It is not surprising that 30% of Americans consult divinatory methods. In times of insecurity, people have always turned to different ways to make sense of the world. theconversation.com/why-centurie...

Applications are due in two weeks for a visiting scholar at Ohio State's Center for the Study of Religion. Open only to scholars who are not in tenured or tenure-track positions. I look forward to being involved in the CSR in my new position at OSU and to welcoming this visiting scholar!

Very interesting new study dating the Dead Sea Scrolls. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

On our WIHE microsite: @hannatervanotko.bsky.social, associate professor in Religious Studies, McMaster University, on the topic of "Women, Knowledge, and ‘the Wicked’—Deserving a Chance to Fly"

Wow, we are now being officially advised against travel to the USA by the Canadian Association of University Teachers. I never thought I'd see the day. ☹️ #AcademicChatter

Religion in the country where refugees from Gilead seek asylum theconversation.com/how-religion...

Lecture in Hebrew Bible

We are searching for a Scholar-in-Residence in Jewish Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations for the 2025-2026 academic year at Providence College www.schooljobs.com/careers/prov...

York University has announced the temporary suspension of admission in 20 programs, including Religious Studies (in which I teach). The administration cannot shut down programs directly but they can starve them, which is clearly the intention. (1/5)

York University recently announced that admissions to the Classics and Classical Studies programs have been suspended for Fall 2025. Classical Studies colleagues and students at York would be grateful for letters of support. How you can help: www.cac-scec.ca/2025/02/supp... AncientBluesky

Send some abstracts our way

Postdoc position @UiB for project on material religion or religion of place with a focus on power, networks and sacrality in the ancient world. #Ancientbluesky #Acrel #archaeology #religiousstudies #materialreligion

New podcast interview about the pig book: urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Are non-US academics changing any travel plans that involve the USA? E.g. reconsidering non-essential conferences, turning down invites, or is it business as usual? #AcademicSky

It’s all shiny and real now!

Academics: if you know, you know

Might be a good time to reread this book.

We're launching the Bluesky account of the Revue de Qumrân, hoping to find here a nice echo from the scientific community. 😊

University of Helsinki looks for an Assistant/Associate Professor or Professor in Latin and Roman Literature #AncientBluesky ⚱️🦋 jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

A sure sign that divination is a thing in 2025 is that there is a beer called "Tarot". Will it provide you insights for your life remains to be tested (tasted) 🔮

4QHappy

Did I just read another endorsement letter where a male professor describes a female applicant as "hard-working," "caring," and "emotionally intelligent" as if these adjectives should convince the evaluator about their academic excellence? 🤦‍♀️ It is 2025. Please stop.

About esoteric religiosity: " In its new incarnation, the far right began to resemble the old far left. In some places, the two began to merge." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

First academic read of the new year is a superb one by @sacrobosco.bsky.social—essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how historical ideas about reproductive bodies (as well as the misapprehension of these ideas) continue to inform our present, often in infuriating ways.

I'm thrilled to share my first peer-reviewed #Disney /religion publication, which is open-access in Religion Compass! "Exploring Disney's World's Through Religious Studies." compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #AmRel #AcRel Immense thanks to reviewers; all errors mine <g>

"There’s this myth that men’s lives are ruined when they’re accused of sexual violence—it isn’t just untrue, it becomes the justification for giving them benefits to compensate for that notion.”

file under: why shaily gets upset every time social media profs berate colleagues who set boundaries with students or who aren’t endlessly accommodating. yes, we should do our best to meet students where they are. no, this work is not equally distributed.

My favorite #nativity scene, which honors local fishing village traditions, in #Puglia this year. 🎣☀️

I wrote about the shockingly recent history of potato latkes and teaching about the development of holiday traditions for @jewishsf.bsky.social, included in a recipe booklet sent out to donors PDF: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fu583...

New podcast ep! Mike Motia interviews Blake Leyerle about what it meant for ordinary believers to live a Christian life in late antiquity? Featuring In Christians at Home: John Chrysostom and Domestic Rituals in Fourth-Century Antioch (Penn State University Press, 2024). https://buff.ly/3BUEKaO

It is wonderful to see the @aabner.bsky.social special issue on "Hope" out! This issue was inspired by some difficult times during the pandemic when hope was really needed 💚 Congratulations to the editors and contributors! aabner.org/ojs/index.ph...

My article, "Jewish Divination in the Greco-Roman Era," is out in Religion Compass, and it is Open Access! compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Consider submitting an abstract for our EABS/ISBL *Lived Scriptures in Late Antiquity* sessions - we will host a general session and a joint session with the unit on Emotions in the Biblical World. 15 January submission deadline! Join us in Uppsala! www.sbl-site.org/meetings/Con...

“I wish I could say that Mary, mother of God, riding a horse through a wall of fire was the worst thing about Netflix’s Mary.“ theconversation.com/mary-as-a-bi...

📣Announcement📣 Politics & Gender Conference 2025 A conference celebrating 20 years of P&G for scholars working on all aspects of women, gender, & politics. 📅 May 28-29, 2025 📍 Rutgers University CFP: mlkrook.org/PAGC_CFP_202... Website: www.pagconference.org Submit: forms.gle/nc6ZpaEX7qnz...

well, hey, look what cool new edited volume is showing up on Google Books! (attn: @brownsmith.bsky.social) books.google.com/books?id=P3k...

Recommendations welcome! Looking for someone with the time to do this by Jan. 2 + a background in #CdnHist & #ReligiousStudies

Want to work with me? jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/lipton-...

Shameless self-promotion continues: my doctoral dissertation ”The Cultural Evolution of Cultic Expertise in Ephesus” is now freely downloable for each and everyone! urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978...

Text as Revelation analyses the shift of revelatory experiences from oral to written that is described in ancient Jewish literature, including rabbinic texts. Available now!

VUOSI sitten Turussa uhattiin lopettaa klassisten kielten professuuri ja Oulun yliopistossa päätettiin lopettaa aineopintotasoinen latinan opetus. Nyt suunnitellaan antiikin kulttuurin opintokokonaisuuden lakkauttamista Helsingin yliopistossa.

Together with my fabulous colleagues, Saana Svärd & Francis Borchardt, I wrote about gender and gender & research at the CSTT centre of excellence. We hope this article will inspire others to analyze their academic communities through the lens of gender. It will be out soon!

It's out! Early Christianity just published a special issue on Pseudepigraphy built from a colloquium I hosted last February thanks to a grant from the @britishacademy.bsky.social and @leverhulme.bsky.social. It includes +

Too much beauty 😍 #Firenze

Co-organize the "Techniques for Preserving God's Word in Syriac, Hebrew and Arabic Sacred Texts" workshop. 7-8th February 2024 Free attendance upon registration. All the information 👇 www.cchs.csic.es/es/event/int...

Finally!!! Yay!!

Perfection 🦢

Dr. Celia Rothenberg from McMaster Religious Studies department writes about You are so not invited to my bat mitzvah and the potential of religious ritual to empower young Jewish women. theconversation.com/you-are-so-n...

It's here! My author copy has arrived! And it's available for preorder here: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-toxic-m... -- use offer code NEW30 for 30% off. I’m so proud of all the work all our contributors have done, and grateful to @EdinburghUP for their help in bringing it to the world!