Graduate Symposium 2015: March 27-29 in Leuven, Belgium

EABS is excited to announce its seventh graduate symposium, which will take place in Leuven, March 27-29, 2015.

 The symposium, which seeks to engender a supportive atmosphere for dialogue across a variety of biblical studies fields and subfields (Hebrew Scriptures, OT, NT, DSS, early Christianity, Septuagint studies, second temple Judaism, rabbinics, reception history, methodologies, etc.), welcomes PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers to present on a topic related to their research area(s).

Participants may format their presentation according to their preference: paper, seminar discussion, workshop session, poster or another form. Every abstract will be reviewed by a team of scholars who will give feedback and suggestions for improvement, if necessary. Our goal is to assist in developing the abstracts to the best possible form and encourage the authors of the best abstracts to submit them to research seminars of the EABS Annual Meeting 2015 in Cordoba and to enter their papers for the EABS Student Prize. During the symposium each student will get 20 minutes to submit their paper which will be followed by an extended discussion. The EABS Graduate Symposium looks forward to welcoming some senior scholars, including the EABS president, Professor Reimund Bieringer (KU Leuven), who will offer feedback and share from their own experience in the field. In addition, the symposium looks forward to continuing its tradition of holding a joint session with graduate students from the University of Alberta. Besides, we have arranged for another trans-Atlantic skype session with students from Emory University!

 Candidates should submit their abstracts and/or posters of no more than 300 words to students@eabs.net no later than January 10th, 2015. Please do not forget to mention the preferred format in the abstract (i.e. paper, workshop, pre-circulated paper, discussion, poster, etc.).

Professor Frans Neirynck Foundation - upcoming event

“Frans Neirynck Lecture” 2014

Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 6 p.m. in Kleine Aula, Maria Theresiacollege, Sint-Michielsstraat 6 in Leuven.

Programme 

Joseph Verheyden (KU Leuven)

Introduction

Christopher M. Tuckett (Oxford)

"For freedom Christ has set us free" (Gal 5,1): Freedom and Constraints in Paul's Ethics and Hermeneutics 

Mathijs Lamberigts (KU Leuven)

Conclusion 

The lecture will be followed by a reception at the Maurits Sabbe Library.

Hermeneutics and Theology

The Research Project "NEW HERMENEUTICS FOR RENEWED DIALOGUES" organizes a conference on "Hermeneutics and Theology" 

Leuven, May 13-15, 2014

Programme:

Tuesday Seminar

May 13, 2014, 11 am – 1 pm, room MTC 00.59

Prof. Dr. Fernando Segovia, Vanderbilt University, John and the Church: Reading Scripture in Religious-Theological Dimension

Preparatory Reading:

• Attridge, Harold W. Study of the New Testament in the Pluralistic Context of the Twenty-First Century. Pp. 53-64 in Foster Biblical Scholarship: Essays in Honor of Kent Harold Richards. Edited by Frank Richel Ames and Charles William Miller. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.
• Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. A Republic of Many Voices: Biblical Studies in the Twenty-First Century. Pp. 137-59 in Foster Biblical Scholarship: Essays in Honor of Kent Harold Richards. Frank Richel Ames and Charles William Miller, eds. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.
• Segovia, Fernando F. “Cultural Criticism: Expanding the Scope of Biblical Criticism.” Pp. 307-37 in The Future of the Biblical Past. Edited by Roland Boer and Fernando F. Segovia. Semeia Studies. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012.

Background Reading:

• Adam, A. K. M. et al. Reading Scripture with the Church: Towards a Hermeneutic for Theological Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.
• de Wit, Hans. Empirical Hermeneutics, Interculturality, and Holy Scripture. Intercultural Biblical Hermeneutical Series. Elkhart: VU University Amsterdam and Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2012.

Prof. Dr. Adrian Lemeni, University of Bucharest, Reading the Gospel of John in the Orthodox Tradition: Systematic-theological and Hermeneutical Reflections

Wednesday Seminar and Academic Session

May 14, 2014, 10 am – 12 noon, Romero Room, COVE 02.10

Dr. Chaim Nathan Marx, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Israel, "Reverse-Docetism: The Ascendance of Bodily Figures to Heaven in Rabbinic Literature

May 14, 2014, 3-5 pm, Romero Room, COVE 02.10

3 pm Prof. Dr. Fernando Segovia, Vanderbilt University, A Religious-Theological Reading of Scripture? Critical Problematic and Prophetic Vision

4 pm Dr. Chaim Nathan Marx, Schechter Institute, Polysemy or Dichotomy? The Controversy between the Academies of Hillel and Shammai as a Key to Understanding Rabbinic Hermeneutics

5 pm Book Presentation: Provoked to Speech: Biblical Hermeneutics as Conversation (Peeters, 2014)

http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz_print.asp?nr=9361

Thursday Seminar

May 15, 2014, 9-11 am, room MTC 00.08

Prof. Fernando Segovia, Vanderbilt, “Whither Hermeneutics?”

Preparatory Reading

-Gabrielle M. Spiegel, “The Historian’s Task”

Presidential Address 2009, American Historical Association Online

-Alfred J. Lopez, “Introduction: The (Post)global South”

The Global South 1:1 (2007) 1-11

-Stephen Moore and Yvonne Sherwood

The Invention of the Biblical Scholar

Fortress Press, 2011

Rudolf Bultmann and the Gospels: Past and Future

The Third International Symposium of the Leuven Centre for the Study of the Gospels took place from December 11th to 12th 2013. This time the topic was: “Rudolf Bultmann and the Gospels: Past and Future“, a topic chosen also in honor of Professor Gilbert Van Belle on the occasion of his becoming professor emeritus. His valedictory lecture in the late afternoon of the 12th December at the University Hall concluded the conference with the title “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”: Bultmann’s Interpretation of the “’Signs’” in the Fourth Gospel” (available in print in Dutch and English).
Every lecture was given in German, with the exception of Ernst Baasland´s who presented in English and Gilbert Van Belle, who presented his farewell lecture in Dutch.

The seven papers presented at this conference, which took place in the Romero Room of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, centered on the question of Rudolf Bultmann´s program of Entmythologisierung (Lindemann, Landmesser), especially in regard to miracle stories in the gospels (Lindemann, Labahn). His own inner development came into focus as well as critical perspectives on achievements of Bultmann’s methodology and perspective on history (Baasland, Schröter, Landmesser), especially with regard to the Gospel of John (Körtner, Van Belle). In general, topics and discussions focused on a few keywords, such as “Eschatologie” (eschatology), “Geschichtlichkeit” (historicity), and “Geschichte” (history).

The first presentation was given by Andreas Lindemann, a retired professor of Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel, and consisted of an overview of the development of Bultmann’s understanding of mythos and its consequences in his work for studying the gospels. According to Bultmann the New Testament contains a mythical worldview which is no longer valid in our modern world and therefore he developed his model of Entmythologisierung in order to avoid the unreasonable demand on a modern audience. It is only after 1941 that a deeper examination of the synoptic Gospels takes place in Bultmann’s work, but according to Lindemann, these gospels still display a “semantische Leerstelle” in his program of de-mythologization, as Lindemann showed by an analysis of Bultmann’s preaching on the miracle story Lk 5:1-11.
Ulrich Körtner, a former New Testament scholar, now employed in Systematic Theology in Vienna, focused in his presentation on the Gospel of John and Bultmann’s eschatological interpretation. He spoke of the developments of different aspects in his works, using an early essay written in 1928, the Commentary on John (KEK), and Bultmann’s Theologie des Neuen Testaments. Bultmann appreciates the Gospel of John as having the “Vergeschichtlichung” (historization) of eschatology thoughtfully brought to its end. According to Körtner, Bultmann’s early essay in 1928 displays already a mature existential interpretation, but only in a later stage did he develop his important aspect of “crisis”, which means both judgment court and individual decision at the encounter of an audience with God’s Word. If the human being makes a decision to believe, the so-called “Entweltlichung“ (independence from worldly aspects) takes place. Körtner closed with a few exegetical objections, amongst others Bultmann’s assumption of an ecclesiastical redactor, which allowed Bultmann far too easily to eliminate, on a literary-critical level, passages he did not deem suitable for his understanding of eschatology in John´s Gospel.

The first day of the conference was concluded by the paper of Michael Labahn. He made links with many aspects mentioned by his previous speakers and criticized Bultmann’s method of Entmythologisierung by using insights of modern narrative-critical research: The mysterious, mythological dimensions of texts can also be understood in a positive way as story-telling that cloaks God´s being. Therefore, Bultmann reduced the meaning of biblical stories by focusing one-sidedly on their historicity instead of taking the context into account in a search for deeper meaning.

Ernst Baasland, a retired professor from Oslo, started the new day (December 12th) with remarks on recent developments in scholarship regarding the inner development of Rudolf Bultmann between his work about the Gospels Die Geschichte der synoptischen Tradition in 1921 and his Jesus book in 1926. A very interesting insight was added to his paper, due to the fact that Baasland met Bultmann in 1972 and 1973 face-to-face. His paper unfolded four hypotheses, amongst others the hypothesis that the different stages of Bultmann’s development (i.e., the liberal, late-liberal, dialectical, and existential phases) have to be taken into account. He emphasized as well that there are innate consistencies in his thinking, such as his focus on „Wesenstheologie“ (theology of being) and the importance of existential reference from the very beginning.
Jens Schröter, professor in Berlin presented a critical review on Bultmann’s view of Early Christian history from a modern perspective. He reflected critically upon Bultmann’s historical-hermeneutical principle (“geschichtshermenetische Grundlagen”), since he developed his view of an early Christian concept of history in dependency on influential historians such as Wilhelm von Humboldt, Johann Droysen and R.G. Collingwood. Historical insight is, according to Bultmann, a creative process of acquirement, which consist in large part of the imagination. One can also speak of a historical-hermeneutical discourse taking place for real and meaningful understanding, as, according to Bultmann, Paul and John have done in their theologies. Schröter criticized Bultmann in illustrating that Paul and John share more similarities in their view of the history of the Jewish people than Bultmann would admit. He concluded that mythological language is not an eggshell, which can be taken off, without losing already something of its original message.
Christof Landmesser, professor in Tübingen, concluded the part in the Romero Room with a paper on how Bultmann developed his thoughts about the relationship between history and eschatology with different intermediate steps, beginning with ground work in 1913 and 1925, his Gifford Lectures in 1955 until his book Geschichte und Eschatologie in 1958. Already early on, Bultmann was of the opinion that the biblical text raises an existential claim for truth. By believing in this claim, the human being is freed from his culpable history, freed for a truly historical life and freedom. According to Landmesser, Bultmann had failed in showing his idea of separation of history from eschatology with the biblical texts themselves, ignoring many texts like the gospel of Matthew and its topic of justice.

The conference was attended by about 25 people, among whom a few PhD students and professors from three different continents, including Africa and North America. At the valedictory lecture of Professor Gilbert Van Belle, the University Hall was packed with colleagues, friends, students and family members.

Ines Luthe

Call for papers: The Rhetorics of Food

Deadline: 20 January 2014

Conference

The Rhetorics of Food

KU Leuven, Belgium

26-27-28 May 2014

As the intake of food is a basic “ingredient” of human life and cultures, it is no wonder that changes in this culture can reveal changes in basic patterns of a civilization (cf. Norbert Elias in the 1930s, reedited by UCD in 2012), Lévy-Strauss 1964). Over the past twenty years the rhetorics of food have developed rapidly and widely: TV chefs and journalists develop new lifestyles; regional and exotic foods mix in “transnational” combinations. Slow and fast food compete for consumers’ daily meal decisions.  In contexts of postcolonial cultures or diaspora (like the Irish one) where a transnational identity is being developed, rejection or acceptance of food is one of the main identity markers of cultural assimilation or alienation. (cf. Karl Marx’ Man is what he eats). People also speak (or refuse to) with their bodies in breastfeeding; a substantial number of children and adolescents develop eating disorders, and the age of onset of these disorders seems to be decreasing. Table manners change, but more significantly a new ethics of food brings about a new awareness of ecological aspects of produce. That the rhetorics of food is a “hot” topic is also illustrated by the latest issue of the renowned Cultural Studies Review published by UTS (Sydney)on food cultures and amateur economies.

The topic of food clearly is situated at the intersection of various disciplines. We are therefore thrilled to be able to organize this multi- and interdisciplinary conference on the Rhetorics of Food, particularly as we have succeeded in bringing Tina Beattie (Roehampton College, UK) to the conference as the Key Note Lecturer.

This conference will look at how, both in the past and the present, people have been using the language of food to many purposes., and will bring together a number of worldwide recognized experts on the topic to the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies. We welcome papers in different areas: literature, cultural studies, theology, art (iconography/iconology), film, history (of ideas) and architecture, anthropology, political sciences, psychology, philosophy, economics.

Topics could include (but are not strictly limited to):

Psychology, philosophy of food:

- Food and identity; the ethics of food; diet and health; hygienic rules

- the rhetorics of quantity, and forms of potlatch  (cf. Montanari 1995);

- refusing food: bulimia, anorexia, allergies;

- food as a weapon / reward: poisoning / heavenly food

- positive and negative symbolism attaching to food: salt, honey, fish, bread, potato, turkey, haggis… vs taboos

- gendered kinds of food (Walker Bynum, 1998)

- fear of food (Ferrières, 2002); discourse on genetic manipulation; food scandals

- hierarchies of food (animals, plants, herbs, spices), of guests;

                Rhetorics of chosen company and space:

- selection of invitees;  forms of hospitality: monastic, regal, bourgeois, nomad, professional; xenophilia / xenophobia: stories about unexpected visitors, magic of conviviality

- rituals in kitchen & dining room: cutting bread, carving meat; Burns Night, …

Food in Literature:

- verbal and other rhetorics in pivotal positions in a novel (Molly Keane’s Bad Behaviour, Joyce’s Dubliners and in Ulysses, Woolf’s To the Lighthouse …); ritual feasts (cf Christmas) often mark a conflict (or a reconciliation)

- kitchen sink drama; poems on food (Keats, D.H. Lawrence, Harrison…);

- Lands of Cockaigne and all kinds of fabled food 

- links between eating and reading, interiorizing food or words (Apocalypse, The Name of the Rose); connections between the making of a poem and the making of food

- “Gastropoetics”: writers and cookery (from Dumas to Dahl et al); metaphors used to describe food (Jean-Paul Aron, Jean-François Revel, …)

- developments in etiquette from Middle Ages till now: in fiction (Arthurian romance) or in etiquette books

            Food in the media:

food in film, in journalism & cookery books; forms of advertisement and assessment of food (cf. Brillat-Savarin 1807, Gault & Millau 2013)

            Theology of food:

- Questions relating to food in the bible, in the Eucharist;  mediaeval “Schluckbilder”;

- the idea of food and sacrifice; health and holiness (cf. Levenstein 1996);

- images of the Maria lactans;  

- Iconography of fasts and feasts (cf. Walker Bynum 1988, 2007)

            The Esthetics of food:

- Real and metaphorical eating (cf. Saturn eating his children)

- new forms of discourse on still life, kitchen pieces (beyond Schneider, Bryson et al)

- representations of feasts and fasts: Brueghel, Botticelli, Veronese, Jordaens, Moreau,

- the language of cutlery, crockery, glass, textile at table

- food as art: consummation of the visual; (Jan Fabre 2000, Tuymans 2013)

- accompaniments: music, dance, other entertainment interacting with food

Economics of food:

- food scarcity and strategies of poverty reduction,

- agricultural development and food distribution

- climate change and effects on food production and consumption

Papers focusing on Ireland (or a comparison with Ireland) will be especially welcomed.

Confirmed plenary speaker: Tina Beattie (Roehampton College, UK)

Title: “The female breast in theology and art”

The conference is hosted by the KU Leuven, the Faculties of the Arts, Theology, Psychology and Pedagogy in cooperation with the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies (LCIS). It will take place in the newly refurbished Irish college in Leuven (the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe).

-Fees: 150 EUR (tenured), 80 EUR (students) which covers conference costs, social events, lunches and coffees.

Papers should not exceed 2500-3000 words (20 minutes’ delivery). Proposals for papers (250-300 words) and a short biography should be sent by e-mail to Hedwig Schwall , Hedwig.schwall@arts.kuleuven.be

You will be notified by 31st January.

More information about the conference will be posted on www.irishstudies.kuleuven.be/