Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity Unit
- Open-Call
- An open session for which papers on any topic germane to the subject area of the Program Unit may be proposed. We particularly encourage papers from graduate students, new AAR members, and minoritized scholars.
- Pedagogy and Eastern Late Antiquity
- We invite paper proposals that explore pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies focused on eastern late antiquity, broadly conceived. We are particularly interested in proposals that showcase innovative teaching techniques in undergraduate classrooms and incorporate multidisciplinary perspectives. Possible teaching areas include (but are not limited to): late antique Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Manichaeism, and eastern Christianity.
- [Co-sponsored with the SBL "John the Baptist" unit] Book Review Session on James F. McGrath's John of History, Baptist of Faith and Edmondo Lupieri's John of the Mandaeans
- A book review session focused on James F. McGrath's John of History, Baptist of Faith (Eerdmans 2023) and Edmondo Lupieri's John of the Mandaeans (Gorgias 2023). While the panel will be assembled by invitation, expressions of interest to the program unit chairs are welcome.
This program unit focused on Late Antiquity in the East aims to provide a home for the study of religious traditions that are rooted in Mesopotamia, Persia, and western Asia, particularly those parts that were outside the Roman cultural reach such as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Mandaeism. While the unit will focus on late antiquity, many of these traditions, and particularly their extant texts come to us from much later periods, and this scholarly issue will be part of our discussions. In addition, many of the traditions that were born in this time and place also spread to other parts of the world, and the study of them in those forms and contexts also has a place within this program unit, as does investigation of their response to the rise of Islam in the region. In addition, this unit’s focus is not exclusively on those traditions that developed uniquely in this region, but also those which, when transplanted there, had significant evolutions in that milieu that differ from their counterparts in other times and places (e.g. Christianity, Judaism). We likewise encourage research which focuses on the interaction between the various communities and traditions of this place and time.