This article focuses on Jewish women’s experiences of the amen meal ritual. The central intention of this meal is to achieve many recitations of the word “amen” in response to benedictions recited for different sorts of food. The women’s voices and experiences, reflected in in-depth interviews with participants and participant observa…[Read more]

This essay examines the issue of David’s (lack of) clothing in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 15. It asks: what potential meanings would be at play for ancient readers of these texts? Drawing on research into social memory and “forgetting,” it argues that Judean readers would partially warrant Michal’s distaste for David’s dressing-down, while still…[Read more]

This essay examines the issue of David’s (lack of) clothing in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 15. It asks: what potential meanings would be at play for ancient readers of these texts? Drawing on research into social memory and “forgetting,” it argues that Judean readers would partially warrant Michal’s distaste for David’s dressing-down, while still…[Read more]

The Q hypothesis has long dominated the study of the Synoptics. It is often heralded as the key to Synoptic interpretation, yet it is simultaneously challenged at nearly every juncture. Regarding parable study, the Q hypothesis offers much by way of identifying redaction, but the impact of identifiable redaction is often overvalued. Those choosing…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Notas y comentarios sobre “Equipos”, el segundo capítulo de “La presentación de la persona en la vida cotidiana”, de Erving Goffman, una obra clave de la sociología dramatística. Un retropost de 2009 sobre un libro de 1959. Se muestra aquí cómo los actores sociales no actúan solos: actúan en grupos organizados o equipos, cuyos m…[Read more]

This commentary takes advantage of the provenance established by Hoffman, et al.2018 to explore exclusionary symbol sets in Art, Astrology, and Myth within La Pasiega Gallery C in Spain. Using the One Godz paradigm plus the added parameter of U-TH dating this commentary ascribes meaning to two proximate rock art panels, one homo sapien and the…[Read more]

En la más reciente edición y estudio de la Carajicomedia, su editor llama la atención sobre un aspecto determinado de esta obra, y por extensión, a todas las sátiras a mitad de camino entre lo burlesco y lo erótico: se establece la necesidad de explorar «more fully the political complexity of the period; the reasons that its authors may have h…[Read more]

“The Other Close at Hand: Gerald of Wales and the ‘Marvels of the West,’” in The Monstrous Middle Ages, eds. Robert Mills and Bettina Bildhauer (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003), 97-112

“Inconceivable Beasts: The Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript,” with Susan Kim, in Dark Reflections, Monstrous Reflections: Essays on the Monster in Culture, ed. Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press E-Book, 2008)

“The Exposed Body and the Gendered Blemmye: Reading the Wonders of the East,” with Susan Kim, Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture, v. 3, The History of Sexuality in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, ed. by Albrecht Classen and Marilyn Sandidge (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008)

“Digital Mappaemundi: Changing the Way We Work with Medieval World Maps,” Peregrinations: The Official Publication of the International Society for the Study of Pilgrimage Art, with Martin Foys, vol. 2:3 (Summer 2009)

The dominant literate culture of early medieval England – male, European, and Christian – often represented itself through comparison to exotic beings and monsters, in traditions developed from native mythologies, and Classical and Biblical sources. So pervasive was this reflexive identification that the language of the monstrous occurs not onl…[Read more]

“Anglo-Saxon Frames of Reference: Spatial Relations on the Page and in the World,” Different Visions: A Journal of New Perspectives on Medieval Art, vol. 2 (2009), with Susan Kim

The dominant literate culture of early medieval England – male, European, and Christian – often represented itself through comparison to exotic beings and mon- sters, in traditions developed from native mythologies, and Classical and Biblical sources. So pervasive was this reflexive identification that the language of the mon- strous occurs not…[Read more]

This short essay explores Susan Einbinder’s observation that the poetics of the medieval Anglo-Jewish poet Meir of Norwich show a unique mix of borrowing from
the poetic schools of both Ashkenaz and Sepharad. Boyarin argues that Meir was discursively creating a school of Anglo-Hebrew poetics, one that he imagined drew from both of these e…[Read more]

Toronto has become known for applying ‘smart’ solutions to modern urban problems. In 2014, the city
was awarded the title of “Intelligent Community of the Year” by the Intelligent Community Forum for its
array of technological answers to housing, transportation, and environmental issues. More recently,
Waterfront Toronto has partnered with th…[Read more]

If we look at the past three decades in the history of Eastern Europe, Ukraine may safely be placed at the top of the chart of “unstable” states. First was the student-led Revolution on Granite in the 1990s. The outcome of that revolution was a resignation of entrenched high-ranked Soviet officials under the pressure of public opinion. Then, if…[Read more]

This article draws on the scene history of HC/punk in Bandung, specifically SXE, traced through collectives, spaces, political communities, music, gigs, zines, and merchandise. I’m trying to weave this into the history of urban youth culture in the city, reflecting both the Indonesian and the global context.

The dominant literate culture of early medieval England – male, European, and Christian – often represented itself through comparison to exotic beings and monsters, in traditions developed from native mythologies, and Classical and Biblical sources. So pervasive was this reflexive identification that the language of the monstrous occurs not onl…[Read more]

“Answering the Call of the Severed Head,” Heads Will Roll: Decapitation Motifs in Medieval Literature, ed. Larissa Tracy (Leiden: Brill, 2012)