SBL

HarperCollins eBook Promotion

Most of my readers have already seen this announcement, but it is worth sharing widely. I have purchased several of these myself. They are available in almost all eBook formats: iBookstore, Kindle, Google, Nook, and Kobo.

To celebrate the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual conference in HarperOne’s hometown of San Francisco—we’ve put together a special eBook promotion. So, load up on your reading for the plane! Even if you can’t attend the conference, you can still get this “stack” of great e-books at a great price! Hurry! This offer expires on November 13, 2011.

10 great books! $3.99 each!

Here’s your chance to rediscover your favorite authors in an eBook format:

THE HISTORICAL JESUS by John Dominic Crossan
THE BIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY by John Dominic Crossan
GOD’S PROBLEM by Bart Ehrman
THE MEANING OF JESUS by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright
DISCOVERING GOD by Rodney Stark
THE LOST HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY by Philip Jenkins
THE MISUNDERSTOOD JEW by Amy-Jill Levine
THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS OF JESUS by Marv Meyer
MORMON AMERICA by Richard Ostling
WHY RELIGION MATTERS by Huston Smith

Hurry! This offer is good in the United States only from November 4-13, 2011.

You’ll find more information and links to purchase here.

And, of course, we’re looking forward to seeing you at HarperOne’s SBL booth (536 & 537)—where you’ll find our new and classic print books at special prices throughout the conference.

Sincerely,

Laina Adler
Senior Director of Marketing
HarperOne

Technology at SBL 2011

Oct 17th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

No comments yet

I am sure most of you going to SBL received the update email regarding the conference. I was pleased to see this note about SBL’s efforts to make the conference more technologically convenient.

Technology at the Meeting

Our Mobile Meeting Guide will debut in November. You will be recieving an email with instructions. The mobile app will contain:

the entire event program, including both SBL and AAR program units and special sessions

exhibitor information, including an interactive Exhibit Hall map and

maps of conference hotels.

Attendees will have the ability to create and customize their own schedule, make notes about sessions, and share information and schedules with colleagues via built-in social networking. The solution features an intuitive offline program that is native to Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. This means there is no waiting for schedule downloads or web pages to load and no dealing with slow or non-existent Wi-Fi connections. Schedule changes are downloaded in the background, allowing attendees immediate access to event information. A similar web-based solution will be accessible via computer.

Exhibitor Locator Kiosks

Trying to find the publisher of a book you’d like to buy? Use the locator kiosks in the front of the Exhibit Hall to search by title, author, or subject matter.

If your search results include a book or product that is available through one of our exhibitors, the booth will be highlighted on the Exhibit Hall floor plan.

Free Wi-Fi and Cyber Café

Enjoy free Wi-Fi in the Exhibit Hall and lobby areas of Moscone Center West.

Check your email or use the Mobile Meeting Guide at the computers provided in the Cyber Café

SBL Aramaic Studies Session Finalized!

Jul 20th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

2 comments

I had not posted this earlier because we had a few kinks to sort out, but the, not one but TWO, Aramaic Studies Sessions for SBL 2011 are now scheduled!

S21-203

Aramaic Studies
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
11/21/2011
Room TBD

Christian Brady, Pennsylvania State University, Presiding

Aaron Koller, Yeshiva University
Jewish Aramaic literature of Achaemenid times (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

Adam C. McCollum, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
Towards a Typology of Translation Technique from Greek to Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA) (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

James F. McGrath, Butler University
The Satirical Use of Christian Material in the Mandaean Book of John (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

Ryan Armstrong, Princeton Theological Seminary
The Fountain of Youth or the Lake of Fire? Job 33:25 in 11Q10 and Greek Bible (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

David Shepherd, University of Chester
Can Anything Targumic Come From Qumran? Revisiting Klaus Beyer’s ‘Targums’ of Tobit and Isaiah (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

S21-104a

Aramaic Studies
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
11/21/2011
Room TBD
The Elephantine Papyri
This section will be invited papers addressing the Elephantine Papyri corpus, perhaps from the perspectives of language, law, and social history.

Mark Leuchter, Temple University, Presiding

50 Years of Research by Bezalel Porten

Alejandro Botta, Boston University, Panelist (20 min)

Andrew Gross, Catholic University of America, Panelist (20 min)

Bezalel Porten, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Respondent (20 min)

Discussion (45 min)

Founder and CEO of Academia.edu to speak at SBL

Jun 1st, 2011

by Christian Brady.

5 comments

I am very pleased to announce that Richard Price, DPhil (Oxon) will be speaking at the Blogging and Online Publication session at SBL this fall. I had the chance to have a cuppa with Richard last fall in SF and he is a wonderful young philosopher who also has a keen sense of what is happening in the wired world. If you are not familar with Academia.edu it is somewhat like Facebook for academics. They describe the site in this way:

Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share and follow research. Academics upload their papers to share them with other academics in over 100,000 research areas. They can also follow other academics, and see new papers and other research updates from those academics in their News Feeds.

I know many in our community are already on the site. (If you like, you can follow me on Academia.edu.) It appears to be a promising platform for collaboration and collegial interaction without being barraged with cute kittens, total depravity, or Top 50 lists. Please do come for the whole session, we have great speakers lined up, but be sure to stay for Richard as well.

S19-314

Blogger and Online Publication
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
11/19/2011
Room TBD

Robert R. Cargill, University of Iowa
Welcome and Introduction (5 min)

Alice Bach, Case Western Reserve University
Can Blogging at 3 AM Be Considered Scholarship? (25 min)

Madeleine Flannagan, Independent and Matthew Flannagan, A _Not Found
Blogging a Short-Cut to Peer Review: How to do it Effectively (25 min)

Juhana Markus Saukkonen, University of Helsinki
Sense and Practicality: Building a Historical GIS Online (25 min)

Richard Price, Academia.edu
Academia.edu: The Past, Present, and Future of Scholarly Social Networking (25 min)

This session will conclude with a Q&A discussion period with Academia.edu CEO, Dr. Richard Price.

Discussion (25 min)

SBL Scholarship and Technology Advisory Board formed

May 25th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

3 comments

I am very pleased to announce that the Society of Biblical Literature has formed a new advisory board, and one with a great acronym. STAB, the Scholarship and Technology Advisory Board, will have its inaugural meeting at this year’s SBL meeting. The board will consist of the following individuals, most of whom are probably well known to the biblioblogging community.

SBL staff members:

Missy Colee – Director of Technology Services
Sharon Johnson – Manager of Web Communications

At the request of John Kutsko, Executive Director of SBL, I will serve as chair. As the name implies, this board will be an advising mechanism for John and SBL committees whereby we would offer advice and counsel about how SBL ought to be engaged and deploying technologies, including everything from questions about WiFi at conference venues to establishing a peer review process for online initiatives such as blogs, ebooks, and so on. The charge would read something like this: “The Scholarship and Technology Advisory Board provides counsel to committees and staff by identifying and evaluating opportunities for technology to enhance scholarly exchange and professional development.”

This is just a beginning and I believe the first meeting will likely be nothing more or less than discussing exactly what the mission of STAB will be. I look forward to any and all thoughts that you all have. I also want to thank, and I hope that you will join me in doing so, those named above who are willing to serve on this board. The world of technology has and will continue to impact our little cosmos of biblical studies and I am very excited that John has had the vision to lead SBL to the forefront of such considerations.