Activism in Aotearoa New Zealand Abstract This paper will critically examine the theologies and knowledges produced through the World Council of Churches Programme to Combat Racism (PCR) in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1970s and early 1980s. Drawing on archival research, theological analysis, and interviews with church leaders and activists, it will explore the relationship between international networks and local community led responses to social justice. Using the PCR’s work in NZ as a case study, the paper will also reflect on activism as a form of lived theology, which can support contemporary anti-racist strategies and action. Responding Joseph Witt, University of Tennessee
	A25-319 Religion and Economy Unit and Religion and Popular Culture Unit Theme: Management Gurus and Religion: From American Evangelicals to Indian Business Professionals Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-29D (Upper Level East) Michael Altman, University of Alabama, Presiding Over the course of the long twentieth century, developments in academic and popular managerial knowledge transformed the task of managing organizations from a set of skills learned on the job to a “science.” Paramount to this science was the notion that the manager should convert the objectives of the organization into the personal goals of each worker, making the workplace a site of self-actualization. This roundtable brings together scholars from religious studies, history, and theater to highlight the unexpected circulations of management knowledge and religious ethos between the U.S. and India. It aims to address the questions: How did religious ideas and practices inform the development of management theory? How did this reciprocal influence converge with self-help genres to produce new formulations of both business and church? What happens as management theory and the religious forms it has influenced circulate outside American and predominantly Christian contexts and back again? Panelists Deonnie Moodie, University of Oklahoma Mircea Raianu, University of Maryland Joy Palacios, University of Calgary Phil Davis, Northwestern University Sarah Saddler, City University of New York
	A25-320 Religion and Migration Unit Theme: Religion, Migration, and Resistance to Oppression Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-6D (Upper Level West) Nanette Spina, University of Georgia, Presiding This session explores contexts and practices regarding resistance and the oppression of people on the move across diverse countries. The cases examine a spectrum of circumstances including resistance against deportation, countering hate crimes, and the decolonialization of refugee relief. Throughout these contexts, the theological agency of people on the move is presented, including their choice to change religions through conversion. The papers in this session highlight theological agency as a core concern for ethics, politics, and the study of religion. Iiris Nikanne, University of Helsinki Empirical approach to religious conversion as a process: Follow-up study revisiting the experiences of Iraqi refugees in Finland who have converted from Islam to Christianity Abstract Although the current academic discussion on religious conversion predominantly considers conversion as a process, the number of empirical studies that explore the same converts in different points in time remains limited. Also, there is still little research on the asylum seekers’ conversions from Islam to Christianity following the so-called 2015 refugee crisis. This article provides a longitudinal perspective through revisiting the experiences of Iraqi forced migrants in Finland, first interviewed in 2017–2018 and then six years later in 2023–2024. While religious conversion has been defined in various ways in different academic fields, faith traditions and societal contexts, this study takes a data-driven approach and analyzes what conversion means in these data. The results show that conversion can signify different things to different individuals, as well as the same individuals at different times, providing perspectives useful to academia and societal actors dealing with religion and forced migration. Fadime Apaydin, University of California, Riverside Facing the Hate: A Comprehensive Overview of Religious and Racially Motivated Hate Crimes in the United States Abstract This paper investigates the intersection of immigration and hate crimes within the United States, focusing on the analysis of hate crime incidents motivated by race and religion across 32 gateway cities from 2015 to 2019. It aims to illuminate the patterns of hate crimes in areas with high immigrant populations using data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. By examining these incidents in metropolitan areas known for their significant immigrant populations, the research provides insights into the prevalence of hate crimes targeting immigrants, offering a crucial contribution to the discourse on hate crimes and immigration in the U.S. This exploration, underpinned by a quantitative methodology, not only highlights the significance of scrutinizing hate crimes in the context of rising diversity and immigration but also serves as a crucial resource for policymakers and community organizations striving to create a more equitable society. Leonard McMahon, Graduate Theological Union Over and Against: Violence, Honor, and Satisfaction in Immigration Discourse Abstract Deportation today can be deadly. Since 2016 there have been dozens of cases where migrants have been killed shortly after being deported from the United States, and for some citizens this is an appropriate punishment and payment for the sin and “dishonor” of violating borders. However, I argue we have the mandate to change what we cannot accept by standing in for the migrant; we are called to interrupt immigration violence existentially as the new focus of punishment; politically as voices for those unable to speak; and viscerally by interjecting via loving protest and spiritual care. In this paper, I use Anselm’s theory of satisfaction to offer a necessary alternative to the theory of penal substitution that predominates our immigration discourse today, and I call on K. Anthony Appiah’s discussion of honor to explain how this need of society is very present yet often unacknowledged in immigration discourse. Janna Hunter-Bowman, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary popular movements on the move: Latin American immigrant-led struggles and decolonial peacebuilding Abstract Popular movements in the United States that center undocumented migrants from Latin America invite us to challenge wisdom received from some Christian religious traditions, retrieve knowledge that is confined to the margins of elsewhen and elsewhere, and reason in ways that contribute to struggles that disrupt and transform. This presentation outlines several key insights emergent from engaged research with a nonviolent movement fighting for dignity and respect for immigrants in the United States, Movimiento Cosecha. It is a part of a broader project focusing on people in popular processes in the United States as agents under duress. In keeping with 2021 collaborative research agreement, the project aims to articulate an alternative to approaches to immigrants oriented by the helper/helped logic, an alternative that is rooted in immigrant lives and movements for justice. Business Meeting Nanette Spina, University of Georgia, Presiding Ulrich Schmiedel, Lund University, Presiding
	A25-321 Religion and Science Fiction Unit Theme: Speculative Mysticisms in Unknown Spaces Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Hilton Bayfront-Sapphire 400A (Fourth Level) Emanuelle Burton, University of Illinois, Chicago, Presiding Ted Chiang's alien language in Arrival, James S.A. Corey's deep space opera The Expanse, and Jeff VanderMeer's strange ecologies provoke scholars of religion into revisiting definitions of mysticism. How do we contend with the science fictional sublime/grotesque and confront transcendence? What can the "mystical" mean in locations and situations that defy sensorial comfort and familiarity. What can we learn about "religion" when confronted by the truly alien? Ryan Martin, Oblate School of Theology Arrival and a More Adequate Definition of Mysticism Abstract Mysticism is difficult to define, but, following Bernard McGinn, a robust definition is a unique consciousness of the ultimate reality one perceives. Understanding how the mystic’s consciousness is unique when compared to their community can be difficult, but the 2016 science fiction film _Arrival_ provides an analogous situation that helps illustrate this concept. Through intense preparation and engagement with a newly encountered alien language, the protagonist Louise develops a unique consciousness of time that enables her to save the world. I argue that this correlates to the mystic’s unique consciousness of ultimate reality, also often attained via preparation, that enables them to provide fruitful reflection to their own community. The use of _Arrival_ to help clarify this concept for mysticism points to the potential fruitful dialogue between speculative fiction and religious studies. Ben Van Overmeire, Duke Kunshan University Astral Mysticism: Exploring the Metaphysical Horizons of The Expanse Abstract In this paper, I examine the mystical aspects of the space opera novel series The Expanse, which describes humanity encountering an alien presence in outer space drawing upon Christian and Buddhist mystical metaphors. Despite the success of The Expanse and space opera novels more broadly, scholarly attention to its religious elements remains scarce. The paper aims to fill this gap by examining how mystical experiences in the series often manifest as erotic or violent, challenging some mainstream notions of space-born spirituality (such as the “overview effect”). It first surveys scholarship on mysticism in popular literature and on religion in science fiction. Then, it close-reads selected passages from the novel series. It concludes by comparing The Expanse to other recent space opera novels that do not imagine mystical unity in a violent or even erotic manner, but as a new default mode of consciousness for a space-borne humankind. Emily Theus, Yale University Into the “Insane Midden”: Mystical Experiences of Exhaustion in Jeff VanderMeer’s Ecological Fiction Abstract The novelist Jeff VanderMeer has a penchant for plunging his characters into overwhelming piles of decaying stuff. This paper contends that passage through these piles can be read as a form of mystical absorption apposite to the experience of being overwhelmed by climate crisis. Climate crisis is often presented as a problem of scale, yet scale alone cannot account for its maddening, and at times deeply stupefying, particulars. Nor should scale be the sole connection point between climate crisis and the scholarly study of mystical techniques and experiences. I argue that VanderMeer’s recurring motif of piles depicts mystical experiences of excess born not of inexhaustibility but of exhaustion, and thus offers resources to resist transcendentalizing climate crisis in a way that distracts from its politics. Business Meeting Rudy V. Busto, University of California, Santa Barbara, Presiding Emanuelle Burton, University of Illinois, Chicago, Presiding
	A25-322 Religion in Southeast Asia Unit Theme: Religion and Social Transformation in Southeast Asia Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-30A (Upper Level East) Sara Swenson, Dartmouth College, Presiding This panel brings together four papers exploring religion and social transformation across Southeast Asian contexts. The first paper “Blue Lives Matter: Ocean, New Materialism, and Ecotheology analyzes how “blue” ecotheologies complement “green” environmental movements globally – and particularly in Southeast Asia – by re-centering the ocean as a sacred site that gives and sustains life. The second paper, “Contesting Religious Violence and the Indigenization of Islam in Indonesia,” examines how leaders of Indonesia’s Nahdlatul “Ulama” address the challenge of extremist ideology by appealing to Islam’s virtues of tolerance and grassroots peacemaking initiatives. The third paper “The Dharma Transmission Trope in Medieval Vietnam: Syncretism and Cultic Appropriation in the Invention of a Buddhist Rainmaking Cult,” complicates narratives of how Vietnamese Buddhism has developed historically through a close examination of medieval textual resources. Finally, “Chinatown as a Hybridized Socio-Religious Space for Chinese Christian Diaspora in Southeast Asia: An Indonesian Case,” analyzes how Christianity affects Chinese diaspora experiences in Southeast Asia. Leksmana Leonard, Drew University Blue Lives Matter: Ocean, New Materialism, and Ecotheology in Souteast Asia Abstract In theology, "Green" is also often used in discourse on environmental issues, but for Elia Maggang, a blue-ecotheologian from Indonesia, believes that Green Christianity still seems landbased and pays little attention to the context of coastal communities and marine life. To what extent does color play an important role in a term? In this proposal, I argue that Blue Ecotheology can be a framework for ecotheological reflection in the context of Southeast Asia. I believe the blueness is not simply a sea color but a sign of life, and this requires a chain reaction of marine microorganisms, photons, water, chemical reaction, and other possibilities towards restoration of ocean value. Shalahudin Kafrawi, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Contesting Religious Violence and the Indigenization of Islam in Indonesia Abstract This paper will examine the efforts of the leaders of the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama’ in addressing violence in the name of Islam. As one of the biggest socio-religious organizations, the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama’ has spearheaded the acculturalization of Islam to meet the social, political, and cultural demands of Indonesia’s multicultural communities. Abdurrahman Wahid pioneered the indigenization of Islam as the key to making Islamic teachings relevant in contemporary Indonesia and paved the way for Muslims to address critical challenges posed by sectarian and violent forms of Islam. After discussing the emerging violent conflicts in the post-Soeharto regime, the paper will examine how the leaders translate Islamic teachings into the vernacular of Indonesian Muslims. In doing so, it will evaluate how the leaders of the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama’ address the challenge of violent extremist ideology and actions by mainstreaming Islam’s virtues of tolerance, moderation, peace, grassroots peacemaking initiatives, and interfaith talk and walk. Cuong Mai, Appalachian State University The Dharma Transmission Trope in Medieval Vietnam: Syncretism and Cultic Appropriation in the Invention of a Buddhist Rainmaking Cult Abstract The Vietnamese Buddhist rainmaking cult of the Four Dharma Buddhas (Tứ Pháp) is said to date to the 3rd century CE. There are two extant versions of the story of how a "savage maiden" (Man Nương/A Man) miraculously gave birth to a baby that was transformed into a rock lodged inside of a tree which would eventually be carved into four Buddha images. In this presentation, I focus on the supposedly earliest version of the story, showing how it is in fact the latest. Moreover, l use other medieval Vietnamese textual sources, namely tales of Buddhist deities and wonder-working monks, to shed light on the invented history of the Four Dharma Buddhas cult, showing how the textual making of this cult fit into two larger, medieval Vietnamese patterns of the Buddhist appropriation of local deity cults, one which I call syncretic appropriation, and the other, subordinate appropriation.
	A25-323 Religious Reflections on Friendship Seminar Theme: Extending Friendship: Relational Kinship Despite Inequalities, De-creation Desires, and Death Monday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Convention Center-1B (Upper Level West) Laura Duhan-Kaplan, Vancouver School of Theology, Presiding Relationships and practices of friendship promote well-being, even as people and communities navigate diverse crises. Presenters within this session explore such relationships as they engage with various challenges to well-being, including existential crises, various forms of violence, and colonizing practices. Inspired by Indigenous wisdom and practice, Anne-Marie Ellithorpe advocates for the reframing of friendship as a multidimensional, multigenerational relationship. Jamie Myrose argues that presence-generation is a central activity of friendship that extends beyond the boundaries of life. Yehuda Mansell draws on dialogue within the Book of Job to highlight the importance of trauma-informed care within friendships in response to suicidal ideation. Janelle Adams examines the role of friendships in mitigating the impact of violence experienced by refugees, including the challenges of poverty, xenophobia, and discrimination. Through these diverse perspectives, this session highlights the pivotal role of relational kinship—friendship—in navigating crises, fostering resilience, and promoting personal and collective healing and flourishing. Anne-Marie Ellithorpe, Vancouver School of Theology Extending Friendship: Indigenous Wisdom and Civic Kinship Abstract This paper argues for the reframing of friendship as a multidimensional relationship that promotes collective as well as personal wellbeing. Ideals implied by such a reframing extend backwards and forwards in time and include the acknowledgement of kinship, including with Mother Earth. Such ideals—inspired by the wisdom and writings of Indigenous scholars and by learnings through participation in language and culture revitalization studies at an Indigenous university in Aotearoa—are perhaps best encapsulated in the terminology of civic kinship. Practices implied by such ideals include pursuing the well-being of the collective, rejecting paternalism, and promoting the honoring of treaties, as relational bridges between diverse “friendship worlds” that share common aspirations. The reframing of friendship argued for within this paper broadens and deepens the notion of civic friendship I have explored in earlier writings. Jamie Myrose, Boston College Present in Body and Spirit: Friendship Across the Boundary of Death Abstract Belief in Christ’s bodily resurrection is a central doctrine of Christian faith. But what it means for Christ to be present to those whom he loved following his death as well as what this presence means for the daily life of Christians is subject to debate. This paper uses friendship as the hermeneutical key for interpreting this doctrine. Through an analysis of the works of Carter Heyward, Jules Toner, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, I argue that presence-generation (both spiritual and bodily) is a central activity of friendship that continues after death. Friendship prepares for and makes present in spirit what is hoped for someday in bodily form. Identifying presence-generation as an activity of friendship can help Christians to recognize the value of this most basic human relationship, particularly as they await bodily reunion with their lost friends through participation in Christ’s resurrection. Yehuda Mansell, Vancouver School of Theology The Cry for De-Creation: How to be a Better Friend in the Face of Suicidal Ideation Abstract The human bias towards life, along with deep, well-founded theological values surrounding the source of life, the value of life, and the prohibition against taking a life, has rendered some within religious circles intolerant towards death, or at very least awkward towards those longing for their end. It is not for a lack of care but the impulse to convince each other to stay can be at cross purposes with being a tender and supportive friend. However, trauma-informed care, marked by a turning towards our friends, and not just a reaction to ideas about a desire for an exit, allowing for silence and the full gravity of their pain to be known, is preferable to frantic efforts to dissuade them from suicide. These contrasting approaches are delightfully illustrated in the Book of Job, providing an authentic view of trauma, a longing for death, and two differing responses of his friends, which taken together illustrate a meaningful path forward. Allen G. Jorgenson, Wilfrid Laurier University From Christian to Interreligious Friendship Abstract This paper will explore friendship as a theological category both within Christianity, and by way of contrast, across religious traditions thereby enabling a more fulsome understanding of friendship across religions.

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