While SBL and AAR’s Annual Meeting might look and feel different 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.
Political Theology Unit’s Sessions
A30-310 C Political Theology Unit
Theme: Political Theology and Imagination
Monday, November 30 4:00 PM–5:30 PM
Inese Radzins, California State University, Stanislaus, Presiding
Maria Tedesco, Seattle University
Embodying Islamic Political Theology: Towards a Theory of Theological Imaginary
Travis LaCouter, University of Oxford
To Speak with Scorched Tongues: Denise Levertov’s Revolutionary Theopoetics
Joseph Harroff, Temple University
Reimagining Cosmopolitanism with Tianxia 天下: A Pluralizing Confucian Political Theology
Syeda Beena Butool, Florida State University
Liberation Without Reform? Mawdudi’s God and the Theopolitics to Decolonize the Muslims of India
Responding: An Yountae, California State University, Northridge
~~~
A8-110 A C Political Theology Unit
Theme: Eric Nelson’s The Theology of Liberalism: Political Philosophy and the Justice of God
Tuesday, December 8, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Ryan Darr, Princeton University, Presiding
Panelists: Jennifer A. Herdt, Yale University
Eric Gregory, Princeton University
Grace Kao, Claremont School of Theology
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, Saint Louis University
Paul Weithman, University of Notre Dame
Responding: Nelson Eric, Harvard University
~~~
A8-205 Contemporary Islam Unit and Political Theology Unit
Theme: Contemporary Islamic Political Theology: Ethnographies of Tribulation in the Age of Global War
Tuesday, December 8, 1:45 PM–3:15 PM
Aaron Eldridge, University of California, Berkeley, Presiding
M. Bilal Nasir, Northwestern University
Between Uhud and Terror: Policing, Race, and Islam in the City of Angels
Zunaira Komal, University of California
Aafat: Divine Calamity and the Military Psychiatry Hospital in Kashmir
Muneeza Rizvi, University of California, Davis
Syria in London: Aid Convoys, the Umma, and Islamic Traditions of Charity
Basit Iqbal, University of California, Berkeley
Ambivalence and Askesis in Zaatari Refugee Camp
Responding: Hussein Ali Agrama, University of Chicago
~~~
A10-308 Political Theology Unit
Theme: Political Theology and the Pandemic
Thursday, December 10, 4:00 PM–5:30 PM
David Newheiser, Australian Catholic University, Presiding
Panelists: Stephanie Mota Thurston, Princeton Theological Seminary
Karen Bray, Wesleyan College
Kyle Lambelet, Emory University
Olaoluwatoni Alimi, Princeton University
Nomaan Hasan, Brown University
Other Units of Interest for the Political Theology Network
A30-303 Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Unit and Class, Religion, and Theology Unit and Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Unit
Theme: On Brown and Yellow Labor: Immigrant Bodies in/and US Religious Traditions
Monday, November 30, 4:00 PM–5:30 PM
Jeremy V. Cruz, Saint John’s University, New York, Presiding
Ashlee Andrews, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Labor Negotiations at the Home Shrine: Analyzing Bengali American Hindu Women’s Home Shrine Care as Reproductive Labor
Jessica Wong, Azusa Pacific University
Orderly Bodies, Orderly Souls, Orderly Citizens: Reforming the Racialized Immigrant Through Physical Discipline
Francisco Garcia, Vanderbilt University
Moving From the Table to the Streets: The Solidarity and Promise of Interfaith Organizing
~~~
A30-208 C North American Hinduism Unit
Theme: The Search for Communal Identity and the Making of Digital Hindu Publics in North America
Monday, November 30 1:45 PM–3:15 PM
Amy L. Allocco, Elon University, Presiding
Bhakti Mamtora, College of Wooster
Digital Media and Religious Programming in the Swaminarayan Sampraday During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Venu Mehta, University of Florida
From Digital Hindu Nationalism to the Construction of Material Hindu Identity: Facebook and Hindu International Student Communities in North America
Prathiksha Srinivasa, Harvard University
Technical Traditions: Public Hinduism and American Secularism in Silicon Valley
Moumita Sen, MF, Norwegian Institute of Theology, Religion, and Society
Why Hindu Techies Post: Tracking Islamophobia from Silicon Valley Back ‘Home’
~~~
A2-114 Religion, Colonialism, and Postcolonialism Unit and Theology and Religious Reflection Unit
Theme: Hong Kong Protests and Political Theology
Wednesday, December 2, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Kwok Pui Lan, Emory University, Presiding
Panelists:
Siu Pun Ho, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shin-Fung Hung, Duke University
Albert Sui-Hung Lee, Evangel Seminary
Francis Ching-Wah Yip, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Nami Kim, Spelman College
Sharon Welch, Meadville Lombard Theological School
~~~
A3-215 Theology and Religious Reflection Unit
Theme: The Religion of the Dance Floor? Queer Techno Beyond the Religious/Secular Divide
Thursday, December 3, 1:45 PM–3:15 PM
Eva Pascal, Saint Michael’s College, Presiding
Panelists: Kevin Minister, Shenandoah University
Meredith Minister, Shenandoah University
Abdul Rahman Mustafa, University of Paderborn
Linn Tonstad, Yale University
~~~
A7-112 A C Religion and the Social Sciences Unit
Theme: Authors-Meets-Critics Book Panel:
Gerardo Marti, American Blindspot (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020);
Kyle Lambelet, ¡Presente! Nonviolent Politics (Georgetown University Press, 2019);
Nichole R. Phillips, Patriotism Black and White (Baylor University Press, 2018)
Monday, December 7, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Presiding Panelists:
Nicolette Manglos-Weber, Boston University
Jeffrey Guhin, University of California, Los Angeles
Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, Saint Louis University
Vincent Lloyd, Villanova University
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Seminary of the Southwest
Richard Pitt, Vanderbilt University
Responding:
Gerardo Marti, Davidson College
Kyle Lambelet, Emory University
Nichole Phillips, Emory University
Business Meeting: Nichole Phillips, Emory University, and Sara Williams, Emory University, Presiding
~~~
A7-206 Death, Dying, and Beyond Unit and Teaching Religion Unit
Theme: Teaching Death, Dying, and Beyond
Monday, December 7, 1:45 PM–3:15 PM
Beverley Foulks McGuire, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, Presiding
Tanya Walker, Yale University
Framing and Re-Framing Death and Religion: The Discursive Potential of Visual Artworks for Examining Threads of Continuity, Change, and Complexity in Death Education
Laura Simpson, Villanova University, and Naomi WashingtonLeapheart, Villanova University
“Do Black Lives Matter to God?”: Teaching About Death in a Prison Classroom
Melinda McGarrah Sharp, Columbia Theological Seminary
Writing With Casket Stationary: A Narrative Pedagogy for Teaching and Learning the “Blessed Ambiguity of Dying”
~~~
A8-118 Women and Religion Unit
Theme: Against Healing
Tuesday, December 8, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Molly Farneth, Haverford College, Presiding
Panelists: Janet R. Jakobsen, Barnard College
Fannie Bialek, Washington University, St. Louis
Laura S. Levitt, Temple University
Melissa M. Wilcox, University of California, Riverside
Tiloma Jayasinghe, Queens, NY
~~~
A8-315/S8-301 A Sacred Texts, Theory, and Theological Construction Unit and SBL Reading, Theory and the Bible Unit
Theme: A Thousand Readings: Theology and the Bible with Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus, Forty Years Later
Tuesday, December 8, 4:00 PM–6:00 PM
Robert Seesengood, Albright College, Presiding
Sam Mickey, University of San Francisco
The 40-Year-Old Rhizome: A Limiting and Liberating Legacy
Hannah Strommen, University of Chichester
Mapping Biblical Assemblages: A Thousand Plateaus as a Resource for Biblical Reception History
David Fuller, McMaster University
Coding and Speech, Writing and Desire: Reading 2 Enoch with Deleuze and Guattari
D. Brendan Johnson, Duke University
De-/Reterritorialization in Ezekiel: Eschatology, Prophecy, and the ‘Schizophrenic Physician
~~~
A8-116 C Religion, Media, and Culture Unit
Theme: Machines that Surveil and Enchant
Tuesday, December 8, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Hussein Ali Agrama, University of Chicago, Presiding
Panelists: Christopher Glen White, Vassar College
Suzanne Van Geuns, University of Toronto
Sylvester Johnson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Sharmin Sadequee, City University of New York
~~~
A8-103 Public Understanding of Religion Committee and Religion and Politics Unit
Theme: Religion and Public Life in and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
Tuesday, December 8, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
John D. Carlson, Arizona State University, Presiding
Panelists from several disciplines in the study of religion will host a conversation about the recent and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different issues, themes, and vectors in religion and public life. Specific themes for reflection include cultural fault lines, women’s rights, race, public health, climate change, state power, civil religion, the body politic, truth and post-truth, and public theology among others. Specific questions the panelists will consider include the following: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted or altered how we approach, think about, and understand these themes? Does the resilience of these themes suggest whether things might return to pre-COVID conditions? How are things likely to change going forward? What underlying challenges has this pandemic helped to expose or exacerbate? What constructive insights has it helped to generate? What role can scholars of religion play to improve the public’s understanding and conversations about this crisis?
Panelists: Robert P. Jones, Public Religion Research Institute
R. Marie Griffith, Washington University, St. Louis
Kristy Slominski, University of Arizona
Nichole Phillips, Emory University
Evan Berry, Arizona State University
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Northwestern University
Philip Gorski, Yale University
Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University
Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia
Pamela Klassen, University of Toronto
~~~
A9-104 Buddhism Unit and Religions, Social Conflict, and Peace Unit
Theme: New Perspectives on Socially Engaged Buddhism: From Extinguishing Suffering to Collective Transformation of the World
Wednesday, December 9, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Rongdao Lai, McGill University, Presiding
Douglas Gildow, Chinese University Hong Kong
The Earliest Chinese Socially Engaged Buddhism
Gitanjali Surendran, Jindal Global Law School
B. R. Ambedkar and the Indian Prehistory of Socially Engaged Buddhism, c 1890–1970
Jessica Zu, Princeton University
Buddhist Story-Telling as Social Commentary: Three Modern Afterlives of the Outcaste Maiden
Jordan Baskerville, University of Wisconsin
Dhamma and Social Change: The Formation of Socially Engaged Buddhist Networks in Thailand
Sara Swenson, Syracuse University
Dirty Dāna: The Emotional Virtue of Generosity Among Buddhist Charities in Vietnam
~~~
A9-214 C Theology of Martin Luther King Jr. Unit
Theme: Black Hope and Social Imagination in the Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wednesday, December 9, 1:45 PM–3:15 PM
Valerie Miles-Tribble, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Presiding
Phillip Allen, Fuller Theological Seminary
The Prophetic Lens: Film as a Tool for Public Theology for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Contemporary Black Filmmakers
David Justice, Saint Louis University
Negating Capitalism: The Beloved Community as Negative Political Theology and Positive Social Imaginary
Andre E. Johnson, University of Memphis
From Riverside to the River City: The Prophetic Pessimism and Hope of Martin Luther King
Darrius Hills, Morgan State University
The True Measure of American Greatness: Relationality, Power, and Community in the Thinking of Bernard Loomer, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King
Responding: Vincent Lloyd, Villanova University
~~~
A9-301 C Black Theology Unit
Theme: Black Theology Post-Cone: Interrogating Value, MisReligion, and the Theological Legacies of Settler Colonialism
Wednesday, December 9, 4:00 PM–5:30 PM
Ben Sanders, Eden Theological Seminary, Presiding
Andrea Smith, University of California, Riverside
James Cone: Settler Colonialism and Anti-Blackness in Indigenous Theologies
Andre Key, Claflin University
“Mis-Religion of the Negro and Oppression” William R. Jones, Theodicy, and Black Theology
Amaryah Shaye Armstrong, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
A Measure of Existence: The Value of A Black Theology of Liberation
Responding: Adam Clark, Xavier University
~~~
A9-307 C Religion and Politics Unit
Theme: Religion in Politics and Politics in Religion
Wednesday, December 9, 4:00 PM–6:00 PM
Nicholas Adams, University of Birmingham, Presiding
Panelists: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Northwestern University
Erin Wilson, University of Groningen
Jocelyne Cesari, University of Birmingham
Vincent Lloyd, Villanova University
William T. Cavanaugh, DePaul University
~~~
A9-311 Queer Studies in Religion Unit
Theme: Postsecular Queer Theory
Wednesday, December 9, 4:00 PM–6:00 PM
Melissa E. Sanchez, University of Pennsylvania, Presiding
Panelists: Abdulhamit Arvas, University of California, Santa Barbara
Michael Cobb, University of Toronto Peter Coviello, University of Illinois, Chicago Janet R. Jakobsen, Barnard College Linn Tonstad, Yale University
~~~
A10-110 Reformed Theology and History Unit
Theme: The Doctrine of Total Depravity
Thursday, December 10, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Joshua Ralston, University of Edinburgh, Presiding
Gregory Lee, Wheaton College, Illinois
Total Depravity and Systemic Evil
Taido Chino, Augustana College
Neither Essential Nor Accidental: Sin in a Relational and Apocalyptic Key
Mary Nickel, Princeton University
Blessed Assurance: A Theology of Collective Action Problems
Wendy Mallette, Yale University
Total Depravity, Original Sin, and Pessimism: Revisiting Lesbian Feminist Theorizations of Sex and Sociality
~~~
A10-205 Law, Religion, and Culture Unit
Theme: Territorial Peace Beyond the Law: Spiritual Politics and Indigenous Political Theologies in Post-Accord Colombia
Thursday, December 10, 1:45 PM–3:15 PM
Heather M. DuBois, Stonehill College, Presiding
Janna Hunter-Bowman, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Peace Through Participation in Struggle: Enhancing Post-Accord Peacebuilding Through Linking Stakeholders to Peace Accord Stipulations
Diego Caguenas Rozo, Universidad Icesi Forgiveness,
Justice and the Damage Done: On the Metaphysics of the Face
Carlos Manrique, Universidad de los Andes
Peace-Building in the Midst of Horror and the Practices of “Theocratic Pluralism”
Responding: Rebecca Bartel, San Diego State University
~~~
Philosophy of Religion Unit and Secularism and Secularity Unit
Theme: *Hope in a Secular Age* Book Panel (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Wednesday, December 2, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM (EST UTC-5)
Martin Kavka, Florida State University, Presiding
In conversation with David Newheiser’s book, Hope in a Secular Age (Cambridge, 2020), this panel will explore themes of religion, politics, and secularity in conversation with continental philosophy and Christian thought. Newheiser’s book draws on deconstruction and negative theology in order to address the possibilities of faith – religious, political, and otherwise – that emerge through the persistence of hope. A diverse group of panelists will use the book as a point of departure in order to address the larger issues it raises: the character of hope, the politics of negativity, the legitimation of political and religious conviction, and the relation between Christian and secular forms of life.
Panelists Sarah Coakley, University of Cambridge
Noreen Khawaja, Yale University
¿Cómo puedo participar de las sesiones?