One of Dr. Matthew Anderson's research outputs as Gatto Chair in Christian Studies is a novel! His "Behind Every Man" project will reconstruct a life of the little-known female patron Paula behind the well-known saint Jerome, using one of the most important tools for uncovering lost women of antiquity: imagination. Is this historiography.... or fantasy? Feminist pedagogy ... or wishful thinking?
Matthew joins three other scholars of religious antiquity whose work also intersects with fiction -- their own fiction! For James McGrath, the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, it made sense to write fictional letters to connect the dots, in What Jesus Learned from Women. For Zeba Crook, Professor of Religious Studies at Carleton, after so many years of historical Jesus research, one thing led to another and he found himself with a complete manuscript about the Jewish War with Rome. For Joan Taylor, Professor Emerita of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism, King's College London, many scholars are aware of her numerous important works of history on John the Baptist, Jesus' female disciples, stories of Jesus' childhood, and more ... but very few know of her many published novels!
Join them in conversation as they answer two questions:
- How did you come to write fiction as an academic?
- What are some of the gains, pitfalls, and pedagogical strategies in communicating our knowledge of history through imagined characters/narrative?
If we are lucky, they will likely also share a sample reading or two, and then open up the webinar for interaction.
To register (free), click or copy and paste: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WZwLjlB6RpiR9OlfSl7ieg
This event is part of a Father Edo Gatto Chair Project hosted by the Department of Religious Studies.
