Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-religious text study in which participants from the three ‘Abrahamic’ religions (and increasingly, from other traditions as well) study short selections of their scriptures together in an open-ended but structured manner. When scholars read scripture across inter-religious difference, the effect is to put traditional wisdom and academic formation into play simultaneously. Over the years, this practice has proved effective at making familiar texts strange and offering a window into the deep patterns of reasoning and implicit logics of these different traditions. The Scriptural Reasoning Unit facilitates a unique mode of academic engagement within the setting of the AAR, rooted in this distinctive practice. It cultivates an approach to the academic study of scriptural traditions centered on the ways in which scriptures generate communities of religious practice: practices of study, of interpretation, of reflection, of ritual, and of social life. Its scholars seek to develop methods for analyzing aspects of this process and to offer philosophical or theological interventions in the ongoing life of the traditions.
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Scriptural Reasoning Unit
Call for Proposals
For the 2022 AAR, we are hosting Scriptural Reasoning Session reflecting on Disease and Distancing in the Abrahamic traditions that was postponed last year together with another session with invited panelists on the voices of women in the academic study of religion in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. For this reason, we will not be accepting any new paper proposals this year.
Statement of Purpose
Chairs
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Ashleigh Elser, Hampden-Sydney College1/1/2020 - 12/31/2025
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Laurie Zoloth, University of Chicago1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027
Steering Committee Members
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Deborah Barer, Towson University1/1/2020 - 12/31/2025
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Rebecca Epstein-Levi, Vanderbilt University1/1/2019 - 12/31/2024
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Mark James, Hunter College1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027
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Susannah Ticciati, King's College London1/1/2020 - 12/31/2025
Method
PAPERS
Review Process
Proposer names are visible to chairs but anonymous to steering committee members