In-person November Annual Meeting 2025 Program Book

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The paper examines the friendship forged by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal Movement, and Howard Thurman, Christian mystic and social reformer, beginning in the 1950s when Schachter-Shalomi was a graduate student at Boston University and Thurman was serving as the dean of Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. The paper argues that interreligious friendships are central to the leadership styles and practices of both religious leaders and examines the legacies of friendships among other religious leaders trained in Thurman and Schachter-Shalomi’s intellectual lineages at Boston University and Hebrew College respectively and beyond. The paper also gives particular attention to the influences of Schachter-Shalomi and Thurman on two pairings of contemporary Jewish-Christian friends: a senior rabbi and mid-career United Methodist pastor/academic, each with deep ties to Hebrew College and Boston University respectively, and a pair of their students, each now emerging into prominent national religious leadership positions.

According to an influential tradition in Christian theology, human flourishing is at least partially constituted by enjoying friendship with God. One worry about this tradition is that it encourages disengagement from the world, and thus functions ideologically to support an unjust status quo. In this paper, I argue that seeking friendship with God need not be in tension with striving to achieve social justice and freedom from oppression. Indeed, it can provide powerful motivation for participation in liberatory politics, and participation in liberatory politics can serve as a site for enjoying friendship with God. Whether the goal of sharing friendship with God is repressive or liberatory depends principally on one’s conception of what God cares about and seeks. If one conceives of God as caring deeply about justice and seeking to end oppression, then a theology of friendship with God can be a valuable resource for liberatory politics.

In this paper I discuss the relationship between the Buddha and his archnemesis Devadatta, specifically as depicted in the Lotus Sutra. In traditional Buddhist lore, Devadatta is something of the “Judas of Buddhism,” in that he tries to usurp Buddha’s role as leader of the sangha, encourages a royal patron to murder his father, and even seeks to kill the Blessed One on several occasions. He is, thus, regarded as one of the greatest villains in Buddhist history, yet in the Lotus the Buddha proclaims to his rapt audience that Devadatta was his “good friend” (kalyna mitra) whose life and teachings were instrumental in his (the Buddha’s) own awakening. Devadatta’s example in the Lotus suggests that common understandings of “friendship” may be inadequate and even misleading from a Buddhist spiritual standpoint. Paradoxically, perhaps a “bad friend” can turn out to be the best friend we could ask for. 

As the conflict in the Israel-Palestine region continues, committed friends and interfaith relationships have been severely strained across the globe, and the past eighteen months have been catastrophic for many of the friendships forged between Jews and Muslims in the UK.

Nevertheless, despite the polarised voices and radical opinions, some friendships have flourished. Through auto-ethnography and more recent anthropological work on friendship, this session will work to disentangle the complications of a robust friendship across religious belief, political affiliation, and the expectations and allegiances of a person’s own faith community.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from 2023-2025 at Nepal’s four holiest Hindu sites, or chār dhām—each located by a sacred river—this paper explores varied Hindu responses to rapid and ongoing environmental changes brought about by climate change and development.  It asks: How have Nepal’s chār dhām been affected by anthropogenic environmental changes? How do Nepali Hindus understand and relate to the rivers at these sites, and what are their reactions to changes in water flow and quality in these rivers? The paper investigates how Hindu beliefs, values and practices regarding the sacred rivers at these sites exist in a tense and complex relationship with, on one hand, conservation efforts, and on the other, development initiatives intended to bring economic and quality-of-life benefits. 

After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, South Asians were shipped to plantations across the Caribbean as indentured workers. The system of indentured labor produced the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. The Madrasis are a religious minority within this diaspora. They cohere around the south Indian goddess Mariamman and practice drumming and spirit possession rituals. Since the 1980s, Madrasis have been migrating to the United States. In New York and Guyana, Madrasis live on the coastal edges of climate change, oil spills, and water pollution. Drawing on ethnographic work in Guyana and New York, this paper examines how Madrasis invoke their history of indentured labor and the language of karma and kaliyuga to criticize ExxonMobil’s expansion along the coastline of Guyana and water pollution in Jamaica Bay, New York. The paper places the Madrasis’ terminological experiments in conversation with recent debates about the terminology and dating of the Anthropocene. 

The Anoop Mandal is a century old anti-Jain Hindu religious sect centered throughout the arid and drought-prone districts surrounding the border between Rajasthan and Gujarat. According to devotees (bhāviks), the Jain merchant castes, baniyas, control all the world’s governments, the economy, and even the weather; they are the source of the current climate crisis. Critics contend that this is evidence of the backwards status of the group’s members, who are mostly low-caste, and the underdevelopment of the region. This paper argues that the Anoop Mandal’s beliefs represent not a pre-modern prejudice, but a form of Hindu theorizing which connects anthropogenic climate change with the demands of a specific economy; it is a theory of the Capitalocene.  Why, this paper asks, do the causes of ecological devastation become conceptualized as personal rather than systematic? How does religion facilitate this process? And why is the target of this theory an ethnoreligious group?

This paper explores Hindu conceptualizations of death through three stories involving Yama, the God of Death in Hinduism and Bhūdevi, the Earth Goddess. The first story, in the Katha Upanishads, is of Nachiketa, a sixteen year old boy whose dialogue with Yama illustrates the apotheosis of an individual soul’s desire. The second story, in the Mahābhārata, is of princess Sāvitri, her chosen husband, Satyavan, and Sāvitri outwitting Yama on her husband’s survival. The third story centers on the goddess Bhūdevi’s call for help, resulting in the the third avatar of Vishnu, Varāha. These three Hindu stories are analyzed through prisms of mythic transformations of self, desire, and evil and expanded from the lone individual’s dealing with impending death to the imagination of a collective human species dealing with the possibility of death and extinction. 

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from 2023-2025 at Nepal’s four holiest Hindu sites, or chār dhām—each located by a sacred river—this paper explores varied Hindu responses to rapid and ongoing environmental changes brought about by climate change and development.  It asks: How have Nepal’s chār dhām been affected by anthropogenic environmental changes? How do Nepali Hindus understand and relate to the rivers at these sites, and what are their reactions to changes in water flow and quality in these rivers? The paper investigates how Hindu beliefs, values and practices regarding the sacred rivers at these sites exist in a tense and complex relationship with, on one hand, conservation efforts, and on the other, development initiatives intended to bring economic and quality-of-life benefits. 

After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, South Asians were shipped to plantations across the Caribbean as indentured workers. The system of indentured labor produced the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. The Madrasis are a religious minority within this diaspora. They cohere around the south Indian goddess Mariamman and practice drumming and spirit possession rituals. Since the 1980s, Madrasis have been migrating to the United States. In New York and Guyana, Madrasis live on the coastal edges of climate change, oil spills, and water pollution. Drawing on ethnographic work in Guyana and New York, this paper examines how Madrasis invoke their history of indentured labor and the language of karma and kaliyuga to criticize ExxonMobil’s expansion along the coastline of Guyana and water pollution in Jamaica Bay, New York. The paper places the Madrasis’ terminological experiments in conversation with recent debates about the terminology and dating of the Anthropocene. 

The Anoop Mandal is a century old anti-Jain Hindu religious sect centered throughout the arid and drought-prone districts surrounding the border between Rajasthan and Gujarat. According to devotees (bhāviks), the Jain merchant castes, baniyas, control all the world’s governments, the economy, and even the weather; they are the source of the current climate crisis. Critics contend that this is evidence of the backwards status of the group’s members, who are mostly low-caste, and the underdevelopment of the region. This paper argues that the Anoop Mandal’s beliefs represent not a pre-modern prejudice, but a form of Hindu theorizing which connects anthropogenic climate change with the demands of a specific economy; it is a theory of the Capitalocene.  Why, this paper asks, do the causes of ecological devastation become conceptualized as personal rather than systematic? How does religion facilitate this process? And why is the target of this theory an ethnoreligious group?

This paper explores Hindu conceptualizations of death through three stories involving Yama, the God of Death in Hinduism and Bhūdevi, the Earth Goddess. The first story, in the Katha Upanishads, is of Nachiketa, a sixteen year old boy whose dialogue with Yama illustrates the apotheosis of an individual soul’s desire. The second story, in the Mahābhārata, is of princess Sāvitri, her chosen husband, Satyavan, and Sāvitri outwitting Yama on her husband’s survival. The third story centers on the goddess Bhūdevi’s call for help, resulting in the the third avatar of Vishnu, Varāha. These three Hindu stories are analyzed through prisms of mythic transformations of self, desire, and evil and expanded from the lone individual’s dealing with impending death to the imagination of a collective human species dealing with the possibility of death and extinction. 

Abstract

This paper examines Ephrem the Syrian’s reimagining of space and salvation in the context of the siege of Nisibis in 363 CE. Focusing on the Nisibene Hymns, it explores how Ephrem portrays Nisibis as a paradoxical space—both a site of suffering and a gateway to paradise. Employing Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia and Gaston Bachelard’s phenomenology of space, this study demonstrates how Ephrem reconfigures the perception of confinement and liberation. By likening Nisibis to Noah’s Ark, he transforms its besieged walls into thresholds of divine favor, where enclosure signifies protection rather than captivity. The analysis reveals how Ephrem’s theological vision frames suffering as a means of spiritual ascent, aligning the fate of his city with the eschatological promise of paradise. Through poetic imagery and biblical typology, Ephrem invites his audience to see themselves as truly free, while casting their oppressors as those spiritually imprisoned.

The Archangel Michael’s characterization in Coptic and early Islamic Egypt extended beyond his traditional role as a healer and protector to that of patron of the Nile inundation. Coptic texts from the 6th to 12th centuries CE, which mostly include apocalypses, encomia, and various homilies, describe Michael’s role in bringing about a sufficient flood. The annual inundation was crucial for agricultural prosperity throughout the Nile Valley. Liturgical rituals associated with Michael’s feast days, on the 12th of Ba’ūna (June 6) and the 12th of Hatūr (November 8), coordinate with key moments in the river’s flood cycle. Such traditions, preserved in Coptic and later Arabic sources, show how Michaelic veneration in pre-modern Egypt intersected with local ecological sensibilities. By analyzing a variety of Coptic literary sources, this paper will explore how Egyptian Christians mythologized the inundation through ritual, literature, and devotion, revealing the connections between ecology and liturgy in pre-modern Egypt.

This paper is an exploration of the Coptic Orthodox Eucharistic liturgy, framed through the lens of Liberation Theology. It emphasizes the role of the liturgy as a means for spiritual and social liberation, focusing particularly on its relevance for the poor, oppressed, and marginalized and its transformative potential for both individuals and the broader world. The analysis explores how the liturgy reflects and responds to issues of injustice, and how it becomes a transformative tool for liberation in a social and theological context. This analysis explores both the liberation realized through the liturgy and the liturgy’s capacity to embody this liberation. It is a dual examination: assessing how the liturgy addresses social and cultural oppression, while also examining how its elements and internal dynamics are themselves liberating, in light of the people’s social context and cultural heritage.

This paper examines how the artistic program of Fanousian Coptic Churches in America reconfigures traditional liturgical spaces to reflect the evolving identities of diaspora communities. By analyzing both the aesthetic and architectural dimensions of worship spaces, the study explores the interplay between indigenous Coptic art forms and contemporary design practices. Fanous-inspired elements, a hallmark of cultural heritage, are reinterpreted to resonate with modern diaspora narratives, fostering communal identity and spiritual continuity. Drawing on site visits, interviews with church designers, and architectural analysis, the paper highlights the adaptive nature of Coptic liturgical art and its capacity to articulate historical memory, religious symbolism, and cultural belonging. The findings illustrate how material culture and artistic expression serve as pivotal markers in constructing a hybrid liturgical space, thereby offering new insights into the dynamic relationship between tradition and modernity in the American religious landscape. The study also reveals creative strategies that empower community voices.

This paper analyses Luther’s theological and political outcomes in 1525 with a focus on his responses to the violence and devastations of the Peasants' War. In addition, the paper provides an analysis of how Luther’s emphasis had changed from his earlier writings promoting universal priesthood to promote a more authoritative and hierarchical approach to biblical interpretation. The paper aims to present an overview of the events and Luther’s writings to analyze the development and premises behind Luther’s often polemic and controversial argumentation with long-lasting consequences.  By clarifying Luther’s theological premises his societal thought is built on, the paper argues that by placing justifying grace and society based on reliable, just, and fair government as directive premises to conduct theologically sound life as a Christian, Lutheran theology can promote theologically grounded peace and oppose violence in the variety of contexts 500 years later in contemporary societies and times to come.

This paper brings The Freedom of a Christian in dialogue with Martin Luther's later socio-political works, Martin Luther's Warning to His Dear German People (1531) and the Circular Disputation on the Right of Resistance against the Emperor (1539), to establish a clear path unfolding within Luther’s socio-political treatises. Luther's highly nuanced position advocating for Christian resistance against temporal authority adheres to the paradox of Christian existence, “A Christian person is a free lord above everything and subject to no one; a Christian person is a devoted-peer servant of everything and subject to everyone,” and is wedded to the concept of “counter-insurrection" in defense of the divinely gifted Tribus Hierarchiis. In this way, Luther's conception of Christian freedom and responsibility does not betray his characteristic concern about chaos and disorder and allows for Christian socio-political resistance while staying within the confines of faith working itself out in the “law of love.” 

2025 is both the 500th anniversary of the Peasant's War and Luther's marriage to Katharina von Bora.  How do Luther's views help us think about discipline and order in society and in our families?  What type of faith will help us imagine relationships grounded in love rather than violence?