Forwarded from Ioudaios-L for Robert Kraft:
--- Begin Message ---
[[please cross-post as appropriate: originally sent to: PSCO list,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (ioudaios), [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Elenchus
List), [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Discussion List), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(H-Judaic List), [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Discussion List),
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
PHILADELPHIA SEMINAR ON CHRISTIAN ORIGINS
in its 41st year
an Interdisciplinary Humanities Seminar
under the auspices of the
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Department of Religious Studies
201 Logan Hall
with support from
the Penn Humanities Forum
TOPIC FOR 2003-2004: Parabiblical Prosopography (in the footsteps of
Lost Apocrypha by M. R. James,)
Chair and Coordinator: 12 November 2003
Robert Kraft (University of Pennsylvania) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Secretaries and Special Assistants:
T.J.Wellman (University of Pennsylvania) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Harry Tolley (University of Pennsylvania) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Justin Dombrowski (Westminster Theological Seminary) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
As previously announced, the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins is
scheduled to meet just prior to the SBL/AAR annual meetings in Atlanta, on Friday
evening 21 November 2003, 7:00-8:30 pm, at the Atlanta Mariott Marquis Hotel,
Amsterdam Room (Convention Level). So far, we have had no luck in scheduling a
group dinner beforehand that would fit our time-schedule, but are open to
suggestions from those who know the Atlanta scene.
The topic for the current year, and for this meeting, is "Parabiblical
Prosopography," which is a fancy and brief way of indicating interest in the
names associated with early Jewish and early Christian parabiblical literature
(both as authors and as primary subjects), and with the traditions that developed
around those names (persons or groups) over time. The inspiration for such a
topic is the little volume on "Lost Apocrypha" by M. R. James (1920), which has
spawned the following web sites as part of the larger PSCO project:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/735/Parabiblical/jamesnew.htm
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/735/Parabiblical/NTParabib.htm
Building on the model from last years PSCO meeting at the SBL/AAR conference, we
will have a panel of participants, each of whom has a special interest in this
material and will introduce themselves very briefly as a springboard to broader
discussion. A basic question to be considered is "To what extent do popular
narratives/reports about parabiblical identities (supposed authors and focal
figures or groups) assist us in understanding how the 'parabiblical' literature
was read/understood and transmitted/preserved in the course of its history up to
the modern period?" The panelists will include:
*George Nickelsburg (U Iowa, Emeritus), Enoch, Abraham, et al.
*Jim Davila (St. Andrews, SCOTLAND), "Rechabites" Traditions
*Brannon Wheeler (U Washington) Moses & others in Islamic Tradition
*Kim Haines-Eitzen (Cornell), Thekla as Subject and Scribe
I'd still like to include one or two additional panelists, especially someone
with a focus on another major early Christian figure, if there are any
volunteers. In the remaining PSCO schedule, the exact dates of which have not yet
been decided, we hope to arrange for the following presentations -- additional
suggestions and/or volunteers are also welcome:
On Solomon (especially "magic" associations), Sarah Schwarz
On Philip (also with "magic" connections), Debra Bucher
On the Watchers, Annette Yoshiko Reed
On Elijah, David Frankfurter
On Mary, Ann Matter
On the Maccabee Martyr Mother, Sigrid Peterson
For further information about PSCO, please consult the web site
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/psco/
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
--- End Message ---
