American Academy of Religion Midwest Regional Conference

This last weekend I delivered a paper at this years American Academy of Religion Midwest Regional Conference.  The conference theme was “Religion, Sex and the Body,” and my paper (”Border Crossing and God’s ‘Impartial Hand’: The Religious Justification for Mary Astell’s 18th-Century Feminism”) was for the History of Christianity section on “Engaging the Body: Purity, Performance, Parity and Perfection.”

It was a good conference.  Can’t say I was all that impressed by Rock Island (IL) or Moline (IL), though Davenport (IA) on the other side of the Mississippi was interesting.  We went to The Figge while there and ate of two great restaurants, The Woodfire Grill and Mojo’s.  We stopped by The Source, which is supposed to be the largest and oldest used bookstore in Iowa, but it really didn’t impress as much as I hoped.  (It is too easy to get spoiled by the gems in Ann Arbor, MI.)  Augustana College, where the conference was held, has a beautiful campus.

The plenary address (”‘The Lingam Made Flesh’: Split-Level Symbolism in Hinduism” was given by Wendy Doniger, the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School.

The conference will be there next year as well.  I’ll probably attempt to get a paper submitted for that as well.  It will be on “Teaching Religion.”

Other papers heard while there included:

“In the Space Beyond Movement: A Dance Studies Approach to Elisabeth of Spalbeek’s Dance of the Passion” (Katherine Milligan, University of Missouri, Columbia)

“Protestants Protesting Protestantism: 20th Century Experiments in Monasticism” (George Faithful, St. Louis University)

“A Perspective 0n Kathryn Tanner’s Christ the Key, Part I” (Evan Kuehn, Wheaton College and The University of Chicago)

“A Perspective on Kathryn Tanner’s Christ the Key, Part II” (Nathan Crawford, Loyola University, Chicago & Indiana Wesleyan University)

“Christology After the Death of God: Incarnation and the Rise of Secularism”(Thomas Bridges, Marquette University)

Respondent: Samuel Chambers, Vanderbilt University (to the three above this)

“Faith Without Theodicy: Rediscovering Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey” (C. Hannah Schell, Monmouth College)

“Flannery O’ Connor and the Disabled Body” (Tim Basselin, Fuller Theological Seminary)

“‘Some Ultimate Faith and Love’: James Baldwin’s Moral Mission” (Spencer Dew, Loyola University, Chicago)