Doctor Who: The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Last updated on: February 17, 2020 at 10:10 pm By James F. McGrath

The Doctor Who episode “The Haunting of Villa Diodati” takes place near Lake Geneva in June of 1816. Those familiar with history and literature will recognize the occasion even before the key characters are introduced, such as Lord Byron and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. That year came to be referred to as a year without a summer, with dreadful weather and gloom blamed on volcanic eruption. Byron comments in the episode, “The very world itself seems sick.” As so often, Doctor Who will... Read more

#DH @ #AARSBL19

Last updated on: February 16, 2020 at 7:19 am By James F. McGrath

This post will be the first of two about the Digital Humanities session I presided over at AAR/SBL in San Diego. I thought of a possible connection with mythicism as I was listening to one of the papers, and so I will work that in as well. What does mythicism have to do with the Digital Humanities? I’ll explain that in a second post about this session. And before doing anything else, I will apologize that I took so long... Read more

Musical Hell

Last updated on: February 15, 2020 at 5:50 am By James F. McGrath

I am supervising an honors thesis on the subject of Mandaean views of music past and present. It is a really interesting area that has been largely neglected, and this student who is majoring in Religion, Music, and International Studies is probably ideally poised to contribute to our understanding of this topic. As many readers of this blog know, I recently had the opportunity to visit Australia for the first time, and on that trip the Mubaraki family kindly welcomed... Read more

Happy (Mandaic) Valentine’s Day!

Last updated on: February 13, 2020 at 1:26 pm By James F. McGrath

Since it had vanished from the internet in its older location, I wanted to share once again a Valentine poem in Mandaic that I submitted back in 2011 to the Eisenbrauns Valentine competition. It won first place! That annual tradition was so much fun, and it is too bad it is no longer continuing. Here’s a translation of the poem: In truth you are a beautiful woman You have no need of a love charm Set your heart upon... Read more

Day One

Last updated on: February 10, 2020 at 9:08 pm By James F. McGrath

Day One The earth was a right old mess When God began to fashion Earth and heaven After the fashion Of an ancient near eastern divinity The sky and sea At the start of the thing A real mess But just the thing For a god to bless With order Made to order Order in the making Ordered to make itself right It was chaos But divine words were spoken Let light be Let it be Let it have... Read more

Journal of Effective Teaching in Higher Education (JETHE)

Last updated on: February 9, 2020 at 9:56 pm By James F. McGrath

This information was forwarded to me, and I got the distinct impression that the hope was that we would circulate it further. And so here it is! Hi Everyone, I hope this email finds your 2020 off to a great start! I’m writing to formally announce our latest issue of the Journal of Effective Teaching in Higher Education (JETHE). Just over one year ago we published our first issue of the JETHE. We have been overwhelmed by the positive response... Read more

Review of The First Christian Believer

Last updated on: February 10, 2020 at 9:09 pm By James F. McGrath

My review of Rivka Nir’s book about John the Baptist, The First Christian Believer, has been published by Reviews of the Enoch Seminar. Here’s how it ends: Despite its shortcomings, when Nir remains focused on a literary approach, the lens she brings to Christian sources often highlights interesting and neglected features of early Christian literature, such as intertextual connections and themes connected to specific characters. For this reason, there is a great deal in the book that will be of... Read more

Doctor Who: Can You Hear Me?

Last updated on: February 9, 2020 at 9:57 pm By James F. McGrath

Apparently the episode “Can You Hear Me?” is the first to feature a question mark in the title. Is that correct? It isn’t the first to feature gods, and given my interests, that’s where I’ll focus my attention. But given that the show has featured question marks even on the Doctor’s lapels and sweater vests and the like, I’m interested in the question mark as well. The episode begins even before the opening music sequence with a scene placed in... Read more

New Open Access Journal: Journal of Religious Competition in Antiquity

Last updated on: February 3, 2020 at 7:57 pm By James F. McGrath

Courtesy of AWOL (Ancient World Online): New Open Access Journal: Journal of Religious Competition in Antiquity Journal of Religious Competition in Antiquity The Journal of Religious Competition explores interactions between diverse social groups of the Mediterranean basin in antiquity through the development of broadly comparative methodologies that delineate the ways in which this competitive interaction reshaped religious phenomena. The overall goal is to analyze dialogues between individuals or groups that illuminate the mutual competition and influence that was extant among... Read more

National Humanities Conference 2020 in Indianapolis #CFP

Last updated on: February 6, 2020 at 2:21 pm By James F. McGrath

I want to share this call for panels and presentations at the National Humanities Conference which will be in Indianapolis this year. If you’ll be coming to Indianapolis and are a reader of my blog, plan on saying hello. Call for Proposals National Humanities Conference 2020 | Indianapolis, IN November 5-8, 2020 Deadline for submitting proposals: February 21, 2020 The Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance are excited to announce the 2020 National Humanities Conference, which... Read more

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