Last week I learned that I was approved for UCLA’s Summer Research Mentorship Grant. I was a little worried about it–what, with the California state financial apocalypse and all. But the good news is that I will have the opportunity to work with Ra’anan Boustan on my apocalyptic obsession this summer, unhindered by all the demands of regular academic quarters.

This summer will be my first “break” in four years. Fuller Seminary has you work around the clock, all year long. At UCLA, I am glad to have some flexibility with my summer. So, I am looking forward to having some extra time to do “daddy daycare,” as my friend Kevin calls it, while I also focus my academic attention solely upon apocalyptic writings (and German). No classes. And UCLA is paying me for it. Can’t complain with that.

Boustan’s current seminar will flow into the summer mentorship nicely, since I am already being introduced to his perspective and much of the relevant literature on the topic. In case you’re wondering about what I’m doing with apocalyptic eschatology in my research, I seem to be narrowing in upon the idea of identity formation: How is apocalyptic expectation related to identity construction in early Judaism and Christianity? Such is the topic of my SBL paper for this November. This is the direction I expect to go with my dissertation. I plan to keep my cards pretty close to my chest as far as specifics, but I will say that there is no monolithic answer to my question.