Fall 2010 - Department of Religious Studies - McMaster University

Religious StudiesNewsletter Fall 2010Message from the CHAIRIf it looks like a lame-duck and walks like a lame-duck you may be sure that it is a Chair in the final yearof office, an office that desperately needs tidying (don’t worry, James, it will get done). I cannot give you along list of things I will miss but on the short list must surely be included the enjoyment of working with asuperb staff in the RS office: Sheryl, Doreen and Jennifer have been outstanding in every regard and I amdaily impressed by the myriad of ways they sustain the quality of life for faculty, graduate students andundergraduate students. Chairs do get a particular kind of comparative exposure to and experience of thewider academic community and I have become increasingly appreciative of and grateful for the relativegood health of our Department as a collegial, intellectually engaging environment that nurtures research,teaching and mentoring alike. This year again we welcome a richly diverse and talented group of incominggraduate students to join those already resident in the (renovated) basement of University Hall.Another piece of great news for our Department is the establishment of a new undergraduate scholarship,which will be in place this Spring. The Rev. Allison M. Barrett Scholarship: Established in 2010 by herfamily and friends in honour of the Reverend Allison Barrett to celebrate her outstanding leadership anddevoted service as Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton, 1996-2008. To be awarded to agraduating student in Honours Religious Studies with demonstrated excellence in Western ReligiousThought who, in the judgement of the Department of Religious Studies, has achieved notable academicstanding and intends to pursue graduate studies. Value: $1,000. We are pleased to add this award as anincentive for our outstanding undergraduate students to pursue graduate education, and we look forward tohaving Reverend Barrett present the first award to this year’s graduating class in the Spring.P. Travis KroekerChair, Religious Studies

Recent GRADUATES!PhD StudentsMyrglod, Camilla (2010) “The Sacred Flesh: On Camus’Philosophy of the Body ”Penner, Jeremy (2010) “Patterns of Daily Prayer in SecondTemple Period JudaismPomazon, Alisha (2010) “Neighbors and Strangers: HermanCohen and Protestant Biblical Criticism ”Resch, Dustin (2010) “A Sign of Mystery: The Significance ofthe Doctrine of the Virgin Birth in the Theology of Karl Barth ”Spina, Nanette (2010) “The Adhi Parasakthi Temple Society ofCanada: A Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu Community in Toronto”Vuong, Lily (2009) “Accessing the Virgin: Gender and Purity inthe Protoevangelium of James”Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy & ReligiousStudies, Valdosta State UniversityWitmer, Amanda (2009) “Jesus, A Jewish Galilean Exorcist: ASocio-Political and Anthropological Investigation ”MA StudentsAgnew, Michael “Russia will be Converted”: The Fatima CrusadesMarian Apocalyptic Discourse During and After theCold WarFisher, Susan “High Church Mennonites?” The RelationshipBetween Religion and Ethnicity Among Mennonites at anAnglican ChurchHelbah, Omnia Government Influence on Religious IdentityRadin, Jessica Between Philosophy and the Law: Ibn Rushd,Leo Strauss, and the Demands of the CityShragge, Benjamin Horizon’s End: The Crisis of History inGrant and NietzscheThiessen, Julia Dionysian Distance: Reading Nietzsche withJean-Luc MarionVeitch, James Defining the Ways: A Review of the “Parting ofthe Ways” Model in Scholarship on Early Judaism and EarlyChristianityAlistair Fung, “Buddhism and the Environmental Crisis: The PathTowards Sustainability”Lauren Mark, “JuBu's: Incorporating Buddhism into a NorthAmerican Jewish Lifestyle”Honours BA – Thesis OptionRecent GRADUATE PLACEMENTAnya Slater, “The Name Delilah Will Be An Everlasting Curse onthe Lips of Men: Deconstructing the Myth of Samson andDelilah in Judges 13-16”When I first arrived at McMaster University inthe Fall of 2003, I remember thinking that I mustreally love studying the ancient world because Ihad just started a Ph.D. in a program that,according to my parents, was hardly a practicalcareer choice. The high demands of the programand the many sleepless night spent studying inorder to just keep afloat made me questionwhether I’d ever see that light at the end of the tunnel, butsomehow with the support of family, friends, and colleagues andplain, old fashioned hard work, I was able to complete my coursework, comps, and extra language requirements and move to theexciting, yet frightening status of ABD.At this stage of my academic career, I was given the opportunity togo to California as a visiting scholar at Claremont GraduateUniversity to work with Dr. Karen Torjesen. While participating inlectures series, conferences, and intellectual discourse with newcolleagues at CGU, I found that my solid training and interactionand experiences with my mentors Drs. Annette Reed, AndersRunesson and Eileen Schuller at McMaster prepared me toparticipate meaningfully in this new scholarly community. When Itook up a teaching position at UCLA as a visiting assistant professor,I found that the skills I developed as a teaching assistant atMcMaster were extremely helpful in preparing me for the classroomespecially in terms of how to interact effectively with mystudents.In January of this year, the moment that seemed unattainable backwhen I first started this journey came to fruition – I defended mydissertation. Shortly thereafter, I accepted a tenure-track positionat Valdosta State University in Georgia. Now that I can reflect onall that I endured as a Ph.D. student, I can see how valuable mytime and experiences at McMaster was in helping get to this pointin my career. Although I’ve complete my work at McMaster, I’mhappy to find that I still get to see and work with individuals frommy department. For instance, I recently participated in aconference at the University of Lausanne with Dr. Runesson andwas able to welcome Dr. John Robertson at VSU as adistinguished visiting professor. It is these happy circumstancesthat I welcome and look forward to as I continue my academiccareer.—Lily Vuong

Graduate AWARDSMA StudentsGraham Baker OGSChris EmmsElizabeth KleinOGSOGSMichael AgnewCGS Doctoral FellowshipStepahnie Balkwill CGS Doctoral Fellowship,Krishna SivaramanMemorial ScholarshipKim BeekChris KoopOGS, Krishna SivaramanMemorial ScholarshipSSHRC, Ronald V. JoyceOntario GraduateScholarship in Soc.Sci. (inname only)Faculty AWARDSCongratulations! Four SSHRC Standard Research Grants (2010-2013) were awarded for the following projects:James Benn “The Scripture of the Heroic March, a Chinese Buddhist Apocryphon”PhD StudentsRalph KornerNicolas MeyerAdrian TsengDaniel Machiela “The Origins, Development, and Impact of Biblical Commentary in Early Jewish Exegesis: The Changing Face ofAncient Biblical Interpretation in Religious and Historical Context”.Eileen Schuller “A Commentary on the Hodayot (Thanksgiving Psalms) in the Dead Sea Scrolls.”SSHRCAbby Goldblatt MemorialScholarshipJapan Foundation Grant, MaryMargaret Scammell TravelScholarshipMatthew Walsh Ashbaugh GraduateScholarshipGreg WiebeCGS Doctoral FellowshipMark Rowe “Biographies of Non-Eminent Monks - The Lives and Training of Buddhist Priests in Contemporary Japan”News and NoteworthyJames Benn gave the 22nd Sammy Yukuan Lee Lecture on Chinese Archaeology and Art, at University of California,Los Angeles, November 7th 2009. His topic was “The Buddhist Arts of Tea in Medieval China.”Zdravko Planinc presented “The Literary and Dialogic Form of the Sun, Line, and Cave Imagery in Plato's Republic,” tothe Eidos Research Group in Hermeneutics and Platonism, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona,Spain in June 2010.Anders Runesson was a Visiting Professor at Hebrew University, Institute of Archaeology, 2009-10.Eileen Schuller received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity, Regis College, Toronto, May 2010.Recently Published BOOKS by FacultyThe Ancient Synagogue from its Origins to 200C.E. A Source Book Anders Runesson, DonaldD. Binder & Birger Olsson Brill: 2010(paperback)The Dead Sea Scrolls: Transmission of Traditions andProduction of TextsEdited by Sarianna Metso, Hindy Najman and EileenSchuller Brill: 2010Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, 92

Department EVENTSHooker Distinguished Visiting ProfessorNovember 24-25, 2010In November of 2010, we hosted Dr. Jacqueline Stone as ourHooker Distinguished Visiting Professor. Dr. Stone, Professor ofJapanese Religions at Princeton University, specializes inJapanese Buddhism of the medieval and modern periods. Hercurrent research areas include death and dying in Buddhistcultures, Buddhism and nationalism, and traditions of the LotusSutra, particularly Tendai and Nichiren. She is the author ofOriginal Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval JapaneseBuddhism (1999), which received a 2001 American Academy ofReligion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion. She hasco-edited The Buddhist Dead: Practices, Discourses, Representations(with Bryan J. Cuevas, 2007), Readings of the Lotus Sutra (withStephen F. Teiser, 2009), and other volumes of collected essays.The Department is delighted to have beenselected to participate in a Graduate ProgramsTeaching Initiative run by the Wabash Centerfor Teaching and Learning in Theology andReligion. Along with fifteen other departments from universitiesacross North America (McMaster and McGill are the onlyCanadian institutions) we have been awarded a $15000 grant tohold a workshop which will allow us to assess how well weprepare our Ph.D. graduates for teaching appointments. We willinvite back to McMaster some of our recent graduates who arenow teaching in institutions in North America. In conversationwith representatives from the Department’s three graduatefields, the School of Graduate Studies, the Centre for Leadershipin Learning, and from the Wabash Center, our our alumni/ae willexplore with us, and with each other, their experiences,She has been president of the Society for the Study of JapaneseReligions and co-chair of the Buddhism section of the AmericanAcademy of Religion.Professor Stone gave two talks during her visit. For thedepartmental colloquium, she presented a fascinating papertitled, “Is There Still Buddhism Outside Japan? A MedievalControversy.” The next day she gave a public lecture at theStudent Center titled, “In the Aftermath of the “Divine Winds”:Religious Responses to the Mongol Threat and the MedievalRe-Imagining of Japan.” This talk attracted over 200 students,faculty, and members of the community. She also met withgraduate students to hear about their research projects and offeradvice. All in all it was a wonderfully successful visit.Wabash Graduate Training Initiative (2010–2012)expectations, frustrations, and triumphs in teaching. Theworkshop will feature structured sessions around key topics(Designing the Course; Multimedia in the Classroom; DesigningEffective Assignments, etc.) in which alumni/ae will share theirexperiences with teaching at McMaster and at their currentinstitutions. There will also be ample unstructured time in whichparticipants will catch up with old friends and share theirthoughts more informally. In addition, we will host a receptionfor all participants as well as current members of theDepartment. The Workshop is planned for April 2011. We willprovide a report on this initiative in next year’s newsletter andon the departmental website. In the meantime, furtherinformation can be found on the Wabash Center website: http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/programs/details.aspx?id=20191Reflections by an Undergraduate Religious Studies StudentI never had any difficulty choosing McMaster as my university. When I was in Grade Eleven I saw the university on the news regardinga robot built in the Engineering Department. I had originally scouted the university for Science, but after beginning my studies, Ilearned about the Religious Studies Department and made a decision to pursue both Religion and English as my majors, instead of theSciences. I have never looked back at choosing McMaster’s Religious Studies program, and now that I’m in my final year, the prospectof leaving is heartbreaking.The Religious Studies Department is full of kind faces and approachable people willing to help you along your path. Jennifer, theundergraduate Administrative Assistant, is extremely helpful when you have a question about course load and degree options withinReligious Studies. As well, professors have always been helpful when you have a question about class or simply their field of interest. Ionce had a question regarding Hebrew grammar, and my friend, Emily, and I went to Dr. Machiela’s office to ask him what it wasabout, he answered our question and he was not even teaching the course. So, the friendly environment of Religious Studies isdefinitely inviting and comfortable as an undergraduate.If you are looking for a beautiful place to learn and explore your post-secondary education, this is definitely the place to be. Backingon to Cootes Paradise and near the beautiful town of Dundas, as well as the student packed Westdale, McMaster University offers acampus full of exquisite landscaping and captivating architecture, as well as a surrounding area that can easily be made into a home.I have enjoyed the past three years of study at McMaster University and hope to pursue a post-graduate diploma in Public Relations.For me, a baccalaureate is more than just a piece of paper; it is a foundation to be built upon and choosing McMaster has made thatfoundation strong.—Amanda Anchor

Welcome to our NEWEST Members of the DepartmentWiebe Baby Meyer Baby Perrin BabyM.A.R.S. – Not so Alienby Amanda AnchorWhen I think of things that are completely out of this world, religion is definitely one of them, and that is why in 2008 a group ofstudents reconstituted the McMaster Association of Religious Studies (M.A.R.S). We are an academic-based organization thatseeks to explore religion outside of the classroom and provide a setting for Religious Studies students to interact with professorsand other students.Studying religion is multifaceted, and it links itself with so many of other areas of interest. M.A.R.S. as a group tries to keep therocket science behind religion simple by following the first year World Religions class schedule. They begin with Hinduism, so wekick off our year with a Trip to BAPS Shri Swaminariyan Mandir Hindu Temple in Brampton, a trip we have done for the pastthree years. This year we are switching up our trip to the Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Toronto, by having The Venerable KhenpoSonam Rinpoche come and give a lecture. In the past we visited the ROM to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and have held movie nights.Every year we explore more and more of the unknown and new possibilities that we could pair with our Religious Studies’degrees.Religion affects everyone in the world and the study of it is paramount to better understanding humankind. M.A.R.S.’s goal is tocreate an environment for students to feel a link with their studies or interests outside of a religious institution or practice, andto get out of the classroom with their learning. Religion is far from a space age science; however, M.A.R.S is an association thatis in place to cultivate the minds of students who wish to pursue religion as a profession or simply for interest sake. M.A.R.S.allows them to see or discuss religion among others in pursuit of the message beyond the stars.Department of Religious StudiesUniversity Hall 1041280 Main St. W.Hamilton, ONL8S 4K1905.525.9140 ext 23109http://www.religiousstudies.mcmaster.ca/