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AAR – SBL – ASOR
Rocky Mountain – Great Plains Region
Regional Conference
March 20–21, 2015
Omaha, Nebraska
Parking on Campus
All conference events will be held in the Harper Center on the Creighton campus, two
blocks south of Cuming St. on 20th St. Visitor parking is located in the lot immediately south
of the Harper Center and is accessed off of 20th St. Another visitor parking lot is located off
of Cass St., south and west of the Harper Center. On Saturday, any Creighton parking lot
may be used.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Pre-Session, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
What I Wish I Had Known Before the Ph.D.
Harper Center 3048
Moderator: Josh Schachterle, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Regional Student Forum – All Students are Invited
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Friday, March 20, 2015
Check-in, 8:00 – 8:30
Third Floor North Lobby
Session I, 8:30 – 10:00 (all sessions in the Harper Center)
Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
3028 B, C
Moderator: Mark George, Iliff School of Theology
Mark Giszczak, Augustine Institute
Postures and Gestures in the Hebrew Bible
Samuel L. Boyd, University of Chicago
The Flood and the Problem of Being and Omnivore
Andrew C. Smith, Claremont Graduate University
Moses and Pharaoh’s Magicians: A Comparative Analysis of the Narratives of the Qur’an
and Exodus
Hermeneutics and Interpretation
3029
Moderator: Ashley Hall, Creighton University
Benjamin John Peters, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Distended Reception: Meaning Construction Within Hermeneutical Clusters
Andrew Meland, University of Missouri
Moving Beyond Critics and Caretakers: Reinterpreting The Problem of the Criterion as the
Epistemic Coil
Austin Leininger, Graduate Theological Union
The Sacramentality of Sex: Benefits of a Sacramental Approach to Sexual Ethics
Religion, Archaeology, and the Law
3027
Moderator: Elias Sacks, University of Colorado at Boulder
Jordan Sass, University of Colorado at Boulder
Religion on Trial: Religious Freedom Jurisprudence and the Constitution of Religious
Subjectivity
Kasey Davis, University of Nebraska – Omaha
International Law and Archaeology in East Jerusalem
Andie R. Alexander, University of Colorado at Boulder
Shifting the Focus: Understanding the Teller Behind the Tale
Comics as an Act of Discovery in the Study of Religion (Friday)
Moderator: Leonard Greenspoon, Creighton University
Dan Clanton, Doane College
Terry Clark, Georgetown College
Elizabeth Coody, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
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3028 A
Islam and Muslim Culture
3029A
Moderator: Gordon Brubacher, Creighton University
Kristian Petersen, University of Nebraska – Omaha
Interpretations of Heritage: Muhammad Abid al-Jabri (1936-2010) on “Tradition”
Douglas H. Garrison, University of Denver
Islam, Liberation Theology, and the Struggle for Social Justice in the Arab World: Toward an
Emancipatory “Praxis of Suffering” for Post-Arab Spring Muslim Societies
Jonathan Kline, University of Nebraska – Omaha
Hip Hop Music in American Muslim Culture
Session II, 10:15 – 11:45
The Gospel of Mark
3028 B, C
Moderator: Thom Wayment, Brigham Young University
Daniel M. Yencich, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Sowing the Passion at Olivet: Extending the Insights of Mary Ann Tolbert and Reading
Mark 13 as Part of Mark’s Narrative
Micah D. Saxton, Regis University
Presently Absent: Deconstructive Play in Mark 13
A. James Murphy, South Dakota State University
Was Mark’s Jesus a Dionysian Hero?
Religious Studies
3029A
Moderator: Kristian Petersen, University of Nebraska – Omaha
Lydia R. Cooper and Jeffrey Hause, Creighton University
Empathy and Religious Transformations in Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and Adichie’s Purple
Hibiscus
Joshua David Wright, University of Colorado at Boulder
Retrieving Tradition, Constructing Memory: The Use of History in 19th Century American
Universalism
Tyler Hiebert, Wichita State University
Scopes II? The Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham Debate in light of the Scopes trial of 1925
Religion, Resistance, and Controversy in Media Space
3027
Moderator: Tyler A. Lehrer, University of Colorado at Boulder
Elizabeth E. Lewis, University of Colorado at Boulder
#YA Saves: Teens, Salvific Literature, and Social Media
Tyler A. Lehrer, University of Colorado, Boulder
Reframing Authority: Buddhist Blogging and the Theravāda Bhikkhunī Ordination Dispute
Scott Lynn Brown, University of Colorado at Boulder
Made in Her Image? The Problems of Imagining Women as Goddesses, and Goddesses as
Women
Respondent: William Ramsey, University of Colorado at Boulder
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Theology in Context
3028 A
Moderator: John O’Keefe, Creighton University
David Weddle, Colorado College
Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing: (Dis)guises of Sacrifice in Christian and Jewish Interpretation
Richard Miller, Creighton University
The Unity of the Doctrines of Creation and the Incarnation in light of the Role of Chance in
the Evolutionary Process
Robert D. Heaton, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Teaching Heresy: Toward a Critical Pedagogy for Historiographical Theological Instruction
on the Church’s Early Sects
Liminality and Ritual
3029
Moderator: Nicolae Roddy, Creighton University
David Pettit, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Pondering with Naaman: Why the Jordan?
Rami Arav, University of Nebraska at Omaha
The Origin of the Israelites and the Theory of Liminality
Zachary Simpson, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Fantasy and Metaphysics: The Post-Critical Need for Ritual
Lunch, Senior Scholar Address, 12:00 – 2:00 (Harper Center 3023)
Gregory Robbins, University of Denver
Cinema’s Diluvial Bestiaries, Biblical and Otherwise
Session III, 2:15 – 3:45
Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
3028 B, C
Moderator: Dan Belnap, Brigham Young University
Lindy Williams, Fuller Seminary, CO Regional Campus
Ezekiel 36:13-14: The Anthropophagic Land in Ezekiel’s Theology of Restoration
Lance Rundus, Tabor College
’esheth hayil : A Canonical Reappraisal
Dana Pike, Brigham Young University
The Unusual Case of the Song of Songs in Mormon Religious Tradition
Biblical Studies, Undergraduate Session
3029
Moderator: Kyle R. Greenwood, Colorado Christian University
Taylor Gray, Colorado Christian University
A Text Critical Analysis of Isaiah 49.24: Divergent Traditions and Discrepant Orthography
Alex Siemers, Colorado Christian University
“Jonah: Prophetic Narrative or Parable?” A Narrative Comparison of Jonah, 1 Kings 17-19,
and Luke 15:11-32
Andy Mickelson, Brigham Young University
The Backdrop of the Nativity: The κατάλυµα of Luke 2:7
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Moral Commitments and Disability
3027
Moderator: Julia Fleming, Creighton University
Sandra Lee Dixon, University of Denver
Religion and Consolation in Moral Commitments
Edward Matusek, Atlanta Metropolitan State College
Why Do We Connect Disabilities with Suffering? Disability, the “Modern” Problem of Evil,
and Hauerwasian Reflections
Courtney Wilder, Midland University
Disability in the Contemporary Church: Social Statements and Denominational Practice
Out of My Field
3028 A
Moderator: Jacob Kinnard
Mark George, Iliff School of Theology
Jacob Kinnard, Iliff School of Theology
Pamela Eisenbaum, Iliff School of Theology
Amy Erickson, Iliff School of Theology
AAR Keynote Address, 4:00 – 5:30 (Harper Center 3023)
Willis Jenkins, The University of Virginia
“Feast of the Anthropocene: Interpreting Food, Climate, and Religion”
Reception Following the Address
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Business Breakfast, 7:00 – 8:20
(all are welcome)
3023
Session IV, 8:30 – 10:00
Gospels
3028 B, C
Moderator: Dulcinea Boesenberg, Creighton University
Paul Hartog, Faith Baptist Seminary
Reconfiguring Johannine Ethical Formation
Sherri Brown, Creighton University
Making Waves: Jesus and the Water Imagery of the Gospel of John
Amanda Hardman, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
“My Daughter has Just Died”: A Stoic Reading of Matthew 9:18-26
Teaching, Research, and the Faith That Does Justice
Moderator: Patrick Gilger, S.J., Creighton University
Rebecca A. Chabot, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Matthew Reznicek, Creighton University
Nathaniel Romano, S.J., Creighton University School of Law
John O’Keefe, Creighton University
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3028 A
Archaeology and Digital Humanities
3029
Moderator: Thom Wayment, Brigham Young University
Erin Walcek Averett, Creighton University
(Re)Constructing Antiquity: 3D Modeling and Cypriot Votive Sculpture from AthienouMalloura, Cyprus
Lincoln Blumell and George A. Pierce, Brigham Young University
Inscriptions in the Digital Age: 3D Acquisition, Analysis, and Dissemination of a Greek
Epitaph from Egypt
Nicolae Roddy, Creighton University
Hellenistic-Roman Bethsaida after Twenty-five Seasons of Excavation
Christian Popular Culture
3027
Moderator: Elizabeth Coody, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Scott Culpepper, Dordt College
This Means War: The Shift from World Peace to Spiritual Warfare in Contemporary
Christian Music
Rosalie Nell Bouck, Pacifica Graduate Institute
Updating Our Lady: How Bold Pop Culture Movements are Changing the Identity of The
Virgin of Guadalupe
Richard O'Connell, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
Angels With Leather Wings: Evangelical Christian Outreach By An Underserved And
Stereotyped Population
Session V, 10:15 – 11:45
Early Christian Identity
3028 B, C
Moderator: Susan Calef, Creighton University
Dulcinea Boesenberg, Creighton University
Ethnic Language and Identity Construction in Acts
Megan DeVore, Colorado Christian University
Catechumens, not “New Converts”: Revisiting an Assumption about the Passio Perpetuae
Jamin Hübner, John Witherspoon College
Revisiting the “Clarity of Scripture” in 1 Timothy 2:12
Ancient Near Eastern Studies
3029
Moderator: Nicolae Roddy, Creighton University
Dan Belnap, Brigham Young University
Where is the Devourer? The Arslan Tash II Plaque and the Role of Text Placement for
Incantation Efficacy
Kyle R. Greenwood, Colorado Christian University
“Who Hangs the Earth Upon Nothing:” Reconsidering Job 26:7 in Light of Ancient Near
Eastern Cosmology
Virginia Gallner, University of Nebraska – Omaha
Asherah: Figurehead of a Folk Religion
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Teaching Religions in the Great Plains
3028 A
Moderator: Yaroslav Komarovski, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Steve Lahey, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Simon Wood, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Ikuho Amano, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Courtney Bruntz, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Yaroslav Komarovski, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Public Theology
3027
Moderator: Rebecca A. Chabot, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
John J. O’Keefe, Creighton University
Scholarship for Non-Scholars
Leonard Greenspoon, Creighton University
Biblical Literacy: It’s More than a, b, or c
Religious Studies
3029A
Moderator: Jacob Kinnard, Iliff School of Theology
Timothy Snediker, University of Denver
Force and Subjectivity: Spiritual Warfare in Deleuze and Foucault
Eben Yonnetti, University of Colorado at Boulder
Translation and Liturgy: Challenging the Invisibility of Translators in Tibetan Buddhist
Practice Texts
William Ramsey, University of Colorado at Boulder
That’s Witchcraft! The Subversive Communities Formed around Kenneth Anger’s Occult
Films
Lunch, SBL Keynote Address, 12:00 – 2:00 (Harper Center 3023)
Jeffrey Siker, Loyola Marymount University
“Jesus the Perfect Sinner”
Program Committee Members:
Regional Officers:
Eric Smith, Iliff School of Theology
Rick Hess, Denver Seminary
Kristian Petersen, University of Nebraska –
Omaha
Kyle Greenwood, Colorado Christian
University
Dana Pike, Brigham Young University
Elizabeth Coody, University of Denver/Iliff
School of Theology
Rami Arav, University of Nebraska – Omaha
Mark George, Iliff School of Theology
AAR: Jacob Kinnard, Iliff School of Theology
SBL: Thom Wayment, Brigham Young
University
ASOR: Nicolae Roddy, Creighton University
President: Gregory Robbins and Andrea
Stanton, University of Denver
Vice President: Ronald A. Simkins, Creighton
University
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