MDiv graduate Sarah Blake presents paper at the Society of Biblical Literature
S
arah Blake MDiv '09 presented a paper at the Society of Biblical
Literature in November 2011 on working with students who are visu- ally impaired. The SBL conference was held in San Francisco concur- rently with the annual conference for the American Academy of Religion. Following Blake's graduation, she
created a website with information about her graduate work and instruc- tions for configuring a computer to display Hebrew and Greek in braille using a screen reader for the study of biblical languages. Inquiries about the process trickled in via email from students and occasionally from facul- ty. Blake often responded to inquiries directing people to her website for additional information and offering to answer more questions about her work. Blake began working with Lauren
Tuchman, a 2011 graduate from Jewish Theological Seminary who is also sight impaired, to submit a proposal to SBL. SBL accepted their proposal and invited them to the conference.
Semin ar y Sy nop s i s | Summe r 2 0 1 2 Blake writes, "Presenting the paper
gave Lauren and me an opportunity to organize information about how people who are blind read in bibli- cal languages and how material is produced in formats that we can use. It also gave us an opportunity to dis- cuss areas where work still needs to be done and why it is important for us to have access to biblical language resources." Blake, who found the SBL experience fulfilling, further noted, "Since the intersection of disability, health care, and biblical studies is a relatively new field, there is a great opportunity to contribute new mate- rial from various perspectives. There is great diversity in the field because of interfaith perspectives and because of the diversity of voices within dis- ability studies. We all have much to learn from each other." To listen to Blake deliver this paper,
visit the audio link at http://biblang. night-light.org/112011_sblaar.mp3 For language study resources, visit http://biblang.night-light.org Sarah may be contacted at sjblake@
sarahjblake.com
Yarbro Collins delivers the 30th Newell Lecture in Biblical Studies
Collins, D
r. Adela Y a r b r o the
Bu c k i n g h am Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation
at Yale Divinity School, delivered the 30th
Newell Lecture in Biblical
Studies on Oct. 10, 2011. Yarbro Collins joined the
Yale Divinity School in 2000 after teaching at the University of Chicago Divinity School for nine years. Prior to that, she was a professor in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Her most recent book is a commentary on the Gospel of Mark for the Hermeneia com- mentary series. Among her other publications are Cosmology and Eschatology in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism; The Beginning of the Gospel: Probings of Mark in Context; Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse;
Seminary Synopsis Annual
The Apocalypse (New Testament Message series); and The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation. She served as the editor of the Society of Biblical Literature's Monograph Series from 1985 to 1990. She currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and the Catholic Biblical Quarterly. www.yale.edu/ divinity/faculty/Fac.AYCollins.shtml Collins delivered three lectures
with the overall topic of "The Earthly Afterlife of Paul." The lec- tures covered "Paul's Legacy for Sexuality and the Role of Women in the Church," "Paul's Contribution to the Hope of the Early Church," and "Interpretations of Paul's Resurrection body." Audio CDs of these lectures may be purchased through the Center for Christian Leadership at www.anderson.edu/ sot/ccl/OrderForm.pdf. For information on the Newell
Lecture series and past scholars, visit www.anderson.edu/sot/about/newell/.
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