Navigating the Intersections of Faith, Knowledge, and Reason.
Attending academic conferences in-person and now online is a major part of networking in Academia. National and international conferences are hosted year-round to connect scholars with other scholars and new ideas, approaches, and interpretive methods. Academic Conferences exist for networking and connecting with friends, but they are so much more. Academic conferences provide opportunities to share new ideas and respond to new research. Not everyone takes full advantage of the opportunities an academic conference provides, and fortunately, there are a growing number of ways to connect online.
Some of the ways that academics connect include Academia and specific University faculty pages. Some use LinkedIn or Twitter. Others, like myself, keep a blog or home page to promote research.
The academic conferences I attend include the Annual Meeting of Society of Biblical Literature and American Acadamy of Religion (SBL/AAR), Pacific Northwest Regional Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion (PNW-SBLAAR), Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV), Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Connection (ANELC), Institute for Biblical Research (IBR), Tyndale House Study Groups, and the occasional conference as I am invited or learn about a field of research that connects with my own.
Over the past couple years, I have interacted with about a dozen papers and presentations on violence in the Bible hosted by the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV). The Centre has produced and engaged with an impressive number of scholars, focusing deeply on problematic biblical texts as well as contemporary violence…
Dr. Lissa Wray Beal, Professor of Old Testament, Providence Seminary, opened this final session with her paper on “Servants of Grace and Horror in Jeremiah 25:1-14.” She read the passage in Jeremiah from a perspective of horror as an aspect of biblical violence. The particular focus of the paper was on viewing Nebuchadnezzar as God’s…
Revd delivered the fifth session keynote address. Dr. Helen Paynter, Director: Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. Her paper entitled, “I Believe in the Afterlife (of the word),” offered a reminder about the need for humility when working academically to translate and interpret passages of scripture. She appeals to emerging scholars, but her…
This mid-week session of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. The session comes with a trigger warning about intense and personal content that includes sexual and physical violence against women and dealing with uncomfortable relationship aggression. This session’s Keynote Speaker, Dr. Johanna Stiebert, Professor of Hebrew Bible, University of Leeds, presented “Virginity,…
Note: CSBV offered a special session specifically to include Majority-World Speakers on the subject of biblical violence. Unfortunately, I was unable to accommodate because I was asleep in my present time zone. Nevertheless, I was disappointed to have missed this session because topics focused on basic human rights and addressing violence-based justice. You can find…
The Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV) celebrates just over two years of activity with a conference called “From the Rising to the Setting Sun: Global Perspectives on the Bible and Violence.” CSBV has been very active, even during the global pandemic lockdown, providing an outlet for academics and encouraging stimulating conversations…
Early in the SBLAAR20 conference, an Institute of Biblical Research (IBR) section focused on how scripture is used in the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible. Gary Schnittjer presented how the Old Testament uses Hebrew Scriptures to provide a resource for how the New Testament uses Hebrew Scripture. It is exciting to see…
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom—Tenth Day of a 10-day online academic conference Two years ago, at SBLAAR18 in Denver, CO, I gave a presentation on the final morning of the conference. It is not a popular time slot and is usually filled with visitors on their way to the airport, luggage in hand. The virtual conference last…
Fatigue in a Virtual Conference—Ninth Day of an Academic Conference in 2020 My first two sessions have been assigned to me as SBLAAR20 Tech Assist. I am pleased to say that participating in an assortment of sessions that I might not otherwise have been aware of has been an excellent experience. In addition, I have…
Hermeneutics & the Hebrew Bible—Eighth Day of an Academic Conference in 2020 This morning’s session at SBLAAR20 focused on a specific area of biblical studies that intersects directly with my biblical research, Biblical Hebrew Poetry. The presentations sought to explore substantial evidence of blessing and curses within Hebrew Poetry. In addition, many of these presentations…