J.R.R. Tolkien, Joss Whedon, and C. S. Lewis #CFP (x3)

Last updated on: July 15, 2019 at 9:04 am By James F. McGrath

This call for papers came to my attention and I thought it would be worth sharing here: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Works of Joss Whedon Special Issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/ Co-edited by Janet Brennan Croft and Kristine Larsen [email protected]; [email protected] Connections between any of the works of both creative geniuses are fair game for this interdisciplinary volume. Some possible topics include: world-building, horror and the monstrous, critiques of heroism, women’s roles, Buffy-speak and elf-speak, and villainous motivations. Please submit a... Read more

New Journal of Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity

Last updated on: July 16, 2019 at 4:15 pm By James F. McGrath

Wayne Coppins shared this announcement. He writes: The newly founded international open access journal “Journal of Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity (JEAC)” (available at www.jeac.de) provides a platform for specialized research in ancient ethics with a particular focus on its impact and interdependence with the development of Christian ethics. It attempts to establish a dialogue between biblical, classical, Judaistic and patristic research on the one hand, and philosophical and theological approaches on the other. Thus, the journal opens up opportunities for... Read more

Consulting a Library

Last updated on: July 17, 2019 at 8:47 am By James F. McGrath

It so happened that I was sitting in a room in the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville when I read the article in the Atlantic about the decline in usage of books in Yale Univerity’s libraries. I had reason to be in Nashville anyway, and thought I should spend the day at Vanderbilt University’s library. I had no idea when I booked my fantastically affordable room on the amazingly beautiful campus of Scarritt-Bennett that I was staying at a location that... Read more

What to Do When Your Front Panel Block Doesn’t Match Your Motherboard Pins

Last updated on: July 18, 2019 at 6:42 am By James F. McGrath

I’ve shared tech tutorials in the past when I’ve found a solution to a problem that no one else seems to solve online. I’ve happened across another one as I was in the process of upgrading my computer. I got a new motherboard and hard drives but kept the case, and discovered that the pins that should have connected the motherboard to the case were set up in a manner that was incompatible. But I didn’t need to buy a... Read more

What Jesus Learned from a Woman Who Washed His Feet

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 6:44 am By James F. McGrath

A key question I have to wrestle with in relation to this story is whether I am dealing with one incident or two, and how that impacts things. Both the following possibilities seem plausible to me. One is that a woman wept upon and wiped Jesus’ feet, while another poured perfume on his head, and there was cross-contamination between the two stories. The other is that Luke took a story and reworked it for his own purposes. There are of... Read more

Skin

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 8:29 pm By James F. McGrath

The movie Skin which will be released this week is really powerful – painful to watch in many ways, especially knowing that it reflected real experiences, and because it really does try not to hold anything back in exposing viewers to the seediest aspects of this racist subculture. I was very happy to have the chance to view the movie in advance of its upcoming theatrical release (in theaters and on demand July 26), and then to talk to director Guy Nattiv about it. The movie... Read more

Which Way is Mecca from Mars?

Last updated on: July 20, 2019 at 11:19 pm By James F. McGrath

Mars has been in the news again a lot over the past year, as humanity’s robot explorer “Opportunity” was declared not merely defunct but “dead.” Meanwhile, the rover named “Curiosity” checked in before moving on from its current location. Puffs of gas that hints at the possibility of life, and the discovery of more water, have kept us intrigued. In some future short story or novel set on Mars, it would be interesting to explore how Muslims who find themselves on... Read more

Fire All Canons!

Last updated on: July 18, 2019 at 2:58 pm By James F. McGrath

Having recently finished a draft of a book chapter about canon in Star Wars (both in the fictional universe and in the franchise, and the relationship between the two) it was nice to have discussion of Star Wars be so frequent online in recent months, and especially to have The Phantom Menace get particular attention. The official Star Wars website had lots of content that was thought-provoking, and I’ll share some of that here, as well as much else… When... Read more

Better than a Pie Chart

Last updated on: July 17, 2019 at 9:11 am By James F. McGrath

I thought I should share this chart which is more fitting and better in so many ways than a “pie chart” for depicting the religious diversity in Lebanon. I give you…the tabbouleh chart! If one looks at a more literal attempt to depict the religious diversity in Lebanon, you’ll see that the above is not an entirely inappropriate representation. The relevance of tabbouleh to getting along among the religions is also highlighted in this article. What’s your favorite variation on... Read more

The Transgender Doctor

Last updated on: July 18, 2019 at 7:30 am By James F. McGrath

I appreciated this article that Facebook friends drew to my attention in the Chronicle of Higher Education, raising the question of how one should cite the work of transgender academics who have published under different names. The truth is that this is a question that we’ve long faced, given the custom of women changing their names when they marry or divorce. Sometimes a book has been re-released with the name change reflected on the revised or reissued edition. The short answer... Read more