Come Learn About SCRIPT!

I first connected with the Society for Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts at some point during my doctoral study. I attended one of their lively program sessions during the 2013 annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature in Baltimore.

That was a big session for me.

2013 wasn’t my first annual meeting, but it was the first one where I felt like I had found my people. Doing a doctoral study on scriptures from a critical and comparative perspective made me a bit of a square peg in a round hole. I had presented a number of times at the SBL, but I was always coming askew at the Bible. My presentations were never just about the meaning of texts. I was talking about pedagogy or African American cultural history or social theory and the politics of identity. Half the time I wasn’t even talking about the Bible but insisting that I had something biblical scholars needed to hear.

SCRIPT was the first time at an annual meeting where I didn’t have to make the case for questioning the questions about texts. I got to meet James Watts , Dorinna Parmenter and others whose work I very much admired. I was hearing about fascinating perspectives on the enveloping power of media, texts, and writing. And I’ve been thrilled to be part of it ever since, even becoming a trustee in 2015.

SCRIPT was founded in 2010 and it has been doing cool work ever since. The Iconic Books blog is a great resource for keeping up with the literature and events happening in the subfield of critical comparative scriptures. With Equinox Publishing, they produce the journal, Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts, and the book series, Comparative Resaerch on Iconic and Performative Texts.

Our goal is to foster academic discourse about the social functions of books and texts that exceed their semantic meaning and interpretation, such as their display as cultural artifacts, their ritual use in religious and political ceremonies, their performance by recitation and theater, and their depiction in art.

SCRIPT’s Mission

This Friday, September 20 at Noon (Central), Sowing the Seed presents its second Off-Script gathering on Zoom. We are excited to have with us Dr. David Dault, President of SCRIPT, who will introduce us to the organzation and what they have on the horizon. (Below you can see the new website he put together for SCRIPT.) We will also hear from fellow SCRIPT trustee, Dr. Sonia Hazard, to hear about Rare Book School. If you’re interested in the critical comparative study of scriptures, we hope you’ll join us by registering here by September 19. This Friday, September 20 at Noon (Central), Sowing the Seed presents its second Off-Script gathering on Zoom.

We will also hear from fellow SCRIPT trustee, Dr. Sonia Hazard, to hear about Rare Book School. If you’re interested in the critical comparative study of scriptures, we hope you’ll join us by registering here by September 19.