Calls for Papers and Butler University Day of Giving

I will start with a call for papers for the American Academy of Religion’s Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity program unit and the Society of Biblical Literature’s John the Baptist program unit, but even if those do not interest you, please keep reading because I end with something important and urgent, Butler University’s Day of Giving!

First, the American Academy of Religion just announced “We are extending the deadline for the CFP until Monday, March 10 at 11:59pm ET.” Here is the call for papers for the Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity program unit of which I am co-chair:

Statement of Purpose

This program unit focused on Late Antiquity in the East aims to provide a home for the study of religious traditions that are rooted in Mesopotamia, Persia, and western Asia, particularly those parts that were outside the Roman cultural reach such as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Mandaeism. While the unit will focus on late antiquity, many of these traditions, and particularly their extant texts come to us from much later periods, and this scholarly issue will be part of our discussions. In addition, many of the traditions that were born in this time and place also spread to other parts of the world, and the study of them in those forms and contexts also has a place within this program unit, as does investigation of their response to the rise of Islam in the region. In addition, this unit’s focus is not exclusively on those traditions that developed uniquely in this region, but also those which, when transplanted there, had significant evolutions in that milieu that differ from their counterparts in other times and places (e.g. Christianity, Judaism). We likewise encourage research which focuses on the interaction between the various communities and traditions of this place and time.

Co-Sponsored Session with AAR Platonism and Neoplatonism Program Unit

For a session co-sponsored with the AAR Platonism and Neoplatonism program unit, we are interested in proposals related to the reception of Plato and the Platonic tradition in the context of the religious traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity, including Jewish, Christian, and early Islamic voices in that time and place as well as proposals that take comparative approaches to these traditions and contexts.

Enslavement and Forced Labor in Eastern Late Antiquity

In connection to the 2025 presidential theme “freedom,” we invite paper proposals that explore enslavement, forced labor, and incarceration in the religious traditions of eastern late antiquity. Paper proposals might address these themes from theological perspectives, consider the role of race, gender, and ethnicity, and/or touch upon resistance, agency, and personhood in relation to enslavement.

Book Review Panel (invited), reviews of recent books on Mandaeanism by Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, Edmondo Lupieri, and Sandra van Rompaey

For the Society of Biblical Literature, this year we have an open call for papers for the John the Baptist program unit:

Description: While there is always a steady trickle of interest in John the Baptist, recent publications in English, Spanish, and Italian suggest that there is a current surge not only in interest in John as a historical figure, not only also as a literary figure in the canonical Gospels, but in his appearance in Christian apocrypha and in Mandaean literature. These areas are often separated among different program units, and this consultation will provide a place for them to come together and interact.

Call for papers: For 2025 the John the Baptist program unit has an open call for papers. Papers on John as a historical figure, his literary depiction in the New Testament texts, and his reception in subsequent literature and various artistic media, including in other religious traditions such as Mandaeism and Islam, are all welcome.

There is also a call for papers for a conference “When God created the heavens and the earth: Nature in hexaemeral literature beyond Basil and Ambrose.”

Now, to the most urgent item of all. I want my blog readers to know that today is the end of Butler University’s annual Day of Giving. I try to give away much of my time to the public through blogging, video and podcast interviews, open access scholarship, and sharing on social media. If you value what I do, know that it is possible because I have an employer that supports my research and teaching including the public facing aspects of it. I thus ask you to consider giving even a small amount. The link is connected with me and if the university sees that its religious studies professor has a wide reach, it highlights the value of my department and my own work. The amount given matters much less than the number of gifts, and if each of my blog’s readers gave $1, it would make me the university’s leading fundraiser! Unlike many who work in my field, I do not have a sense that there is a risk of Religious Studies being eliminated at Butler University. Thus I am not asking this in the interest of safeguarding my own job, but because I genuinely love the university where I have the privilege of working. While other universities are taking steps to hide their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Butler is proudly standing by its founding values. They deserve your support for that reason, as well as if you value the work that I do. Please give. Thank you in advance!