Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR)
American Academy of Religion
Society of Biblical Literature
American Schools of Oriental Research
Southeastern Regional Meeting 2007
March 16-18, 2007
Sheraton Nashville Downtown
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, March 16
2:00-8:00 pm
Registration – Front Lobby
6:00-8:00 pm
Book Exhibits – Ballroom 1 & 2
Business Meetings – All Meetings will be conducted in Davidson Room A
2:00-3:30 pm
Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion
AAR/SBL/ASOR Joint Executive Committee
3:30-4:00 pm
AAR/SBL/ASOR (SECSOR): Joint Business Meeting
All members of the societies are invited
4:00-4:30 pm
SBL/SE Business Meeting
All members of the society are invited
4:30-5:00 pm
AAR/SE Business Meeting
All members of the society are invited
5:00-5:30 pm
ASOR/SE Business Meeting
All members of the society are invited
FRIDAY EVENING, March 16
6:00-8:00 pm
AAR: American Religion I
Suite 5A
Theme: Contributions to the Study of American Religion: Honoring the Work of Charles H. Lippy
Sean McCloud, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Presiding
Panelists:
John Corrigan, Florida State University
Kathleen Flake, Vanderbilt University
Amanda Porterfield, Florida State University
David G. Roebuck, Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, Lee University
Respondent: Charles H. Lippy, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
AAR: Arts, Literature and Religion I
Suite 5B
Theme: Hybridity (I): Thinking About Religion on the Borders
Carolyn M. Medine, University of Georgia, Presiding
Chad Chapman, Vanderbilt Divinity School
 Everything Will Be Alright: A Look at Theology in the Middle of Things
SBL: Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament I
Suite 6A
Alice Hunt, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Meagan Bishop Moore, Wake Forest University
 The Role of Hebrew Bible in Archeological and Historical Notions of Ethnicity
Chris Paris, Vanderbilt University
 Judges 14:4 and the Interlopers of the Biblical Narrative
Janell Johnson, Mercer University
 It was the Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Competing Characterizations of
Solomon's Reign in 1 Kings 9:26-10:29
Jonathan Huddleston, Duke University
 Who Will Take Ruth the Moabitess? Competing Readings of Ruth 4:1-12
AAR: History of Religions I
Suite 4A
Theme: The Practice of Islam: Multiple Perspectives
Herbert Berg, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Presiding
James R. Newell, Vanderbilt University
 Postcolonial Intersections of Worldly and Spiritual Power Set to Music: Qawwali at the Urs of
Hazrat Babajan of Pune
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
 Sufism and the State: Aesthetics and the Ritual Assertion of Power
David Damrel, University of South Carolina Upstate
 Islamic Mysticism and Dissent in the Contemporary West: The Return of the Gold Dinar
Anisah Bagasra, Claflin University
 Muslim College Students in America: A Diverse Voice in the Religious Landscape
SBL: New Testament I
Suite 4B
Theme: Discourses on the body/anthropology
Diane Lipsett, Wake Forest Divinity School, Presiding
Joel Green, Asbury Theological Seminary
 Perspectives from the New Testament and Evolutionary Psychology on Freedom, Responsibility,
and the Problem of Original Sin
Jerry Sumney, Lexington Theological Seminary
 The Resurrection of the Body in Paul
Alan P. Sherouse, Vanderbilt University
 Paul and the Politics of Disability
Shelley H. Woodruff, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University
 Paul’s Use of “Body” in His First Letter to the Corinthians
AAR: Philosophy of Religion and Theology I
Suite 6B
Theme: Philosophical and Theology Engagements with Modern Philosophy
Mark S. Medley, Campbellsville University, Presiding
Carl Hughes, Emory University
 Pseudonymity, Ideality, and Performativity in Practice in Christianity: Rethinking
Westphal’s Religiousness C
Christy Flanagan, Florida State University
 Reconsidering Christian Dualism: Luther, Feuerbach, and Sinnlichkeit
Todd Gooch, Eastern Kentucky University
 Feuerbach’s Later Views on Religion: A Belated Response to Van Harvey
Robert Gall, West Liberty State College
 Hume, Heidegger, and Rorty: Religious Belief and the Meaning of Being
AAR: Religion, Ethics, and Society I
Suite 7A
Theme: Topics in Ethical Theory
Ted Smith, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Karen V. Guth, University of Virginia
 Discipleship and Resistance: Bonhoeffer and Yoder on the Christian Use of Violence
Chad Michael Wayner, University of Virginia
 To See Rightly or Harmonize Well? Iris Murdoch, Moral Perfection, and Musical Harmony
J. Cayenne Classen-Luttner, Emory University
 Activism and Victimhood in Ethical Responsibility
Matthew Bersagel Braley, Emory University
 Documenting a Disease: Varieties of Moral Discourse in the Global Response to HIV/AIDS
AAR: Women and Religion I
Davidson A
Theme: Educating the Public on Women, Religion and Sexuality
Monica A. Coleman, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Presiding
Monique Moultrie, Vanderbilt University
 Hagar’s Legacy: Living to See God in the Faces of Latin American Women
Hilda R. Davis, Faith Initiative, Tennessee Department of Health
 Public Spaces: A Determinant of Personal Health
Kenneth H. Hill, African Methodist Episcopal Church
 Womanist Pedagogies in Educating the Public of the Church
Jane Carol Redmont, Guilford College
 The College is the Public: Promoting Religious Literacy with Race, Gender and Sexuality
8:15-9:30 pm
AAR/SBL/ASOR: Plenary Session -- Ballroom
Brian Pennington, Maryville College and
Kenneth Hoglund, Wake Forest University, Presiding
Announcements of Student Awards
Presidential Addresses:
AAR: George Shields, Kentucky State University
On the Limits of Disenchantment: Postmodern Conversations with Umberto Eco and C.S. Peirce
SBL: Emerson Powery, Lee University
The Bible & the Slave Narrative
9:30-11:00 pm
Conference Reception – Pinnacle Room
SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 17
7:00-9:00 am
AAR/SBL: Women’s Caucus Religious Studies Breakfast
Legislative Terrace
Workshop: “Women, Writing and Voice.” See Newsletter Program Notes for description
Business Meeting
8:00 am-6:00 pm
Registration
Book Exhibit
Front Lobby
Ballroom
9:00-10:45 am
AAR: African American Religion I
Suite 5A
Theme: Language, Literature, and Religion
Ronald B. Neal, Claflin University, Presiding
Nicole Renee Phillips, Vanderbilt University
 From Stigmata to Affection: How the Racial Epithet “Nigger” Is Altered in “Liminal” Space
Amy E. Steele, Vanderbilt University
 Relational Ethics: An Analysis of Eliade’s Observations of Profane and Sacred Space in Toni
Morrison’s Beloved
Natasha N. Coby, Vanderbilt University
 Empathy in Octavia Butler’s Parable Series
AAR/SBL: American Biblical Hermeneutics I
Suite 5B
Theme: Biblical Readings in the Century: Looking Back
Finbar S. Benjamin, Oakwood College, University of Birmingham, Presiding
Jerry A. Gladson, Colombia Theological Seminary and First Christian Church, Decatur, GA
 Heresy? The Charles Briggs Case after a Century
Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, University of North Carolina Wilmington
 A Century after Albert Schweitzer’s Quest, Where is the Historical Jesus?
Sarah Rollens, University of North CarolinaWilmington
 Jesus the Appositive Constructions: Theoretical and Methodological Problems in Current
Historical Jesus Research
Eric Douglass, Randolph-Macon College
 Identification with Characters in Reading Narrative
ASOR/SBL: Archaeology and the Ancient World I
Davidson A
Theme: ASOR Presidential Address
John Wineland, Kentucky Christian University, Presiding
Milton Moreland, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee
 Christian Artifacts in the Public Sphere: the James Ossuary and the Legitimation of Faith in the
Modern Media
AAR: Arts, Literature, and Religion II
Suite 6A
Theme: Hybridity (II): Music
Kelly Williams, University of Georgia, Presiding
David Horace Perkins, Vanderbilt University
 “Hell Yeah!”: Pairing Southern Religion and Punk Aesthetics in the Construction of American
Gothic Music
Clayton L. McNearney, Marshall University
 Performance in Search of an Identity
Adam Ware, University of Georgia
 “True Echoes Sewn from Old Cloth”: Billy Corgan’s Inheritance of Blake’s Fragmented Vision
SBL: Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament II
Suite 6B
Dwayne Howell, Campbellsville University, Presiding
Sean Burt, Duke University
 The Contradiction of Genre in the Nehemiah Memoir
Robert Wallace, Shorter College
 Davidic Voice, Mosaic Remembrance: The Narrative Effect of Psalms 101-103
Mitchel Modine, Drew University
 The Great Turn Turns Twenty-One: A Sketch of Jeremiah Studies Since Carroll, Holladay and
McKane
Blance Yan, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University
 A Second Look at Exodus 3:13-15
AAR: History of Christianity I
Suite 7A
Theme: Theology
Michael B. Simmons, Auburn University Montgomery, Presiding
Peter Beck, South Baptist Theological Seminary
 Reviving Jonathan Edwards: A Biographical and Bibliographical Survey of the 20th Century
Nathaniel J. Napier, McAfee School of Theology
 John Calvin and Menno Simons: Varying Conceptualities of Church/State Relations and
Ecclesiastical Discipline
Liberty Stewart, Emory University
 Revelation and Transformation: Schleiermacher's Use of Plato as a Response to the Romantic
'Bible Projects'
Business Meeting
AAR: History of Religions II
Suite 4A
Theme: Contemporary Hinduism in India and the United States
Jeffrey Lidke, Berry College, Presiding
William Harman, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
 The Suicide Bomber Becomes a Goddess: Women, Theosis, and Sacrificial Violence in South Asia
Eric J. Rothgery, Eckerd College
 Devi Visits Tampa: A Case of Possession at a Mahakumbabhishekam Consecration Ritual
Lola Williamson and Devparna Roy, Millsaps College
 Intersection of Hindu and American Values and Practices Among Immigrant Indians in Jackson,
Mississippi
Business Meeting
SBL: New Testament II
Theme: Bodily Functions--Eating, Touching, Gender, Status
Shelly Matthews, Furman University, Presiding
David H. Sick, Rhodes College
 The Cenae of Petronius’ Trimalchio and John’s Jesus
Lynn Myrick, Vanderbilt Divinity School
 A Feminist Reading of Luke 7.36-50: Liberating the “Sinful Woman”
Janelle Peters, Emory University
 Anthropology and Angelology in the Gospel of Matthew
John B. Weaver, Emory University
 Ancient Nobility and the Anthropology of Faith in Acts 17
Suite 4B
AAR: Philosophy of Religion and Theology II
Suite 7B
Theme: Postliberalism, Postmodern Theology, and Theological Aesthetics
Mark S. Medley, Campbellsville University, Presiding
Ian Curran, Emory University
 Narrative and Analogy in Gerard Loughlin’s Telling God’s Story
Jacob Goodson, University of Virginia
 Kant and the Nature of Doctrine
Kristine Suna-Koro, Emory University
 Symbols in Postmodernity: On the Possibility of Apophatic Symbolism
J. David Belcher, Vanderbilt University
 “Silent Music” and “Sounding Solitude”: A Theological Aesthetics of Perpetual Transit
Business Meeting
AAR: Religion, Ethics, and Society II/Academic Study of Religion and Pedagogy I
Theme: Embodied Pedagogy
Margarett P. Aymer, Interdenominational Theological Center, Presiding
Panelists:
Brendan Ozawa-Silva, Emory Univeristy
Tina Pippin, Agnes Scott College
Valerie Bridgeman-Davis, Memphis Theological Seminary
Michelle Tooley, Berea College
Davidson B
11:00-12:00 noon
Plenary Session -- Ballroom 4
Brian Pennington, Maryville College, Presiding
Dr. Charles Haynes, First Amendment Center
Religious Liberty, Public Schools, and the Future of American Democracy
12:15-2:00 pm
AAR: African American Religion II
Suite 4A
Theme: Engaging Black Popular Religion
Ronald B. Neal, Claflin University, Presiding
Kathleen Hladky, Florida State University
 Trinity Broadcasting Network: Media and the Word of Faith Movement
Mark Nickens, Averett University
 Amorbearers in the African American Church
Tamura Lomax, Vanderbilt University
 “Woman Thou Art Loosed!”: Releasing the Black Female Body from the Bonds of American
Popular Religion
AAR: American Religion II
Suite 4B
Theme: Dress, Diet, and the Production of American Religion
Lynn S. Neal, Wake Forest University, Presiding
Andrew Smith, Vanderbilt University
 The Breastplate of Righteousness: Symbols, Society, and the Christian T-Shirt
Joseph Williams, Florida State University
 The Business of Charismatic Healing
Anne Blue Wills, Davidson College
 Moral Fabric: The Ethical World of “Project Runway”
Respondent: Sean McCloud, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Business Meeting
AAR/ASOR/SBL: Archaeology and the Ancient World II, AAR: History of Religions III
Theme: The Dead Sea Scrolls: Recent Research
Byron McCane, Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, Presiding
Jodi Magness, UNC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
 The Current State of Qumran Archaeology
Kenneth L. Hanson, Ph.D., University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fl.
 Qumran, the Ancient Hasidim and the Epistle of James
Suite 5B
SBL: Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament III
Suite 6A
Theme: A Look at Recent Books That Help Us Teach
Nancy deClaisse-Walford, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, Presiding
J. Dwayne Howell, Campbellsville University
Phyllis Trible and Letty M. Russell, ed., Hagar, Sarah, and Their Children: Jewish, Christian and Muslim
Perspectives (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006)
Valerie Bridgeman Davis, Memphis Theological Seminary
Jacquelyn Lapsley, Whispering the Word: Hearing Women’s Stories in the Old Testament (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 2005)
Wayne Ballard, Carson-Newman College
Richard E. Rubenstein, Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient
Wisdom and Illuminated the Dark Ages (Orlando: Harcourt, Inc., 2003)
Stephen Parrish, Memphis Theological Seminary
Walter Brueggemann, The Land, 2nd ed., Overtures to Biblical Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002)
Trent C. Butler, Christian Board of Publication
Iain Provan, V. Philips Long, and Tremper Longman III, A Biblical History of Israel (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 2003)
David G. Garber, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University
J. David Pleins, The Social Visions of the Hebrew Bible: A Theological Introduction (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 2001)
AAR: Academic Study of Religion and Pedagogy II
Suite 6B
Theme: Thomas Tweed’s Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion: Implications for Doing and
Teaching Religion
Margarett P. Aymer, Interdenominational Theological Center, Presiding
Panelists:
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Shaw Divinity School
Brian K. Pennington, Maryville College
Bruce Lawrence, Duke University
Respondent: Thomas A. Tweed, University of North Carolina
AAR: History of Judaism I
Suite 7A
Theme: Education Beyond Religion
Jamin C. Carlisle, University of Tennessee, Presiding
Hans Arneson, Duke University
●Martyrdom as Fitting Drama in 4 Maccabees
Andrew Durdin, Georgia State University
●Ritual Lost: The Abolition and Representation of the Sotah Ritual in M. Sotah 9:9
Jessica Carr, Florida State University
●Post-Holocaust Theology: Heschel’s Tradition Responds to Rubenstein’s Radical New Theology
Jamin C. Carlisle, University of Tennessee
●A Brief History of Jewish Fundamentalism: From the Six Day War through the Rabin
Assassination
SBL: New Testament III
Suite 7B
Theme: Ethical and Hermeneutical Issues
Vicky Phillips, West Virginia Wesleyan, Presiding
J. Mark Blackwell, Francis Marion University
 Hermeneutical Models in Moral Debate: Assessing Current Views on the Bible and Slavery
Jason Jones, Vanderbilt Divinity School
 Reading Revelation in the light of the Holocaust
G. Noel Schoonmaker, Vanderbilt Divinity School
 The Jerusalem Collection and Paul’s Pecuniary Politics
Leah Payne, Vanderbilt University

How the Gerasene Demoniac Got Saved: Translating and Reinterpreting Luke 8:36 as a Story of
Salvation
AAR: Philosophy of Religion and Theology III
Davidson A
Theme: Democracy: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
Mark S. Medley, Campbellsville University, Presiding
Mark Ryan, James Madison University
 “Reviewing the Reviews”: Assessing the Conversation on Theology and Democracy Begun by
Jeffery Stout’s Democracy and Tradition
John E. Senior, Emory University
 Beyond Democratic Anxiety: A Christian Theological Approach to the Circled Self
Dan Miller, Syracuse University
 Extension of the “Democratic Revolution” as Participation in the Becoming of God
AAR: Religion, Ethics, and Society III/American Biblical Hermeneutics and Religion II
Suite 5A
Theme: Intelligent Design in the Public School System
Grace Y. Kao, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Presiding
Patricia Turrisi, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
 Creationists-and-Evolutionists-Continue-to-Engage-in-Loud-Public-Display-of-Hostility:
A Philosopher Examines Why Fighting about Human Origins is an Oddly Compelling Pursuit
Lawrence Bruce Cahoon, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
 Deconstructing Intelligent Design: Evidence for the Supernatural?
Kirk Wegter-McNelly, Boston University
 Naturalism as Idolatry: The Theology behind Intelligent Design
Respondent: Brian Mooney, Johnson & Wales University
AAR: Women and Religion II
Davidson B
Theme: Religion and Feminism in Science Fiction
Amy E. Steele, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Joshua Braley, Vanderbilt University
 Diana Wynne Jones’ Dalemark Quartet: A Resource for Creatively Engaging Polytheism
James H. Thrall, Duke University
 Battlestar Galatica’s Women of Faith
Mary Beth Byram, Independent Scholar
 Superman Returns: A Feminist Response to an Iconic Film
2:15-4:00 pm
AAR: History of Christianity II
Suite 6A
Theme: Early Christianity
Michael B. Simmons, Auburn University Montgomery, Presiding
Travis E. Ables, Vanderbilt University
 Augustine: A Pneumatology of Christian Knowledge
David J. Dunn, Vanderbilt University
 What Good is Sex?: An Aporia in Augustine's Anthropology
Shannon Grimes, Meredith College
 Under a Star-Spangled Banner: The Politicization of Astral Religion in the Roman Empire
Lee M. Jefferson, Vanderbilt University
 Augustine the Scholar: The Contribution of North African Church Tradition to Augustine's
Theology of Baptism
AAR: African American Religion III
Theme: Race, Religion, and Theology in the Public Square
Charles W. McKinney, Jr., Rhodes College, Presiding
Suite 4A
Larry O. Rivers, Vanderbilt University
 James Hudson: Tallahassee Theologian and Campus Activist
Crystal D. Gregory, Vanderbilt University
 Kelly Miller Smith and the Nashville Movement
Dennis C. Dickerson, Vanderbilt University
 Archibald J. Carey, Jr.: Background Benefactor to the Civil Rights Movement
Respondent: James M. Lawson, Vanderbilt University
Business Meeting
AAR: American Religion III
Suite 4B
Theme: Voting and Violence: Religion in American Democratic Life
Charles Israel, Auburn University, Presiding
Ryan A. Neal, Anderson University
 Political Theology and Voting Patterns: Church and State in Recent U.S. Presidential Elections
(2000 & 2004)
George B. Thompson, Jr., The Interdenominational Theological Center
 American Democracy, Cultural Feudalism and Religious Community
Tori C. Lockler, The University of South Florida
 Radical Religious Groups and Government Policy: A Critical Evaluation
Ginger Stickney, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
 Violent Faith: Construction of the Mormon Fundamentalist
ASOR/SBL: Archaeology and the Ancient World III
Suite 5B
Theme: “Reel Archaeology”: Recent Uses and Abuses of Archaeology in Film and Television
James Pace, Elon College Presiding
Byron McCane, Wofford College
 Is this the Show or a Commercial for It?” National Geographic’s “Science of the Bible”
 Respondents:
Jodi Magness, UNC, Chapel Hill
& Milton Moreland, Rhodes College
AAR: Arts, Literature, and Religion III
Suite 5A
Theme: Hybridity (III): Otherness in Contemporary Culture
Megan R. Summers, University of Georgia, Presiding
Victor Cyrus-Franklin, Interdenominational Theological Seminary
 The Passion of Huey Freeman: Black Theology and Cultural Re-presentation in Aaron
McGruder’s The Boondocks
Katherine Daley-Bailey, University of Georgia
 Sympathy for the Devil: Identifying With the Criminal Other in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood
Business meeting
SBL: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament IV/ New Testament IV
Theme: When the Good Book is the Textbook: Bible Courses in Public Schools
Sandie Gravett, Appalachian State University, Presiding
Suite 6B
Panel Members:
Mark Chancey, Southern Methodist University
Steven McKenzie, Rhodes College
Matthew Collins, Society of Biblical Literature
others TBA
AAR: History of Religions IV
Theme: The Contemporary Study of Islam
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Suite 7A
Rachel Scott, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
 Conceptions of the Past and Visions of the Future: The Islamic State, Secularism, and the Ulama
Herbert Berg, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
 Islamic Origins and Christian Origins: Scholarly Reinventions and Reinterpretations of Founder
Figures
Juliane Hammer, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
 Speaking Out: American Muslim Women Writers between Faith, Community and Public Opinion
Bruce Lawrence, Duke University
 The State of the Study of Islam in the Southeast
Business Meeting
AAR: Philosophy of Religion and Theology IV
Suite 7B
Theme: Panel Discussion of Paul DeHart’s The Trial of the Witnesses: The Rise and Decline of
Postliberal Theology
Mark S. Medley, Campbellsville University Presiding
Curtis Freeman, Duke Divinity School
Philip D. Kenneson, Milligan College
William C. Placher, Wabash College
Response: Paul DeHart, Vanderbilt University
AAR: Religion, Ethics, and Society IV
Davidson A
Theme: Education, Pluralism, Democracy
Laura Stivers, Pfeiffer University, Presiding
Victor McCracken, Emory University
 Home Schooling, Religion, and the Dilemma of Liberal Democratic Education
S. David Cox, Vanderbilt University
 Hospitality as an “Attitude of Mind:” The Moral Implications of Human Sociality for Public
Education in a Pluralistic Society
Business Meeting
AAR: Women and Religion III
Davidson B
Theme: Religious Roots, Models and Complexities in Marriage
Michelle Voss Roberts, Rhodes College, Presiding
Todd Green, Vanderbilt University
 “Sent from Home”: Reconciling the Callings of a Deaconess and a Woman in Nineteenth-Century
Sweden
Sanford H. Groff, Jr., Duke University
 Unraveling Desire: The Relational Image Dei, Engrafting Women and Sanctifying Marriage
Samira Mehta, Emory University
 Judy Blume: A Window on the Interfaith Marriage Dilemma from the Standpoint of the Young
Adult Novel
Business Meeting
4:30 pm-6:00 pm
Freedom First Concert—First Amendment Center
Shuttle available—See Newsletter for details
6:00 pm-7:00 pm
Reception hosted by the First Amendment Center—See Newsletter for details
SBL Student Advisory Group/On-Campus Student Representative Planning Session
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Davidson A
Diane E. Curtis, Presiding
SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 18
7:30-8:15 am
Section Chairs’ Breakfast
Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University and
F. Scott Spencer, Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Presiding
8:00-11:00 am
Registration
Book Exhibits
Suite 3
Front Lobby
Ballroom 1-2
8:30 am-12:00 noon
Consultation on Teaching Feminism/Womanism
Davidson A
For a detailed description of this consultation, please see the Newsletter Program Notes
Margarita Suarez, Meredith College and Letitia Campbell, Emory University, Presiding
8:30-10:15 am
AAR/SBL: American Biblical Hermeneutics III
Suite 4A
Theme: Bible, Music, and Popular Culture in Elvis’ Country?
Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, Presiding
Kent L. Britnall, Emory University
 Negotiating a Little Bit of Everything: Reflections on Teaching an Experimental Course in
Religion, Film, Biblical Studies and Feminist Theory
Rosa Turrisi Fuller, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
 The Evolution of the American Opiate: Alienation in the Age of Secularization and Mass Culture
Theodore W. Burgh, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
 Is God Funky or What?
Business Meeting: What’s on for 2008?
ASOR/SBL: Archaeology and the Ancient World IV
Suite 5A
Theme: Recent Research in Archaeology
John Wineland, Presiding
Megan Bishop Moore, Wake Forest, Winston-Salem, NC
 The Archaeology of the Ancient Near East: Israel as a Case Study
Annie Bullock, Emory University, Atlanta Georgia
 Up to Gates of Hell?: Reconsidering the Meaning of the Ploutonion at Eleusis
Patrick Scott Smith, Republic, MO
 A More Complete Picture of Herod's Harbor: Concerning, Hydrodynamics, Hydrolics and More
Physical Features
John Wineland, Kentucky Christian University, Grayson, Kentucky
 An Impressive Outpost on the Fringe of the Desert: Muydabi, Jordan
AAR: Arts, Literature and Religion IV
Suite 5B
Theme: Women and Religion
Carolyn M. Medine, University of Georgia, Presiding
Emily Cheney, Athens, Georgia
 Turning Back and Towards: Naomi’s and Ruth’s Grieving and Retrieving
Amy Flynn, Washington, D. C.
 Writings From Women on Sexuality and Faith in Contemporary American Religious Movements
Ivy Campbell, University of Georgia
 The Honeybee, Mary, and the Goddess
Amanda Smith, University of Georgia
 The Daughters of Israel Celebrate: Mothering in the Tale of Jephtah’s Daughter
Megan R. Summers, University of Georgia
 Religion in the Kitchen: Redefining Women’s Work in Miriam’s Kitchen and Laundry, Liturgy,
and Women’s Work
SBL: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament V
Suite 6A
Joint Session with Arts Literature and Religion and American Biblical Hermeneutics
Theme: Teaching the Bible as/in arts (literature, music and visual art)
Presiding
Shannon Zellars-Strohl, Florida State University
 The Book of Job and its Post Modern Versions
Kent L. Brintnall, Emory University
 Negotiating a Little Bit of Everything: Reflections on Teaching an Experimental Course in
Religion, Film, Biblical Studies and Feminist Theory
Robin Gallagher Branch, Crichton College
 Teaching Proverbs Via a Play
AAR: History of Religions V/Academic Study of Religion and Pedagogy III
Theme: Best Teaching Practices for World Religions Survey Courses
Rachel Scott, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Presiding
 William Harman, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
 Jeffrey Lidke, Berry College
 Steven Ramey, University of Alabama
 Jeffrey Richey, Berea College
Suite 6B
SBL: New Testament V
Suite 4B
Suzanne Henderson, Salem College, Presiding
Ben White, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 Out of the Stalemate: The Construction of Paul as a Key to Understanding the Origin of 3
Corinthians
Aubrey Watkins, Union Theological Seminary
 Paul, Moses and the Apocalypses: Re-reading 2 Corinthians 3
Trey Gilliam, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
 Mark’s Preexistent Jesus?
Peter J. Judge, Winthrop University
 John 5: A healing, the Sabbath, and the Historical Jesus
Joseph Poon, McAfee School of Theology
 Historical-Critical study of Revelation 20.1-6
AAR: Philosophy of Religion and Theology V
Suite 7A
Theme: Intersubjectivity, Exclusivity, and Forgiveness
George Shields, Kentucky State University, Presiding
Wesley Barker, Emory University
 Signifying the Other through Undying Sacrifice
Kerry Mitchell, College of Charleston
 The Impossibility of Intersubjectivity: Transcendental Theory and the Social
Matthew S. Cooper, Arizona State University
 Alston, Evidentialism, and the Epistemic Status of Exclusivist Religious Claims
Keith Starkenburg, University of Virginia
 Interpreting Arendt on Forgiveness: Unfilled Hope and Expectant Possibility
AAR/SBL: Undergraduate Session I
Suite 7B
Theme: The Task of Interpretation
Bernadette McNary-Zak, Rhodes College, Presiding
Erin Culp, Elon University
“Is Lilith Fair?: Contemporary Reinterpretations of a Historical Myth
Alex Hargrove, Western Kentucky University
The Spirit Molecule and the Isiac Mysteries
Jimmy Hoke, Furman College
“Lost in Translation:” Sexual Morality in 1 Thessalonians 4.1-8
David McClendon, College of William and Mary
“Presenting the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Shrine of the Book and Israeli Identity”
10:30-12:15
AAR: American Religion IV
Suite 4A
Theme: Alternative Approaches to American Denominationalism
James P. Byrd, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Alyson Dickson, Vanderbilt University
 “The Doom of the Saloon:” Southern Baptist Temperance Efforts as a Form of Popular Religion
Jennifer Bushnell, Vanderbilt University
 Myths Among the Methodists: Mythic Thinking in the Narratives of Early American Methodist
Preachers
Matt McCullough, Vanderbilt University
 The Pulpit in American Religious History
Cindy K. Wesley, Lambuth University
 Immigration and Ethnicity in the Development of American Denominations: The Case of the
German Baptists in North America
SBL: Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament VI/History of Judaism II
Suite 5A
Theme: Second Temple Biblical Interpretation
Kathryn McClymond, Georgia State University, Presiding
Bryan Whitfield, Mercer University
 Second Temple Jewish Readings of the Spies’ Stories
Thomas S. Cason, Florida State University
 Narrative Prosthesis and the Disabled Male Body in the Literature of Second Temple Judaism
Kelly Whitcomb, Graduate Theological Union/Jesuit School of Theology
 The Traditions of Joshua 5:2-12
AAR: History of Christianity III
Suite 5B
Theme: Medieval and Modern Christianity
Michael B. Simmons, Auburn University Montgomery, Presiding
Shelia McCarthy
 The Passion of Christ: On the Necessity of the Sacraments for Salvation and Healing
Timothy P. McConnell, University of Virginia
 Prosper of Aquitaine's 'Call of All Nations’
Bernadette McNary-Zak, Rhodes University
 Defining Discernment: Remembering Serapion of Thmuis
AAR: History of Religions VI
Suite 6A
Theme: Interpretations of Islam in the Contemporary Era
Juliane Hammer, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Presiding
Youshaa Patel, Duke University
 The Perils of Pluralism: The Problem of Muslim Assimilation into Modern Societies
SherAli Tareen, Duke University
 The Tensions Between Mysticism and Rationalism in Islam: A Northern Indian Perspective
Hussam Timani, Christopher Newport University
 Rethinking Islam: The Road to Interfaith Dialogue
Aisha Y. Musa, Florida International University
 Hadith After God and His Ayat: An Examination of Muslim Challenges to the Authority of the
Hadith
AAR: Philosophy of Religion and Theology VI
Suite 6B
Theme: Creation, Science, and Process Theism
Mark S. Medley, Campbellsville University, Presiding
David C. McDuffie, University of Georgia
 Process Theism, Environmental Ethics, and a Christian Theology of Ecology
James R. Wilson, Union Theological Seminary
 God the Creator from Nothing: God and Creation in the Work of Robert Neville and Lewis Ford
Charles F. Smith, Thomas Nelson Community College
 Incarnation and Evolution
AAR: Religion, Ethics, and Society V
Suite 4B
Theme: Hot Topics in the Public School System
Melissa Snarr, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Annie Blakeney-Glazer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 The Lord in the Locker Room: Religion and Physical Education in Public Schools
Lee Ann Bambach, Emory University
 Accommodating Muslim Prayer in the U.S. Public School
Shannon Dunn, Florida State University
 Veiled Contradictions: A Critical Examination of Western Feminist Discourse as it Applies to the
Foulard Debate
AAR: Women and Religion IV
Suite 7A
Theme: The Religiosity of Mother/hood
Tamura A. Lomax, Vanderbilt University, Presiding
Monica Smatlak Liao, Vanderbilt University
 The Renovated Domesticity of Conservative Protestant Home-Schooling Mothers
Emily A. Holmes, Emory University
 Mother Tongue: The Maternal Semiotic in Hadewijch’s Marian Spirituality
Jodi Belcher, Vanderbilt University
 Kenotic Subjectivity and Motherhood: A Theology of Pregnant and Postpartum Bodies
AAR: Academic Study of Religion and Pedagogy IV
Davidson B
Panel Discussion: Beyond the Eisegesis Polemic: Pedagogical Implications of Fernando Segovia’s
Decolonializing Biblical Studies: A View from the Margins.
Panelists: Michael Joseph Brown, Emory University
Sandie Gravett, Appalachian State University
Maisha Handy, Interdenominational Theological Center
Respondent: Fernando F. Segovia, Vanderbilt University
AAR/SBL: Undergraduate Session II
Theme: African Christianity: Postcolonial Perspectives
Isabel Mukonyora, Western Kentucky University, Presiding
Theodore Harden, Western Kentucky University
Theorizing about the Growth of Christianity in the African Context
Suite 7B
Kathleen Smallwood, Western Kentucky University
Who do you say that I am?: Analyzing African Christology
Andrew Skaggs, Western Kentucky University
Fire Falls in Africa
Special Demonstration Section
Dave Smith, Appalachian State University
An Introduction to BibleWorks7
Davidson A