Social Theory and the
Study of Israelite Religion
Retrospect and Prospect
February 28-March 1, 2010
Brown University
Moskow Symposium
Social theory and the study of Israelite religion have had a long and fruitful relationship. Classics such as Paul Hanson’s Dawn of Apocalyptic (1975), Robert Wilson’s Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (1980), and Carol Meyers’s Discovering Eve (1988) engaged social theory in a serious way, setting the stage for more recent work utilizing both classical and contemporary theory. This symposium is intended to assess past, theoretically engaged work on Israelite religion, as well as to offer a forum for the presentation of new approaches to particular problems or to larger, interpretive questions.
Session 1: Perspectives on Past Work
Robert Wilson (Yale), “How has the Use of Social Theory by Scholars of Israelite Religion changed or not changed in the past 35 Years?”
David Wright (Brandeis), “Robust Theory versus Scant Data: Using Anthropological and Sociological Perspectives in the Study of Biblical Ritual Texts.”
Saul Olyan (Brown), “Applying Theory or Theorizing? Our Task as I understand it.”
William Gilders (Emory), “Ritual, Ritual Texts, and Social Relations: How My Mind Has Changed.”
Session II: Contemporary Perspectives
Stephen Cook (Virginia Theological Seminary), “The Levites, their Social Organization, and the Nature of their Social Contexts.”
Nathaniel Levtow (Montana/Missoula), “Writing Priests: Scribal Culture in Temple Settings.”
Carol Meyers (Duke), “The Function of Festivals: Socio-Political Aspects of Religious Events”
Susan Ackerman (Dartmouth), “Cult Centralization, the Erosian of Kin-based Communities, and the Implications for Women’s Religious Practices.”
Ronald Hendel (UC Berkeley), “Prophetic Views of Israelite Ritual in the Light of Mary Douglas’s Theories.”
Tracy Lemos (Rhodes), “Cut Up and Put Out: Judean Diaspora and Postcolonial Theories of Gender and Migration.”
Rüdiger Schmitt (Dartmouth/Münster), “Theories Regarding Witchcraft Accusations and the HB”
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Moskow Symposium
Program in Judaic Studies
Brown University
with additional support and co-sponsorship from Egyptology and Ancient West Asian Studies, Ancient Studies, and Religious Studies