Categories and Boundaries in Second Temple Jewish Literature   Recently updated !


Department of Theology & Religion, University of Birmingham 

15th–16th July 2020 

Keynote Speakers: 

Dr Molly Zahn, University of Kansas 

Dr Elisa Uusimäki, Aarhus University 

Deadline for Abstracts: Saturday 28th March, 2020 

 

We invite postgraduate students and early career researchers to submit proposals for twenty-minute papers broadly related to the topic of Categories and Boundaries in Second Temple Jewish Literature. Abstracts of no more than 300 words and a working title should be sent to categoriesandboundaries2020@gmail.com. Please note that speakers can apply for travel bursaries and that selected papers may be considered for publication in peer-reviewed proceedings. 

We welcome abstracts engaging with, but not limited to, the following themes: 

  • • Categorical or genre-related distinctions/similarities/tensions in Second Temple texts and related literature 
  • • Physical boundaries (e.g. city limits, border regions, topographical features, walls, buildings) 
  • • Understanding vocational roles (e.g. priests, prophets, scribes, sages) 
  • • Cross-border cultural interaction (e.g. travel, international trade, migration, treaties) 
  • • The role of boundaries in the construction of space/place (e.g. ritual, political) 
  • • Rhetorical or symbolic creation/uses/deconstruction of borders and boundaries in the formation of “self” and the knowledge of “other” 
  • • The relationship between land, space, and identity 
  • • The function of power in delineating categories or boundaries (e.g. elite scribes connected to political power, literate scribes reflecting an oppressed/defiant community) 

Categories and Boundaries CFP.pdf