SBL Annual Meeting Starts Nov 21--New Orleans
Presiding at the Presidential address is Vincent L. Wimbush, Claremont Graduate University.
Session Highlights
21-221 Lament in Sacred Texts and Cultures
Saturday Nov 21 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: Waterbury - SH
The destruction of New Orleans in 2005 was an event of biblical scale: the thorough destruction of a city and the dispersion of its people. The session reflects on responses to such destruction, ending with remarks on how personal experience of such an event both informs and constrains the author’s work as a biblical scholar, including a discussion of why poetry has a capacity for deep lament but scholarship does not. Six distinguished and prolific poets and writers of New Orleans will be presenting their poems composed from their experiences of Hurricane Katrina. They have also been participants in the noted 17 Poets group performing weekly since 2003 in New Orleans, which was featured on the PBS Newshour.
21-303 African-American Biblical Hermeneutics
Saturday Nov 21 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: Napoleon A3 - SH
The papers in this session contrast and compare exilic experiences in scripture, New Orleans, and literature, pre- and post-Katrina, in various texts (Psalms, Paul's letters) and from various perspectives (womanist, cultural hermeneutics).
21-305 Bible and American Popular Culture
Saturday Nov 21 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: Studio 6 - MR
If ever there were a city that would be defined by and known internationally for its music, it would be New Orleans. This session highlights the rich musical heritage of New Orleans in relation to the Bible and popular music.
22-131 National Association of Professors of Hebrew
Sunday Nov 22 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM Room: Gallier AB - SH
Join us for a panel discussion, which we have themed "Tikkun `Olam: Responding to Natural Evil from Genesis 6 to Katrina and the Aftermath."
22-230 National Film Premiere! Finding God in the City of Angels: Scriptural Communities and Dynamics in Los Angeles is in Grand Ballroom D – SH. We look forward to the national premiere of this original film, written as a research project by one of SBL’s members, Simon Joseph.
22-307 Book of Psalms
Sunday Nov 22 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: La Galerie 6 - MR
Biblical scholars have shown increasing interest in the topic of creation in recent years. This session explores the theological and liturgical implications of creation in the Psalms, as well as the new force of such considerations in light of recent natural disasters involving inundations, including Hurricane Katrina.
24-127 Women in the Biblical World
Tuesday Nov 24 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM Room: Southdown Room - SH
Papers in this session discuss the contribution of ordinary women to the process of Christian Origins and the rehabilitation of the memory of women leaders in the history of early Christianity, as well as the shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, which now resides on the campus of Ursuline Academy on State Street in New Orleans. Our Lady of Prompt Succor is now the patron saint of the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana, and, in the midst of the wreckage of Katrina and the following flood, prayers continue to be offered to hasten city’s recovery.
American Schools of Oriental Research
ASOR would like to invite SBL attendees to come to a session on Saturday evening at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel. There will be no charge to attend the session and no pre-registration is required.
Saturday, November 21 from 6:00-8:00pm in Astor Ballrooms I and II at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Voodoo Dolls of the Ancient Near East
Michael M. Homan (Xavier University of Louisiana), Presiding
Sallie Ann Glassman (Island of Salvation Botanica/La Source Ancienne Ounfou), “Vodou Spirits and Sacred Vodou Flags”
Gary O. Rollefson (Whitman College), “The Glory Belongs to Our Ancestors: The Neolithic 'Ain Ghazal Statues and Plastered Skulls”
Christopher A. Faraone (Univeristy of Chicago), “Voodoo Dolls in the Greek and Roman Worlds: An Update”
Sara A. Rich (Catholic University, Leuven), “Manipulated Miniatures: Haitian and Mesopotamian Figurines Defy Human Destiny”
William G. Dever (University of Arizona, Emeritus), “The Judean Pillar-base Figurines: Mothers or Mother-Goddesses?”
Shawna Dolansky (Northeastern University), “Re-Figuring ‘Fertility’ Figurines: Fetishistic Functions of the Feminine Form”
