In the midst of Corona-craziness, withdraw into the quiet solitude of Zoom and enjoy the Brisbane School of Theology’s first Postgraduate Research Seminar for 2020 on 6/4 from 7pm-9pm. As disheartening as it is that we will not be able to meet in person, it is marvellous that technology allows us to keep calm and carry on. The programme for the day is attached with this email and you can access the Zoom ID at the link below:

https://bst.qld.edu.au/research-seminars/

It will be BYO coffee, but there will still be opportunity to ask questions of our speakers. Our distinguished guest is Old Testament scholar, Dr David Reimer from the University of St Andrews / Faith Mission Bible College.

Looking forward to seeing you then,

Bruce Pass, Brisbane School of Theology

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS

This Call for Papers (CFP) invites expressions of interest to contribute to the new book “Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches”, to be published as part of Springer Nature’s “Climate Change Management Series”, the world’s leading peer-reviewed book series on matters related to climate change https://www.springer.com/series/8740 . More than 1,000 climate researchers have been able to document and disseminate their work as part of this series, which has published 38 volumes to date, among which are ground-breaking publications such as the “Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation” (3 volumes; more than 100 authors) and “Handbook of Climate Change Management” (due in 2021; more than 300 authors). As a peer-reviewed and indexed publication, contributions to the book count as high-impact scientific outputs, which may be used for promotion and tenure purposes. Many scientists and academics have benefitted from this over the years. Please note below how to submit your expression of interest to contribute to the new book, which will be edited by Dr Johannes M. Luetz (CHC/UNSW) and Professor Patrick D. Nunn (USC).

Call for Papers: Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches

BACKGROUND

As the region in the world perhaps most exposed to climate change, the Pacific Islands face uncertain futures and are in need of adaptation solutions that are both effective and sustainable. Yet because adaptation interventions have been mostly externally designed, funded and implemented, they have uncritically privileged a scientific and technocratic worldview that contrasts sharply with that of most Pacific Island people. Most interventions intended to reduce exposure to environmental risk and to enable effective and sustainable adaptation to climate change in the Pacific Islands region have failed to acknowledge influences on decisionmaking of spirituality and connectedness to Nature. In the light of the almost total Christianization of Pacific Islands within the past century, such intervention failures are surprising. The situation cannot continue because every day the need for adaptation to climate change that is effective and sustainable is growing. Given that in the Pacific Islands region decisionmakers are likely to be influenced more by tradition and local precedent than by science, this book makes the purposive exploration of opportunities for faith-engaged approaches to climate change adaptation a fertile and promising undertaking.

It is against this background that suitably qualified experts and project teams are invited to contribute to the edited volume “Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches”. Experiences, perspectives and lessons gathered in the book will be invaluable for both policy and practice serving the cause of climate change adaptation in Pacific Island communities. A better understanding of the science-spirituality nexus in the Pacific will also enable more sustainable and locally meaningful adaptation responses.

CONTRIBUTION

• In addition to featuring the findings of case studies, literary analyses, field projects and empirical research, the volume will contain a wide range of perspectives exemplifying the diversity of faith-engaged approaches across the Pacific Island region.

• A unique feature of this interdisciplinary peer reviewed book is its strong practice-oriented focus that promotes “more-than-scientific yet not anti-scientific responses to climate change that are locally meaningful and morally compelling” (Hannah Fair, 2018).

• Comprising peer reviewed works by scholars, professionals and practitioners from across Oceania, the book addresses a critical gap in the literature and represents a ground-breaking interdisciplinary contribution to climate change adaptation in the Pacific Island region intended to underwrite its people’s effective and sustained adaptation to climate change, thereby minimizing its impacts on their lives.

ENVISAGED CHAPTER TOPICS

Topics include (but are not limited to) the following cross-cutting themes and examples:

Context: Past, present and future perspectives

• Opening contextual discourses on environment, belief and empiricism
• Environment and belief in the Pacific Islands (the history of ‘Pacific people’s linkage of environment and deity’ with examples, e.g., disasters and divine attribution, etc.)
• Faith-based rationalisations of past climate change
• Faith-based opportunities for future climate change adaptation

Theory: Concepts, narratives and theoretical frameworks

• Exploratory discourses: the case for faith-engaged approaches in the Pacific
• Ecotheology, ‘creation care’ and ecological hermeneutics
• Epistemological and eschatological perspectives
• Integrated discourses: bridging the science-spirituality divide — or is this “an illicit melange of elements best left separate”? (Wolfgang Kempf, 2017)
• Creating consilience: conjoining contributions from the sciences and humanities
• Enlisting religious convictions in the service of climate change adaptation as a “motivational force not mirrored by economics or science” (Hannah Fair, 2018)

Practice: Empirical research and praxis-informed case examples

• Leveraging spiritual leadership for policy development and regulatory change
• Quantitative and qualitative research, reviews and analyses
• Climate change and worldview persuasion: Theories, practices and realities
• Imagining barriers: how positionality affects insider-outsider adaptation discourse
• Case studies and grassroots examples of innovative faith-engaged adaptation practice

Doctrine: Scriptural contributions and perspectives

• Holy books: opportunities and challenges for effecting faith-engaged adaptation practice
• Scripture and climate change adaptation praxis: Gold mine or mine field?
• Scriptural reflections on longing and belonging, home and homelessness, human migration, displacement and resettlement
• Scriptural narratives and representations: Noah as an icon of pre-disaster preparedness
• Theological and hermeneutical perspectives on “end time prophecy” and Biblical eschatology

Engagement: Engaging stakeholders and constituencies

• Professors, pastors or politicians … different epistemologies for different constituencies?
• The role of the Pacific Conference of Churches
• Mormonism in the Pacific Islands
• Engaging religious stakeholders: Inter-denominationalism, ecumenicalism, church alliances, parachurch organisations, multi-faith coalitions
• Indigenous perspectives on place, culture, language, worldview and identity

Reflections:

• Limits to faith-engaged approaches

Other contributions would be welcome. Please consult the editors if you have additional ideas.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

The book will be published as part of Springer Nature’s “Climate Change Management Series”, the world’s leading and most influential peer-reviewed book series on matters related to climate change https://www.springer.com/series/8740 .

Expressions of interest to contribute to the book, initially consisting of a 200-word abstract, with the title of the work, qualifications and the full contact details of the authors, should be sent to Dr. Johannes Luetz jluetz@chc.edu.au. Details on the online submission and the peer-review process will be shared with those authors whose abstracts are accepted. The deadline for the submissions of abstracts is 31 March 2020. Full papers are due by 30 June 2020. The book is expected to be launched in late-2020.

Editors: Dr. Johannes M. Luetz (CHC/UNSW) jluetz@chc.edu.au and Professor Patrick D. Nunn (USC) pnunn@usc.edu.au

Dr. Johannes M. Luetz   Ph.D. MBA  BA

Research Chair

School of Social Sciences, CHC Higher Education, Brisbane

Carindale, QLD 4152, Australia

CRICOS Provider No: 01016F

Adjunct

School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

CRICOS Provider No: 00098G

The Society of Biblical Literature organizing committee advise that the conference in Adelaide in July 2020 has been cancelled.  They advise

” SBL staff has stayed in constant contact with the 2020 International Meeting’s local planning committee, administrators and staff at the University of Adelaide, and the Adelaide Convention Bureau. We all have also been regularly reviewing updates from the Australian government, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Heath Organization.

While we may harbor hopes for containment of COVID-19 by July, it is responsible to act only on what we know now and to put the health and safety of SBL members and the members of affiliated organizations first.

We are obliged to consider current restrictions, which may or may not be extended to July, and to make decisions in response to the following facts: (1) the Australian government has banned all non-citizens and non-residents from arriving in Australia; (2) the governmental restriction of gatherings to no more than fifty persons precludes the possibility of an in-person conference; and (3) even if travel restrictions are relaxed in the coming months, it is likely that most governments will continue to require a fourteen-day self-quarantine, which would doubly impact travelers upon arrival and return.

The two scenarios that we have all read about also warn against the viability of a July meeting: (1) if communities collectively flatten the curve, the impact of the virus is reduced but its presence may be extended to July; and (2) if communities do not flatten the curve, the infrastructure (especially health care) will be overwhelmed and the after-effects of that impact would be lasting and severe.

Therefore, in consultation with our host university and the local committee, we have reached the consensus that cancelling the 2020 SBL International Meeting is in the best interest of everyone.

In spite of this decision regarding the International Meeting, all indications are that the threat of COVID-19 will be minimized by November and will not significantly impact SBL’s Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. We hope that the Annual Meeting will provide much-needed opportunities for professional development, networking, comradery, and mutual support. The need for community—professional and interpersonal—seems more pressing than ever. Registration for the Annual Meeting will open in a few weeks.

SBL has been actively exploring virtual conferencing models and technology. We considered it for the July meeting, too, but the time-zone difference would make broad participation and tech support by SBL staff in Atlanta exceedingly difficult. It would not be the best environment for testing this option, on such a large scale, and so close to the meeting date. We will, however, continue to explore options for the future, and we are doing so in consultation with peer learned societies and other membership associations for whom meetings play a significant role in their mission and services.

We are all affected by a situation beyond our control. However, I want to recognize those that feel disappointment the most: the local planning committee, the university administration hosting the meeting, the university staff that supported our efforts to plan an exceptional experience, and the local organizations that were meeting with us, namely, the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools (ANZATS), the Australian Catholic Theological Association (ACTA), and the Australian Catholic Biblical Association (ACBA). The International Meeting is intended to showcase the host institution’s contributions and the unique contribution of scholars from the geographic region; for the 2020 meeting, this included indigenous and Pasifika voices. Those that were preparing a paper for the meeting can likely use that paper for another meeting. The local committee, on the other hand, have spent two years on programs and logistics that will be aborted. Please join me in recognizing their service: Paul Babie, Vicky Balabanski, Norm Habel, Mark Kulikovsky, Peter Lockwood, and Cathy Thomson. Peter Trudinger chaired the local committee, and we are particularly grateful for his leadership and service.

The local committee chose the theme of ecology for a meeting motif. They hope that while the world is focused on the short-term issue of the disease we should not lose sight of the long-term stewardship of the environment.

Finally, we especially regret the additional economic impact that cancelling will have on a region already suffering from the devastating bush fires. Economic burden always tragically falls on those that can bear it least.

SBL organizing committee

Call for Papers: Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches

This Call for Papers (CFP) invites expressions of interest to contribute to the new book “Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific Islands: Opportunities for Faith-Engaged Approaches”, to be published as part of Springer Nature’s “Climate Change Management Series”, the world’s leading peer-reviewed book series on matters related to climate change https://www.springer.com/series/8740 . More than 1,000 climate researchers have been able to document and disseminate their work as part of this series, which has published 38 volumes to date, among which are ground-breaking publications such as the “Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation” (3 volumes; more than 100 authors) and “Handbook of Climate Change Management” (due in 2021; more than 300 authors). As a peer-reviewed and indexed publication, contributions to the book count as high-impact scientific outputs, which may be used for promotion and tenure purposes. Many scientists and academics have benefitted from this over the years. Please note below how to submit your expression of interest to contribute to the new book, which will be edited by Dr Johannes M. Luetz (CHC/UNSW) and Professor Patrick D. Nunn (USC).

Enquiries should be forwarded to jluetz@chc.edu.au and Professor Patrick D. Nunn (USC) pnunn@usc.edu.au

The book will be published as part of Springer Nature’s “Climate Change Management Series”, the world’s leading and most influential peer-reviewed book series on matters related to climate change https://www.springer.com/series/8740 .

Expressions of interest to contribute to the book, initially consisting of a 200-word abstract, with the title of the work, qualifications and the full contact details of the authors, should be sent to Dr. Johannes Luetz jluetz@chc.edu.au. Details on the online submission and the peer-review process will be shared with those authors whose abstracts are accepted. The deadline for the submissions of abstracts is 31 March 2020. Full papers are due by 30 June 2020. The book is expected to be launched in late-2020.

Editors: Dr. Johannes M. Luetz (CHC/UNSW) jluetz@chc.edu.au and Professor Patrick D. Nunn (USC) pnunn@usc.edu.au