Hearty fall greetings from the Pacific Northwest AAR/SBL and ASOR. A special welcome to all new members of the regional organization who have joined since last spring. We hope you will find the PNW AAR/SBL and ASOR a rich and stimulating context within which to share your scholarship, as well as a supportive environment in which to explore issues relating to our professional development as students, researchers, and teachers. One of the hallmarks of our regional meeting is its intimacy of scale – which makes possible deeper collegial connections and exchanges.

Please feel to be in touch with the Executive Committee about anything to do with the regional organization and its activities:

Mark Lloyd Taylor, Executive Secretary (AAR), Seattle University; mltaylor@seattleu.edu
Rob Kugler, Secretary-Treasurer (SBL), Lewis and Clark College; kugler@lclark.edu
Doug McGaughey, President (AAR), Willamette University; dougm@willamette.edu
Paul Mosca, Vice-President (SBL), University of British Columbia; mosca@mail.interchange.ubc.ca
Jeff Staley, Past President (SBL), Pacific Lutheran University; staleyjl@comcast.net
Gloria London, ASOR Representative, Burke Museum, Seattle, WA; glondon@earthlink.net

Regional Meeting

April 29 – May 1, 2005

Seattle University, Seattle, WA

The 2005 Regional Meeting of the PNW AAR/SBL and ASOR will be held on the campus of Seattle University, perched just up the hill from downtown Seattle. The university’s new conference center will serve as the heart of the meeting. Many interesting restaurants offering a variety of cuisines and price ranges will be within walking distance (although the food service on campus is excellent!). Several museums and concert venues are close at hand as well – consider coming early or staying over after the meeting! A block of hotel rooms will be available in an adjacent hotel. Look for details in the Spring Newsletter.

Two program highlights. David Tracy, of The University of Chicago, will deliver the address after the Saturday evening banquet. The ASOR plenary on Saturday morning will be given by Martha Joukowsky; her topic will be the Great Temple at Petra.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: Doug McGaughey (2004-2005; AAR)
Vice-President : Paul Mosca (2004-2005; SBL)
Past President: Jeff Staley (2004-2005; SBL)
Executive Secretary: Mark Lloyd Taylor (2004-2005; AAR)
Secretary-Treasurer: Rob Kugler (2004-2007; SBL)
ASOR Representative: Gloria London (2004-2007)

NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Norm Metzler, Chair (2002-2004), member (2002-2005)
Jeff Staley (2004-2005; past President)
Mary Kaye Nealen (2003-2006)
TBA
TBA  

NOMINATING PROCESS COMMITTEE
Patricia O’Connell Killen (2004-2005)
Karen Barta (2004-2005)
Ehud ben Zvi (2004-2005)  

STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION
Robert Hauck, Coordinator, (2003-2006)  

REGIONAL SCHOLARS COMMITTEE
Paul Mosca, Chair (SBL Executive Officer)
Paul Anderson (Program Unit Chair, NT & Hellenistic Religions)
Carol Dempsey (Program Unit Chair, Hebrew Bible)
Gloria London (Archaeology of the Ancient Near East) 

AUDIT COMMITTEE
Paul Mosca (2004-2005)
TBA  

PROGRAM UNIT CHAIRS
Asian and Comparative Studies :
Nick Gier (second term; 2004-2007)
History of Christianity/North American Religions:
Robert Hauck (second term; 2003-2006)
Interreligious Dialogue with the Natural Sciences:
Paul Ingram and Mark Unno, co-chairs (first term; 2002-2005)
Religion and Society :
Gary Chamberlain (second term; 2004-2007)
Theology and Philosophy of Religion:
Norm Metzler (second term; 2003-2006)
Women and Religion:
Ardy Bass and Kathlyn A. Breazeale, co-chairs (first term; 2002-2005)
Hebrew Bible:
Carol Dempsey (first term; 2002-2005)
New Testament and Hellenistic Religions:
Paul Anderson (first term; 2002-2005)
Archaeology of the Ancient Near East:
Gloria London (first term; 2004-2007)

!! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED !!

The work of this regional organization depends solely on the generous volunteering of time and energy by our members. As you can see from the roster on the left, we have vacancies on two standing committees: the Nominating Committee and the Audit Committee. We always need nominees/volunteers for the presidential line (vice-president/president elect, president, past president). And we will need to elect a new Executive Secretary this spring (an AAR member this time around).

Please consider whether you would be willing to serve in one of these capacities. If so, please be in contact with members of the Executive Committee.

The work is rewarding; it enables us to gather as a group for intellectual stimulation, professional development and support, as well as collegiality and friendship!

!! CALLING ALL REGIONAL AUTHORS !!

Have your published a new book in the last 1-3 years that has not been featured at our Regional Meeting? If so, I'm eager to hear from you so I can approach your publisher about having copies of your book available at the upcoming meeting in Seattle. I will also ask your press to send a representative with other works they publish. Thanks to Linda Schearing's pioneering work on the annual book display, we have some very nice opportunities to visit with publishers and see their book offerings not often provided to other regions. So please help me carry on that good tradition -- it's in our common interest to do so!

Rob Kugler
kugler@lclark.edu
(503) 768-7452 (office)
(503) 768-7447 (fax)  

FUTURE REGIONAL MEETINGS

2006 – Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA, USA

2007 – University of Lethbridge
Lethbridge, AB, CANADA

2008 – somewhere in the Willamette Valley

2009 – somewhere east of the Cascade mountains in the USA

2010 – somewhere in Canada

2005 STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
AAR/SBL AND ASOR

Awards for Outstanding Student Papers in the Field of Religious Studies:

• (2) $100 awards for winning graduate papers
• (2) $100 awards (1st Place) and (2) $50 awards (2nd place)
  for winning undergraduate papers

Submissions must meet the following criteria to be considered:

• no more than 5,000 words (including footnotes) for undergraduate papers
• no more than 7,000 words (including footnotes) for graduate papers
• in 12 point font and double spaced
• formatted according to either JAAR or JBL guidelines
• free of clerical or grammatical errors

Submissions should include:

• one paper copy
• one electronic version in standard word processing format, without author information. Submit author information in a separate file.
• a brief letter of support from a Pacific Northwest Region AAR, SBL, or ASOR faculty member;
• name, social security number/social insurance number, educational institution, graduate or undergraduate status

Submit by March 15, 2005 to:

• Dr. Robert Hauck
• Religious Studies Department, AD 57
• Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258-0057
• E-mail: hauck@gonzaga.edu

Awards will be announced at the Pacific Northwest AAR/SBL and ASOR Regional Meeting, Seattle, WA, April 29-May 1, 2005. Students need not be present to win.

Any student wishing to present a paper at the Regional Meeting should contact
Dr. Mark Lloyd Taylor,
School of Theology and Ministry, Seattle University,
901 12 th Avenue, P.O. Box 222000, Seattle, WA 98122-1090, USA.
mltaylor@seattleu.edu

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