ListServ, Who Knew? Off-Script Newsletter I had no idea ListServ could produce HTML newsletters. Who knew? If you haven't signed up for the Off-Script Newsletter, drop your email in the form below so you can stay up on all the news happening in the critical comparative study of scriptures.

Teaching Lessons from the Mat I have never had the type of hobbies that are shared by the masses. I have played golf once. I've never been confident enought to play pickup basketball. (I'm not whether the flesh is willing and the sprit is weak or the other way around.) I played one disastrous…

Dr. Rachel Schwaller (@universityofkansas) will kickoff our first Off-Script of Fall 2025! Get ready to learn about her new project, “(Un)scripted (Un)settlement: Mapping the Language of Homeless Encampment in Lawrence, KS.”Fri. 9/12, Noon-1pm Central. Register at sowingtheseed.org/off-script

Off-Script: Conversations on Scriptures, Scholarship, and Our Subfield is back this Fall! Our first gathering will be with Dr. Rachel Schwaller (University of Kansas) on Sept 12.

6 Little Ways I Fought Back Against Our Technological Present

The Institute for Signifying Scriptures is launching a monthly, online seminar. The theme for this Fall 2025 is Memory and we'll be reading Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo."

Coming soon from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social

still got a few left. interested grad students & contingent folks, email me your mailing address and i’ll send you a free hard copy.

Last semester at Off-Script, Dr. David Lambert shared how he was reconceptualizing his understanding of "scripture" in light of assemblage theory. Happy to share that you can find his thoughts on this in print!

Long live the footnote--and the index too!

The medium isn't the only thing adapted in the film to musical production of Anastasia. My latest on the blog. sowingtheseed.org/2025/08/04/d...

Glad to see this piece of student-scholarship on a key development in intellectual property law. Religion in Culture MA student Maggie Weatherwax uses signification theory to break it down. religion.ua.edu/blog/2025/06...

Criminally underrated: research databases that actually work with institutional logins and bring you directly back to the desired document.

Prepping my new Sociology of Religion course and pleased to see @suzanneowenphd.bsky.social referenced!

What’s the word for refusing to do something because even though you might actually like doing the thing you hate bandwagons more? Um…asking for a friend.

1 Samuel 3 is about little children refusing to sleep at night and the parents who have given up. “I did not call for you!” is my new motto. #biblicalstudies #parenting

Has anyone seen studies on academic conference attendance over the past decade (esp. since 2019)? I'm especially interested in seeing trends religoius studies and the humanities. #highered #religiousstudies #humanities

I'll add that in discussions of Black history, the idea that it is a national celebration rather than evidence of emancipation as a slow and uneven process is pretty recent. It's been really fascinating to see how Juneteenth has become a national event. nmaahc.si.edu/explore/mome...

I’m teaching a new class this semester: REL108 Sociology of Religion! #acrel #sociology #religiousstudies

First draft is done on an article that’s been germinating for some time. Time to take a break from Art. A and move to Art B. Then I’ll go back and do revisions Art A, then send it out for pre-review while I work on B and so on… #process #research #amwriting

The head of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is heading south for a new job – president of the University of Alabama.

This November I’ll be popping into the SBL Paul & Politics section to discuss my work on the Philemon commentary and notes for the @wjkbooks.com NRSV-UE Study Bible.

Who is doing cool stuff with @ReligionData in the classroom? I'm looking for ideas. #humanities #sociology #acrel www.thearda.com

I’ve enjoyed learning from Prof. Oleg Kyselov about the study of religion in Ukraine. He has a great essay in the Bulletin for the Study of Religion on this topic. doi.org/10.1558/bsor...

Coming to terms with the realization that anyone inheriting my library will find no brilliant notes, just unintelligible scholarly scrawl. High fives to my people who write to remember and not to re-read.

CFPs: SCRIPT @ AAR and SBL 2025 Tis the season for Call for Papers, or as we sometimes call them, CFPs. I’ll sharing here some of the CFPs coming to my desk and why I think you might consider submitting a proposal. The first one up is for the Society of Comparative Research on Iconic and…

As a child, I thought I appreciated TGIF, but now I truly know. We made it, y’all. #Friday

The little experiment that could is going strong into 2025. Here's a recap of our 2024 season of Off-Script: Conversations on Scriptures, Scholarship, and Our Subfield. And come learn about our new Off-Script listserv and Sowing the Seed newsletter.

Pumped about Off-Script today! Let’s get it! #humanities sowingtheseed.org/off-script

New study notes from yours truly on the NRSV-UE's translation of the Letter of Paul to Philemon--out now in the Westminster Study Bible.

Are #humanities and STEM professors in your context having the same or different conversations about AI in #HigherEd?

Pretty sure this is going to be a controversial take. Here goes nothing: The X-Men film series is far closer in quality to the MCU than many think.

What can we learn about public discourse from Muhammad Ali’s conversion narrative? A throwback post for the beginning of the semester (and a one way to kick off a humanities class). sowingtheseed.org/2018/09/14/t... #religiousstudies #humanities

With dates like January 6, 2021, perhaps there's more when we remember them as timelines and constellations of people on the move.

What do AI and Large Language Models say about us(ers)? Nathan Loewen, Don Kraybill, and the Amish are teaching me?

With all the ruckus over "AI" in the #highered classroom, have y'all changed how (or whether) you use your campus's learning management systems?

Good times ahead!!

A new year of Off-Script is coming in hot. Dr. David Lambert @reliunc will lead us in asking "Is Bible Scripture: Reassessing the Biblical in Ancient Judaism and Beyond." That's coming up Fri., January 24 from Noon-1pm on Zoom. Register at SowingTheSeed.org/off-script.

How do we build institutionally resilient programs for the study of religion, ones that will stand now and tomorrow? We get tools that work. Let's open up the REL Toolbox.

Job Opening– The Computational Study of Religion I am pleased to annouce that the Department of Religious Studies at the Unviersity of Alabama is hiring, and that I am chairing the search for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Computational Study of Religion.

The Secondhand Sacred with Dr. James Bielo Dr. James Bielo looks at what the secondhand sacred market can tell us about how people trade in religion and more.

Fascinating recent example of dynamics of canon, with rhetoric of closure vs anthological fluidity in practice, rhetoric of historicity vs embrace of anachronism in practice (not even to mention the masking of power at play) www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2...

Off-Script October is going to be awesome! Dr. Jacqueline Hidalgo is holding it down, leading our conversation on "Studying Scriptures, Studying Latina/o/es in the US." Learn more about this online discussion here. #religiousstudies sowingtheseed.org/off-script/

SCRIPT has provided a welcoming space for academics seeking to explore scriptures from diverse perspectives. Come to Off-Script this Friday to learn more about their work! #humanities #religiousstudies sowingtheseed.org/2024/09/17/c...

Coming up at Off-Script, we’ll be hearing from Dr. Sonia Hazard to learn about Rare Book School and more. Join us on Noon (central) on Friday, 9/20 for what will be an exciting Zoom event! If you’re interested in the study of scriptures, you won’t want to miss out. sowingtheseed.org/2024/09/11/l...

Off-Script is back! David Dault and Sonia Hazard fill us in on the Society of Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts & Rare Book School. Join us on Friday, 9/20 Noon Central. Learn more and register at sowingtheseed.org/off-script.

Just some of the folks turning up last week to our first Off-Script gathering! Religious studies scholars, anthropologists, biblical studies scholars, historians and more showed OUT to talk about the critical comparative study of scriptures! Schedule for the semester drops tomorrow!

Everything is coming together for the launch of Off-Script, a monthly Zoom discussion on the critical comparative study of scriptures. Join us August 30 from Noon-1pm Central. sowingtheseed.org/off-script

Take a sneak peak at a new initiative I’m leading on the critical comparative study of scriptures. It’s called Off-Script! religion.ua.edu/blog/2024/08...