Medieval History
Religious Worlds of Late Antiquity (RWLA) will be sponsoring three sessions at the SBL in San Francisco in Nov 2011
This is the Call for Papers:
Religious World of Late Antiquity
Program Unit Type: Group
Accepting Papers? Until 3/1/2011
Call For Papers:
1)Beyond the Sensible: Religious Objects, Perception and Power
Some of the objects with the greatest religious meaning or function in the religions of Late Antiquity were not perceptible by the five human senses, either because they were deliberately kept hidden, because they no longer existed, or because they were literally insensible - incapable of being apprehended through the body. What is the relationship between the importance of an object in ancient religiosity and its ability to be perceived? Were hidden objects regarded as more or less powerful than perceivable objects? Did formerly sensible objects, like relics, lose or gain power or authority once they were hidden?
2)The Materiality of Texts / The Word as Object
At some point in the development of sacred texts, readers became aware of them as material entities. How did this awareness affect their adornment, both inside with ornate calligraphy and illuminations, and outside with ornamented covers? How did this development influence ritual practices? What happens to our understanding or even interpretation of text when it depends as much, if not more on the materiality of the text than on the words themselves? How does thinking about the materiality of ancient texts (and attendant technologies) provide insight into the development of ritual practices and other embodied ideas of the sacred? Co-sponsored with Art and Religions of Antiquity and Social History of Formative Christianity and Judaism. Submit proposals for this session to only one of the three co-sponsoring units.
3) Material remains of violence
We invite proposals for a shared panel on the material remains of violence. Papers addressing the destruction and/or reuse of cult sites and the memorializing of violent acts through relics, objects, altars and tombs and spaces are especially welcome. Submit proposals to the Violence and Representation of Violence unit
Program Unit Chairs
Jason BeDuhn ([email protected])
Naomi Koltun-Fromm ([email protected])
- Call For Papers: Power And The Sacred In The Medieval World
Call for Papers: Power and the Sacred in the Medieval World (5th - 15th centuries), 26th November 2011, University of Leicester This conference will explore the origins and development of the relationship between ?power? and ?sacred? in the Medieval World...
- Clothing Sacred Scripture Zurich 9-11 Oct 14
Deadline: Feb 25, 2014International Conference. Zurich, October 9-11 2014Organizers:Prof. Dr. David Ganz (University of Zurich)Prof. Dr. Barbara Schellewald (University of Basel)In a traditional perspective, book religions are seen as agents oflogocentrism,...
- Symposium On Sortilege In Late Antiquity
Symposium on Sortilege in Late Antiquity November 12-13, 2011 at Princeton University Sortilege, the practice of making decisions or foretelling the future by casting lots, was both widely practiced and at the same time highly contested in the Mediterranean...
- Panels Sponsored By The International Center Of Medieval Art
Call for Papers: Active Objects Panels sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 10-13 2012 Active Objects I: Optics and Transparency Active Objects II: Agency and Phenomenology ...
- Syriac Literature And Interpretations Of Sacred Texts
Dear Colleagues, Kindly allow me to bring to your attention the ?call for papers? for the meetings of the program unit in Syriac studies at the November 20-23, 2010, meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta, Georgia. We had a very successful...
Medieval History
Religious Worlds of Late Antiquity
Religious Worlds of Late Antiquity (RWLA) will be sponsoring three sessions at the SBL in San Francisco in Nov 2011
This is the Call for Papers:
Religious World of Late Antiquity
Program Unit Type: Group
Accepting Papers? Until 3/1/2011
Call For Papers:
1)Beyond the Sensible: Religious Objects, Perception and Power
Some of the objects with the greatest religious meaning or function in the religions of Late Antiquity were not perceptible by the five human senses, either because they were deliberately kept hidden, because they no longer existed, or because they were literally insensible - incapable of being apprehended through the body. What is the relationship between the importance of an object in ancient religiosity and its ability to be perceived? Were hidden objects regarded as more or less powerful than perceivable objects? Did formerly sensible objects, like relics, lose or gain power or authority once they were hidden?
2)The Materiality of Texts / The Word as Object
At some point in the development of sacred texts, readers became aware of them as material entities. How did this awareness affect their adornment, both inside with ornate calligraphy and illuminations, and outside with ornamented covers? How did this development influence ritual practices? What happens to our understanding or even interpretation of text when it depends as much, if not more on the materiality of the text than on the words themselves? How does thinking about the materiality of ancient texts (and attendant technologies) provide insight into the development of ritual practices and other embodied ideas of the sacred? Co-sponsored with Art and Religions of Antiquity and Social History of Formative Christianity and Judaism. Submit proposals for this session to only one of the three co-sponsoring units.
3) Material remains of violence
We invite proposals for a shared panel on the material remains of violence. Papers addressing the destruction and/or reuse of cult sites and the memorializing of violent acts through relics, objects, altars and tombs and spaces are especially welcome. Submit proposals to the Violence and Representation of Violence unit
Program Unit Chairs
Jason BeDuhn ([email protected])
Naomi Koltun-Fromm ([email protected])
- Call For Papers: Power And The Sacred In The Medieval World
Call for Papers: Power and the Sacred in the Medieval World (5th - 15th centuries), 26th November 2011, University of Leicester This conference will explore the origins and development of the relationship between ?power? and ?sacred? in the Medieval World...
- Clothing Sacred Scripture Zurich 9-11 Oct 14
Deadline: Feb 25, 2014International Conference. Zurich, October 9-11 2014Organizers:Prof. Dr. David Ganz (University of Zurich)Prof. Dr. Barbara Schellewald (University of Basel)In a traditional perspective, book religions are seen as agents oflogocentrism,...
- Symposium On Sortilege In Late Antiquity
Symposium on Sortilege in Late Antiquity November 12-13, 2011 at Princeton University Sortilege, the practice of making decisions or foretelling the future by casting lots, was both widely practiced and at the same time highly contested in the Mediterranean...
- Panels Sponsored By The International Center Of Medieval Art
Call for Papers: Active Objects Panels sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 10-13 2012 Active Objects I: Optics and Transparency Active Objects II: Agency and Phenomenology ...
- Syriac Literature And Interpretations Of Sacred Texts
Dear Colleagues, Kindly allow me to bring to your attention the ?call for papers? for the meetings of the program unit in Syriac studies at the November 20-23, 2010, meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta, Georgia. We had a very successful...