On Friday, March 8, San Francisco Theological Seminary will host a workshop called "Borders: Terms, Ideologies, and Performances." The workshop, led by a panel of distinguished biblical scholars and historians, will discuss borders as they relate to ancient religious cultures and history.
Today, borders are understood in general as defined lines between cultures, languages, and political and religious systems. However in ancient cultures, 'borders' might not always have been a line marking territories, dominions and spheres. The purpose of this workshop is to discover ways in which certain terms represent borders and what marked different political, judicial, cultural and religious distinctions in ancient religious and culture. The workshop will feature a diverse panel of notable historians and scholars of religion in the Ancient Near East, the Bible, Archaeology, Classics, early Christianity, Judaism and History.
The workshop is part of the Muilenburg-Koenig History of Religion Seminar, coordinated this year by Dr. Weissenrieder. This semester, students in the seminar are learning about different possibilities in scholarly argumentation for understanding the concept of borders in the New Testament. The Muilenburg-Koenig History of Religion Seminar is funded by a gift from Rev. Dr. Robert Koenig (MDiv '69) in memory of James Muilenburg, SFTS Gray Professor of Hebrew Exegesis and Old Testament from 1963-69, and scholar in residence at the Graduate Theological Union until 1972.
The workshop is open to the public. Those who wish to attend should RSVP by February 27 to Dong Hyeon Jeong at djeong@ses.gtu.edu.
Those participating in the workshop include:
Jacco Dielemann,
Associate Professor of Egyptology, UCLA:
The boundary between public and private in the cult of Osiris in Greco-Roman Egypt
respondent: Barbara Richter,
Near Eastern Studies, visting scholar and lecturer, UCB
Annette Schellenberg,
Associate Professor of Old Testament, SFTS/ GTU:
Borders and limits, regions and decrees – Old Testament views on merits and dangers of borders
respondent: Ron Hendel,
Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible. Ancient Hebrew language, literature, religion and culture, UCB
Katharina Luchner,
Lecturer at the Department of Classics, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich
Shifting borders for construing a new reality? - A reading of Aelius Aristides Hieroi logoi
respondent: Barbara Kowalzig,
Associate Professor at the Department of Classics, New York University;
Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center
Alexander Sokolicek,
Director of the NYU IFA Aphrodisias excavations and Senior Reserach Scholar at NYU
Betwixt and Between - The Cultural Roles of the Magnesian Gate in Greek-Roman Ephesus
respondent: Christine Thomas,
Associate Professor at the Department of Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara
Erich Gruen,
Wood Professor emeritus of Classics, UCB
The 'Assimilated Jew': Paganism and
Judaism at the Border.
respondent: Emily Mackil,
Associate Professor at the Department of History, UCB
Annette Weissenrieder,
Associate Professor of New Testament SFTS/GTU:
Tear Down the Wall: Early Christianity as a Religion Breaking Borders?
respondent: David Balch,
Professor of New Testament PLTS, GTU
Stefan Esders,
Professor of History and Early Middle Ages at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of the Freie Universität Berlin, and Member of the Excellence Cluster Topoi "Fuzzy Borders"
Deditio and baptism. Religious borders and the integration of barbarians in the later Roman Empire.
Respondent: Susanna Elm,
Professor of History, UCB
Additional programs which are going along with this workshop (classroom at JSTB 216):
March 4th
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Women on the Border
A living symbol of being a border person
Guest: Prof. Dr. Eduardo Fernandez
March 18th
Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation
Guest Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Naomi Seidman, Center for Jewish Studies
April 1st
Visual Representations of Borders:
Thresholds in pictures. Visions, visionaries and their audiences.
Guest Speaker: Prof. Dr. Beate Fricke, UCB
April 22nd
A Theology of Borders:
Rethinking Mission in the Postcolony
Guest Speaker: Prof. Marion Grau
April 29th
Theology on a Border:
Colonialism, Whiteness Studies and Religious Performances
Guest Speakers: Prof. Laurie Garret-Cobina, SFTS and Michael Cobina
May 13th
Art on a Border:
Border Control: Mission Art at the Boundaries
Guest Speaker: Prof. Dr. Mia Mochizuki, JSTB
