Imagining Smith
Mapping Methods in the Study of Religion
Edited by
Barbara Krawcowicz [+–]
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Barbara Krawcowicz is a post-doctoral fellow in Judaic Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Her work focuses on modern and contemporary Jewish thought and on theory and methods in the study of religion. In her recently completed book, History, Metahistory, and Evil: Jewish Responses to the Holocaust (forthcoming from Academic Studies Press), Krawcowicz explores Jewish theological interpretations of the Holocaust and argues for the applicability of J. Z. Smith’s understanding of comparative studies to the study of theology.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Series: NAASR Working Papers
Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction [+–]
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Barbara Krawcowicz is a post-doctoral fellow in Judaic Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Her work focuses on modern and contemporary Jewish thought and on theory and methods in the study of religion. In her recently completed book, History, Metahistory, and Evil: Jewish Responses to the Holocaust (forthcoming from Academic Studies Press), Krawcowicz explores Jewish theological interpretations of the Holocaust and argues for the applicability of J. Z. Smith’s understanding of comparative studies to the study of theology.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 1
J.Z. and Me [+–]
University of Rochester
Aaron W. Hughes is the Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Rochester. His research and publications focus on both Jewish philosophy and Islamic Studies. He has authored numerous books, including Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline (Equinox, 2007); Theorizing Islam: Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction (Equinox, 2012); Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam (Columbia, 2012); and Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History (Oxford, 2012). He currently serves as the editor of the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 2
University of Colorado
Sam Gill is Professor Emeritus University of Colorado at Boulder. Jonathan Smith was his most important influence and mentor for nearly fifty years. He works on indigenous religions, dancing and religion, religion theory, and religion and technology.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 3
Rockhurst University
Craig R. Prentiss is a Professor of Religious Studies at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of Staging Faith: Religion and African American Theater from the Harlem Renaissance to World War II (NYU 2014), and editor of Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity: An Introduction (NYU 2003).
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 4
University of Tartu
Indrek Peedu is a Junior Research Fellow in Religious Studies at the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Tartu. His research has mostly dealt with the methodological and epistemological issues of the contemporary evolutionary, cognitive and behavioural study of religion, but he has also written about the history of the study of religion and other related issues.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 5
Mount Royal University
Steven Engler is Professor of Religious Studies at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. He teaches a variety of courses and research popular Catholicism, Umbanda, Kardecist Spiritism and related spirit-incorporation religions in Brazil, as well as theories and methodology in the study of religion\s.
Mount Royal University
Mark Q. Gardiner Professor of Philosophy at Mount Royal University, Calgary.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 6
Aarhus University
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 7
When no Magic Dwells [+–]
Florida State University
Andrew Durdin is assistant teaching professor in the Department of Religion at Florida State University. His work focuses on critical approaches to the study of religion, with specific attention the ancient Roman world, magic and religion, and the historiography of ancient religion.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 8
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Gabriel Levy is a Professor of Religious Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway and Chairperson of the board for the Interdisciplinary PhD Research School, Authoritative Texts and their Reception at University of Oslo. He is the author of Judaic Technologies of the Word: A Cognitive Analysis of Jewish Cultural Formation (Routledge 2014).
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 9
Emory University
Andie Alexander is a doctoral student in American Religious Cultures at Emory University. Her research focuses on identity construction, boundary formation, and rhetorics of experience as a way to examine the implicit religious rhetoric in pro-immigration discourses and how such rhetoric ultimately works to Americanize immigrants in the US.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 10
University of Sudbury
Department of Religious Studies
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
University of Sudbury
Jack C Laughlin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at University of Sudbury, a federated Catholic college of Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He teaches in the World Religions area. His expertise is in South Asian religions and history. His current research interests include religious education, religion and law, and theory and method in the study of religion.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 11
Hamilton College
Seth Schermerhorn is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and the Director of the American Studies Program at Hamilton College in traditional Oneida territory. He is the author of Walking to Magdalena: Personhood and Place in Tohono O’odham Songs, Sticks, and Stories (co-published by the University of Nebraska Press and the American Philosophical Society, 2019).
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 12
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Barbara Krawcowicz is a post-doctoral fellow in Judaic Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Her work focuses on modern and contemporary Jewish thought and on theory and methods in the study of religion. In her recently completed book, History, Metahistory, and Evil: Jewish Responses to the Holocaust (forthcoming from Academic Studies Press), Krawcowicz explores Jewish theological interpretations of the Holocaust and argues for the applicability of J. Z. Smith’s understanding of comparative studies to the study of theology.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 13
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Lewis Doney is Associate Professor in the History of Religion (Buddhism) at the NTNU. He received his PhD (Study of Religions) in 2011 from SOAS, London, with a thesis focused on the eighth-century Tibetan emperor, Khri Srong lde brtsan. Since then, he has published in philology, history and sociology, charting the impact of Buddhism on Tibetan literature, society and material culture
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 14
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Nicholas Witkowski received his PhD in 2015 in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University. Having completed a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Tokyo, he recently assumed a post as assistant professor in comparative religion at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He specializes in Indian Buddhism with a focus on the cultures of everyday life in the Buddhist monastery. His current work is a multi-stage project that draws primarily on the Buddhist law codes (Vinaya) to demonstrate the centrality of ascetic precepts to the Buddhist monastery of middle period Indian Buddhism. His most recent publications discuss the practice of cemetery asceticism within early Buddhist monastic communities.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 15
Jagiellonian University, Cracow
Lech Trzcionkowski is a Professor of the History of Religions at the Institute for the Study of Religion, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland. He has widely published on Greek religion and mythology, Orphism and Plutarch. His latest publications include ‘Hieroi Logoi in 24. rhapsodies. Orphic Codex?’ in: Praying and Contempling. Religious and Philosophical Interactions in Late Antiquity, Ed. by Eleni Pachoumi and Mark Edwards, Mohr Siebeck 2018; ‘Collecting the dismembered poet: the interplay between the whole and fragments in the reconstruction of Orphism’, in: Fragments, holes and wholes: reconstructing the ancient world in the theory and practice, ed. Derda Tomasz, Hilder Jennifer, Kwapisz Jan, Warsaw 2017
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Chapter 16
University of Alabama
Vaia Touna is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She is author of Fabrications of the Greek Past: Religion, Tradition, and the Making of Modern Identities (Brill, 2017) and editor of Strategic Acts in the Study of Identity: Towards a Dynamic Theory of People and Place (Equinox, 2019). Her research focuses on the sociology of religion, acts of identification and social formation, as well as methodological issues concerning the study of religion in the ancient Graeco-Roman world and of the past in general.
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
Afterword
Afterword [+–]
University of Alabama
Russell T. McCutcheon is University Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, USA. He publishes widely on the history of the study of religion, the tools scholars use in their work, and the practical implications of that work. Among his recent publications are Reading J. Z. Smith (with Willi Braun; Oxford University Press, 2018), ‘Religion’ in Theory and Practice (Equinox Publishing, 2018) and Fabricating Religion (de Gruyter, 2018).
In his bio-bibliographical essay, J.Z. Smith wrote that he was fond of the expression “when the chips are down” in the sense of all being said and done. With his passing in December 2017, the phrase has gained an additional layer of sad finality – the chips are really down. Scholarship is not poker, however, which means that these chips not only can but in fact should be picked up and circulated. Imagining Smith brings together the contributions of scholars who do exactly that by considering theoretical and methodological issues central to J. Z. Smith’s oeuvre in the context of their own research. Through analyses of Smith’s own work as well as applications of his concerns to new situations, historic periods, and regions, the contributors test the adequacy and applicability of Smith’s ideas and thus provide an indirect assessment of his influence and legacy in the field of Religious Studies.
