At the End of the World Newsletter – 15 September 2023
At the End of the World Newsletter – 15 September 2023 |
Dear all,
This is the third newsletter for the At the End of the World research program, housed at Lund University. If you’re receiving this email, it’s because you’ve been subscribed to our mailing list. Below, we’ll fill you in on some exciting events during the autumn 2023 academic term, and what we’ve been up to during summer 2023.
Table of contents:
1. Upcoming At the End of the World webinar series 2. Other upcoming events of interest involving program affiliates 3. Recent publications and podcasts featuring program team members 4. Program website
1. Upcoming At the End of the World webinar series
Twice per academic term, At the End of the World will host a webinar, featuring experts in topics pertaining to our collaborative areas of study. These events will be attended by our internal research team, and will be open to the public. The first of two webinars will be:
Webinar 1: At the End of the World – Apocalyptic Imaginaries Now and Then Guest: Alison McQueen, Associate Professor of Political Science at Stanford University Time: 16:00–18:00 (Stockholm time), 9 October 2023 Zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/65667016322
At our very first webinar, we are happy to host the prominent political scientist Alison McQueen, who will discuss the political nature of apocalypticism with the jurist Tormod Otter Johansen and the program’s PI, Jayne Svenungsson. A key assumption of our joint research is that apocalypticism per se is neither destructive nor emancipatory. Yet history knows numerous examples of apocalyptic visions that have ended in disaster, even as apocalyptic visions in other contexts have served to bolster resistance against oppressive social orders. What can we learn from these different historical examples? And what are the dangers and potentials of apocalyptic imaginaries in the contemporary political landscape?
Alison McQueen is Associate Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and the author of Political Realism in Apocalyptic Times (Cambridge University Press, 2018).
Tormod Otter Johansen is a researcher in Public Law at the University of Gothenburg. He works on constitutional and administrative law, legal theory, and political theology.
Jayne Svenungsson is Professor of Systematic Theology at Lund University and the author of Divining History: Prophetism, Messianism and the Development of the Spirit (Berghahn Books, 2016).
Webinar 2: The Ancient Roots of Apocalypticism Guest: Domenico Agostini, Associate Professor of Ancient History at Tel Aviv University Time: 16:00–18:00 (Stockholm time), 6 December 2023 Zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/65667016322
Apocalypticism as both a literary genre and a socio-cultural phenomenon can be traced back to antiquity. During this seminar, three prominent scholars in the field will explore the early roots of apocalypticism in Persian and Near Eastern mythology as well as in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. How are these sources related to one another? In what ways do today’s apocalyptic ideas and images reflect challenges to past socio-political orders? Which motifs can be discerned in this original phase of apocalypticism, and how do they resonate with later apocalypticisms throughout western history, including those of the present day?
Domenico Agostini is Associate Professor of Ancient History at Tel Aviv University. He specializes in the history, religion, literature and languages of Pre-Islamic Iran, and their interaction with Jewish and Mediterranean traditions in Antiquity.
Blaženka Scheuer is Senior Lecturer in Old Testament Studies at Lund University. Her expertise is in prophetic literature, focusing on how this literature formed in reaction to socio-political disruptions of the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek empires.
Cecilia Wassén is Professor of New Testament Studies at Uppsala University. She has published extensively on the apocalyptic worldview of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including on angels and demons, as well as on the apocalyptic conviction of the historical Jesus.
2. Other upcoming events of interest involving program affiliates
Public lecture: “Donald Trump, Conspiracy Theories, and Professional Wrestling,” 16 September 2023, 18:00–18:20 (Stockholm time) Dr. Aaron James Goldman will give a public lecture on Donald Trump and QAnon at Lund’s Kulturnatten. The event will be held at the LUX Läsesalon in Lund: https://www.ht.lu.se/samverkan/kulturnatten/
Conference in Kiruna, Sweden: Commercial Space Exploration and Travel – Chances and Risks, 25–27 September 2023 David Dunér is organizing a conference in Kiruna, Sweden, 25–27 September 2023 titled “Commercial Space Exploration and Travel – Chances and Risks.” You can find information at this page: https://europeanastrobiology.eu/kiruna-conference-2023/
Panel discussion: "Är ersättningsteologi kristen antisemitism?" 27 September 2023, 15:00 A Swedish-language panel will be held with Gothenburg's Book Fair, in conjunction with the Church of Sweden and University of Gothenburg. It features program researcher Dr. Tobias Hägerland. You can read more at https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/goteborgsstift/nyheter/ar-ersattningsteologi-kristen-antisemitism
Panel discussion about Jesus the Jew, 28 September 2023 Cecilia Wassén will participate in a panel discussion about Jesus the Jew, together with Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Archbishop Martin Modéus, and Rabbi Ute Steyer at a seminar at the Gothenburg book fair, on September 28, 2023. The discussion will be moderated by author and journalist Göran Rosenberg. The seminar is organized by Judisk kultur i Sverige / Jewish Culture in Sweden, in cooperation with the Swedish Church and the Catholic Church: https://bokmassan.se/programs/juden-jesus/
Panel discussion about Emmanuel Swedenborg, 28 September 2023 David Dunér is participating in a Swedish-language panel discussion at Lund University titled "'Sådan är den himmelska sången.' Emanuel Swedenborg och änglarnas musik." Music will be performed. You can read more here: https://www.odeum.lu.se/evenemang/thursday-talk-sadan-ar-den-himmelska-sangen-emanuel-swedenborg-och-anglarnas-musik
Public lecture: "Joakim av Floris och apokalyptikens dubbelbottnade arv," 5 October 2023, 12:15–13:00 (Stockholm time) Our PI Dr. Jayne Svenungsson will be lecturing on the Medieval apocalyptic theologian Joachim of Fiore at Theofil, Sandgatan 14, in Lund.
Web presentation and discussion: “Fake empowerment: On conspiracism and political judgement,” 12 October 2023, 16:15–18:00 (Stockholm time) Dr. Rickard Andersson, Research Fellow in Political Science at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies and core researcher for Beyond Truth and Lies, will give a presentation titled "Fake empowerment: On conspiracism and political judgement." More information, including an abstract, can be found on this page. Zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62645329724
Public lecture: "Translating Crises: Trust and Mistrust in Multilingual Wonderland," 16 November 2023, 17:15–18:30 (Stockholm time) Our project affiliate Beyond Truth and Lies is organizing a public lecture by Dr. Alexandre Duchêne, Professor of Sociology of Language, University of Fribourg (CH), at the LUX Building, lecture hall C121. You can read more here: https://www.ctr.lu.se/en/about-us/calendar/event/translating-crises-trust-and-mistrust-multilingual-wonderland-alexandre-duchene/
Web presentation and discussion: “Populisms and Prejudice,” 27 November 2023, 16:15–18:00 (Stockholm time) Dr. Isabelle Aubert, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, will give a presentation organized by the affiliated project group Beyond Truth and Lies, titled "Populisms and Prejudice." More information, including an abstract, can be found on this page. Zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62645329724
Public seminar: "Apocalyptic Politics: Ernst Bloch and the Spirit of Utopia," 28 November 2023, 16:15–18:00 (Stockholm time) Dr. Mårten Björk will give a public seminar at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, in LUX room B417, Helgonavägen 3, Lund.
Public seminar and panel discussion: "Apocalyptic Political Theology," 12 December 2023, 15:15–18:00 (Stockholm time) A public seminar will be held in Lund with project researchers Drs. Johannes Stripple, Hannah Strømmen, and Jayne Svenungsson, with advisory board members Dr. Tommy Lynch (Reader in Political Theology, University of Chichester) and Dr. Jens Bartelson (Professor of Political Science, Lund University).
3. Recent publications and podcasts by program team members
Publications:
Mårten Björk authored an obituary for the Augustinian Marxist and apocalyptic Italian senator Mario Tronti: https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/embracing-failure. Moreover, Björk's recent book, The Politics of Immortality in Rosenzweig, Barth, and Goldberg: Theology and Resistance Between 1914–1945, was reviewed by Peter Fenves for the Los Angeles Review of Books: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/is-there-a-politics-beyond-biopolitics-on-marten-bjorks-the-politics-of-immortality-in-rosenzweig-barth-and-goldberg/
David Dunér contributed several articles on topics in the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology (Springer, 2023). He also wrote a piece for Ikaros titled "Resan till Månen." Dunér's book Svensk idéhistoria: Forntid, Medeltid, Renässans was reviewed on the blog Kulturminnet.
Patrik Fridlund wrote a piece titled "My Religious Identity: An Unfinished Project" for the Norsk tidsskrift for misjonsvitenskap.
Blaženka Scheuer published her monograph Bees, Wasps, and Weasels: Zoomorphic Slurs and the Delegitimation of Deborah and Huldah in the Babylonian Talmud (Lexington, 2023).
Hannah Strømmen authored the article "Crusades, Christ and Christmas: Islamophobia and the Bible in the European Far-Right after 9/11" for the Zeitschrift für Religion, Gesellschaft und Politik.
Podcasts:
Aaron James Goldman was interviewed by Martin Degrell for Lund University's Humaniora och teologi podcast. You can listen to the episode, which is titled "QAnon as a Quasi-Religious Movement," here.
For the first episode of the podcast of the affiliated End of Law project, Mårten Björk and Tormod Johansen discuss Björk's recently published book The Politics of Immortality in Rosenzweig, Barth and Goldberg (Bloomsbury, 2022). The episode, titled "The Politics of Immortality," can be accessed here.
Courses:
Our research program is committed to maintaining close ties between our ongoing research and our instruction of students. This commitment is reflected in university courses, which members of our research team are involved in coordinating or teaching. You can find them on the courses page of our website.
4. Program website
As a reminder, the program’s website is located at https://www.endoftheworld.lu.se/. The website will also log each of these newsletters.
All the best, Aaron -- Aaron James Goldman, PhD Research Fellow, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies Lund University Researcher & Secretary, At the End of the World
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