My exploration of the SBL program book begins as I try to find all the UCLA folks who are contributing in SBL sessions this year. We have SBL participants from several nooks of the school, including the Department of History (S. Scott Bartchy, Ra’anan Boustan, Jacob Latham, A. Sue Russell, Kevin Scull, and me), the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (William Schniedewind, Carol Bakhos, Ra’anan Boustan, Jeremy Smoak, Matthew Suriano, Ryan N. Roberts, and M. Caleb Isaac) the Center for Digital Humanities (Robert Cargill), and the Department of Linguistics (H. Craig Melchert). Fourteen in all, from what I can see.
A contender for UCLA’s MVP for SBL 2009 has to be Bob Cargill (Instructional Technology Coordinator for the Center for Digital Humanities) who is not only presenting on a hot topic (that whole Raphael Golb fiasco) but is also having his book discussed by a panel.
Update: I have noticed that the online program book times are still on the move, so if you see discrepensies, that’s why. Do not use this as an authoritative list for time slots!
Saturday, November 21st
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
- Assyriology and the Bible [Theme: Round City Roundtable: The Kuttamuwa Stela in Perspective] – H. Craig Melchert [Department of Linguistics and Indepartmental Program in Indo-European Studies], panel discussion member – listed 4th of 6
- Pseudepigrapha [Theme: The Inspired Production and Interpretation of Literary Texts in Antiquity] – Ra’anan Boustan [Department of History and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], panel discussion member – 7th of 7 panel members (10 mins each, prior to break and 70 min discussion)
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
- Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament [Theme: A Retrospective on Mary Douglas. Legacy and Impact on Biblical Studies.] – A. Sue Russell [Department of History and on faculty at Biola University], “The Development of Douglas’ Grid/Group as an Analytical Tool and its Application to 1st Century Judaism” (30 min) – 1st of 3.
4:00 PM to 5:45 PM
- Hebrew Bible, History, and Archaeology – Jeremy Smoak [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], “Northwest Semitic Amuletic Inscriptions and the Background of Yahweh as Guardian and Protector in the Biblical Literature” (20 min) – 2nd of 4; Also in this session is Matthew Suriano [recent NELC alumnus and currently an adjunct professor for UCLA], “The Politics of Dead Kings: Royal Ancestors and Dynastic Succession in the Book of Kings and the Eshmunazor Sarcophagus” (4th of 4) and an honorable mention in this same session goes to recent NELC alumnus, Roger Nam, “Feasting at the King’s Table: The Political Economy of the Samaria Ostraca” – 3rd of 4.
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
- Biblical Lands and Peoples in Archaeology and Text [Theme: Solomonic Cities] – William M. Schniedewind [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], “Excavating the Text of 1 Kings 9: In Search of ‘the Gates of Solomon’” (25 min) – 4th of 4 (prior to discussion and respondents)
Sunday, November 22nd
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
- Joint Session with Computer Assisted Research & Hebrew Bible, History, and Archaeology [Review of Robert Cargill’s book The Qumran Digital Model: An Argument for Archaeological Reconstruction in Virtual Reality (Gorgias 2009), specifically of the author’s conclusion that Qumran was originally established as a Hasmonean fortress that was reoccupied by a sectarian Jewish group and Cargill’s methodology for using virtual reality and other technologies to aid archaeology.] – Robert R. Cargill [Center for Digital Humanities], panel discussion member – 5th of 5 panel members (20 mins each, prior to discussion) [It looks like Cargill is also scheduled for another panel discussion at the same time!]
- Midrash – Jason Mokhtarian [Iranian Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], “Midrashic Depictions of Persia” (25 min) – 4th of 4
- Violence and Representations of Violence among Jews and Christians [Theme: The Story of the Maccabean Martyrs and its Nachleben] – Ra’anan Boustan [Department of History and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], “Maccabean Martyrs, Rabbinic Narrative, and the Making of a Post-sacrificial Judaism” (25 min) – 3rd of 4
4:00 PM to 5:45 PM
- Hebrew Bible, History, and Archaeology [Theme: Archaeology and Biblical Literature] – Jeremy Smoak [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], presiding
Monday, November 23rd
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
- Things I Wish I Knew about Doing a Ph.D. [Hosted by the SBL Student Advisory Group] – Kevin Scull [Department of History], panel discussion member – 4th of 4 panel members
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
- Biblical Lands and Peoples in Archaeology and Text [Theme: Imaging Gods in Greco-Roman Antiquity (#1)] – Jacob A. Latham [Department of History], “Imagining the Gods in the pompa circensis” (30 min) – 5th of 5
- History and Literature of Early Rabbinic Judaism – Carol Bakhos [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], presiding
- Ugaritic Studies and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy – Ryan N. Roberts [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], “Repetition, Reduction, and Rereading in the Kirta Epic” (30 min) – 3rd of 5; [Same session]: M. Caleb Isaac [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures?], “An Unrecognized Prophetic Text from Horvat Uza” (30 min) – 5th of 5
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
- Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament [Theme: The Social Sciences and Paul - Patron-broker relationships, insights from social-psychology, and the conceptual tools central to enthnomedical anthropology will be applied to various passages from 2 Corinthians. In addition, the power/potency of Paul’s written word among nonliterate people will be assessed, and the claim that early Christians were sectarians will be reevaluated.] – S. Scott Bartchy [Department of History], presiding
- Hebrew Bible, History, and Archaeology [Theme: Archaeology and Historical Geography] – Matthew Suriano [recent NELC alumnus and currently an adjunct professor for UCLA], presiding
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
- Computer Assisted Research – Robert R. Cargill [Center for Digital Humanities], “Scholars Behaving Badly: ‘Charles Gadda,’ Raphael Golb, and the Campaign of Anonymity on the Internet to Promote Norman Golb and Smear His Rivals” (30 min) – 1st of 5
- History of Interpretation [Theme: Book Review: Bernard Levinson, Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel (Cambridge, 2008)] – Carol Bakhos [Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures], presiding
Tuesday, November 24th
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
- Construction of Christian Identities – Patrick George McCullough [Department of History], “The Agents of Jesus Meet ‘All the Nations’: Adapting Jesus’ Cultic Reform for the Eschaton” (25 min) – 1st of 4
Update: I have added Sue Russell above, who listed her affiliation under Biola University. I will keep adding if I discover more!
Further Update: I have borrowed some ideas from Brandon’s formatting in his “Emory Participants at SBL 2009“, including links to abstracts and a clearer break-down of time segments. See also Stephen Carlson’s “Dukies at SBL 2009“.
