Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee (CUREMP) 25th Anniversary

This year the Committee on Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession celebrates 25 years of service as a committee of the Society of Biblical Literature. In celebration of its work, we invite you to join CUREMP in reflection of its impact on the society and underrepresented minorities in the field, and preparation for the years to come at the 2016 Annual Meeting in San Antonio. Check out CUREMP's 25th anniversary schedule of events. In addition to this, CUREMP shares its thoughts on its journey and state of the field for underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities in "25 Years and Counting! Reflecting on the Past and Future of SBL’s Committee on Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the Profession."

ACLS Competitions Open

The 2016-17 ACLS competitions are now open for many programs. ACLS offers fellowship and grant programs that promote the full spectrum of humanities and humanistic social sciences research and support scholars at the advanced graduate student level through all stages of the academic career. Comprehensive information and eligibility criteria for all programs can be found at: www.acls.org/programs/comps.

Rebecca Wollenberg (University of Michigan) Announced as the Winner of the 2016 SBL– De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History
In partnership with the Society of Biblical Literature, De Gruyter is delighted to announce Rebecca Wollenberg as the winner of this year’s SBL–De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History. Wollenberg’s manuscript, “The People of the Book Without the Book: Jewish Ambivalence Towards the Biblical Text After the Rise of Christianity,” was selected as the 2016 winner by the prize committee. A De Gruyter Award Reception will take place at the upcoming SBL-AAR Annual Meetings in San Antonio. Read more

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Obituaries

Jacob Neusner (1932-2016)

Jewish Press Obituary

New York Times Obituary

“Remembering Jacob Neusner,” by Bruce Chilton

SBL Membership and Subscriptions

Have you updated your member profile for this year? Profile information helps SBL better serve you and the academy; please keep your information up to date. You can see the results of last year’s report here. We are working on the data for this year’s report so do please fill out, or update your profile if you have not done so already.

As an active member of SBL you have online access to the Journal of Biblical Literature and the Review of Biblical Literature from our website. Simply login with your member number and follow the links to read Journal of Biblical Literature (JBL)  and Review of Biblical Literature (RBL).

Visit the NEH at the Annual Meeting

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers grants to scholars and others engaged in humanistic research and teaching. Twenty-six grant programs support individuals, teams, and institutions doing work for other scholars, students, or the general public. Fundable projects include research for monographs, scholarly editions, preserving or digitizing archival collections, professional development for teachers, museum exhibits and documentaries. The NEH has a long record of supporting important scholarship in religious studies, including a variety of disciplinary approaches and religious traditions.

A program officer will be available at this year's annual meetings to talk one-on-one about grant programs and possible applications.

Visit the NEH booth (#825) in the exhibit hall or write Daniel Sack at dsack@neh.gov for an appointment.
More information on the NEH and grant programs is at neh.gov.

Sneed, Mark R. Was There a Wisdom Tradition? New Prospects in Israelite Wisdom Studies. Ancient Israel and Its Literature 23. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015.

Darden, Lynne St. Clair. Scripturalizing Revelation: An African American Postcolonial Reading of Empire. Semeia Studies 80. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015.

Jione Havea, Margaret Aymer and Steed Vermyl Davidson (eds.) Island, Islanders, and the Bible: RumInations. Semeia Studies 77. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015

Patterson, Jane Lancaster. Keeping the Feast: Metaphors of Sacrifice in 1 Corinthians and Philippians. Early Christianity and Its Literature 16. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, 2015.

Harrison, James R. and L. L. Welborn (eds.) The First Urban Churches 1: Methodological Foundations. Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplement Series 7. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2015.

Collins, John J., T. M. Lemos, Saul M. Olyan (eds.) Worship, Women, and War: Essays in Honor of Susan Niditch. Brown Judaic Studies 357. Providence: Brown Judaic Studies, 2015.

Harvey, Susan Ashbrook, Nathaniel DesRosiers, Shira L. Lander, Jacqueline Z. Pastis, and Daniel Ullucci (eds.) A Most Reliable Witness: Essays in Honor of Ross Shepard Kraemer. Brown Judaic Studies 358. Providence: Brown Judaic Studies, 2015.

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Council Update: Fall 2016 Meeting Agenda

The SBL Council will be holding its fall meeting on October 29-30, 2016 in Atlanta, GA. In addition to covering our usual fall agenda, which includes such business as reviewing the society's annual audit and its financial and department reports, the Council will also be working on new or ongoing initiatives. These include drafting a policy statement that affirms SBL’s commitment to academic freedom, discussing the possibility of convening special sessions at future annual and international meetings, and continuing our series of meetings with the SBL Committees to learn of each committee's current needs and how the Council can be of continuing or better support. Be sure to check back here in November for a brief post-meeting update!

Annual Meeting Updates

ANNUAL MEETING HOUSING CLOSING OCTOBER 21
SBL Annual Meeting Housing will close October 21.  If you haven’t made housing arrangements yet we urge you to do so.  If you already have a registration, but need to add housing please click here and follow the modify registration link.  You may also use this link to modify your current housing arrangement dates.  If you are a new registrant please click here.

SBL currently has limited hotel rooms available.  If you are making a new reservation or changes and the dates you are requesting do not show up, it means these dates are unavailable.  Please follow the instructions listed on the hotel page of registration.  For a map of the hotels and locations, please click here.

Any cancellations or changes after October 21 must be received in writing (email) to annualmeeting@sbl-site.org by November 7 in order to avoid cancellation fees.  If you have changes after November 7 you may contact the hotel directly.  The hotel will not have your information until after November 7 so please do not contact them prior unless directed by the SBL Housing office.

ANNUAL MEETING NAME BADGES WILL BE SENT VIA E-MAIL
In an effort to cut down on lines for badge reprints at registration, name badges will no longer be sent via postal mail. Instead, check your e-mail in early November for a special link that will allow you to print your name badge and tote bag ticket to bring with you to San Antonio. If you bring these items to the Annual Meeting, you will not need to stand in line for registration.

When you arrive at the San Antonio Convention Center, you may use your tote bag ticket to pick up a tote bag at the Tote Bag Window, located in the main Lobby outside Exhibit Hall 1. Inside the tote bag will be your lanyard and your name badge holder, and you can slip in your name badge and enjoy the rest of the Annual Meeting!

International Meetings in 2018 and 2019

We are delighted to announce that the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki will host a joint meeting of the European Association of Biblical Studies and the Society of Biblical Literature. The University’s Faculty of Theology is one of the largest theological faculties in the world, with 1,700 undergraduate students and 300 postgraduate students, and with expertise in an unusually wide array of topics, ranging from Assyriology to Gnosticism. The conference is provisionally scheduled for 30 July – 3 August 2018. Many thanks to Dr. Ismo Dunderberg, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, and Dr. Outi Lehtipuu, University Lecturer at the University of Helsinki, for their support.

SBL is also pleased to announce that the 2019 International Meeting will be held at the United Theological College in Bangalore, India—the first SBL meeting in India—from July 22nd to the 26th. The United Theological College is a premier theological institution in South Asia with a rich legacy of commitment to interfaith dialogue and social justice. SBL thanks Dr. John Samuel Raj, the current Principal of United Theological College, Dr. Chilukuri Vasantha Rao, Principal-elect, and Dr. David Joy, UTC's Faculty Representative, for their willingness to host this historic meeting. Special thanks also to Dr. Raj Nadella, Columbia Theological Seminary, for his key role in this partnership.

New Titles from SBL Press

Don’t forget to visit the Kindle Store and Google Play to search for available SBL Press and Society of Biblical Literature titles.

A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities
K. Lawson Younger Jr.

K. Lawson Younger Jr. presents a political history of the Arameans from their earliest origins to the demise of their independent entities. The book investigates their tribal structures, the development of their polities, and their interactions with other groups in the ancient Near East. Younger utilizes all of the available sources to develop a comprehensive picture of this complex, yet highly important, people whose influence and presence spanned the Fertile Crescent.

Negotiating Power in Ezra–Nehemiah
Donna Laird

Donna Laird examines Ezra and Nehemiah in the light of modern sociological theorist Pierre Bourdieu. How did this context of hardship, exile, and return change what Ezra and Nehemiah viewed as important? How did they define who was a part of their community, and who was an outsider? It goes on to explore how the books engaged readers at the time: how it addressed their changing circumstances, and how different groups gained and used social power, or the ability to influence society. 

Allusive Soundplay in the Hebrew Bible
Jonathan G. Kline

This book focuses on the way the biblical writers used allusive soundplay to construct theological discourse, that is, in service of their efforts to describe the nature of God and God’s relationship to humanity. By showing that a variety of biblical books contain examples of allusive soundplay employed for this purpose, Kline demonstrates that this literary device played an important role in the growth of the biblical text as a whole and in the development of ancient Israelite and early Jewish theological traditions.

Ezekiel 25–32 contains some of the most virulent speeches directed against the neighboring nations of Judah. Assuming the opposing statuses between the nations and Judah, some emphasize that the destruction of the nations in chapters 25–32 means the upcoming salvation of God’s people. Presupposing the nations as judged according to a separate standard of morality, others render the judgment executed upon the nations irrelevant to that upon Judah. In this study, Lydia Lee postulates a third way to perceive the rhetorical roles of the nations in Ezekiel 25–32. Lee argues that Ezekiel 25–32 contains a daring message directed not only against the foreign nations, but also against Judah’s land, temple, and nation. In the end, Lee places Ezekiel 25–32 in a broader context, considering how samples of its early reception within the prophetic book affirm or transform the bleak message about the oblique judgment for the house of Judah.

Loiseau presents examples of Greek translations of verses from the Hebrew Bible that clearly illustrate the influence of Aramaic or Late Hebrew on the semantics of the Septuagint translators. The author postulates that the Greek translators based their translations on Hebrew-Aramaic equivalents maintained as lists or even on proto-targumim such as those found at Qumran, both predecessors of the later Aramaic targumic translations. Loiseau’s examples provide convincing explanations for different coincidences occurring between the Greek translations and the interpretative traditions found in the targumim and help elucidate a number of puzzling translations where two Aramaic words that are very similar graphically or phonetically were erroneously interchanged.

How John Works: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel
Douglas Estes and Ruth Sheridan, editors

In this book, a group of international scholars go in detail to explain “how John works”—how the author uses a variety of narrative strategies to best tell his story. More than a commentary, this book offers a glimpse at the way an ancient author created and used narrative features such as genre, character, style, persuasion, and even time and space to shape a dramatic story of the life of Jesus. 

Psychoanalytic Mediations between Marxist and Postcolonial Readings of the Bible
Tat-siong Benny Liew and Erin Runions, editors

This volume pursues critical readings of the Bible that put psychoanalysis into conversation with Marxist and postcolonial criticism of the Bible. Psychoanalysis is considered an important tool in understanding how the traumas of colonialism manifest both materially and psychically. Further, psychoanalysis provides a way to mediate between Marxism’s materialist groundings and postcolonialism’s resistance against empire. The essays in the volume illuminate the way empire has shaped the biblical text, by looking at the biblical texts’ silences, ruptures, oversights, over-emphases, and inexplicable elements. These details are read as symptoms of a set of oppressive material relations that shaped and continue to haunt the text in the ascendancy of the text in the name of “the West.” 

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Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion about the SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd edition?
If so, please contact SBL Press at SBLHS2@sbl-site.org.