Southwest Commission on Religious Studies
Southwest Regional Meeting Preliminary Program of Events
March 1-3, 2024

AAR-SW

Friday: 2:00-5:00

AAR-SW Future Planning Workshop.

All interested conference attendees should contact Cindy Dawson (seedawson@me.com) for details on the workshop.

Friday: 6:00-9:00

AAR Game Night in hotel lobby and bar areas.

Saturday: 10:30-12:00
Featured Book Session I: Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game: At the Center of Ceremony and Identity, Michael J. Zogry

Presiding: Lora Walsh, University of Arkansas

Panelists:

Sarah Summers, University of Texas

Matthew Pereira, Oklahoma State University

Angela Tarango, Trinity University

Michael J. Zogry, University of Kansas

Play and Mindfulness in Undergraduate Education

Presiding: Rachel Ozanne, University of Texas, Austin

10:30   Trung Huynh, University of Houston

“Why mindfulness-based therapies are essential therapeutic approaches for enhancing college students’ academic excellence and mental health, positively and effectively”

11:00   Antoinette DeNapoli, Texas Christian University

“Role-Playing toward Inclusive Conversations: Approaching Transformative Learning through Innovative Pedagogies and Alternative Epistemologies in the Study of Religion”

11:30   Mark Dennis, Texas Christian University

“Moksha and Reacting to the Past”

Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

Presiding: Chad Pevateaux, Interfaith Action of Central Texas

10:30   Aixin Aydin, University of Texas, Austin

“Workplace rituals: Gender-based violence in the immigration nonprofit”

10:52   Vanity James, Prairie View A&M University

“Religiosity Trends in African American Adolescent Girls Religiosity, and its Impact on Suicide Rates”

11:14   Alexandra Nelson-Tomlinson, University of Texas, Austin

"What’s Women’s 'Work'?: The Preacher’s Wife and the 'Work' of Body Maintenance"

11:36   Rachel Schwaller, University of Kansas

“I Left My Bible At Home...” How Denominational Evangelical Magazines Created the Work Space

The Structures of Black Theology, the Signs of Work, and the Nature of Play in the Discourse of Prophetic Commitments

Presiding: Hue Woodson, Tarrant County College

10:30   Luke Bellinger, Texas Christian University and Tarrant County College

“The Interaction Relationship between Race, Literalism, and acceptance of Queer People”

10:52   Michelle Patterson, University of Birmingham

“Exploring the Multifaceted Impact of African American Masculinity in Church Leadership Roles”

11:14   Michelle Davis, Prairie View A&M University

“The Spiritual Foundation of the Civil Rights Movement: Drawing from a Plurality of Traditions”

11:36   Laron Muse, Prairie View A&M University

“The Black Panther Party’s (BPP) The Ten Point Platform: A Bold Cause Without A Spiritual Foundation”

Ideals of Work and Economic Relations in Christian History

Presiding: Ryan Fitzgerald, St. Edward’s University

10:30   Jon Carman, Southern Methodist University

“What’s the Value of a Denarius? A Footnote to the Foonotes”

10:52   Erik A. Estrada, Texas Christian University

“Combatting Merciful Catholicism: The Historical-Religious Context for the Compilation of Augustine’s Exposition on the Epistle of James”

11:14   Crystal Silva-McCormick, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“Exporting American Imperialism to the Ends of the Earth”

11:36   Greg Atkins, Fort Hays State University

“South and West, Black and White: The NAACP and the Navigators in Colorado Springs, 1953-1969”

Saturday: 12:15-1:15
Featured Book Session II: God Laughs & Plays, David James Duncan

Presiding: Lora Walsh, University of Arkansas

Panelists:

Rebecca Huskey, University of Oklahoma

Claire Colombo, Seminary of the Southwest

Ryan Fitzgerald, St. Edward’s University

Saturday: 1:30-3:30
Featured Book Session III: Meatpacking America: How Migration, Work, and Faith Unite and Divide the Heartland, Kristy Nabhan-Warren

Presiding: Lora Walsh, University of Arkansas

Panelists:

Rachel Schwaller, University of Kansas

Craig Prentiss, Rockhurst University

Aixin Aydin, University of Texas

Nancy Frausto, Seminary of the Southwest

Matthew Drever, University of Tulsa

Acknowledging the Trauma of Gun Violence and Its Impact on Campus Climate

Presiding: Santiago Piñón, Texas Christian University

Panelists:

Francesca Brown, Texas Christian University

Robert Staubach, Texas Christian University

Madeleine Jehl, Texas Christian University

Evan Duncan, Texas Christian University

Lucia Ibrahim, Texas Christian University

Gabby Garcia, LPC, Founder of PSP Professional Services

Erik A. Estrada, Texas Christian University

Theology, Multiplicity, and Play

Presiding: Michael D. Royster, Prairie View A&M University

1:30     Rebecca Huskey, University of Oklahoma

“Thou Shalt Have Fun: on laughing, playing, pretending, and genuinely loving each other”

2:00     Charles Regli, Baylor University

“Where Can I Find A Presbyterianism Like That?: Theological Reflections on Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It”

2:30     John San Nicolas, University of New Mexico

“One in the Spirit: An Ecumenism of Affective Transformation”

3:00     Greg Jones, Duquesne University

“‘And Move’: Holding Other Religions Lightly as ‘Conspirators’”

Religion and the Visual Arts

Presiding: Helena Reddington, Metropolitan State University of Denver

1:30     Sage Elwell, Texas Christian University

“The Grotesque at Play: The Grotesque as Corrective in Digital Culture”

2:00     Katherine Ellis, Baylor University

“Formed by Joy: Playfulness & Asceticism in the Life of St. Francis”

2:30     Lara-Sophie Boleslawsky, University of Texas, Austin

“Whose Kingdom? Examining the Impact and Interpretation of the Nazi Era Painting of Hitler and Jesus Found in Christus Church at Hof, Germany”

3:00     Ronald Lorenzo, Prairie View A&M University

“Social Character and St. Francis”

Theta Alpha Kappa and Undergraduate

Presiding: Jennifer Veninga, St. Edward’s University

1:30  Yajat Bhargav, University of Houston

“Subverting Dominance: Theological Implications of Gender Role Reversal in Judges 4”

1:54  Nia Botti, St. Edward’s University

The Greek Life of Adam and Eve, Holy Week Liturgy, and Iconography: Adam and the Jordan River”

2:18  Christina Munafo, St. Edward’s University

“Responding to the Digital Other: A Psycho-Spiritual Feminist Reflection”

2:42  Ella Johnson, Texas Christian University

“The Affirmation of Gender Fluidity and Diversity in the Christian Context: Contextualizing the Genesis 1 Creation Story and the Evolutionary Nature of Creation through a Process Theological Lens”

3:06 Emma Goins, Oklahoma City University

“The Quadrinity of God: The Role of Woman Wisdom in Modern Theology”

Saturday: 4:00-5:30
Plenary Presentation

Presiding: Lora Walsh, University of Arkansas

Jeffrey G. Snodgrass, Colorado State University

Author of The Avatar Faculty: Ecstatic Transformation in Religion and Video Games (University of California Press, 2023)

“Harnessing the Therapeutic Potential of Avatar Identities: The Religious Parallels and Health Dynamics of Contemporary Role-Playing Games”

Saturday: 6:30-8:30
Plenary Hands-On Activity

Presiding: Lora Walsh, University of Arkansas

Jeffrey G. Snodgrass, Colorado State University

“You Are the Hero (or Villain) in this Adventure: Character Creation, Moral Conundrum, and Methodological Reflections in the Fate Role-Playing Game”

In the hands-on activity, participants first create a character using the role-playing game Fate’s simple and intuitive system. Then, a group of intrepid adventurers play through a brief scene where they are asked to make a difficult moral choice. This is followed by a short debrief questionnaire and discussion that aims to provide insight into an ethnographic and psychological anthropological approach to the study of play.

Sunday: 7:30-8:15

Business Meeting

Sunday: 8:30-10:30
Making It Work?: A Caucus for Adjunct and Contingent Faculty

Participants:

Cindy Dawson, University of Houston

Jillian Engelhardt, Texas Christian University

Trung Huynh, University of Houston

Tiffany Puett, Institute for Diversity and Civic Life

Rachel Schwaller, University of Kansas

Theology, Philosophy, and Theory of Religion

Presiding: Sage Elwell, Texas Christian University

8:30   Gregory Bock, University of Texas, Tyler

“An Unforgiving God: Retributivism as a Divine Perfection”

9:00     Daniel Hill, Baylor University

“Transfiguring Death in the Death of Christ: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of Death”

9:30   Nicolette Walters, Prairie View A&M University

The Inherent Dynamics of Unemployment in a Capitalist Economic System

10:00   Dan Stiver, Hardin-Simmons University

“Social Stupidity: Religion as Cause and Cure”

Meet My Monograph: In Print or In Progress

Presiding: Eric Breault, Northern Arizona University

8:30     Ben Wright, University of Texas, Dallas

Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism (LSU Press, 2020)

9:00     Gregory Clines, Trinity University

Jain Rāmāyaṇa Narratives: Moral Vision and Literary Innovation (Routledge, 2024)

9:30     Chad Pevateaux, Interfaith Action of Central Texas

Mystic Hope: Interfaith Cooperation in an Age of Crisis (In progress)

10:00 Lora Walsh, University of Arkansas

Lady Church: Revelations of the First Christian Goddess (In progress)

Student-centered Roundtable: Academic Flourishing, Nurturing Community Well-being, and Professionalization in the Study of Religion and Theology

Presiding: Antoinette DeNapoli, Texas Christian University

Panelists:

Arunjana Das, Georgetown University

Mark Dennis, Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University

Rebecca Huskey, University of Oklahoma

Sean O’Neil, Texas Christian University

Shari Mackinson, Texas Christian University

Santiago Piñón, Texas Christian University

Grace Vargas, Texas Christian University

Kirsten Wilson, Stephen F. Austin State University

Samuel Ross, Texas Christian University

Michael Gustin, Texas Christian University

Sunday: 11:00-12:30
Performing Religion and Play

Presiding: Mark Dennis, Texas Christian University

11:00   Eric Breault, Northern Arizona University

“The Indigo Room: Religion and Play”

11:30   Sarah Summers, University of Texas, Austin

“Religion in the Marching Arts”

12:00   Helena Reddington, Metropolitan State University of Denver

“Jokes and Play in the Tuḷḷal Tradition of Kerala”

The Status of Women in the Profession Roundtable 2.0: Religion Matters at Work and at Play

Presiding: Antoinette DeNapoli, Texas Christian University

Panelists:

Arunjana Das, Georgetown University

Lea McCracken, Texas Christian University

Tiffany Puett, Institute for Diversity and Civic Life

Susanne Scholz, Southern Methodist University

Grace Vargas, Texas Christian University

Jennifer Veninga, St. Edward’s University

ASSR

Saturday: 10:30-12:00
Theme: Haile Selassie, Exodus of Black Women from Evangelicalism, and Hans Ehrenberg

Presiding: Todd Jay Leonard, University of Teacher Education Fukuoka, Japan

10:30   Darren J. N. Middleton, Baylor University

“Elect of God, England, and Exile: H.I.M. Haile Selassie I at Bath, 1936-41”

11:00   Leslie Garrote, Baylor University

“Speaking Out and Speaking Back: The Not-So-Quiet Exodus of Black Women from Evangelicalism 2010-2020”

11:30   Jerry Summers, East Texas Baptist University

“A Heretic Comes Home: Hans Ehrenberg, The End-Time and Revelatory Hope”

Saturday: 1:30-3:30
Theme: East Asian Afterlives, Tradwives, and Latinx Christianity

Presiding: Darren J. N. Middleton, Baylor University

1:30     Karol Chandler-Ezell, Stephen F. Austin State University

“Dramas & Syncretism in the Korean and Chinese Afterlife: Reapers, Goblins, and the deities as heroes”

2:00     Carmen Celestini, Queen’s University

“Popovers, Submission, and Dystopia: Tradwives, Christianity, and Conspiracy Theories”

2:30     Leslie Garrote, Baylor University

“Displacement and Home Making: How divergent asylee experiences disrupt the myth of ‘Latinx’ Christianity”

3:00     ASSR Business Meeting

Saturday: 4:00-5:30
Theme: Paul’s Missionary Journeys, Vicarious Suffering, and Religion in the Twentieth Century

Presiding: Dennis Horton, Baylor University

4:00     Patrick Scott Smith, Independent Scholar

“Paul's Missionary Journeys and Mediterranean Trade Patterns”

4:30     J. Seward Gelatt, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Matthew, Vicarious Suffering, and Isaiah 53:4”

5:00     Michael D. Royster, Prairie View A&M University

“How Religion Survived the Twentieth Century”

Sunday: 8:30-10:30
Theme: Undergraduate Research

Presiding: Karol Chandler-Ezell, Stephen F. Austin State University

8:30     David Thevatheril, Baylor University

“Christianity and Caste: What Dalit Theology Has to Say about Christ, the Church, and Social Injustice”

9:00     Khala Rice, Prairie View A&M University

“The Consequences of Growth and Expansion of Egoism”

9:30   Victoria Hoover, Stephen F. Austin State University

“Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, Cleopatra? – A Study of Past Life Regression, Practitioners, and the Impact of Spiritual Trances and Hypnotism”

Sunday: 11:00-12:30pm
Theme:  Bearing False Witness, Canada’s Queen Romana Didulo, and LGBTQI Legislation in Uganda

Presiding: Jerry Summers, East Texas Baptist University

11:00   Nicholas Elliott, University of Southern Mississippi

“You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor (Though Everyone Lies): An Examination of Why Individuals Lie for Asked Questions in Opposition to a Religious Goal of Honesty”

11:30   Carmen Celestini, Queen’s University

“Reviving the Violet Flame: The New Age Conspiratorial Journey of Canada’s Queen Romana Didulo

12:00   Tariro Tandi, University of Southern Mississippi

“Religious Rhetoric and Media Constructs: The Interplay of Faith, Framing, and LGBTQI Legislation in Uganda”

SBRL

Saturday: 10:30-12:00
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
Theme: Insights from the Ancient Near Eastern World

Presiding: Victor H. Matthews, Missouri State University

10:30     John Mellison, University of Texas at Austin

“Disposal of Impurity in Judges 19”

11:00     Reichert Zalameda, Baylor University

“In or Out—Two Views of Rahab’s Entrance into Israel in Joshua 2”

11:30     Kyle Rouse, Baylor University

“The Annals of Ashurnasirpal II and Joshua’s Altar: Negotiating the Textual Location of the Mt. Ebal Altar Episode”

Second Temple and Late Antique Judaism
Theme: Dead Sea Scrolls and Apocalyptic Literature

Presiding: Deirdre Fulton, Baylor University

10:30   J. Seward Gelatt, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

 “1QS and Modern Hyper-Literalist Readings of Isaiah 40:3”

11:00   Margaret Talbot, Independent Scholar

“The Body in the Rule: Achieving Atextual Atonement in 1QS”

11:30   Hallie Nickell, Criswell College

“The Relation of the Book of Daniel to 1 Maccabees”

New Testament and Early Christianity
Theme: Epistolary Literature

Presiding: Jillian Engelhardt, Texas Christian University

10:30   Jennifer Reil, Baylor University

“Associations, the Empire, and 1 Peter”

11:00   John Boyles, Abilene Christian University

 “Marital Status as a Matter of Reputation in the Pastoral Epistles”

11:30   Sharon Gresham, Independent Scholar

“The Letter of James: What Does Love Have to Do with It?”

Christian Literature Beyond the Bible

Presiding: April DeConick, Rice University

10:30     Katie Brown, University of Texas at Austin

“The Idealization of Masculinity and Femininity and the Construction of Gender in Early Christian Martyr Narratives”

11:00     J. D. Reiner, Rice University

“The Hymn of Christ in the Acts of John and Valentinian Thought”

11:30     Mary Freiberger, Reformed Theological Seminary

“Virginity in the Ancient Church as seen in St. Gregory of Nyssa”

Saturday: 1:30-3:30
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament A
Theme: The Artistry of the Hebrew Bible

Presiding: Ericka Dunbar, Baylor University

1:30     Rannfrid Thelle, Wichita State University

“Creation of Light as Harmonics”

2:00     Victor H. Matthews, Missouri State University

“The Role of Silence in the Aqedah (Genesis 22)”

2:30     Robert Kranz, Southern Methodist University

“The Melodrama of Jephthah and His Daughter”

3:00     Tyler Moser, University of Texas at Austin

“Birthing the Wind: Omen Literature and Isaiah’s Apocalypse”

Hebrew Bible / Old Testament B
Theme: Biblical Hebrew Poetry

Presiding: Kim Bodenhamer, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

1:30     Michelle Hunt, Baylor University

“Creating Poetry in Numbers 21:30: The Reception and Recreation of Num 21:30 as a Poetic Line in Ancient Translations and Manuscripts”

1:50     Dylan T. Smith, University of Texas at Austin

“The Jonah Psalm (Jonah 2:3–10) and the Song of the Sea (Exod 15:1–18)”

2:10     Cindy Dawson, University of Houston

“Isaiah 60: Light Everywhere, Light Now”

2:30     Ambrose Arralde, University of Texas at Austin

“The Semantics of Sin in the Psalms”

2:50     Nicholas Werse, Baylor University

“Songs of Ecological Trauma in the Book of the Twelve”

3:10     Discussion

Second Temple and Late Antique Judaism
Theme: Emotions, Satire, and Deities in Second Temple Literature

Presiding: David Schones, Austin College

1:30     Lisa M. Wolfe, Oklahoma City University

“The Compassionate Character of Qoheleth?”

2:00     Micah R. Brewster, Denver Seminary

“Exegetical Fallacies in the Hebrew Bible: Who is that Guy?”

2:30     Stuart Lasine, Wichita State University

“Sensing Humor and its Absence in the Book of Tobit”

3:00     Marcus Hayes, Texas Wesleyan University

“‘Greater than All Who were Before Me!’: King Qohelet, Satire, and the Tobiads”

New Testament and Early Christianity
Theme: Book Review Panel of Jeremy L. Williams, Criminalization in Acts of the Apostles: Race, Rhetoric, and the Prosecution of an Early Christian Movement (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Presiding: Susan Benton, Baylor University

Panelists:

Margaret Aymer, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (20 mins)

Jin Young Kim, Oklahoma State University (20 mins)

Abraham Smith, Southern Methodist University (20 mins)

Respondent:

Jeremy L. Williams, Brite Divinity School (20 mins)

Discussion (20 mins)

Christian Literature Beyond the Bible

Presiding: Matt Calhoun, Texas Christian University

1:30     Rochelle Willingham, Rice University

“Untangling the Webs of Theudas in Early Christian Sources”

2:00     Kendra Jernigan, Abilene Christian University

“Reception History of Psalm 45: Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Augustine”

2:30     Abigail Crowe Tipton, Rice University

“The Body of the Soul”

3:00     Camden Roy, Rice University

"Hellenistic Succession Narratives in The Hypostasis of the Archons"

Saturday: 4:00-5:30
Plenary: Celebrating 50 Years of Biblical Studies in the Southwest Region

Presiding: Rannfrid Thelle, Wichita State University

Panelists:

Claudia Camp, Texas Christian University

Lidija Novakovic, Baylor University

Stephen B. Reid, George W. Truett Theological Seminary

Victor H. Matthews, Missouri State University

Joseph McDonald, Texas Christian University and Brite Divinity School

Sunday: 7:30-8:15

Business Meeting

Sunday 8:30–10:30
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
Theme: Character and Ethics

Presiding: Mark Sneed, Lubbock Christian University

8:30     Alexander Goodrich, Fuller Theological Seminary

“Covenant Identity and Social Ethics in Deuteronomy 15:4–6”

9:00     Timothy Bang, Baylor University

“Unconventional Warfare: Women’s Roles in YHWH’s Victory in the Battle between Deborah and Jabin”

9:30     Lily Davis, Baylor University

“Sexuality as Empowerment: The Expose of Jael”

10:00   Jerry Summers, East Texas Baptist University

“Job the Existentialist: Cultural Dialogue for Humankind in Crisis”

New Testament and Early Christianity
Theme: Narrative Literature

Presiding: John Boyles, Abilene Christian University

8:30     Keimi Driscoll, Brite Divinity School

“Man-Made Men: A Transmasculine Rereading of Mark’s Disciples”

9:00    Richard Warren Johnson, East Texas Baptist University

“Paul’s Triumph in Luke’s Subversive Narrative”

9:30     Andrew H. Waller, Ridley College

“‘For all who are far away’: Acts 2, the Idea of Israel, and Lukan Eschatology”

10:00  Jillian Engelhardt, Texas Christian University

“The Kingdom of Heaven and the Roman Empire: A Tale of Two Economies”

Sunday 11:00–12:30
Presidential Address

 Presiding: Matthias Henze, Rice University

April DeConick, Rice University

“Comparing Christianities: Why I Wrote a Textbook and What I Learned”