22/05/2024 09:45 - 13:15

HALL: LA PIRA - ROOM 5

Proponent: Hawley R.

Chair: Guermeur I., Hawley R., Hawley R., Prescendi Morresi F.

Speaker: Benedetti G., Guermeur I., Hawley R., Jouvenel A., Prescendi Morresi F., Roman S.

Over the last thirty years, those studying the ancient religions of the Mediterranean and Near East, working in various fields such as Egyptology, cuneiform studies, Greek and Roman culture, or biblical studies, have all confronted a host of "paradigm changes", affecting not only the tools and methods of their respective disciplines, but also the attitudes and expectations of their students, colleagues, and wider scholarly public. Some of these shifts in perspective concerned theory and methodology, while others have touched on more sensitive societal issues such as postcolonialism and the broader question of cultural hegemonies in scholarship. All societies, global and academic communities included, inevitably change over time. One generation's reigning consensus regarding methodology give way to a new generation of students and scholars whose theoretical and methodological preoccupations have moved beyond, sometimes far beyond, those of their predecessors. This panel proposes a series of "state of the art" assessments or case studies of how our respective disciplines have changed methodologically over the course of the last generation. Particularly encouraged are treatments which engage sincerely with post-colonial theory applied to the historiography of the ancient religions of the Mediterranean and Near East.