Using Performance to Teach the Bible

SBL in San Diego 11/22/2019

1:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Room: 28B (Upper Level East) - Convention Center

Registration for this workshop is available through Annual Meetings registration. The eighth annual workshop sponsored by the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media offers sessions on using performance to engage students with biblical text, lead by experienced teaching scholars. The participants will be involved in active learning throughout the afternoon. Cost of registration is $50 and can be submitted through SBL Annual Meetings registration. Additional information is available from Phil Ruge-Jones at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

DETAILS

Title: 10,000 Bad Performances: Embracing the Errors of our Ways as a Key to Greek Pedagogy, Michael Halcomb

Abstract: For nearly a decade, I have been teaching Koine communicatively. By its very nature, performance is central to this pedagogical approach. Speaking, actively listening, responding, gesturing, and other acts, are all performative. Inevitably, when students participate, they make errors--slips of the tongue, grammatical foibles, forgetting, etc. It is my contention that these errors are key to fruitful language learning and, as such, should be embraced. Teachers, in fact, can even function as models in this regard. In this presentation, I will begin by offering insights into my philosophy of performance pedagogy, especially as it relates to language teaching and learning, and then engage attendees in several performances, stopping to demonstrate the philosophy in action.

Title: Discourse Analysis as an Entryway to Performance: An Exploration of Isaiah 61, Alaine Buchanan

Abstract: Students desire to find a variety of ways in which they can take what they are learning in class and create application for everyday life. One of the best ways professors can help with this process is to incorporate performance-based assignments in their biblical and theological classes. As an entry point to performance assignments, discourse analysis provides a hands-on exploration of a biblical text that can spark imagination and innovation for performance projects. In this workshop, we will practice a “hands on” discourse analysis of various portions of Isaiah 61, explore potential options for performance-based projects based on Isaiah 61 and investigate how Jesus is presented as “performing” Isaiah 61:1-2 in Luke 4:14-30.

Title: Performance and Play in the Seminary Classroom, Travis West

Abstract: One of the primary objectives of theological education, particularly in a seminary context, is to take seriously the theological and pastoral formation of our students. Over the past 13 years the Introduction to Biblical Hebrew class at Western Theological Seminary (Holland, MI) has come to play a central role in this process — somewhat unexpectedly! It has done so by prioritizing performance and play as central pedagogical strategies to facilitate meaningful encounters: with the language, with each other, with ourselves, with the Hebrew Scriptures, and ultimately with the Spirit. This workshop will explore the role of performance in shaping a formational classroom culture, and create space to discuss the benefits and challenges of a related aspect of performance—what could be called a “pedagogy of play”—toward that end.

Title: Using Performance to Explore Literary Unity, Cliff Barbarick

Abstract: Performing Paul's letters has proved to be an excellent way for students to explore the rhetorical structure, tone, and impact of the letters while developing their own interpretations of specific pericopes. When studying certain letters, however, performing the whole forces the class to make decisions about literary unity. For example, do we perform 2 Corinthians straight through or divide it into distinct, chronologically arranged letters? Performance itself can be one way to explore the options and make decisions about literary unity. For this workshop session, we will explore the literary unity of Philippians by hearing it performed in different ways and making observations about the audience experience.