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Six scholars, representing a range of disciplinary, historical, cultural, and theological perspectives, will each offer a 20-minute presentation drawing on their own research to address a common set of questions. Each presentation will be followed by Q&A and discussion. In addition, the scholars will participate in a closing, moderated panel discussion about patterns and differences across time and place.
Some of the questions to be addressed include:
- How do you theorize the relationship between the "religious" and the "economic" in your analyses of Christian thought and practice? What different approaches are available for the historian or scholar of religion?
- How would the individuals, institutions, or communities you study differentiate if at all between religion/theology/spirituality and economic life? Or how do they see them as intertwined?
- Are there distinctive Christian views and practices that shape how Christians have thought about economic life or engaged in economic activity?
- How have the economic structures and practices of their societies shaped the ways Christians think about God, Christ, and other "religious" themes and concepts?
This colloquium is offered with support from the fund for the annual Don and Barbara Davis Lecture in Christianity. Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion, the Comparative Studies Department and the Humanities Institute.
This event is free and open to the public.
Tentative Schedule:
10-10:15am: Welcome/Introductions
- Isaac Weiner, Associate Professor of Comparative Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion (OSU)
10:15am-12pm: Panel One
- Jennifer Quigley, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School
- Jaclyn Maxwell, Associate Professor of History at Ohio University
- Timothy Rainey, Assistant Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College
- Moderator: Kristina Sessa, Professor of History (OSU)
12-1:30pm: Lunch Break
1:30-2:45pm: Panel Two
- Rebecca C. Bartel, Associate Professor of Religion and Associate Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University
- Jonathan Tran, Associate Professor of Theology at Baylor University
- C. Melissa Snarr, Associate Professor of Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University
- Moderator: Hugh Urban, Professor of Comparative Studies (OSU)
2:45-3pm: Break
3-3:45pm: Moderated Conversation with all Presenters
- Moderator: David Brakke, Professor and Engle Chair in the History of Christianity (OSU)
3:45-4pm: Closing Remarks
Please click on the following hyperlinks to learn more about our Colloquium presenters:
Rebecca C. Bartel is an Associate Professor in the Department for the Study of Religion and Associate Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University. Bartel is an anthropologist of religion and political economies, and her research traces the entangled realms of faith, capitalism, and systems of structural violence throughout the Americas.
Jaclyn Maxwell is an Associate Professor of History at Ohio University. Her research focuses on the important religious and social changes that took place during the later Roman Empire (the fourth to sixth centuries C.E.), when Christianity gradually became the dominant religion of the Mediterranean world. Her current research is focused on the attitudes of the educated elite toward ordinary people and the extent to which the transition from a pagan to a Christian society affected this.
Jennifer Quigley is an Assistant Professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Her research lies at the intersections of theology and economics in New Testament and early Christian texts. She has interests in archaeology and material culture, and her research and teaching are influenced by feminist and materialist approaches to the study of religion.
Timothy Rainey is an Assistant Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College. His research focuses on religion, race, and economy in the Black Atlantic world and he gives particular attention to the ways corporations interacted with Black faith communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
C. Melissa Snarr is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Society Director, Doctor of Ministry Program, Faculty in Graduate Department of Religion, Affiliated Faculty, Community Research & Action, Women and Gender Studies at Vanderbilt University.
Jonathan Tran is a Christian theologian based at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he is the Associate Dean for Faculty in the Honors College and Associate Professor for Theology within the Great Texts program. His research focuses on the human life in language, and what that life reveals about God and God’s world.
The Humanities Institute and its related centers host a wide range of events, from intense discussions of works in progress to cutting-edge presentations from world-known scholars, artists, activists and everything in between.
We value in-person engagement at our events as we strive to amplify the energy in the room. But we also recognize the fact that not all our guests will be able to visit our space. Zoom access will be available to this event upon request. If you wish to have such access, please note this on our RSVP form and/or send your request to Connor Behm: behm.42@osu.edu.
Please note that RSVPs for lunch were accepted until Friday, October 13, at 12pm.
RSVPs for partial or full panel attendance are appreciated in the lead-up to the Colloquium.
