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Rocky Mountain-Great Plains AAR-RBS Regional Meeting Program
Rocky Mountain-Great Plains AAR-RBS Regional Meeting Program
University of Denver, March 28-29, 2025
Day 1: Friday, March 28
Registration 8:00 - 3:15PM
(next to Sturm Hall 266)
Pick up name badges, programs, and tote bag here. Program is available on regional website and via QR code as well.
Bagels and orange juice available 7:45-8:30AM at registration.
Coffee/Tea will be available 7:45AM-3:15PM at registration.
8:30 - 10:00AM
Session 1
Session 1
Panel A: Religion in Media and Digital Spaces
Room: 253
Chair: Chad Leahy (he/him), University of Denver
1) “Narratives of Deconversion: A Case Study of Rhett and Link from Good Mythical Morning”
Hanna McElduff (hamc7356@colorado.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Boulder
2) “‘Blessed be the Daughters of Cain’: Devotion in the Mother Cain Fandom”
Jamie Mullennix (ammu2334@colorado.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Boulder
3) “God (and Pure Flix) is Not Dead: Exploring the Narratives and Economics of the Christian Film Industry”
Lynn Schofield Clark - she/her (Lynn.Clark@du.edu), Heidi Ippolito - she/her (Heidi.Ippolito@du.edu), & Matthew Konerth - he/him (Matthew.Konerth@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Denver & DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel B: Religion and Ecology
Room: Sturm 254
Chair: Angela Molloy (she/her), University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
1) “Climate Change Declarations from Five Global Religious Groups: A Comparative Analysis”
Kirsten Dalquist - she/her (Kirsten.Dalquist@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Denver
2) “Can Religion Contribute to the Mitigation of Climate Change?”
Ronald Simkins - he/him (rsmkns@creighton.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Creighton University
3) “‘This far…and no further’ (Job 38:11): Reflections on the Hebrew Bible’s Celebration of Ecological/Agrarian Limits and Boundaries”
Michelle A. Stinson - she/her (michelle.ann.stinson@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Denver Seminary
Panel C: Anti-Muslim Violence and Muslim Resistance and Persistence in the Rocky Mountains-Great Plains Region
Room: Sturm 275
Chair: Rebecca Barrett-Fox (she/her), Kansas State University - Salina
1) “‘Being Muslim in America: An Afghan American Family Story’ - A Short Film and Reflections”
Mary Ann Watson (watsonm@msudenver.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Metropolitan State University of Denver
2) “Islamophobia and Reactionary Politics in the United States: How Islamophobic Politics Shape Muslim American Strategies of Resistance to Marginalization”
Christine Sheikh - she/her (csheikh@msudenver.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Metropolitan State University of Denver
3) “The Role of Moral Panics in Mass Violence: Anti-Palestinianism, Anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia at the Attempted Garden City, Kansas Bombing, October 2016”
Rebecca Barrett-Fox - she/her (rebeccabarrettfox@ksu.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Kansas State University - Salina
Panel D: Holy Texts and Literature 1
Room: Sturm 287
Chair: Jason Combs (he/him), Brigham Young University
1) “Romans 13:1-7 in Literary Context: Christian Love, Communal Peace, and Divine Judgment”
Melvin L. Otey - he/him (motey@faulkner.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Faulkner University
2) “Paul’s Imprisonment in Caesarea”
Sara C. Winter - she/her (SBlairCole@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: New School University (retired)
3) “The Ecology of P: Nonviolence and Vegetarianism”
Laurie Fisher - she/her (lfisher@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
10:00 -11:30AM
Session 2
Session 2
Panel E: The Religious Unknown in Eschatology, Death, and Futurism
Room: Sturm 253
Chair: Zach Simpson (he/him), University of Arts and Science in Oklahoma
1) “Life After Death as Metaphysical Necessity”
David L. Weddle - he/him (dlweddle421@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Colorado College
2) “The LDS Plan of Salvation as Functional Creed”
Kirk Astel - he/him (astelk@byui.edu) & Nathan Astel - he/him (astelna@byu.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Brigham Young University - Idaho
3) “‘And Go Home to my Lord and be Free’ Black Jesus, Death, & Posthumanist Liberation: Two-Scholar Analysis Paper of James Cone & Kelly Brown Douglas”
Lex Dunbar (ldunbar@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel F: Religious Trauma and Emotional Wellbeing
Room: Sturm 254
Chair: D. Ashley Campbell, Ph.D. (she/her)
1) “Political Trauma and Religious Recovery: Some Lessons from the 1970s”
Patrick D. Bowen - they/them (pbowen303@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Independent Scholar
2) “The Dignity of Definition: Distorted Identity and Moral Injury in Postcolonial Violence”
Caralyn Ware - she/her (cware@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Iliff School of Theology & University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Clinical Research Administration
3) “W. Norman Pittenger's Pastoral Theology of Gay Sexuality”
Cypress Brannon - they/them (cypress.brannon@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Iliff School of Theology
4) “Rebirth of the Wicked Woman: A Modern Hagiography of Medusa for Sexual Trauma Survivors”
Anastasia Vaidis (anva0049@colorado.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Boulder
Panel G: Religion, Space, and Geography
Room: Sturm 275
Chair: Sho McClarence (they/them), University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
1) “Buddhism in Colorado: Moving Beyond 'Two Buddhisms'”
Benjamin Nourse - he/him (Benjamin.Nourse@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Denver
2) “Spirited Migrations”
Mary L Keller (mkeller@uwyo.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Wyoming
3) “Religion, Policy, and Reproductive Healthcare in Colorado: In the Wake of a Forced Migration Crisis”
Isabela Rosales Paul - she/they (irosales@iliff.edu) Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel H: Historical Analysis Across Religious Traditions
Room: Sturm 287
Chair: Joseph Foltz (he/him), University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
1) “Converse Translation, an LXX Translation Technique”
Galen Goldsmith - she/her (ggoldsmith@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Iliff School of Theology
2) “The Roma and the Romanian Orthodox Church: An Apology Long Overdue”
Nicolae Roddy - he/him (nroddy@creighton.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Creighton University
3) “Recent Conservative Christian and Muslim Approaches to Biological Evolution and the Need for a Better Paradigm for the Evolution/Religion Relationship”
Jim Sharp (jimsharp87@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Colorado State University
4) “‘In the Beginning…’ The Creation Stories from the first musings across Civilizations and the Ages, their origins in the human condition”
Sidney Fox (foxsj08@ gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Independent Scholar
Lunch 11:30 - 12:00PM
Please collect your lunch and join us for the Undergraduate Scholars panel
Room: Sturm 134
12:00-1:15PM
Undergraduate Scholars Panel
Undergraduate Scholars Panel
Room: Sturm 134
Chair: Benjamin Nourse (he/him), University of Denver
1) “Joy, Education, and Exodus: Exploring the Departure of Young People from the Catholic Church”
Amelia Broderick King - she/her (Amelia.Broderickking@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Denver
2) “ The Dove: Creation Symbolism in Jonah leading to the Deutero-Isaiah temple”
Annie Spach - she/her (aspach@byu.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Brigham Young University
3) “Daoism and Aesthetic Praxis”
Kieran Arnold he/they (kieran.arnold@ucdenver.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Denver
4) “The Complementary Roles of Confession and Therapy”
Isabel A. Porres - she/her (porres596537@newmanu.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Newman University
5) “The Reconstruction of the American-Jewish Identity Post-October 7th”
Evelyn Stovin - they/them (Evs.Stovin@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Denver
6) “A Forgotten Chapter: Jewish Identities on the Asian Continent”
Danielle Matthews - they/she (d.anabellematthews75@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Denver
1:30-3:00PM
Session 3
Session 3
Panel J: Queer Hierophanies: The Sacred and Profane in Texts, Spaces, and Traditions
Room: Sturm 253
Chair: Claudia Schippert (they/she/he), Executive Director, American Academy of Religion
1) “Gender is Meaningless: Hierophanies From Queer Roller-Skating”
David C. Kemp - they/them (David.Kemp@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
2) “Queer Hierophanies: A Study of Keith Haring’s ‘Once Upon a Time’”
Sho McClarance - they/them (Sho.McClarance@du.edu ) & Justin Friel - he/him (Justin.Friel@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
3) “On Encyclopedic Being and Knowing: Towards an Occult Theological Anthropology”
Zane Johnson - he/him (Zane.Johnson@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
4) “Queering Sacred, Queering Language: Exploring Queer Literary Hierophanies in South Asia”
Deeptangshu Das - he/him (Deeptangshu.Das@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel K: Religion and Psychology
Room: Sturm 254
Chair: Sandra Dixon (she/her), University of Denver
1) “Demons, Spirits, Machines, and Bodies: Applying Condition Othering to the Study of Religion”
Tyrel Sorensen - he/him (Tyrel.Sorensen@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
2) “Perspectives on Cognitive Psychology in KTU 1.40: Moral Implications and Emotional Responses”
Richard D. Jarvis III - he/him (rdji2@byu.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Brigham Young University
3) “‘Nones’ and Near-Death Experiences: A Critical Insight”
Kevin Grane - he/him (ksgrane@outlook.com)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
4) “The Guru in the Text”
David Savalani - he/him (savalanid@wit.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Wentworth Institute of Technology
Panel L: Religion in Art, Texts, and Iconography
Room: Sturm 275
Chair: Joe Charnes - he/him, Temple Aaron
1) “The Reception of Saint Thecla: Exploring Thecla in Early Medieval Iconography”
Joseph Foltz - he/him (Joseph.Foltz7@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
2) “Banners of Piety and Prestige: Women's Asceticism and Community Prestige in Jain Choḍ Paṭas”
Steven M. Vose - he/him (steven.vose@ucdenver.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Denver
3) “QAnon’s Horrific and Heroic Religious Memes”
Heidi Ippolito - she/her (Heidi.Ippolito@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel M: Intersections of Religion, Race, and De-/Post-Colonial Religion
Room: Sturm 287
Chair: D. Ashley Campbell, Ph.D. (she/her)
1) “What Makes a Eurochristian Worldview?
Roger Green - he/him (rogerkgreen@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Metropolitan State University of Denver
2) “Genesis 1:26 and Christian Nationalism: Toward Understanding a ‘Patriot’ Hermeneutic”
Brad Crowell - he/him (brad.crowell@drake.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Drake University
3) “Du Bois and the ‘Religion of Whiteness’"
Ryne Beddard - he/him (rynebeddard@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
3:15 - 4:15PM
American Academy of Religion Plenary Address
American Academy of Religion Plenary Address
Room: Sturm 281
Welcome: Claudia Schippert (they/she/he), Executive Director, American Academy of Religion
AAR Keynote speaker: Ather Zia (she/her), Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado
Reception 4:15-5:15PM
Beverages and Light Snacks will be provided
Room: Sturm 286
FEATURED REGIONAL EVENT
WHITE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM & THE FUTURE OF U.S. POLITICS
Conversation with Anthea Butler and Randall Balmer
Friday, March 28th, 6:30PM
STUDENT COMMONS, RM. 2600 University of Colorado-Denver
THIS EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
After the conclusion of the AAR-RBS RMGP Meeting events on Friday March 28th, we are pleased to invite you to a moderated discussion between distinguished scholars of American religion, Dr. Anthea Butler, author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, and Dr. Randall Balmer, author of Bad Faith: Race & The Rise of the Religious Right. The event will take place in downtown Denver on the Auraria campus for CU-Denver. It is accessible by light rail, taxi/rideshare, and there is also parking available near the event. Contact event organizers with questions regarding parking, travel, etc.
Dr. Butler is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Balmer is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College.
This event is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Evangelicalism and The University of Colorado-Denver.
For questions please reach out to
katherine.mohrman@ucdenver.edu and
steven.vose@ucdenver.edu
Day 2: Saturday, March 29
Registration 8:00AM - 12:00PM
(next to Sturm Hall 266)
Coffee/Tea will be available 8AM-1PM at the registration.
8:00- 8:45AM
Rocky Mountain / Great Plains Regional Religion & Bible Society Business Meeting
Rocky Mountain / Great Plains Regional Religion & Bible Society Business Meeting
Room: Sturm 286
All are welcome.
Coffee, tea, orange juice, pastries, and bagels available (7:45AM-8:45AM)
9:00-10:30AM
Session 4
Session 4
Panel O: Religion and Gender
Room: Sturm 253
Chair: Benjamin Nourse (he/him), University of Denver
1) “Nuns as an Erotic Embodiment: The Writing of Nuns in Fanmen qiyulu”
Yaqi Gao - she/her (gaoyaqi98@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Boulder
2) “The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Exploring the Roots of Shifting Gender Balances in Evangelical Churches”
Wesley Moncrief - he/him (wmoncrief@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Iliff School of Theology
3) “Dancing in the Shadows: Representation Strategy and the Female Agency of Samten Chodron in Contemporary Tibet”
Dekyi Llamo - she/her (dekyilala@gmail.com) Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Boulder
Panel P: Religion and the Body
Room: Sturm 254
Chair: David C. Kemp (they/them), University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology
1) “Nones and Pleasure: A Systematic Analysis of the Perception and Application of Pleasure in the Lives of Religious Nones”
Kevin Grane - he/him (ksgrane@outlook.com)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
2) “Circumcision: Identity Marked in Flesh”
Mona Moayedi - she/her (Mona.Moayedi@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
3) “Embodied Sacrament”
Name: Austin L. Leininger - they/them (aleininger@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Iliff School of Theology
4) “Constructing Heretical Bodies: A Disability Studies Perspective on the Good and Perilous Bodies of Early Christianity”
Angela Molloy - she/her (Angela.Molloy@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel Q: Expressions of De-/Post-Colonial Religion
Room: Sturm 275
Chair: Santhosh Chandrashekar (he/they), University of Denver
1) “Divine Whispers in West Africa: Unraveling the Enigma of 'Yan Hakika and Sufi Claims”
Shafiu Alidu - he/him (shal5540@colorado.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado, Boulder
2) “We Need a God Who is Someplace: Finding God in the Seat of Toni Morrison”
Robert Monson - he/him (rmonson@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
3) “The Demands of Liberation Communion at the Encampment: Embodied Living Inspired by Liberationist and Womanist Theories”
Marisa Hulstine - she/her (mhulstine@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
4) “A Divine Hunger for Justice: God's Response to Hunger and Economic Exploitation in Amos 5 and Revelation 6”
Jael Shumaker - she/her (jgrace611@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Denver Seminary
Panel R: Holy Texts and Literature 2
Room: Sturm 287
Chair: Jeff Scholes (he/him), University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
1) “‘I Have Made My Works Great’: Qoheleth’s Humorous Recontextualization in Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 As Seen Through Rhetorical Genre Studies”
Nathan Harden - he/him (nathan.l.harden@my.densem.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Denver Seminary
2) “Prepositional Misappropriation of Paul ‘within’ Judaism: A Rabbinic Propositional Plea for a Contrastive ‘without’”
Joe Charnes - he/him (ourshareddifferences@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Temple Aaron
3) “An Academic Drash on the Parabiblical Texts of 1QapGen: An Exploration into Avram and Sarai’s Trip to Egypt”
Laurie Fisher - she/her (lfisher@iliff)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
4) “Linear Alphabetic Script in Texts from the Third Millennium until the Tenth Century BCE”
Richard S. Hess - he/him (glascow06@gmail.com)
Institutional Affiliation: Denver Seminary
10:45-11:45AM
Teaching Contentious Topics: Roundtable
Teaching Contentious Topics: Roundtable
Room: Sturm 253
Moderator: Andrea Stanton (she/her), University of Denver
Panelists:
Alex Boodrookas (he/him), Metropolitan State University of Denver
Yogesh Chandrani (he/him), Colorado College
Katherine Mohrman (she/her), University of Colorado, Denver
11:45AM-12:15PM
Lunch
Lunch
Tocabe
Please collect your lunch and join us for the Scriptural Studies plenary address
Room: Sturm 134
12:15PM-1:15PM
Scriptural Studies Plenary Address
Scriptural Studies Plenary Address
Room: Sturm 134
Welcome: Jeff Scholes (he/him), Vice President, AAR Regional Board, Religion and Bible Society Regional Board, Professor, UCCS.
Scriptural Studies Keynote: Amy Balogh (she/her), Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, Regis University
1:30PM-3:00PM
Session 5
Session 5
Panel S: Liberating Imagination
Room: Sturm 253
Chair: April Mack (she/her), Iliff School of Theology
1) “In Another Life: Cinema, Portals, and Orientation”
Josh Perez - he/him (Joshua.Perez@du.edu
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
2) “May Wakanda Live Forever: (A) Black, Postcolonial Analysis of the Nation of Wakanda”
Robert Monson - he/him (rmonson@iliff.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
3) “Can War Be an Act of Liberation?”
Dennis Saavedra Carquin-Hamichand - he/him (Dennis.Saavedracarquin-Hamichand@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
4) “Mushroom Churches Are Systems of Colonization”
Kimberly Melgoza - she/her (Kimberly.Melgoza@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
Panel T: (Re)Imaginings of the Hindu Goddess: Exploring Literature, Media, Film, and Philosophy
Room: Sturm 254
Chair: Dheepa Sundaram (she/her), University of Denver
1) "Redefining Gender Norms through Hindu Goddess Altars in the Bangladeshi Hindu Community"
Sharmin Afroz - she/her (sharmin.afroz@colorado.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Boulder
2) “Vernacular Imaginings of Hindu Goddesses: A Select Study of Assamese Devotional Literature and Bengali Television Depictions”
Deeptangshu Das - he/him (Deeptangshu.Das@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
3) Discussant: Steven Vose (he/him), University of Colorado-Denver
Panel U: Exploring Religion Through Mythology and Media
Room: Sturm 275
Chair: Michelle Stinson (she/her), Denver Seminary
1) “Totem, God, Archetype: Exploring the Enduring Legacy of Siyavash in Iranian Religions”
Mona Moayedi - she/her (Mona.Moayedi@du.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in Religion
2) “Cosmologies, Caste, and Coastlines: Reading the Sea as Goddess in Thakazhi’s Chemmeen”
Helena Reddington - she/her (hereddingt@msudenver.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Metropolitan State University of Denver
3) “Mythology and Spirituality in the Music of Van Morrison”
James Romano - he/him (james_romano@fuller.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Fuller Theological Seminary
4) “Understanding Religious Environmental Communication Through Commonweal”
Dominic Wilkins - he/him (dwilkins2024@coloradocollege.edu) & Tâm Phan - he/him (t_phan@coloradocollege.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: Colorado College
Panel V: The Center for the Study of Evangelicalism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Possibilities
Room: Sturm 287
Chair: Jeff Scholes (he/him), University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
1) George Bayuga - he/him (gbayuga@uccs.edu) Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Colorado Springs
2) Paul Harvey - he/him (pharvey@uccs.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Colorado Springs
3) Benjamin Matthew Slightom - he/him (bslighto@uccs.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
4) Nooshin Sadeghsamimi - she/her (nsadeghs@uccs.edu)
Institutional Affiliation: University of Colorado - Colorado Springs
3:00PM-3:15PM
Closing Remarks & Upcoming Regional Events
Room: Sturm 286
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