*Conference guide is subject to changes before final posting*
*participants cannot present twice-edits will be made to reflect this*
*California*
*Pacific Islands*
*Nevada*
*Hawaii*
*Guam*
*Arizona*
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION
WESTERN REGION ANNUAL MEETING
http://www.aarwr.com/
PROGRAM
March 13-15, 2020
Claremont Graduate University
150 E 10th Street
Claremont, CA 91711
Welcome to Claremont Graduate University!
Dear AAR Members and Colleagues, welcome to Claremont Graduate University for the
2020 Annual Meeting of the Western Region of the American Academy of Religion. This
year’s program has admitted nearly 160 papers in 24 Program Units.
The host for the 2020 meeting is Claremont Graduate University. Thank you to Jason Sexton, Nicola Denzey Lewis, Deja Darrington, and multiple department chairs in the graduate departments of CGU for your generosity and gracious hospitality. If you see anyone from CGU, be sure to thank them for the time and energy put into ensuring the success of this year’s conference.
Directions to each session have been marked with helpful signs, pointing you to your place of interest. If, for any reason, you are having trouble finding your place of interest, please contact the conference manager – Joseph Paxton – via email joseph.paxton @ cst.edu. It is requested that text and email be used as primary modes of communication for information, directions, and accommodations. If you are a unit chair, please call directly if you are experiencing technical difficulties and need immediate assistance.
Sunday Afternoon Business Meeting
In preparation for next year, we will hold our annual business meeting Sunday afternoon in Burkle 14 from 12:45 – 2:00 p.m. All attendees are invited to come, and lunch will be provided. We will update members on policy revisions, news, discuss administrative and organization details, and provide preliminary details of the upcoming
2020 conference at the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.
Acknowledgements
The American Academy of Religion, Wester Region (AAR/WR) would like to express its thanks to the many people who came together to make this year’s meeting possible.
We begin with Claremont Graduate University which has shown such generosity, not only through sharing its campus, but also by making other appreciated contributions.
Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of Claremont Graduate University and all members of the Claremont Graduate University community. Special thanks to the following for their generous endorsements:
• Patrick Mason
• John Erickson
• Brian Clearwater
And thank you to our conference organizers:
• Nicola Denzey Lewis
• Deja Darrington
On behalf of the board of the American Academy of Religion, Western Region, thank you!
AAR, Western Region Officers
Jason Sexton, President
Anna Hennessey, Vice President and Program Chair
Joseph Kim Paxton, Conference Manager Brian Clearwater, Regional Coordinator Abdullahi Gallab, Past-President
We also thank all of our presenters, unit chairs, and attendees for supporting the AAR/WR, each other, and the advancement of religious studies in our region.
University Avenue
*Burkle Building – 2
*ACB Building - 14
*Stauffer Hall - 10
*Albrecht Auditorium – 10
*Des Combes Quad – 11
WESTERN REGION
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION Annual Meeting
March 13-15, 2020
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, CA
FRIDAY PRE-CONFERENCE, MARCH 13
9:30am-Noon Women’s Caucus Event – Navajo Changing Women: The Creative Process and the Art of Navigating the Psyche - Burkle 26
Presenter: Odette Springer
Bio: Odette is a writer, filmmaker, and classically trained musician. In her depth psychological work, she uses tools such as active imagination, dreams and mythology as ways to awaken the creative spirit. Her dissertation Changing Woman: Calling The Feminine Home focuses on trauma and the creative process.
The Event: The Navajo deity Changing Woman is Earth, the Feminine Creator, spirit, breath, and voice. As the central figure of the Kinaaldá, a ritual marking the point in the life of the female who can now bear children, Changing Woman facilitates the rite of passage for young women. She represents the process of creation, always in flux. The cyclical aspect of her nature not only endows her with the power of rejuvenation, but it also defines
her as a figurehead of the Earth Goddess. As a symbol of equanimity and balance, she
models the integration of opposing---often destructive---forces in the psyche.
Western psyche is informed by binary and scientifically-oriented modes of knowing, while Native Navajo tradition is in relationship with nature, informed by intuition. In a healthy psyche, these paradigms co-exist and inform one another. We explore the creative process and the difficulty of navigating the opposing energies within our psyche following the guidance of the myth of Changing Woman.
The AAR Western Region Women’s Caucus event is gender-inclusive, free and welcomes all people of goodwill to participate in this imperative restorative work.
Registration is available at the door, but RSVP is encouraged and much appreciated.
The event is free. Please RSVP to Yuria Celidwen – celidwen@hotmail.com.
12:00-5:00 AAR-WR Board Meeting – The Board of Trustees Room
7:00-9:30 Queer Caucus Event - Queer View 2020 – “More Than Just a Bar: Lived History, Religion, and Gay Bars”
Location: Burkle 16
Join Us for a screening of the recently released documentary San Diego Gay Bay History
and a follow-up Q and A with director Paul Detwiler moderated by Dr. Marie Cartier.
San Diego Gay Bay History documents the rise of the gay bar, the significance of the growing LGBT communities in those spaces, and the people who flourished despite the prejudice and demeaning treatment. Narrated by AAR Western Region’s own Dr. Marie Cartier, the film focuses on the landscape of the growing LGBT community in San Diego with the rise of the Gay Bay scene and includes interviews with activists, participants, and local LGBT members. The film traces the development of the gay bar as a community institution in San Diego, from post-WWII to the present. Winner of the
Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2018 FilmOut San Diego LGBT film festival. The film highlights the significance that Southern California played in being a vanguard
in establishing a thriving LGBT community.
Attendees will have the chance to view never before seen archival footage of the gay bar scene in San Diego post-WWII to the present and take part in an interactive discussion on the important role gay bars played in the development of the modern LGBTQ movement.
The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to queerstudies.aar@gmail.com
SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 14
8:00-5:30 Registration – Burkle Hall
First Session (8:30 – 10:00 a.m.)
Ecology and Religion 1 (8:30 – 10:00 a.m.) Burkle 12
Sacred Passages and Human-Nature Rituals of Belonging
Moderator: Matthew Hartman, Graduate Theological Union
Yuria Celidwen, Pacifica Graduate Institute
"Mictlan: Our Shared Home. Funerary Rites and Ethics of Belonging in Indigenous precolonial Mexico"
Julie Bongers, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Salmon’s Run 4 Us / Our Run 4 Salmon: Joining their Journey to Celebrate our Fellow
Beings Rites of Passage”
Marla Morris, Georgia Southern University
“Metaphors of the Desert: The Ecology of Death”
Buddhist Studies 1 (8:30-10:00 a.m.) Burkle 14
Women’s Ordination and Education in Buddhist Traditions
Moderator: Alison Jameson, University of Arizona
Swati Chawla, University of Virginia
“From Illiteracy to the Ph.D. Degree: The newly-minted Geshemas of Tibetan Exile”
Brianna K. Morseth, Dharma Realm Buddhist University
“The Yogācāra Bhikṣuṇī: (Self-)conscious imagery in the Yogic poetry of Chan nuns”
Lisa Liang, Dharma Realm Buddhist University
“Physical Rites of Buddhist Women in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra”
Yi Liu, University of Arizona
“Ritual of Healing and The Platform of Medicine Buddha”
Latina, Latino, and Latin American Religions (8:30-10:00 a.m.) Burkle 16
Religious Traditions and Decolonial Rituals of U.S. Latinxs & Latin Americans
Moderator: Lauren Frances Guerra, University of California, Los Angeles
Respondent: Lauren Frances Guerra, University of California, Los Angeles
Nancy Quiñones, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
“21st Century Church Practices: Embedded Colonial Ritual Domination”
Saul Barcelo, Claremont School of Theology
“Rituals and Resistance amongst the Zapatistas”
Marlene Ferreras, La Sierra University
“Curanderismo and Healing Practices in Latinx Communities”
Psychology, Culture, and Religion 1 (8:30-10:00 a.m.) Burkle 22
The Process & Experience of Scripturalization
Moderator: Tammi J. Schneider, Claremont Graduate University
Rebekah Call, Claremont Graduate University
“Revelation and Church Structure: the Effect of the 1890 Manifesto on Individual
Revelation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”
James W. Yuile, Claremont Graduate University
“Scripturalization of Performance: Understanding the Rhapsodic Experience of Hesiod via the Hindu Śruti”
G. Jorge Medina, Claremont Graduate University
“The Dead Sea Scrolls’ Community Rule (1QS) as Scripture”
Eugene Staples, Claremont Graduate University
“Three-Point Perspective--Susanna: Exceptional Challenges to the Male Gaze”
Education and Pedagogy 1 (8:30-10:00 a.m.) Burkle 26
Transforming the Classroom, Transforming the Student: The Transformative Power of Pedagogy
Moderator: Peter Romaskiewicz, University of California, Santa Barbara
Aizaiah Yong, Claremont School of Theology
“Exploring Practices of (Self)Compassion in Multiracial Identity Development”
Shannon Frediani, Starr King School for the Ministry
“Utilizing Pedagogy for Disrupting White Supremacy”
Sarita Tamayo-Moraga and Olivia Hill, Santa Clara University
“Departmental Obligations in the Personal Transformation of Religious Studies Majors at a Jesuit University”
Womanist/Pan-African Studies 1 (8:30-10:00 a.m.) Stauffer 106
Deeper Shades of Ritual, Rites, and Meaning – Examining Womanist Justice Consciousness
Moderator: Valerie Miles-Tribble, Graduate Theological Union
Nikia Robert, Claremont School of Theology
“Womanist Criminal Justice Ethic”
Sakena Young-Scaggs, Arizona State University
“Liminal Space: A Necessity in Rituals and Rites of Passages for Africana Women”
Ethics 1 (8:30-10:00 a.m.) Stauffer 110
Ethical Reflection on the International Influence of Rituals
Moderator: Owen Anderson, Arizona State University
Diana Kim, Fuller Theological Seminary
“The Rite of BTS: What a K-Pop Phenomenon Means to Christian Faith”
Lu Zhang, University of Arizona
“Discovering the Ritual Meaning of Neo-Confucianism: A Religious Reading of Zhou
Dunyi’s Self-Cultivation Theory”
Philip King, Fuller Theological Seminary
“The Troubles of Embodying Peacemaking: Applying the Rite of Eucharist to Construct a
Means of Peacemaking in Contemporary Northern Ireland Sociopolitical Conflict”
Religion, Literature, and Film 1 (8:30-10:00 a.m.) ACB 108
Profane and Nonsecular Paths towards Immanent and Transcendent Duty
Moderator: Emmanuelle Patrice, Saybrook University
Mugdha Yeolekar, California State University, Fullerton
“What can South Asian films teach us about religion, gender identity, and social justice? Some reflections on Kunku--a 1937 Marathi film”
Kate McEachen, University of Southern Queensland
“Rite of Passage in two television adaptations of “Journey to the West”
Dane Sawyer, University of La Verne
“Eleanor, Chidi, and the Buddhist Notion of No-Self in ‘The Good Place’”
Chantal Noa Forbes, California Institute of Integral Studies
“The Chasing Hunt: transcendence, immanence, and the zone of proximity in the
Kalahari Desert”
SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 14 (10:15 – 11:00 a.m.)
Keynote (10:15 – 11:00 a.m.) Albrecht Auditorium
Speaker: Reggie Williams
Title: "Cultural Ideals as Practices of Exclusion"
Bio: Dr. Reggie Williams book Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance (Baylor University Press, 2014) was selected as a Choice Outstanding Title in 2015, in the field of religion. The book is an analysis of exposure to Harlem Renaissance intellectuals, and worship at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist on the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, during his year of post-doctoral study at Union Seminary in New York, 1930-31.
Dr. Williams’ research interests include Christological ethics, theological anthropology, Christian social ethics, the Harlem Renaissance, race, politics and black church life. His current book project includes a religious critique of whiteness in the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, he is working on a book analyzing the reception of Bonhoeffer by liberation activists in apartheid South Africa.
Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2011. He earned a Master’s degree in Theology from Fuller in 2006 and a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Westmont College in 1995. He is a member of the board of directors for the Society for Christian Ethics, as well as the International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society. He is also a member of the American Academy of Religion and Society for the Study of Black Religion.
Second Session (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.)
Islamic Studies 1 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Burkle 12
Rites of Passages, Identity, Religious Pluralism and Philosophy
Moderator: Abdullahi A. Gallab, Arizona State University
Arshad Munir, University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan
“Rites of Passage in Ethnic Pakistan: Transition from accused to Innocent”
Adam Tyson, University of California, Riverside
“Religious Pluralism and the Philosophy of Wahdat al-Wujud in Şeyh Bedreddin’s Revolt”
Jessica Grace Howell, University of California, Long Beach
“Navigating Identity & Coming Out: The Intersectional Experiences of LGBTIA+ Muslims”
Wael Hegazy, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Salience of Saintliness in Islam”
Buddhist Studies 2 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Burkle 14
Ordination and Other Rites of Passage in Buddhist Traditions
Presenter: Jake Nagasawa, University of California, Santa Barbara
Naresh Man Bajracharya, College of the Holy Cross
“Ten Passages of Life in Newār Buddhism”
Lu Huang, Temple University Ordination in 17th century China: Ouyi zhixu蕅益智旭’s
“Shifting between Bhikṣu and Novice”
Thomas Newhall, University of California, Los Angeles
“How Can a Ritual Change One’s Identity? A Look at Daoxuan’s Theories of the ‘Essence
of the Precepts’ in Relation to Buddhist Monastic Ordination”
Michel Mohr, University of Hawaii
“Negotiating the Great Transition: Transference of Consciousness in Contemporary
Tibetan Buddhism and Some of Its Philosophical Implications”
Dermott Walsh, Loyola Marymount University
“How to Ordain a Zen Buddhist Monk: Eisai and the Problem of the Vinaya in early
Japanese Zen”
Queer Studies 1 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Burkle 16
Intersectionality, Coalition Building, LGBTQIA+ Identity and Birthing Equality
Moderator: Marie Cartier, California State University, Northridge
Telaireus Herrin, Claremont Graduate University
“Coming Out Black, Gay, and Christian: The Intersectionality of Race, Sexuality, and
Faith”
Kori Pacyniak, University of California, Riverside
“Queering the Liminal: Christian Transgender and Non-Binary Rituals”
John Erickson, Claremont Graduate University
“‘Stepsons and Stepdaughters’: Chosen Communities, Religion, Faith, and LGBT Liberation “
Psychology, Culture, and Religion 2 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Burkle 22
Disaster and Rites of Passage
Moderator: Casey Crosbie, Claremont School of Theology
Katherine Kunz, Praktische Theologie Universität Basel
“Leaving Home: Rites of Passage and the Refugee Experience”
Sarah Holden, Humboldt State University
“A Symbol of Hope: An Ethnographic Analysis of Religion and Disaster following the
Camp Fire”
Holly Ferguson, University of Southern California
“From Warrior to Servant: An Integrative Theoretical Framework Through Which to
View the Well-Being of Military Veterans Serving in VOADs”
Joint Panel: Ecology and Religion, Indigenous Studies, Latina, Latino, and Latin American Religions, and
Womanist Pan African Studies (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Burkle 26
Valuing Lives, Healing Earth: Re-visiting the Significance of Rosemary Radford Ruether in Twenty-first
Century Scholarship on Real Lives
Moderator: Yuria Celidwen, Pacific Graduate Institute
Panel Contributors: Lilian Dube (editor), University of San Francisco; Theresa Yugar (editor), California
State University; Sarah Robinson-Bertoni (editor), Pacific Lutheran University; Rosalind
Hinton (contributor), Ph.D., Independent Scholar, Member of the 1000 Women in Religion Wikipedia Project of the Women’s Caucus, American Academy of Religion, Consultant with Julep Consulting, Creator of online exhibitions (laoutland.wp.tulane.edu and nolajewishwomen.tulane.edu), With recorded or video streaming vignettes from book contributors: Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Prof. Emerita, Smith College, Founder & Director, Sachamama Center for Biocultural Regeneration, Pamela
Brubaker, Sylvia Marcos, Universidad Nacional Autonóma de Mexico (UNAM), Teresia Mbari Hinga
(editor), Santa Clara University
Religion, Science, and Technology 1 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Stauffer 106
Shifting Experiences of Space and Time
Moderator: Melanie Dzugan, Fuller Theological Seminary
Matthew Zaro Fisher, Marymount California University
“The Smartphone as a Rite of Passage: Why Technology Will Change the Face of
Religion”
Mitchel E. Hickman, California State University, Long Beach
“The Virtual Rite of Character Creation”
Toni Batchelli, VP of Engineering, Peerspace.com
“Startup Founding as a Rite of Passage in Silicon Valley”
Reed Metcalf, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Baptism, Dirty Feet, and Pilate’s Hands: The Neuroscience of Christianity’s Cleansing
Rites”
Philosophy of Religion 1 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) Stauffer 110
Rites, Essentialism, and Racial Identity
Moderator: Dane Sawyer, University of La Verne
Heejun Yang, Claremont Graduate University
“The Danger of Essentialism in the Rites of Passage”
Mario Orospe Hernández, Arizona State University
“The Sacred and the Holy: Towards a Genealogical Clarification of Two Theological
Categories Behind the ‘Primitive Ambiguity’ of Sacredness”
Nathan Placencia, Los Angeles Valley College
“Will There Be Races in Heaven? Toward a Practical Account of Racial Identity”
Sheela Pawar, California State University, Dominguez Hills
“Getting a Grasp on the Religious and the Secular: Rituals and Routines”
Religion in America 1 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) ACB 108
Moderator: TBD
“Secularism”
Alexander Zamusinski, University of California, Riverside
“Rites of Passage in American Secular Communities: A Case Study of the Los Angeles
Sunday Assembly”
Tessa Harmon, University of California, Riverside
“Curating ‘Secular’ Mindfulness-Based Interventions in American Public Schools”
Heather Burrow, Claremont Graduate University
“Year-focused Coming of Age Rites Replace Body-focused Puberty Rites in
Protestantism”
Religion and the Arts 1 (11:15 – 12:45 p.m.) ACB 214
Sex, Magic, and Becoming Adults: Conversations on Gender, Sexuality and Other Coming of Age
Rituals in Pop Culture
Moderator: Tamisha A Tyler, Fuller Theological Seminary
Jessi Knippel, Claremont School of Theology
“No Longer a Child, Not Yet an Adult: looking at the transitions from Childhood to
Adulthood in the Allegorical Series of Lewis and Pullman”
Lunch (1:00 – 2:00 p.m.)
Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Unit Chairs Meeting and Lunch (Burkle 12)
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Queer Caucus Lunch (Burkle 16)
Third Session (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.)
Islamic Studies 2 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Burkle 12
Islamic Law, Prophetic Tradition, and Education
Moderator: Sophia Pandya, University of California, Long Beach
Souad T. Ali, Arizona State University
“The Politics of Hudud in Islamic Law”
Neimeh Mousa, Arizona State University
“The Sunna and Prophetic Tradition in Islam”
Sarah Risha, Arizona State University
“Educational Curriculum in the Qur’an”
Buddhist Studies 3 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Burkle 14
Resistance and Muslim Women
Moderator: Jake Nagasawa and Alison Jameson
Wenwen Zhou, University of the West
“Solitude as a Passageway to Liberation”
Jinhui Wu, University of Arizona
“Mapping the Pure Land: The Classification of the “Four Lands” in Chinese Illustrated
Exegeses of Buddhist Cosmology”
J. Jeffrey Franklin, University of Colorado, Denver
“The Reception of the Lotus Sūtra in Nineteenth-Century Europe and How It Shaped
Reception in the West Today”
Jongmyun Kim, The Academy of Korean Studies
“Trends in Research on Korean Buddhist Rituals”
Philosophy of Religion 2 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Burkle 16
Technology, Existence, and Consuming Religion
Moderator: Dane Sawyer, University of La Verne
Aaron Berg, Claremont Graduate University
“Recovering the incalculable in the world age of technology”
Rachel Nelson, University of Birmingham, UK
“Existence: A Rite of Passage into Wisdom of Self”
Chris Morales, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Friends and Future Selves: Existential, Ethical, and Political Dimensions of Friendship in
R.W. Emerson”
Samantha Kang, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Imagining an Otherwise: Lofton’s Consuming Religion as Philosophy of Religion”
Goddess Studies 1 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Burkle 22
Wicca, and Gender Theory: Pedagogy Workshop – How to incorporate Engaged Learning Experiences
Organizers: Marie Cartier, California State University, Northridge and Anjeanette LeBoeuf, Claremont Graduate University
How does one incorporate Feminist and Gender Theory to Goddess Studies to make it relevant, fun, and productive for students? How does one bridge the gap between
praxis and academics? How do you create safe spaces in classrooms when engaging in material that has been deemed heretical, witchcraft, and the remnants of past women’s empowerment movements? Have you struggled with how to incorporate any material that is being labeled as reactionary, subversive, non-conforming? Then this is the panel for you.
The Goddess Studies Pedagogy Workshop is just the space for this. The Pedagogy Workshop will explore how to create a curriculum which provides spaces for academic, lived praxis, and the non-traditional. Using the case study of Dr. LeBoeuf and Dr.
Cartier’s integration of Goddess Studies in the classroom this workshop will explore how to use mixed medias and incorporated engaged learning techniques.
Dr. LeBoeuf will talk about her Goddesses Around the World course and the projects that were effective in creating engaged learning outcomes. The panel will include participating in the ritual that was used in the course performed by Dr. Cartier. Dr. Cartier is an ordained priestess in the Temple of Isis/ Fellowship of Isis and has been a practicing Wiccan for over 40 years.
The purpose of this panel will be in constructing new pedagogical methods for created courses that are heavily in engaged learning experiences. The workshop portion will include syllabi construction, in classroom activities, ways to move away from the term paper, and how to arrange on-site field trips.
Women and Religion 1 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Burkle 26
Re-narrating Power in Experience
Moderator: Sara Frykenberg, Mount St. Mary’s University
Respondent: Brooke Nelson, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Amol Nimsadkar, Tata Institute of Social Science
“The Role of Navayana Buddhism for Women Emancipation: Understanding the Lived
Experiences of Buddhist Women in Maharashtra”
Valeria McCarroll, California Institute of Integral Studies
“Reclaiming Birth as a Rite of Passage”
Jennifer Dunatov, Mount Saint Mary’s University
“Right Relationship in the Birth Experience: Ethics, Vulnerability and Empowerment”
Religion and Social Sciences 1 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Stauffer 106
Religious Pluralism and Diversity
Moderator: Valentina Cantori, University of Southern California
Troy Mikanovich, Claremont Graduate University
“Interreligious Rites and the Performance of Interreligion at the 2018 Parliament of the
World's Religions”
Arnab Chakraborty, University of Southern California
“Diversity as the Mission: A New Strategy of Managing Difference in a Multiracial
Evangelical Church”
Asian American Religious Studies 1 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Stauffer 110
Understanding Death, Progression of the Theravada Tradition, and Religious Transnationalism
Moderator: Albert Shannon G. Toribio, University of California Santa Barbara
JungEun Park, Claremont School of Theology
“When Human Flesh turns into Ashes: Death in the Experience of Asian Americans”
Alison Cohn Jameson, University of Arizona
“Taking Refuge One Rite at a Time: A Case Study of One Theravada Community in
Tucson, Arizona “
Thien-Huong Ninh, Cuesta College
“Refugees and Resistance: Sacred Rituals among Vietnamese Catholics in the U.S. and
Germany”
Catholic Studies 1 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) ACB 108
Questioning Boundaries of Participation: Eucharist and Ordination
Moderator: Eva Braunstein, University of California, Santa Barbara
Renato Aguila, Graduate Theological Union
“Ecology and Communion: A Renewed Understanding of the Eucharist”
W. Ezekiel Goggin, Skidmore College
“Freedom and the Fate of the Gift: Hegel and Marion on Eucharistic Presence”
Peter Kang, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
“(Un)binding the Body: Catechesis, Mystagogy and the Hóros of Sacramental Life”
Religion and the Arts 2 (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) ACB 214
Art, Culture, and Rites of Passage
Moderator: Roy Whitaker, San Diego State University
Olivia Happel, Pacifica Graduate Institute
“Rose Ceremonies, Home Towns, Fantasy Suites, and Falling in Love: Rites of Passage in the Bachelor Franchise”
Josiah Baker, Fuller Theological Seminary
“A Vanishing Distinctive: Spirit Baptism in Pentecostal Identity Formation and Hymnody”
Daniel Lai, Seattle Pacific University
“A Comparative Study of Japanese Zen Buddhism Architecture and Catholic
Architecture”
Steven Zepeda, Independent Scholar
“’Savi’s Workshop’ as a Rite of Passage in Galaxy’s Edge”
Fourth Session (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.)
Education and Pedagogy 2 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Burkle 12
New Views and Novel Approaches to Religion and Education
Moderator: Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, Santa Clara University
Jisujo T. Gauthier, University of the West
“Discerning Skandhas, Embodied Theologies, and Zen in the Classroom”
David Flores, University of California, Los Angeles
“Forgotten Narratives of Chicana/o Movement History: Religion and Spirituality”
Peter Romaskiewicz, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Varieties of Contemplative Pedagogy and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning”
Indigenous Studies 1 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Burkle 14
Dreams, Nature, and the Feminine Divine
Moderator: Cecilia Titiziano, Graduate Theological Union
Leon Aliski, Pacifica Graduate
“White Buffalo Calf Woman: Sacred Teachings and Rites”
Odette Springer, Studio School
“Changing Woman: A 21st Century Model for Equanimity and Balance”
Diya Dannu, California Institute of Integral Studies
“Ancestral Dreaming as a method of Transmitting Cultural Memory”
Religions of Asia 1 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Burkle 16
Rites of Passage in East Asian Traditions of Abortion and
Medicinal Healing
Moderator: Anna Hennessey, University of California, Berkeley
Ryan Luna, California State University, Long Beach
“The Healer Inoculated: An Exploration of Mimetic Agents of Inoculation and
The Transformation Cycle of the Student/Practitioner of Chinese Medicine”
Carina Roth, University of Geneva
“Mizuko kuyō and the Ritual Commemoration of Abortions in Japan”
SeungGyeong Ji, University of Minnesota
“Women’s Stories in Cheondoje (A way to sky): Buddhist Abortion Ritual as Rite of Passage in South Korea ‘#TacoTrucksatEveryMosque: Resisting Identity Boundaries and Redefining Solidarity’”
Psychology, Culture, and Religion 3 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Burkle 22
Therapeutic Approaches to Rites of Passage
Moderator: Hester Oberman, University of Arizona
Thomas Davis, California State University, San Bernardino
“The Catholic Psychoanalytic Psychology of Social Work: Rites of Passage in Liber
Sancticidarum”
Malachi Gillihan, California Institute of Integral Studies
“The Future is Virgin: Rites of Passages in the Healing of Sexual Abuse”
Jessie J. Thomas, San Diego State University
“Life with God and Humans: Experiential Elements in Rites of Passage”
Women and Religion 2 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Burkle 26
Identity, Roles, and Ritualization
Moderator: Sara Frykenberg, Mount St. Mary’s University
Respondent: Michelle Mueller, Santa Clara University
Katherine Cloward Smith, Claremont Graduate University
“Modest Maidens: Attitudes and Practices Regarding Modesty among Mormon and
Muslim Young Women”
Kate McEachen, University of Southern Queensland
“Becoming Tripitaka: Passing and the Rite of Passage in ‘The New Legends of Monkey’”
Andrea Slominski, Independent Scholar
“Riting Regency: Maiden, Householder, Regent, Wise Woman”
Religion and Social Sciences 2 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Stauffer 106
Social Scientific Approaches to the Study of Religion
Moderator: Rebecca Sager, Loyola Marymount University
Elizabeth Shimada, University of Southern California
“The Center of It All: How Black Women Intersect their Christian and Social Selves”
Mehdi Ali, University of Southern California
“Evolving Orthodoxies: Western Islamic Discourses on Same-Sex Sexual Relationships”
Gabe Veas, The Los Angeles School of Mentorship
“Mentoring Lineages as a Rite of Passage: Understanding How Protégés Publicly
Compete to Appropriate the Roles, Traditions, & Ethics of Religious Mentors”
Pagan Studies 1 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) Stauffer 110
Rites of Passage Across Paganism
Moderator: Dorothea Kahena Viale and Jeffrey Albaugh
Bran Stigile-Wright, Graduate Theological Union
“Rejecting the Good or Responding to God(s)? Narrativizing Transness in American
Heathenry and Evangelicalism”
Ashley Starr-Morris, Claremont Graduate University
“Witchcraft for Sale?: Commodification and Reclamation of the Modern Witch”
Lorne Greene, Eastern Washington University
“A Pagan Eschatology: What We Talk About When We Talk About Death”
Catholic Studies 2 (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.) ACB 108
Justice at the Margins: Inclusive Liturgical Practices
Moderator: Justin Claravall, Graduate Theological Union
Porsia Tunzi, Graduate Theological Union
“Catholic Marriage Preparation When Inclusivity and Justice Are Considered”
Maureen Pratt, Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University
“Liturgy and Disability: Making Room at the Table” Hannah Bowman, Mount Saint Mary’s University
“‘Rites of Unbinding’ in Liturgy and Restorative Justice”
Black Caucus (5:00 – 6:00 p.m.) Burkle 16
TBD Moderator: Sakena Young-Skaggs, Arizona State University Speaker: “TBD”
Reception (5:45 – 6:45 p.m.) Des Combes Quad
*All conference attendees are invited. We hope to see you there!
Presidential Address (7:00 – 8:00 p.m.) Albrecht Auditorium
Speaker: Jason Sexton, University of California, Los Angeles
Title: "The Black Church and the Future of Black California."
Bio: His scholarly work has been published in academic journals like Theology, International Journal of Public Theology, Religions, Ecclesial Practices, Journal of Theological Studies, and in journals of missiology and criminology. Contributions in religious studies led to
his elected role as the current President of the largest, most diverse regional body of the American Academy of Religion, the Western Region. And his contributions to California studies led to his appointment as the recent Editor of the UC Press-published journal, Boom California. He serves on the boards of several scholarly organizations, and his academic writing has been published by presses like Routledge and Bloomsbury, while his popular writing has appeared in the LA Times, Zocalo Public Square, Los Angeles Review of Books, HarperCollins, among others.
Prior to joining the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, he was the Interim State University Associate Dean of Academic Programs and a Visiting Fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.
SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 15
8:00-9:00 Women’s Caucus Breakfast – (Burkle 26)
8:00-9:15 Registration – Burkle Hall
First Session (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.)
Religions of Asia 2 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.) Burkle 12
Sacred Space, Ritual, and Reform in Religions of Asia
Moderator: Nancy Martin, Chapman University
Deepak Shimkhada, Claremont School of Theology
“Risen by Smoke: Hinduism’s Death Ritual of Antayesti”
Ingyu Park, Seoul National University
“The Initiation Ceremony of New Religious Movements in Korea: A Transition from Ritual Community to Faith Community”
Taesoo Kim, University of Missouri
“Sacred Spaces and Sacred Ritual in Daesoon Thought”
History of Christianity 1 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.) Burkle 16
Exploring the Edges: Non-Sacramental Rites of Passage Throughout Christian History
Moderator: Dyron B. Daughrity, Pepperdine University and David M. Houghton, Fuller Theological
Seminary
Alec Sixta, California State University, Long Beach
“Sex, Conversion, and Augustine”
Stephen Quarles, Graduate Theological Union
“F.D. Maurice’s Social Doctrine of the Trinity”
Panayotis “Otis” Coutsoumpos, Jr., Claremont Graduate University
“The Doubt of Certainty: How Kierkegaard Views Existence, Doubt, Certainty, and Faith”
Psychology, Culture, and Religion 4 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.) Burkle 22
Liminality, Revelation, and Rites of Passage
Moderator: Kevin Whitesides, University of California, Santa Barbara
Joseph Ramelo, Graduate Theological Union, University of California, Berkeley “The Catholic Psychoanalytic Theology of Social Work: Rites of Passage in Liber Sancticidarum”
Cooper Kent, University of San Diego
“One-Dimensional Bible Study: Reinforcing Hegemony in an Evangelical Rite of Passage”
Shelby King & Brett Land, University of California, Santa Barbara
“The Hook of Revelations: Conspiracy Theory and the Sacred Power of Secrecy”
Joint Panel: Religion, Literature, and Film and Religion and the Arts 1 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.)
Burkle 26
Rites of Passage, Religion, and YA Literature
Moderator: Emmanuelle Patrice, Saybrook University
Steven Vredenburgh, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Becoming the ‘Queen of the Sea’”
Heather M. Wetherholt, Arizona State University
“Punk Rock Jesus-The Social Justice Savior”
Roy Whitaker, San Diego State University
“The Rose that Grew from Concrete: Tupac Shakur, Literary Capital, and Religious Rites of Passage”
Tamisha Tyler, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Lose Your Mother: Mother/Daughter Relationships as a Rite of Passage in Black
Women’s Speculative Fiction”
Womanist/Pan-African Studies 2 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.) Stauffer 106
Politics and Ritual in African, Afro-Diasporic, and Indigenous Rites of Passage
Moderator: Ineda Adesanya, Graduate Theological Union
Ayanna Grady-Hunt, Graduate Theological Union
“Ritual, Rite of Passage, and Political Agency: The Impact of Afro-Diasporic and Indigenous Women’s Public Spirituality form the Haitian Revolution to Standing Rock to Ferguson”
Gideon M. Mbui, Graduate Theological Union
“No Mere ‘Cut’: Towards a More Redemptive Assessment of the Rite of Male/Female
Circumcision Among the Tiania/Ameru People of Upper-Eastern Kenya”
Keyona Saquile Lazenby, Pacific School of Religion, Graduate Theological Union
“Rituals of Remembrance”
Pagan Studies 2 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.) Stauffer 110
Rites, Myths, and Paganisms Across History
Moderator: Dorothea Kahena Viale and Jeffrey Albaugh
Murtagh A. anDoile (Armando D. Marini), Independent Scholar
“Proto-Pagans: Precursors of the Modern Pagan Movement - Seeking the Themes of
Myth and Magic in the American Experience (1850 to 1975)”
Jeffrey Albaugh, Independent Scholar
“Contemporary Paganisms as an Expression of American Religion”
Dorothea Kahena Viale, Cal Poly Pomona
“Avoiding What Has Destroyed Monotheistic Religions”
Jewish Studies 1 (9:15 – 10:45 a.m.) ACB 108
Rites of Passage in the Jewish Life-Cycle
Moderator: Alexander Marcus, Grinnell College
Rabbi Elihu Gevirtz, Independent Scholar
“The Kabbalah of Brit Milah (Jewish Circumcision of Boys): Rite of Passage to an Ethical
Life”
Rabbi Iris Yaniv, Oranim Academic College of Education
“Humanistic Secular Bar and Bat Mitzvah Ceremonies in Israel”
Karen Goodman, Independent Scholar
“Dancing in Yiddish: Jewish Wedding Dances from Eastern Europe”
Mordechai Zalkin, Ben-Gurion University
“The cemetery as a space of religious Rites of Passage in 19th Century East European
Jewish Society”
Vervana Redmond, University of Warsaw, Poland
“The Evolution of the Mikvah Narratives: Theory and Practice”
Second Session (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.)
Islamic Studies 3 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Burkle 12
Islam, Women, and Violence
Moderator: Souad T. Ali, Arizona State University
Samantha Hill, Arizona State University
“The Intersection of Islam, Women, and Sexual Violence Prevention”
Sophia Pandya, California State University, Long Beach
“Sufi and Salafi Women in Harar”
Abdullahi A. Gallab, Arizona State University
“ISIS: Birth and Death of a Twentieth Century Violence”
Christina Saoud, California State University, Long Beach
“Agency and Resistance Among Refugee Arab Women”
Indigenous Studies 2 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Burkle 14
Special Roundtable on Indigenous Cultural Appropriation: Rites and Rituals in and out of Context
Moderator: Yuria Celidwen, Pacifica Graduate Institute
Panelists: Sierra Ed, University of California, Berkeley
Ceclia Titiziano, Graduate Theological Union
Juan Francisco Cristóbal, University of California, Los Angeles
Brian Clearwater, Occidental College
Philosophy of Religion 3 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Burkle 16
Marxism and Rites of Passage: Political Economy, Ideology, and Nationalism
Presenter: Dane Sawyer, University of La Verne
Joshua A. Mendez, Claremont Graduate University
“Ritual and Political Economy: Althusser’s Materialist Theory of Ideology”
Kody Leland Bartley, Claremont Graduate University
“Economic Practices as Ritual in the Early Christian Community”
Anisha Ahuja, Claremont Graduate University
“Ritual and Anti-Rites: Indian Classical Dance, Nationalism, and Imperialism”
Religion and Social Sciences 3 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Burkle 22
Book Panel: Religion and Rites of Passage
This book session focuses on religious, nonreligious, secular, and sacred dimensions in how art and imagery are used in the contemporary rituals of birth as a rite of passage.
Moderator: Roberta Sabbath, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Book: Imagery, Ritual, and Birth. Ontology Between the Sacred and the Secular (2018) Author: Anna Hennessey, University of California Berkeley
Panelists: Valentina Cantori Meghan Tiller Anthony Swieringa
History of Christianity 2 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Burkle 26
Rites Across World Culture in the History of Christianity
Moderator: Dyron B. Daughrity, Pepperdine University and David M. Houghton, Fuller Theological
Seminary
Matteo Poiani, Université de Strasbourg
“Cyrillona: A Syriac Borders-Breaker and Theology-Maker of the Fourth Century”
Pamela Stevens, Graduate Theological Union
“Perpetual Data Storage as a Rite of Suspended Passage: Mass Exhibitions
of Sambenitos in Churches in Sixteenth Century Spain and the Spanish America”s
Benita Y.H. Lim, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Finding Balance and Harmony in the Partaking of the Eucharist for the Singaporean
Chinese Christian”
Asian American Religious Studies 2 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Stauffer 106
Spirituality and Immigrant Life, Buddhism in Incarceration Camps, and American Sikh Identity
Moderator: Irene Ludji, Claremont Graduate University
JungJa Joy Yu, Hanyang University, South Korea
“The Spirituality of Marginality: Experiences of Korean immigrant Women Leaders in
North America”
Carol Beckett, Occidental College
“Marking Time and Making Identity: Rites of Passage Events and Festivals in the
Creation of Japanese American Buddhist Community Life in the Incarceration Camps”
Philip Deslippe, University of California Santa Barbara
“Re-Caste-ing the Model Minority: Religious Literacy, Public Advocacy, and Sikhs in
America After 9-11”
Ethics 2 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) Stauffer 110
Rites of Passage within Christian Communities in the United States
Moderator: Joshua Beckett, Fuller Theological Seminary
Sheryl Johnson, Graduate Theological Union
“Donating as a Rite of Passage: Economics and Church Membership”
Joshua Abrego, Christian Life College
“Christian Ethics and Embodiment: Embodied Simulation of Biblical Narrative as an
Approach to Theological Imagination”
Travis Darnold, San Jose State University
“Smith, Deception, and Christian Marriage: How Our Hearts Have Been Co-Opted By The
World”
Jewish Studies 2 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) ACB 108
Rites of Passage in Jewish Histories and Futures
Moderator: Roberta Sabbath, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Alexander Marcus, Grinnell College
“Aramaic Incantation Bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia: The Belated Initiation of a
Jewish Studies Sub-Field”
Karoly Daniel Dobos, Jewish Theological Seminary / Budapest University of Jewish
Studies / Pázmány Péter Catholic University
“Repercussions of Near-Death-Experiences in an Ancient Jewish Apocalypse”
Leigh Ann Hildebrand, Graduate Theological Union
“The Varieties of Judeo-Pagan Identity and Ritual Experience”
Carrie Sealine, Graduate Theological Union
“Genealogy of a Neopagan Ritual: The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram as a Site of
Jewish/Christian Esoteric Intersection”
Religion in America 2 (11:00 – 12:30 p.m.) ACB 214
New Religious Movements and New Movements within American Religion
New Religious Movements are an increasingly popular lens by which scholars look at complex topics within American Religion. This panel looks at fundamentalist Mormons, the People’s Temple, and new approaches to muscular Christianity by way of feats of strength ministries in relationship with the overarching conference theme “rites of passage.”
Moderator: TBD
Michelle Mueller, Santa Clara University
“Adam is God, and Jesus Was Married: Mysticism and Gnosticism in Mormon
Fundamentalist Spirituality”
Katherine Klapperich, Mills College
“Creating Community Despite the Demagogue: A Case Study of The Peoples Temple”
Kimberly Diaz, University of California, Riverside
“Crisis of White Christian Manhood: Feats of Strength Ministries in Contemporary
United States”
Lunch (12:30 – 2:00 p.m.)
Lunch
12:45 – 2:00 p.m. – Business Meeting, Burkle 14
*All members of the AAR/WR are welcome to attend. Lunch is provided for the first 40 attendees.
Third Session (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.)
Psychology, Culture, and Religion Discussion Panel on Miscarriage (2:15 – 3:45 p.m.) Burkle 12
Miscarriage: Exploring Liminal and Dislocated Spaces of Passage
Moderator: Hester Oberman, University of Arizona
Discussants: Joseph Kim Paxton, Claremont School of Theology
Yuria Celidwen, Pacifica Graduate Institute
Greg Yanke, Arizona State University
Greg Hoenas, Claremont School of Theology
Save the Date!
*California* *Pacific Islands* *Nevada*
*Hawaii* *Guam* *Arizona*
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION WESTERN REGION
ANNUAL MEETING
http://www.aarwr.com/
*Host Institution TBD”
PROGRAM
Date TBD
Location TBD
Address TBD