Dear ASCH members—

The annual Winter 2011 meeting of the American Society of Church History will be held in Boston from Thursday through Sunday, January 6-9, 2011, in conjunction with the American Historical Association. We invite ASCH members to submit proposals on any aspect of the history of Christianity and its interaction with culture, including individual papers, complete panels, and roundtable discussions. Sessions may include considerations of a major recent book, critical assessments of a distinguished career, pedagogical issues, and commemoration of important figures and events whose anniversaries fall in 2011. In addition to the usual categories relating to periods, geographical regions, and special topics, we encourage proposals that cut across categories. We welcome panels that exhibit diversity of gender, rank, and scholarly location.

Proposals for entire sessions are preferred, while proposals for individual papers are welcome.

The proposed use of computers, internet, or projectors in the session must be stated and rationalized in the proposal.

The deadline for proposals is March 15, 2010.

Paper proposals should consist of (1) an abstract of 200 words or less; (2) a short biographical paragraph on the applicant; and (3) a current mailing location, email address, and phone number. Session proposals should contain all of the above for each of the three presenters, as well as (1) the session title; (2) a brief description (200 words or less) outlining the theme of the session; and (3) biographical data for the chair and the respondent, if any (these can be the same person). Use of audiovisual equipment, which is limited to the conference hotel’s facilities, has become very expensive and will therefore be restricted to presentations for which it is indispensable.

Please send proposals, preferably by email, before March 15, 2010, to the program committee c/o bjnewman@northwestern.edu. Applicants will be notified when their materials are complete. The program committee reserves the right to reconfigure sessions as needed. All program participants are expected to register for the meeting and deliver their papers in person.

Barbara Newman, Northwestern University

The successful candidate will have a broad, solid competence in Late Antique Christianity, including a thorough knowledge of patristic theology and the history of liturgy. A firm command of Latin and Greek are essential, as is the ability to combine historical and theological methodologies in interdisciplinary fashion. Candidates demonstrating a thorough knowledge of relevant literary sources will be especially attractive; a possibly decisive factor would be previous experience in one or more of the project’s research domains. Applications from candidates with an excellent graduate degree (typically M.A.) in theology or religious studies are especially welcome, and candidates with an excellent degree in related disciplines (e.g. Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine Studies) are also strongly invited to apply. 

The successful candidate will work as a collaborator within a research project entitled: ‘Preaching after Easter and Christian Identity. An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Greek Festal Sermons on Ascension and Pentecost (ca. 350 – ca. 450 AD)’. The project’s principal goal is to gain a better understanding of the processes by which Christian identity was formed liturgically, especially as evidenced by sermons preached on the feasts of Ascension and Pentecost. 

The research fellow’s principal focus will combine the translation and analysis of individual texts within a broader, synthetic study situating the core homiletical corpus within its late antique background, with a particular concentration on late antique homilies and identity construction. Responsibilities of the research fellow will vary: as well as serving as the research project’s primary collaborator, the successful candidate will also initiate and maintain contacts with an international network of scholars, organise an international conference, teach a research-related module, and provide service to the broader research department. 

The basic net salary will be approx. €1800/month, although in addition the fellowship provides for social benefits (e.g., supplement for children; pension fund) and health insurance. 

This fellowship provides the opportunity to participate in an enthusiastic research group within the context of a dynamic, internationally-oriented theological faculty possessing unrivalled library resources. For more information on the Faculty of Theology, its research and its complete Theology Programs in English, see the website at http://theo.kuleuven.be/page/en/ 

Interested candidates may informally contact the director of the research project via email: johan.leemans@theo.kuleuven.be 

Applications should consist of a letter outlining the candidate’s background and motivation, a curriculum vitae including a list of publications (and/or other relevant materials if applicable), one writing sample and two letters of recommendation. 

Interested candidates are asked to kindly submit the entire application via post (no electronic submissions please) to the address below. 

Prof. Dr. Johan Leemans

Faculty of Theology

Charles Deberiotstraat 26 – bus 03101

3000 Leuven

BELGIUM

Deadline of application: 1 May 2010

Starting date: 1 September 2010 (or as soon thereafter as possible)

The author reports the following about the book: The book is on Scripture authority in post-Apostolic Church. One of its main conclusions is that the primary sources argue against community theology in favour of a religous experience or sense of revelation.

Baker Publishing Group mourns the loss of a colleague and friend, Jeffery A. Wittung. Jeff, one of Baker’s academic editors, was injured in a car accident on his way to work January 6, 2010. He passed away the evening of January 10. He leaves behind a wife, Marne, and two daughters: Ana (5) and Kate (1).

Jeff joined the Baker staff in April of 2006. He quickly established himself as a colleague of exceptional intellect, wise judgment, gracious spirit, and keen wit. Academic authors who worked with Jeff frequently commended the quality of his editorial interactions. In the workplace, Jeff combined an old-fashioned work ethic with cutting-edge theological insight, wrapping them in a polite, cordial, and good-humored demeanor.

Jeff’s scholarly acumen was also on display outside the workplace. He held an advanced degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary (MDiv) and had just finished work for his MPhil from Drew University, completing his comprehensive exams at Drew with distinction. Jeff’s interest in the theology of the early church was evident while at Drew, where he was involved in the production of volumes in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series and was coeditor of a well-received volume of academic essays, Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and Development of Deification in the Christian Traditions.

His academic and professional skills and accomplishments, however, were not the primary focus of his life. Jeff was a devoted family man who loved his wife and daughters deeply. He also expressed his knowledge and spiritual gifts in teaching and preaching at his local church, Encounter Community Church of Belding, Michigan.

We at Baker Publishing Group will miss Jeff greatly, and we invite you to pray for the family Jeff leaves behind: his wife and daughters; his mother, father, and sister; his in-laws; and the extended family. They find comfort in Jeff’s faith and in their own, but their loss is severe.

Further Information:
Conference website and registration:
www.relnorm.au.dk/en/may2010conf/presentation

The conference explores questions such as: How did ancient religious texts and traditions attain normative and canonical status? Which ideological and rhetorical strategies were used in the struggle for the normative status of specific texts and traditions? Discussions will take place under these five headings:
1. Reuse, Rewriting and Usurpation of Biblical and Classical Texts
2. Invention and Maintenance of Religious Traditions: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives 3. Orthodoxy and Heresy
4. Formation of the Biblical Canon
5. Canons, Classics and Foundation Texts in Antiquity: A Comparative Perspective

NOTRE DAME, IN, December 15, 2009<Paul R. Kolbet, assistant professor of
theology at Boston College, has published a new book AUGUSTINE AND THE
CURE OF SOULS: Revising a Classical Ideal. In this study, Kolbet crosses
the boundaries of ancient philosophy, psychology, rhetoric, and theology
to examine the ancient practice of the “cure of the soul” and to chart
its Christian appropriation by Augustine.

AUGUSTINE AND THE CURE OF SOULS is published by the University of Notre
Dame Press. Click here for more information:

http://undpress.nd.edu/book/P01337

Contact: Kathryn Pitts, Marketing Manager, University of Notre Dame
Press, p. 574.631-3267, e. pitts.5@nd.edu