Symposium-cum-Masterclass “Understanding Judaism: New Approaches to Rabbinic Literature”
In my capacity as a secretary to the Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Foundation, I co-organized the symposium-cum-Masterclass “Understanding Judaism: New Approaches to Rabbinic Literature” in Utrecht at March 20-21, 2023. This symposium celebrated the recent publication of the 16th installment of the CRINT series: Christine Hayes, ed., The Literature of the Sages: A Re-Visioning (CRINT 16; Leiden: Brill, 2022). The symposium aimed to create an interdisciplinary exchange on the volume’s insights and methodological advancements. The main participant of the symposium was Prof. Christine Hayes, the editor of the volume. Responses were provided by Prof. Martin Goodman, Prof. Annette Merz, and Prof. Lutz Doering. The symposium included a masterclass featuring junior researchers and their work. With about 45 people attending the symposium, the event was a huge success. In the online newspaper De Vrijdagavond, two articles have been published on the symposium: https://devrijdagavond.com/2023/03/09/nieuws/christine-hayes-over-de-veelkleurige-vroeg-joodse-geschiedenis-op-symposium-over-rabbijnse-literatuur/; and https://devrijdagavond.com/ 2023/03/28/nieuws/wie-kan-de-draagtijd-van-slangen-beter-beantwoorden-vragen-over-antiek-joodse-en-vroegchristelijke-bewegingen/. As a follow-up of the symposium, I am currently co-editing, together with Dr. Eric Ottenheijm, a special issue of NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion on the volume.
Symposium “Conceptualizing Old Age in Ancient Jewish and Early Christian Contexts”
On June 1 and 2, 2022, Dr. Seth Bledsoe and I co-hosted the symposium “Conceptualizing Old Age in Ancient Jewish and Early Christian Contexts” at the Protestant Theological University in Amsterdam. The purpose of this interdisciplinary symposium was to study the different perspectives on old age and the elderly in the Hebrew Bible, early and rabbinic Judaism, the New Testament, early Christianity, and the Greco-Roman world. Experts from various disciplines gave papers, including a keynote lecture by Prof. Mira Balberg, who, together with Dr. Haim Weiss, published the book When Near Becomes Far (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021). The full program can be consulted here: https://albertinaoegema.nl/symposium-conceptualizing-old-age-in-ancient-jewish-and-early-christian-contexts/. The proceedings volume is under contract with Routledge.
Symposium “Parables and Fables in the Graeco-Roman World”
Together with Jonathan Pater and Martijn Stoutjesdijk, I organized the symposium “Parables and Fables in the Graeco-Roman World” at the Tilburg School of Catholic Theology on March 13, 2018. The goal of this interdisciplinary symposium was to better understand the related genres of parables, fables and similes in the broader context of the Graeco-Roman world. Scholars from the fields of Jewish studies, New Testament/early Christianity studies, and classics gave papers. With an attendance of about 35 attendees and many fruitful discussions, the symposium was a high success. A report of our symposium can be read hier. The proceedings volume Overcoming Dichotomies: Parables, Fables, and Similes in the Graeco-Roman World has been published with Mohr Siebeck in 2022.