This presentation was based on her book-length project, “Medicine and Magic: Conversations with an Ojibwe Medicine Woman and a Cornish Villiage Witch.”

Congratulations to Dr. Smith on a very well-received lecture!

The Department of Religious Studies is pleased to announce that the 2008-2009 Emily A. Fabiny Memorial Scholarship was recently awarded to Carole Walker.

Carole is the daughter of Dean and Stephanie Walker, of Pittsburgh, and is a senior with a double major in Philosophy and Religious Studies as well as a Studio Fine Arts minor. She plans to graduate in May 2010. The scholarship was key in helping her achieve her goal to study abroad and allowed her to visit England with Dr. Theresa Smith, who taught a class there focusing on Sacred Pagan Landscapes of England. Carole has previously served as president for the Philosophy Club and now serves as vice president for both Religious Studies Club as well as the Committee for the Study of Culture and Religion at IUP.

"It is an honor to have received the scholarship and to have been able to use it for this particular trip," Walker said. "I've learned that Emily had hoped to make a similar trip herself—particularly to Cornwall. That meant a lot to me and was something I thought about often while I was there."

About Emily A. Fabiny

Emily Fabiny, of Blue Ridge Trail, Dorrance Township, died in 2002 in a car accident at the age of twenty while returning to campus. She was a 2000 graduate of Crestwood High School and was a member of its girls’ track team. Emily was a sophomore at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she was pursuing a dual major in Journalism and Religious Studies. She was a disc jockey, a producer of radio programs, and a past editor of The Penn.

As many of you know, the Religious Studies Department essay contest was named in honor of Dr. Schaub, a world-renowned Biblical archaeologist and treasured professor emeritus.

Here is a list of some of his work:

Books

• 2003 : Bab edh-Dhra’: Excavations in the Town Site (1975-1981). Reports of the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan. Vol. 2. Part 1: Text, i-xxiv, 650 pp. Part 2 – Plates and Appendixes, 350 pp., CD-ROM includes 9 appendixes and 71 color slides. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, IN (co-editor with Walter E. Rast)

Articles

• 2000 : "The Early Bronze Age I Stratified Ceramic Sequences from Bab-edh Dhra'" (with Walter E. Rast) in Breaking with the Past: Ceramics and Change in the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant, ed. by Graham Philip and Douglas Baird. Sheffield Academic Press. 73-90 (with Walter E. Rast).
• 2000 : "Terminology and Typology of Carinated Vessels of the Early Bronze Age I-II of Palestine," in James Sauer Festschrift. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake,IN. 444-464.
• 2003 : “In Memoriam” Walter E. Rast in Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 332., 1-5.
• 2005 : Review of Tel Qashish: A Village in the Jezreel Valley: Final Report of the Archaeological Excavations (1978-1987 in Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 338: 58-60.
• 2007 : “Mud-Brick town Walls in EB I-II Jordan and their Significance for Understanding the Formation of New Social Institutions.” Pp. 247-52 In Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, IX. Amman: Department of Antiquities.
• 2007 : “Life in the Earliest Walled towns on the Dead Sea Plain: Bab edh-Dhra’ and Numeira. (with Meredith S. Chesson). Pp. 245-52 in Crossing Jordan eds.T. E. Levy et alii. London: Equinox Press.
• 2007 : “Death and Dying on the Dead Sea Plain: Cemeteries of Feifa, Bab edh-Dhra’ and Khirbet Khanazir (with Meredith S. Chesson). Pp. 253-60 in Crossing Jordan. Eds. T. E. Levy et alii. London: Equinox Press.
• 2008: “The Southern Ghors and The Kerak Plateau in EB IV.” Pp. 101-10 in The Levant in Transition. Palestine Exploration Fund Annual IX. Oxford: Maney Publishing.
• 2008 : “Basalt Bowls in EB IA Shaft Tombs at Bab edh-Dhra’: Production, Placement and Symbol.” Pp. 277-84 in New Approaches to Old Stones. eds. Yorke Rowan and Jennifer Ebeling. London: Equinox.
• 2008 : “Cultural Artifacts of the EB I Tombs” Pp. 25-43 in The EB I Tombs of Bab edh-Dhra’ Jordan, eds. Donald Ortner and Bruno Frohlich. Equinox Press.
• 2009 : “Travelers to a Permanent Abode: Burial Practices of the Early Brozne Age I in the southern Ghawrs of Jordan . Pp. 743-56 in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, X. Amman Department of Antiquities.

In Press

“The origins of the Early Bronze Age Culture of the Southern Levant: The Case for Conflict.” In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Paris, 2001. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, IN.

Department of Religious Studies

Submissions are now due April 22 in Sutton Hall, Room 452 or 449, to Professor Tawny Holm. The deadline has been extended, and the contact person has changed.

Anyone with questions may contact Professor Holm by e-mail at tholm@iup.edu.

For further contest details, see the original news post: Religious Studies Essay Contest.

The R. Thomas Schaub Religious Studies Essay Contest was established in 2005 as a tribute to R. Thomas Schaub, professor emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies at IUP. Professor Schaub taught courses on Biblical Studies and on Palestinian archaeology until his retirement from IUP in January 1999. He is a renowned scholar of the archaeology of the Dead Sea Plains, and continues to work in the field. Professor Schaub’s publications include many articles and volumes on his archaeological projects, one of which is Bab edh-Dhra’: Excavations at the Town Site (1975-1981), published by Eisenbrauns in 2003 (jointly authored with Walter E. Rast). Thus, the Department of Religious Studies is pleased and honored to name after him its scholarly essay contest for students.

How to Get in on the Action

Submissions for this year’s R. Thomas Schaub Religious Studies Essay Contest are now being accepted.

General Guidelines

1. The competition is open to all IUP undergraduates, and is not restricted to papers from or related to a course taught by a Religious Studies professor, although such papers are encouraged. Unfortunately, however, only one entry per student can be accepted, so students should please choose their best work. Those desiring advice of any kind are encouraged to discuss their essay with a department professor in advance.
2. Style: Five to fifteen pages in length (excluding cover sheet and bibliography), double-spaced, no wider than one-inch margins, 10 or 12 cpi Times font. Use of citations must be consistent throughout, but students may choose from MLA or APA styles.
3. Papers will be judged not only on content and the quality of critical arguments but also on style and composition. Religious Studies is a diverse set of disciplines, and it is expected that papers on a variety of topics may be submitted: for example, papers on some aspect of a particular religion (Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc.) or on some general approach to religion, philosophy, or sociology of religion, etc. The main expectation, however, is that the paper utilize scholarly methodologies and promote academic discourse.
4. The papers will be judged by a panel of Religious Studies faculty members.
5. Awards will be made at a gathering of the Department of Religious Studies at the end of the semester. There will be three prizes: $150, $75, and $50 will be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners respectively. In addition, the winning essays will be published electronically on the department website (minor revisions may be required).
6. Submissions are due on April 21 by 4:00 p.m. in Sutton 452 or 449.

Any questions? Please e-mail Dr.Tawny Holm at tholm@iup.edu.