International Meeting New Program Unit Application

For new unit applications for the International Meeting, this form is due no later than September 1 of the year prior to the meeting of the proposed start date. For example, the application for a program unit whose first meeting will be the 2021 International Meeting is due on September 1, 2020.

Please note that all proposals are evaluated collectively and comparatively and according to the criteria for review in the International Meeting Program Unit Chair Handbook, available on the SBL website at http://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/programunits.aspx.


Name*

Program Unit Types

  • Consultation: 3 year term – usually the first incarnation of a program unit; formed to explore the viability of and interest in a subject; can be short-term units responding to current trends or topics/methods/inquires new to the SBL program.
  • Section: 6 year term – offers presenters most access for unsolicited papers; required to have at least one open session each year; session types include paper readings, panel discussions, and workshops that involve practical, hands-on, learning opportunities related to teaching and/or research applications.
  • Seminar: 6 year term – long-range collaborative research topics/papers that require active participation and well-defined research topics or projects; unit chairs often collect papers before meeting and distribute to participant group; papers are often summarized and discussed, not read, at meetings.
Unit Type*

Description of the Unit

Synopsis of rationale and goals for public viewing
Explain the unit's work and enduring rationale, uniqueness, and relationship to existing units and discipline as a whole.
Assess the ongoing impact on and contribution to the field of the unit's work. For example, how have past sessions advanced the field(s) of study with which your unit is concerned? For new units, specify the projected impact or goals of the unit.

Program Unit Leadership

Program unit chairs (PUC) and steering committee members (SCM) should evince efforts to involve a diverse group of people in terms of gender, ethnicity, current institutional affiliation, degree-granting institutions, and country. Whenever possible, members should collectively represent more than one gender, ethnic group, institution, and country.


Please note the following policies regarding program unit leadership.

1. PUCs and SCMs should hold a doctorate in the field of or a field related to biblical studies that was granted at least three years before the start of the person’s term as PUC or SCM; however, as many as one SCM may be ABD or within three years of his/her receipt of a doctorate.

2. Only SBL members may chair PUs; ordinarily chairs have several years of professional experience beyond the completion of the doctoral degree. No member may chair more than two PUs.

3. Only SBL members may serve as steering committee members. No member may serve on more than two steering committees, whether as chair or member.

4. At least one chair and two steering committee members are required for a program unit, though two chairs are strongly encouraged.

Program Unit Chair 1

Program Unit Chair 2

Name
Provide three to five publications most relevant to this unit's purview and goals.

Steering Committee Member 1

Name
Provide three to five publications most relevant to this unit's purview and goals.

Steering Committee Member 2

Name
Provide three to five publications most relevant to this unit's purview and goals.

Steering Committee Member 3

Name
Provide three to five publications most relevant to this unit's purview and goals.

Steering Committee Member 4

Name
Provide three to five publications most relevant to this unit's purview and goals.

Projected Topics for First Two Years of Unit's New Term

Sessions should meet the same criteria as program units in general. Important criteria to meet when developing sessions include the following.


1.Evidence of advancing biblical scholarship and/or the relation of that scholarship to contiguous disciplines

2.Significance of topics of program unit beyond its immediate constituency

3.Mechanisms for evaluation and self-criticism, including critical assessment of the program unit’s own method(s), biases, and/or perspectives.

4.Evidence of involving a diverse constituency (e.g., gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds, levels of professional status, institutional affiliations) and commitment to variation in methodological approaches


Please note that new units will not have recourse to the call for papers in their first year. First-year sessions must therefore be organized without recourse to the call for papers.


This information does not have to be final and can change; however, please include as much detail as possible about the focus and theme of sessions or the status of session planning at this time.
This information does not have to be final and can change; however, please include as much detail as possible about the focus and theme of sessions or the status of session planning at this time.

Supporting Documents

Written statements of support from related program units are not required but are strongly encouraged. Please upload a single PDF document. Letters of support should come from closely related units and should speak to the case that you are making in the Rationale of Unit's Work and Assessment of Impact questions.

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