In REL 370: Ethnicity, Gender, and Religion, I gave a talk called “Are We Really Just One Human Race?” I began the talk by asking the class whether there’s a difference between saying #AllLivesMatter and #BlackLivesMatter. For our purposes, the issue was why this is such a contested debate.
In (WCH) REL 226: The New Testament, I gave a talk called “The Gospel According to America- Black Demons and The Original Sin of Slavery?” Our conversation began with a twist on the debate, “Is America a Christian Nation?” Instead, students paired up and named reasons why people argue “yes” and “no.”
In REL 170: Signifying Religion: An African American Worldview, I gave a talk called “Beatdowns and Downbeats: America as a Hip Hop Nation.” We began with a free association exercise about what could be signified by call America a “Hip Hop nation.”
Like all conferences of the elite, the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature are theater. There's a level of make-believe that goes into transitioning from our quotidian concerns to those befitting the sacred gathering. The #sblaar14 Twitter feed bears witness to participants changing in and out of … Continue reading Inside the Scholar’s Studio with #SBLAAR14 Bingo
There are a lot of great teaching and pedagogy sessions happening at #SBLAAR14. As you build your schedule, make sure you check out what's happening with the SBL Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies program unit. Yours truly is moderating a pretty awesome panel on Teaching the Bible Visually or Geographically. We have papers on everything from … Continue reading Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies: The #SBLAAR14 Syllabus
