Remembering J. Z. Smith presents an archive of remembrances of the person and the contributions of the late Jonathan Z. Smith (1938-2017)-the long-time University of Chicago faculty member who was one of the world's most influential scholars of religion. Part I collects previously unpublished papers from three separate recent scholarly panels (from the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the North American Association for the Study of Religion), in which a wide variety of scholars reflect on the impact Smith had on their own careers and the field at large. Part II includes revised versions of blog posts, many of which appeared shortly after news of Smith's death, in which scholars, journalists, and former students of Smith offer a more intimate and personal look at his legacy. Part III features extended transcripts of seven interviews about Smith carried out with those who either trained or worked with him. The volume closes with an afterword by Emily D. Crews, along with a previously unpublished essay of Smith's own. Taken together, the volume documents the role Smith's work has played in the modern study of religion while providing a basis for further considering the future direction of the field.
While of interest to scholars who either knew Smith or those who are already familiar with his work, this volume will also be helpful to newcomers to Smith's writings, read alongside his own essays, as a way to deepen their understanding of the modern study of religion-its history, its methods, and how to teach it.
Remembering J. Z. Smith presents an archive of remembrances of the person and the contributions of the late Jonathan Z. Smith (1938-2017)-the long-time University of Chicago faculty member who was one of the world's most influential scholars of religion. Part I collects previously unpublished papers from three separate recent scholarly panels (from the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the North American Association for the Study of Religion), in which a wide variety of scholars reflect on the impact Smith had on their own careers and the field at large. Part II includes revised versions of blog posts, many of which appeared shortly after news of Smith's death, in which scholars, journalists, and former students of Smith offer a more intimate and personal look at his legacy. Part III features extended transcripts of seven interviews about Smith carried out with those who either trained or worked with him. The volume closes with an afterword by Emily D. Crews, along with a previously unpublished essay of Smith's own. Taken together, the volume documents the role Smith's work has played in the modern study of religion while providing a basis for further considering the future direction of the field.
While of interest to scholars who either knew Smith or those who are already familiar with his work, this volume will also be helpful to newcomers to Smith's writings, read alongside his own essays, as a way to deepen their understanding of the modern study of religion-its history, its methods, and how to teach it.
Preface
Emily D. Crews and Russell T. McCutcheon
Introduction: Remembering Jonathan Z. Smith (1938-2017)
Russell T. McCutcheon
I. Essays
AAR Panel
Introduction
Kathryn McClymond, Georgia State University
The Poetics and Politics of Comparison: From Revolutionary Suicide
to Mass Murder
Hugh Urban, Ohio State University
The Magus: Jonathan Z. Smith and “the Absolute Wonder of the Human
Imagination”
Kimberly Patton, Harvard University
Citing Smith
Kurtis R. Schaeffer, University of Virginia
J. Z. Smith on Comparison: Insights and Appropriations
Oliver Freiberger, University of Texas
Wrestling with Angels and Heavy Books
Eric D. Mortensen, Guilford College
SBL Panel
Introduction to the Society of Biblical Literature Wisdom of the
Ages Panel
Zev Garber, Los Angeles Valley College
A Matter of Interest: In Memory of Jonathan Z. Smith
Ron Cameron, Wesleyan University
NAASR Panel
Introduction
Willi Braun, University of Alberta, and Russell McCutcheon
Transformed Agendas: Generalism in the Work of Jonathan Z. Smith
and the Study of Religion
Stephanie Frank, Columbia College Chicago
Jonathan Smith and the Necessary Double-Face
Sam Gill, University of Colorado
Remembering Jonathan Z. Smith: Some Personal Reflections
James Tabor, University of North Carolina
II. Blogs
Jonathan Z. Smith: The College’s Iconoclastic, Beloved,
Chainsmoking Dean
Pete Grieve
How I Failed J. Z. Smith
Brett Colasacco
The Positive Genealogy of J. Z. Smith
Tenzan Eaghll, University of Toronto
In the Laboratory of Taxonomy and Classification (When the Chips
Were Really Down)
Richard D. Hecht, University of California, Santa Barbara
My Preliminary Journey through the World of J. Z. Smith
Mitsutoshi Horii, Chaucer College
On J. Z. Smith and the Remarkable
Richard Newton, University of Alabama
“It Ain’t Too High, and it Ain’t Too Theoretical”
William O’Connor
A Matter of Difference: On the Legacy of J. Z. Smith
Matt Sheedy, University of Manitoba
On Articulate Choice
Vaia Touna, University of Alabama
Jonathan Z Smith’s Gift
Bruce Woll
Significant, Significance, Signifier
Ipsita Chatterjea
III. Interviews
Sam Gill, University of Colorado
Amir Hussain, Loyola Marymount University
Donald Wiebe, University of Toronto
Carole Myscofski, Illinois Wesleyan University
Christopher Lehrich, Boston University
Eugene Gallagher
Ron Cameron, Wesleyan University
IV. Afterword
Clues to a Great Mystery
Emily D. Crews
V. Appendix
Academic Freedom and Academic Responsibility
Jonathan Z. Smith
Emily D. Crews is a Full Time Teaching Instructor in the Department
of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama and a PhD
candidate in History of Religions at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.
Russell T. McCutcheon is University Research Professor and Chair of
the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.
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