Chairs Workshop: Best Practices: Diversifying Your Faculty – Honest Conversations

Friday - 9:00 am-4:30 pm
CC-24A

Sponsored by the Academic Relations Committee and the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee

Miguel A. De La Torre, Iliff School of Theology, Presiding

Panelists:

Edwin David Aponte, Lancaster Theological Seminary

Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Moravian Theological Seminary

Akintunde Ebunolu Akinade, High Point University

Sharon Watson Fluker, Fund for Theological Education

Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Brite Divinity School

Fumitaka Matsuoka, Pacific School of Religion

Separate registration is required.

Abstract

Chairs Workshop: Best Practices: Diversifying Your Faculty – Honest Conversations

Sponsored by the Academic Relations Committee and the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee

The workshop will deal with issues on how to diversify the academic institution, specifically the student body and the administration. Based on the Career Guide for Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession, the program will be an honest and open discussion on good practices to follow along with pitfalls to avoid. Plenary, panels, and interactive break-out sessions will be featured. Featured speakers include Sharon Watson Fluker, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Edwin Aponte, and Fumitaka Matsuoka. Breakout sessions will be led by Edwin Aponte, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Akintude Akinade, and Miguel A. De La Torre.

Leadership Workshop: The Religion Major and Liberal Education

Friday - 9:00 am-4:30 pm
CC-24C

Timothy M. Renick, Georgia State University, Presiding

Panelists:

Richard M. Carp, Appalachian State University

Nadine S. Pence, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion

Stephen Prothero, Boston University

Separate registration is required.

Abstract

Leadership Workshop: The Religion Major and Liberal Education

Amid changing global and academic contexts, what is the nature and role of the religion major? What are its goals, and how do they relate to the goals of a liberal education? How do we know if we are succeeding in meeting these goals? The workshop will bring together a distinguished group of experts to lead a day-long and interactive discussion of the religion major. Through plenaries, panels, and breakout sections, participants will explore and share challenges, best practices, success stories, and failures. The workshop is part of an eighteen-month-long joint AAR/Teagle Foundation project to study the religion major.

Preliminary Agenda:

Introduction: Why Religious Studies?

Establishing the Religious Studies Major: Stories from the Trenches (interactive session)

Religious Studies Across the Curriculum: The Interdisciplinary Nature of the Major (panel discussion)

Lunch

The Major in Different Institutional Contexts/Different Models for the Major (interactive session)

What has worked? What has not? (panel discussion followed by a break-out session)

Summary: What Have We Learned (as a Discipline and Today)?

The workshop will be of benefit to a range of participants: faculty, administrators, and graduate students. The goal is to bring a diverse group of AAR members together in an lively and open discussion about what it means to major in religion, what our field contributes (and should contribute) to the education of our students, and how we can be better at what we do.

AAR Board of Directors Meeting

Friday - 9:00 am-5:00 pm
MM-Manchester

Jeffrey L. Stout, Princeton University, Presiding

Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

Friday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
GH-Edward C

North American Paul Tillich Society

Theme: Paul Tillich and Jewish Thought
 

Friday - 9:00 am-11:15 am
GH-Manchester A

Marcia MacLennan, Kansas Wesleyan University, Presiding

Theme: Paul Tillich and Jewish Thought

Bryan Wagoner, Harvard University

Judaism in the Life and Thought of Paul Tillich

Anne Marie Reijnen, Faculté Universitaire de Théologie Protestante, Brussels, Institut Catholique de Paris

Liberal Theology, Zionism, and Christian Nationalism: A Topical Inquiry into the Dialogue between Paul Tillich and Martin Buber

Stephen Butler Murray, Skidmore College

The Relevance of Paul Tillich to the Future of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Religion and Media Workshop: Religion and New Media -- Old Tools or New Trajectories?

Friday - 10:00 am-6:00 pm
CC-25A

S. Brent Plate, Texas Christian University, Kaley Middlebrooks Carpenter, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Jenna Tiitsman, Auburn Theological Seminary, City University of New York, Presiding

Jeffrey Sharlet, New York University

Eddo Stern, Los Angeles, CA

Tracy Fullerton, University of Southern California

Heidi Ann Campbell, Texas A&M University

Separate registration is required.

Abstract

Religion and Media Workshop: Religion and New Media -- Old Tools or New Trajectories?

From stone tablets to scrolls, printing presses to the Internet, artists, journalists, and believers of all stripes have used the advanced technology of their age. However, the question arises as to whether these new media are merely tools, or actually arbiters of religious change itself. This day-long workshop begins with questions such as: How is the representation of religion effected in new media incarnations, from the Internet to gaming? How is new media changing traditional journalism, and what are the effects on religion reporting? Could new media even be changing religion itself, in terms of what it means to those who practice it--or even how it is practiced? These are some of the issues covered in presentations by Jeff Sharlet (writer/editor of The Revealer, Harpers, Rolling Stone; Eddo Stern (Game Designer;, Tracy Fullerton (Game Designer, USC); Ryan Bolger (co-author, Emerging Churches); and Heidi Campbell (author, When Religion Meets New Media).

North American Paul Tillich Society

Theme: Paul Tillich as Biblical Theologian
 

Friday - 11:30 am-1:15 pm
GH-Manchester A

Loye Ashton, Tougaloo College, Presiding

Theme: Paul Tillich as Biblical Theologian

Ron MacLennan, Bethany College

Paul Tillich: Biblical Theologian of Connectedness

Francis Ching-Wah Yip, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Tillich as a New Testament Theologian?

Matthew Lon Weaver, Duluth, MN

The Existential Reception of Revelation: Paul Tillich as Biblical Theologian

Women's Caucus Workshop

Friday - 12:00 pm-3:00 pm
MM-Columbia 2

Sponsored by the Women's Caucus

Julie J. Kilmer, Olivet College, Harriet Luckman, College of Mount St. Joseph, and Paula Trimble-Familetti, Chapman University, Presiding

Melissa Stewart, Adrian College
Intersections between Women’s Studies and Religious Studies

Barbara J. Searcy, Lee University
Organizing Women’s Groups on College Campuses

Mary Keller, University of Wyoming
Online Teaching: What Five Years Have Taught Me

Ruth Fitzgerald, Grand Ledge, MI
Distance Learning—More Than Theology: A Student Perspective

Nancy L. Eiesland, Emory University
Accessing Feminist Theology: The Missing Subjectivity of Women with Disabilities

Kathryn A. Lyndes, Chicago Theological Seminary, Elmhurst College
Contemporary Strategies for Adjunct Classroom Teaching

Abstract

Women's Caucus Workshop

Sponsored by the Women's Caucus

Includes three mini-sessions on Strategies for Women in the Profession, Women and Online Teaching, and Women in the Classroom.

International Bonhoeffer Society: Editorial Board, Annual Meeting, Board of Directors

Friday - 1:00 pm-6:30 pm
MM-Marina G

North American Association for the Study of Religion

Theme: Ritual Transformation of Agency
 

Friday - 1:00 pm-3:30 pm
CC-23A

Theme: Ritual Transformation of Agency

Jens Kreinath, Wichita State University and University of Heidelberg

Mimesis, Fractal Dynamics, and Agency in Yoruba Spirit Possessions

Gustavo Benavides, Villanova University

Priestly, Institutional, and Material Agency in Roman Catholic Sacramental Practice

Steven Engler, Mount Royal College and Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo

Patronage and Distributed Agency in Brazilian Spirit-possession

Responding:

Ivan Strenski, University of California, Riverside

Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

Friday - 1:00 pm-3:30 pm
GH-Edward C

Thomas F. Torrance Theological Fellowship

Friday - 1:00 pm-3:30 pm
GH-Betsy B

1:00 pm Business Meeting

2:00 pm Eric G. Flett, Eastern University

Persons, Powers, and Pluralities: Thomas F. Torrance's Trinitarian Ontology of Culture

See www.tftorrance.org for more information.

Person, Culture, and Religion Group

Friday - 2:00 pm-6:30 pm
CC-29B

North American Paul Tillich Society

Theme: Paul Tillich and Religious Pluralism
 

Friday - 2:15 pm-4:00 pm
GH-Manchester A

John Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University, Presiding

Theme: Paul Tillich and Religious Pluralism

Christian Danz, University of Vienna

Christianity and the Encounter of World Religions: The Contribution of Paul Tillich to Current Discussions in the Theology of Religion

John Starkey, Oklahoma City University

The Human Predicament and Salvation in Tillich and Thatamanil

Andrew Yan, Hope College

Paul Tillich's Encounters with Buddhism: An Implication for His Systematic Theology

Luis Pedraja, Middle States Commission on Higher Education

The Tao of Tillich

North American Association for the Study of Religion

Theme: Novelty, Presence, and History: Brief Pre-Modern Discourses on Method and Theory
 

Friday - 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
CC-23A

Theme: Novelty, Presence, and History: Brief Pre-Modern Discourses on Method and Theory

Alison Frazier, University of Texas, Austin

Saintly Presence: The Wager of Latin Hagiography in Renaissance Italy

Nancy Levene, Indiana University, Bloomington

Traces of History in St. Anselm

Constance Furey, Indiana University, Bloomington

Utopian History

Responding:

Nathan Rein, Ursinus College

Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality

Theme: Teaching for Justice: Research and Teaching Strategies in Higher Theological Education
 

Friday - 4:00 pm-6:00 pm
MM-Marina D

Theme: Teaching for Justice: Research and Teaching Strategies in Higher Theological Education

Given that we are to live and work toward justice within most faith traditions’ perspectives, how does our scholarship and practice encourage “teaching for justice” within institutions of higher education? A panel of scholar-teachers will respond to this question with observations (via programming, syllabi, and/or course assignments) from their research and teaching of spirituality. For more information, please contact Anita Houck at ahouck@saintmarys.edu.

Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

Theme: In or Out: Homosexuality, the Church, and the Sangha
 

Friday - 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
GH-Manchester G

Harry Wells, Humboldt State University, Presiding

Theme: In or Out: Homosexuality, the Church, and the Sangha

Robert Fastiggi, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit

The Catholic Church and Homosexuality

Ilene Stanford, Harvard University

In or Out? Marriage as a Social Practice

José Ignacio Cabezón, University of California, Santa Barbara

Is Homosexual Sex "Sexual Misconduct"? Critical Reflections on Some Classical Indo-Tibetan Sources

Michael Sweet, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Shameless Discretion: Insider and Outsider Perspectives of Homoeroticism in the Sangha

Responding:

Richard Reilly, St. Bonaventure University

6:00 pm Business Meeting

Polanyi Society

Friday - 4:00 pm-6:00 pm
GH-Edward B

Jere Moorman, Polanyi Society, Presiding

4:00 pm William Coulson, Center for Studies of the Person

On Having Misread Polanyi’s Theory of Personal Knowledge

Responding:

Dale Cannon, Western Oregon University

Philip Rolnick, St Thomas University

5:15 pm William Kelleher, La Canada, CA

Personal Knowledge as Pure Self-Reflection

Responding:

Phil Mullins, Western Missouri State University

Diane Yeager, Georgetown University

Karl Barth Society of North America

Friday - 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
CC-29C

Mark McInroy, Harvard University

Karl Barth and Personalist Philosophy: A Critical Appropriation

John McDowell, Edinburgh University

Christology and Prayer in Karl Barth's Theology

North American Paul Tillich Society

Theme: Paul Tillich, Ethics, and Theology
 

Friday - 4:15 pm-6:30 pm
GH-Manchester A

David Nikkel, University of North Carolina, Pembroke, Presiding

Theme: Paul Tillich, Ethics, and Theology

Daniel Puchalla, University of Chicago

The Limits of Love, Power, and Justice: Tillich's Ontology and Theology against “Full-Spectrum” Military

Annekatrien Depoorter, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Doing Theology in a Context of Religious and Cultural Pluralism: A Comparison and Evaluation of Paul Tillich’s Method of Correlation and the Theological Method of Edward Schillebeeckx

Jennifer L. Baldwin, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Erotic Play: A Trip into the Secret Lives of Girls, Feminist Theologies of the Erotic, and the Theological Thought of Paul Tillich

Sigridur Gotmarsdottir, Drew University

The Apophatic “God above God”: Tillich and the Poststructuralist Critique of Negative Theology

Søren Kierkegaard Society Banquet

Friday - 6:00 pm-10:00 pm
Offsite

Athens Market Taverna

109 West "F" Street

6:00 pm Social Hour

7:00 pm Banquet (Contact Lee Barrett at lbarrett@lancasterseminary.edu)

8:00 pm K. Brian Soderquist, Søren Kierkegaard Center, University of Copenhagen

Using the New Translation of the Journals and Notebooks

EIS Center Orientation

Friday - 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
GH-Elizabeth

Sponsored by the EIS Advisory Committee

Shelly C. Roberts, American Academy of Religion, Presiding

Abstract

EIS Center Orientation

Sponsored by the EIS Advisory Committee

The EIS Center orientation will feature a short presentation which will include an overview of the center, an explanation of how to best utilize the center, and a question and answer session. After the presentation, the center will be open for use, with the exception of the Interview Hall. Employers will be able to review candidate credentials, leave messages for registered candidates, and make reservations for booth space. Candidates will be able to pick up their copy of the Annual Meetings Special Edition of Openings, and leave messages for employers. The center will also accepting onsite registrations at this time. Employers and candidates are encouraged to participate in orientation but are not required to attend.

Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies Reception

Friday - 7:00 pm-8:30 pm
MM-Coronado

Society for Hindu-Christian Studies

Theme: How We Do Hindu-Christian Studies
 

Friday - 7:00 pm-11:00 pm
GH-Molly B

Theme: How We Do Hindu-Christian Studies

This panel seeks broad audience participation in a discussion of methods, theories, and approaches in the field of Hindu-Christian studies. Panelists will make brief remarks based on papers that will be made available in advance on the HCS listserv, and audience members will then be invited to join in the discussion. To sign up for the listserv or to get copies (after Nov. 2), please email: cbauman@butler.edu.

T. S. Rukmani, Concordia University, Presiding

Harold Coward, University of Victoria

Hindu-Christian Studies: A Retrospective

Susan Abraham, Harvard Divinity School

Theological Approaches to Hindu-Christian Studies

Brian K. Pennington, Maryville College

Historical-Critical Approaches to Hindu-Christian Studies

Arvind Sharma, McGill University

Hindu-Christian Studies through the Lens of Ethics

Catherine Cornille, Boston College

Missiology and Hindu-Christian Studies

Kristin Bloomer, University of Chicago

Ethnography and Hindu-Christian Studies

Responding:

T. S. Rukmani, Concordia University

The Future of Hindu-Christian Studies

Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality

Theme: Dying to Live: A Film and Conversation about Spirituality on the Borderlands
 

Friday - 7:00 pm-9:30 pm
CC-24B

Theme: Dying to Live: A Film and Conversation about Spirituality on the Borderlands

How does “crossing the border” affect one's spirituality? In this session, the short film Dying to Live will be shown, followed by a panel discussion with Mexican migrants and others whose lives are profoundly shaped by the tense reality of the U.S.-Mexican border. All are welcome to attend and to stay after the discussion to view displays and share conversation. For more information, please contact Anita Houck at ahouck@saintmarys.edu.

Arts Series/Films: Jesus Camp

Friday - 7:30 pm-9:00 pm
GH-Betsy B

Sponsored by the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group

Rachel Wagner, Ithaca College, Presiding

Abstract

Arts Series/Films: Jesus Camp

Sponsored by the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group

This documentary film provides a window into life at the Pentecostal youth camp "Kids on Fire" and by extension also portrays some of the most controversial religious and political aspirations of evangelical Christians in America today. Discussing the making of the film, the directors have expressed their affection for the people they filmed; however, the barrage of heated commentary surrounding the film has raised questions about the objectivity of the filmmakers in their selection and presentation of material. The film therefore provides a window not only into a segment of conservative Christianity but also into the challenges of religious documentary filmmaking. Directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, 2006

Arts Series/Films: King of Masks

Friday - 7:30 pm-9:00 pm
GH-Betsy A

Sponsored by the Women and Religion Section, Confucian Traditions Group, and Daoist Studies Consultation

Jonathan Herman, Georgia State University, Presiding

Abstract

Arts Series/Films: King of Masks

Sponsored by the Women and Religion Section, Confucian Traditions Group, and Daoist Studies Consultation

This touching and provocative film, set in a remote part of China during the 1930s, tells the story of an elderly street performer who makes a marginal living by plying a unique craft which has passed from father to son for generations. Mindful that he has failed his familial duties by having no male heir, the old man reluctantly visits a harrowing black market, where he adopts/purchases a young boy to carry on the family name, as well as the ancient family art of silk masks. However, the boy is hiding a secret, one which challenges the old man's most deeply ingrained beliefs. King of Masks offers an intriguing glimpse into Chinese family values, gender relations, and the sometimes dysfunctional legacy of Confucian ethics. In Mandarin Chinese, with English subtitles. Directed by Tian-Ming Wu, 1996.

AAR Regional Officers Breakfast

Saturday - 7:00 am-8:45 am
CC-29A

Jacqueline Z. Pastis, La Salle University, Presiding

Abstract

AAR Regional Officers Breakfast

The Regional AAR Officers Breakfast Meeting is scheduled for Saturday morning, 7:00-8:45 am, at the AAR annual meeting in San Diego. AAR Executive Director Jack Fitzmier will offer brief comments followed by a report from the Regions Committee. We will then open the floor for discussion and networking.

International Schleiermacher Society

Saturday - 7:00 am-11:30 am
GH-Emma B

8:00 am Coffee and breakfast (bring your own)

9:00 am Wendy Farley

“Mind Reduced to the Necessity of Seeking": Opportunities for Buddhist -- Christian Dialogue in Schleiermacher's Theological Anthropology

10:00 am Ethics Series I: (papers pre-distributed beginning in July; contact Ted Vial, tvial@iliff.edu)

Peter Foley, University of Arizona

Schleiermacher's Critique of Previous Ethical Theories in the 1803 Grundlinien

Jeffery Kinlaw, McMurray University

Schleiermacher's Critique of Fichte's Political Philosophy

11:15 am Planning

11:45 am-12:45 pm Adjourn to nearby restaurant for lunch

Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies

Saturday - 7:00 am-11:30 am
CC-30D

9:00 am Welcome

Wilson Yates, SARTS President

9:10 am Presentations by 2006 SARTS Fellowship Award Winners:

Maureen O¹Connell

Stephen Lösel

Rebecca Davis

David Friend

Winners of the 2006 SARTS Fellowship Awards will present their projects, ranging from murals in inner-city Philadelphia to the music of Mozart, and from the cuadros of Peruvian women to Reformation architecture in Europe.

10:50 am Break

11:00 am Business Meeting

For additional information regarding this session, visit us online at www.SARTS.org, or contact Kimberly Vrudny at 1-651-962-5337, kjvrudny@stthomas.edu.

Theological Education Steering Committee Meeting

Saturday - 7:30 am-9:00 am
GH-Mohsen A

John Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University, Presiding

Academic Relations Committee Meeting

Saturday - 7:30 am-9:00 am
MM-Encinitas

Fred Glennon, Le Moyne College, Presiding

Student Liaison Group Annual Business Meeting

Saturday - 7:30 am-9:00 am
GH-Ford BC

Davina C. Lopez, Eckerd College, Presiding

Abstract

Student Liaison Group Annual Business Meeting

Student Liaison Group members will gather to discuss business.

International Members' Breakfast

Saturday - 7:45 am-8:45 am
GH-Manchester A

Richard M. Jaffe, Duke University, Presiding

Abstract

International Members' Breakfast

All AAR international attendees are invited to an information session and continental breakfast hosted by the AAR’s International Connections Committee.

Publications Committee Meeting

Saturday - 8:00 am-11:30 am
GH-Madeleine A

Francis X. Clooney, Harvard University, Presiding

Special Topics Forum

Theme: What’s My Job? Academic Citizenship and the Well-being of Schools, Departments, and Programs
 

Saturday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
MM-Point Loma

Sponsored by the Academic Relations Committee

Fred Glennon, Le Moyne College, Presiding

Theme: What’s My Job? Academic Citizenship and the Well-being of Schools, Departments, and Programs

Panelists:

Mark Schwehn, Valparaiso University

Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Claremont School of Theology

Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University

Louis A. Ruprecht, Georgia State University

Abstract

Special Topics Forum

Theme: What’s My Job? Academic Citizenship and the Well-being of Schools, Departments, and Programs

Sponsored by the Academic Relations Committee

Professors’ jobs are often described as "three-legged stools," supported by scholarship, teaching, and "service." This session reframes "service"' as "citizenship" and what it means to be a good citizen of the academy. Topics will include understanding and effectively engaging in shared governance, collaboration and collegiality, and representing the Academy in/to the public. As a special focus, we will ask about the impacts of the growing percentage of part-time and temporary faculty members in our institutions (e.g., how does this affect the citizenship requirements of the shrinking tenure-line faculty, what citizenship responsibilities accompany part-time and temporary faculty work, what responsibilities do tenure line faculty have toward part-time and temporary faculty as fellow citizens of our institutions?).

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Studies of World Religions in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
 

Saturday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
MM-New York

Sponsored by the International Connections Committee

Jin Hee Han, New York Theological Seminary, Presiding

Theme: Studies of World Religions in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

Panelists:

Archie Lee, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Weichi Zhou, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Yen-zen Tsai, National Chengchi University

Mu-Chou Poo, Academia Sinica

Responding:

Kwok Pui Lan, Episcopal Divinity School

Abstract

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Studies of World Religions in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

Sponsored by the International Connections Committee

Visiting scholars participating in the China Focus will speak about the state of the field in China in the study of various religious traditions, including Chinese religious traditions, Christianity, and Islam. The participants will include Archie Lee, Weichi Zhou, Yen-zen Tsai, and Mu-chou Poo. Kwok Pui Lan and Jin Hee Han will moderate the session.

Academic Teaching and the Study of Religion Section

Theme: What Happens When a Body Teaches a Body?
 

Saturday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
CC-23A

Rodger Nishioka, Columbia Theological Seminary, Presiding

Theme: What Happens When a Body Teaches a Body?

Joel Dubois, California State University, Sacramento
Teaching Religion in “Real-time”: Applying the Calendrical Approach to Asian Religious Traditions

Stanford J. Searl, Union Institute and University
Embodied Knowledge: Teaching and Listening as Informed Spiritual Practices

Lynne Westfield, Drew University
Teaching in the Flesh: Experimenting with Incarnational Practices in Seminary Classrooms

G. William Barnard, Southern Methodist University
Stepping across Boundaries: Ritual Praxis Inside (and Outside) the Religious Studies Classroom

Jack A. Hill, Texas Christian University
The Borderlands as Liminal Context of Revelatory Experience: Embodied Pedagogies from Faculty of Color