With a hybrid, in-person and virtual, SBL and AAR Annual Meeting this year, there are many promising and exciting sessions that engage with political theology. We note these sessions that might be of interest to the Political Theology Network community. This is not an exhaustive list, and we welcome any additions by commenting on this post.
**denotes virtual session as listed in the PDF booklet. Please consult the online planner for the most up to date modality.
Political Theology Unit Sessions
**AV19-406
Political Theology Unit and Sacred Texts and Ethics Unit
Friday, November 19, 5:00pm -6:30pm
Theme: Environmental Justice and Political Asceticism: A Panel on Thoreau’s Religion by Alda Balthrop-Lewis (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
5:00 PM–6:30 PM
Fannie Bialek, Washington University, St. Louis, Presiding
Panelists:
Bonnie Honig, Brown University
Martin Kavka, Florida State University
Willis Jenkins, University of Virginia
Danube Johnson, Harvard University
Responding:
Alda Balthrop-Lewis, Australian Catholic University
—
**A20-319
Theme: Mourning Political Theology
Saturday, November 20, 3:00pm-4:30pm
Convention Center–208
Elizabeth Phillips, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Presiding
Michael Mango, Harvard University, “Life Philosophy as ‘Prefascist Aestheticism’: Walter Benjamin and Georges Bataille on the Body, Politics, and Religion”
B. Yuki Schwartz, Claremont School of Theology, “Melancholic Sovereignty: Mourning and Resisting Pandemic-Fueled Anti-Asian Violence”
Panashe Chigumadzi, Harvard University, “The Exodus of the Israelites: Dylann Roof, the Transatlantic Apartheid and a White Theology of Domination”
Bryan Ellrod, Emory University, “The Remembrance of Dismembered Bodies: The Promise and Challenge of Mourning in the United States’ Southwestern Borderlands”
—
A21-323
Theme: Religion and Secularism: Decolonizing Theories, Methods, and Sources
Sunday, November 21, 3:00 PM–4:30 PM
Grand Hyatt–Bowie B
Rafael Vizcaíno, DePaul University, Presiding
Delores Mondragon, University of California, Santa Barbara, “A Story of How Indigenous Ways of Knowing Through Rematriation Is Possible and Necessary”
Shamara Alhassan, Arizona State University, “Moving to a Realm Beyond Reason: Rastafari Woman’s Livity as Code for Cognitive Justice”
Rafael Vizcaino, Rutgers University, “Sylvia Wynter’s Un/Writing of Secularity”
An Yountae, California State University, Northridge, “The Anti-sacred: A Neocolonial Regulation of Theory”
Shatha Almutawa, Willamette University, “The Study of Religion Before Colonialism”
—
**A22-315
Theme: Pluralizing Political Theology
Monday, November 12, 3:00 PM–4:30 PM
Convention Center–208
Inese Radzins, California State University, Stanislaus, Presiding
Panelists:
Kathy Chow, Yale University
Mac Loftin, Harvard University
Joseph Drexler-Dreis, Xavier University of Louisiana
Mark Aloysius, University of Oxford
Stephanie Frank, Columbia College, Chicago
Rushain Abbasi, Harvard University
Responding:
Robert A. Yelle, University of Munich
Other Sessions of Interest to the Political Theology Network
**AV20-207 Black Theology Unit
Theme: Confronting Black Death: Black Theology and the Politics of Social, Ecclesial, and Ecological Demise
Saturday, November 20, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Michele Watkins, University of San Diego, Presiding
Nathan D. Wood-House, Boston College, “James Cone’s Black Fire: Necropolitical Theology and Apocalyptic Blackness”
David Latimore, Princeton Theological Seminary, “Rise of the Neoliberal Black Church”
Nixon Cleophat, Bloomfield College, “Towards a Black Vodounist Eco-Theology of Liberation: The Earth, Black Bodies and Sexualities Matter”
Nikia Robert, Claremont School of Theology, “Where Do We Go from Here? The Social Gospel ’s Mandate for Abolition”
—
**MV20-117
Fordham University Press
Theme: Just Universities Mean Just Economics
Saturday, November 20, 9:00 AM–11:00 AM
Michael T. McLaughlin, Old Dominion University, “Forming Humans and Supporting the Humanities at the Just University”
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, Saint Louis University, “The Judgment of Solomon: Can the Mission Remain Divided Without Killing the University?”
Rohnn Sanderson, Brescia University, “Just Universities-Markets and Mission-An Economist’s Perspective”
Linda A. Mercadante, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, “I Wasn’t Planning on Becoming Spiritual but not Religious: The Human Cost of Forced Termination in Religiously-Affiliated Higher Education”
Responding:
Gerald Beyer, Villanova University
—
A20-234
Theology and Continental Philosophy Unit
Theme: Religion, Secularization, and Real Abstraction: Abstraction Beyond the Value-Form
Saturday, November 20, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Convention Center-213
Timothy Snediker, University of California, Santa Barbara, Presiding
Alex Dubilet, Vanderbilt University, “On Real Abstraction and Secular Abstraction”
Tapji Garba, University of Winnipeg, “The Abstraction of Exchange: Natural Law, the Salamanca School, and Spanish Empire”
Sara-Maria Sorentino, University of Alabama, “The Happy Slave and Happy Scripture: Christianity, Slavery, and Interpretation”
Marika Rose, University of Winchester, and Anthony Paul Smith, La Salle University, “The One Who Is Nothing: Political Theology and Real Abstraction”
Sean Capener, University of Toronto, “Time as Real Abstraction”
Responding:
Lucia Hulsether, Skidmore College
—
A20-321
Reformed Theology and History Unit
Theme: The Extra Calvinisticum
Saturday, November 20, 3:00 PM–4:30 PM
Convention Center–212
Hanna Reichel, Princeton Theological Seminary, Presiding
Panelists:
Ian A. McFarland, Cambridge University
Linn Tonstad, Yale University
Paul Nimmo, University of Aberdeen
—
A20-407
Catholic Studies Unit
Theme: Law and Order Catholicism
Saturday, November 20, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM
Convention Center–221A
Vincent Lloyd, Villanova University, Presiding
Panelists:
Matthew Cressler, College of Charleston
Michael Graziano, University of Northern Iowa
Kathleen Holscher, University of New Mexico
Daisy Vargas, University of Arizona
—
**AV20-424
Philosophy of Religion Unit
Theme: Isolation Without Solitude: Mothering as a Critical Lens for Theorizing Cohesion and Collapse in the Face of Plague
Saturday, November 20, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM
Lisa Gasson-Gardner, Drew University, Presiding
Panelists:
Karen Bray, Wesleyan College
Elana Jefferson-Tatum, Tufts University
Beatrice Marovich, Hanover College
Keri Day, Princeton Theological Seminary
—
**AV21-107
Theological Education Committee
Theme: Theological Education Between the Times
Sunday, November 21, 9:00 AM–11:00 AM
Rachelle Green, Fordham University, Presiding
Panelists:
Mark Jordan, Harvard University
Willie J. Jennings, Yale University
Chloe Sun, Logos Evangelical Seminary
Keri Day, Princeton Theological Seminary
Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Eastern University
Daniel O. Aleshire, Association of Theological Schools
—
**AV21-140
Transnational Religious Expression: Between Asia and North America Seminar
Theme: Power and Politics in Transnational Religious Expressions
Sunday, November 21, 9:00 AM–11:00 AM
Justin Stein, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Presiding
Philip Deslippe, University of California, Santa Barbara, “Asian Religions in the United States and Transnational Movements for Indian Independence, Through Gadar and Gandhi”
Catherine Hardie, Hong Kong Baptist University, “Barely Beyond the Nation: Mainland Han Chinese Participation in the World of Exile-Based Tibetan Buddhism”
Younghwa Kim, Emory University, “Betwixt and Between: Expected Interaction but Unexpected Intervention in the Reconstruction of the Korean Methodist Church”
Jesse Lee, Florida State University, “Blut Und Boden, Chi to Tsuchi: On Ethnological Agriculture, the American Alien Land Laws, and Competing Manifest Destinies”
Minjung Noh, Drew University, “Transnational Politics and Korean Evangelicalism: Towards a New Language”
Responding:
Thomas A. Tweed, University of Notre Dame
—
**AV21-225 Law, Religion, and Culture Unit
Theme: The Problem of Expert Evidence in Religion and Law
Sunday, November 21, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Méadhbh McIvor, Oxford University, Presiding
Panelists:
Spencer Dew, Ohio State University
Dana Lloyd, Villanova University
Garrett Felber, University of Mississippi
Steven Weitzman, University of Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Northwestern University
Elizabeth Dale, University of Florida
—
A21-236
Ritual Studies Unit
Theme: What Gender Politics Can Rituals Make?
Sunday, November 21, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Grand Hyatt–Presidio B
Jone Salomonsen, University of Oslo, Presiding
Tanice Foltz, Indiana University Northwest, “The Clothesline Project as Ritual: Promoting Spiritual Healing”
Jenny Wiley Legath, Princeton University, “The Embodied Ritual Practice of Women’s Concealed Carry of Firearms”
—
A21-237
Secularism and Secularity Unit and Theology and Religious Reflection Unit
Theme: Book Panel on Michelle C. Sanchez, Calvin and the Resignification of the World (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
Sunday, November 21, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Convention Center–208
David Newheiser, Australian Catholic University, Presiding
Panelists:
Constance Furey, Indiana University
Willie J. Jennings, Yale University
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, Saint Louis University
Theodore Vial, Iliff School of Theology
Responding:
Michelle Sanchez, Harvard University
—
A21-215
Contemporary Islam Unit and Men, Masculinities, and Religion Unit
Theme: Muhammad’s Body: Baraka and the Prophetic Assemblage–a Conversation
Sunday, November 21, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Convention Center–005
Juliane Hammer, University of North Carolina, Presiding
Panelists:
Ash (Aisha) Geissinger, Carleton University
Rose Deighton, Emory University
Arafat Razzaque, University of Toronto
Linda G. Jones, University of Pompeu Fabra
Responding:
Michael Muhammad Knight, University of Central Florida
—
A21-210
Catholic Studies Unit and Native Traditions in the Americas Unit
Theme: Indigenized Catholicism in North America
Sunday, November 21, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Convention Center–213
David Walsh, Gettysburg College, Presiding
Seth Schermerhorn, Hamilton College, “Christianity Embedded into the Landscape: Ambient Catholicism in an Indigenous Community Divided by the US-Mexico International Border”
Rebecca Berru Davis, St. Catherine University, “Inculturation: Catholic Expression and Native Reception at Two Franciscan Missions in Southeastern Montana”
Andrea McComb Sanchez, University of Arizona, “Pueblo Feast Days as Indigenized Catholicism”
Abel Gomez, Syracuse University, “Surviving the California Missions: Ohlone Narratives of Colonialism, Survival, and Belonging”
Jason Sprague, University of Michigan, Dearborn, “Ziigandaasowin: Indigenous Odawa Catholic Baptism Practices”
—
A21-115
A Comparative Religious Ethics Unit and Confucian Traditions Unit
Theme: Author Meets Critics: Aaron Stalnaker’s Mastery, Dependence, and the Ethics of Authority (Oxford University Press, 2020)
Sunday, November 21, 9:00 AM–11:00 AM
Convention Center–005
Jung Lee, Northeastern University, Presiding
Thomas A. Lewis, Brown University, “Forging Common Conversation: Labor, Literature, and the Practices of Formation”
Molly Farneth, Haverford College, “Masters, Mastery, and Freedom”
Mercedes Valmisa, Gettysburg College, TBA
Christopher Yang, Brown University, “Virtue and Skill in Early Confucianism”
Responding:
Aaron Stalnaker, Indiana University
—
A22-210
Bonhoeffer: Theology and Social Analysis Unit
Theme: Bonhoeffer, Race, Resistance, and Politics: Recent Publications
Monday, November 22, 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
Convention Center–212
Matthew Puffer, Valparaiso University, Presiding
Panelists:
Ross Halbach, Multnomah University
Reggie Williams, McCormick Theological Seminary
Joshua Mauldin, Center of Theological Inquiry
Lori Brandt Hale, Augsburg University
W. David Hall, Centre College
Business Meeting:
Karen V. Guth, College of the Holy Cross
—
AV22-240 (SV22-228)
Queer Studies in Religion Unit and Theology and Religious Reflection Unit and SBL LGBTI/Queer Hermeneutics Unit and SBL Paul and Politics Unit and SBL Pedagogy, Racism, and Biblical Studies Unit
Theme: Title TBD (Session on the Work of Hortense Spillers)
Part 2
Monday, November 22, 1:00 PM–3:00PM
Katherine Shaner, Wake Forest University, Presiding
Ashon Crawley, University of Virginia, “Relinquishing Flesh, Regarding Flesh”
Sarah Jobe, Duke University, “Hortense Spillers and the Reclamation of Biblical ‘Flesh’”
Haley Gabrielle, Emory University, “’The Son of the Slave Woman Was Born According to the Flesh’:Reading the Flesh in Hortense Spillers and Paul”
Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones, Boston College, “Call Me Madonna: Concerning Mama’s Babies and Theology”
Responding:
Hortense Spillers, Vanderbilt University
—
A22-330
Theology and Religious Reflection Unit
Theme: Theology and Contemporary Issues
Monday, November 23, 3:00 PM–4:30 PM
Grand Hyatt–Bonham B
Eleanor Craig, Harvard University, Presiding
King-Ho Leung, University of St Andrews, “On the Critiques of Anti-Blackness and Onto-Theology”
Hannah Jones, University of Chicago, “The Political Theology of COVID-19 as Trauma”
Samuel Ernest, Yale University, “Theology and the Desire for Otherwise Words”
Skyler Keiter-Massefski, Yale University,” “Trans Theological Reflection Beyond Legibility (or, How to Dance with Ghosts)”
—
A22-429
Theology and Continental Philosophy Unit
Theme: Race and the Origins of Capitalism
Monday, November 22, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM
Grand Hyatt–Travis AB
Anthony Paul Smith, La Salle University, Presiding
Joseph Drexler-Dreis, Xavier University of Louisiana, “A Political Theology of Re-enchantment: Critiquing Freedom in Modernity with Silvia Federici and Houria Bouteldja”
Andrew Kaplan, Emory University, “The Apocalyptic Verstimmung of Ante-Anti-Black Trembling in Ontological Terror, or the Black Messianicity of Disinheriting Being”
Adam Kotsko, North Central College, “The Political Theology of Silvia Federici”
—
A23-106
Science, Technology, and Religion Unit
Theme: Religious Explanations of the Pandemic
Tuesday, November 23, 8:30 AM–10:00 AM
Convention Center–205
Heather Mellquist Lehto, University of Toronto, Presiding
Christopher Southgate, University of Exeter, “Expectations of Divine Action in a Viral Pandemic: An Approach from Narrative Genre”
Rebecca Catto, Kent State University, “Science, Covid, and Religion: A Regional Study”
Joshua Mauldin, Center of Theological Inquiry, “Secular Theodicy and Natural Disasters”
—
**AV23-112
Ethics Unit
Theme: Religious Hope and Religious Ethics
Tuesday, November 23, 9:00 AM–11:00 AM
Frederick Simmons, Princeton Theological Seminary, Presiding
Henni Alava, Jyväskylä University, and Elina Hankela, University of Johannesburg, “Beyond Optimism and Despair: Locating Societal Hope and Hopelessness in Sub-Saharan African Christianities”
Willa Swenson-Lengyel, Villanova University, “Climate Inaction and Hope”
Elizabeth Phillips, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, “Danger, Memory, and Hope: Apocalyptic Texts and Christian Ethics”
Caleb Hendrickson, University of Virginia, “Expectation and Demand: Paul Tillich and the Dialectics of Hope”
—
**AV23-124
Religion and Politics Unit
Theme: On the 50th Anniversary of John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (Belknap Press, 1971) and the Study of Religion
Tuesday, November 23, 10:30 AM–12:00 PM
Molly Farneth, Haverford College, Presiding
Panelists:
Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia
Vincent Lloyd, Villanova University
Bharat Ranganathan, Case Western Reserve University
Nichole Flores, University of Virginia
A quick note. The following sessions will be held online rather than in person: “Pluralizing Political Theology” and “Mourning Political Theology.” (This change is reflected in the online program planner but not in the pdf program book, which was finalized some time ago.) Thanks!