Scholar Explores Idea of Chaos in Myth at UA’s Annual Aronov Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Bruce Lincoln, an internationally recognized scholar in religious studies and the Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, will give The University of Alabama department of religious studies’ 2008-2009 Aaron Aronov Lecture.

His lecture, “In Praise of Things Chaotic: Politics in Creation Mythology,” will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 in the Gorgas Library, room 205. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Working from mythic accounts of creation that come from archaic Greece, medieval Scandinavia and Zoroastrian Iran, Lincoln’s paper explores what is meant by “chaos” — void, disorder, anarchy, violence or something else — and the politics of how scholars and others have tried to think about the chaotic.

Lincoln is among the most influential and rigorous historians of religions now working in the United States, and he is among the most internationally influential scholars of religion. His expertise runs from the ancient world to the modern.

He is the author of numerous books and articles, including “Religion, Empire, and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia,” which won the Frank Moore Cross Award of the American Society of Oriental Research for the best book on the Ancient Near East; “Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11”; and “Theorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship,” which won the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in 2000.

With his wide expertise, he also serves in the faculty of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Committee on Medieval Studies at the University of Chicago.

The Aaron Aronov Lecture Series, established in 2002, is named after the late Aaron Aronov, after whom the department of religious studies’ endowed Chair in Judaic Studies is also named. Its aim is to introduce to The University of Alabama community a nationally recognized scholar of religion who is capable of reflecting on issues of wide relevance to scholars from across the humanities and social sciences. In addition to the department of religious studies, the 2008-2009 Aronov Lecture is cosponsored by the department of anthropology and University Libraries.

For more information, visit www.as.ua.edu/rel/events.htm or contact Dr. Steven Ramey at sramey@as.ua.edu or 205/348-4218.

The department of religious studies is a part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.