Neal-

I welcome your paper, but would hope that your title could tie more clearly
to the substance of your case studies in some way - maybe a subtitle?

Do you have access to the abstract form for the conference?  If not I cill
try to get you an electronic copy.  We have until June 1st to get the
materials together, so there is no reat rush.

BTW, with repect to one of your points in your "hand-grenade" post <grin>, I
will be speaking on my research on African-influence burial practices in
antebellum Philadelphia at an international conference on religion and
popular culture in Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK, this summer. I have also presented
at material culture conferences such as Winterthur, a performace studies
conference, and at the "Death, Dying, and Disposal" conference, both to
share my thoughts and to learn from practioners in field outside
archaeology.

Let's stay in touch,
John

------Original Message------
From: Neal Hitch <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: January 19, 2001 7:17:30 PM GMT
Subject: Re: SHA 02 Session Call for Papers - Religion, Ritual, & Magic


John,
I would be interested in partisipating in this session with a theoretical
analysis looking at interdisciplinary works and a few case studies (much of
which would involve rituals within the building trades). Below is the paper
I would propose, drawing on some previous work in this area.

Neal Hitch
Ohio Historical Society
Ph.D. Candidate, The Ohio State University

The Paradox within Material Culture as a means of understanding Religion,
Ritual, Myths, and Meaning

This paper explores the duality of belief and ritual in history and argues
the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to religious studies that goes
beyond the theoretical biases inherent in material cultural studies. By the
fact that historians and archeologists pose research questions when looking
at sources and artifacts dealing with past ritual and belief systems, we
fail to acknowledge the socio/cultural reality of historical actors and
unintentionally place our own belief systems above those of the culture that
we study. At the core of this argument is the acknowledgement that the
perceptions, and therefore the actions, of past historical actors may be
their reality; an idea that seems to go against common sense, but may
none-the-less be true.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John McCarthy [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 9:21 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      SHA 02 Session Call for Papers - Religion, Ritual, & Magic
>
> Well, now that we are all recovered from our adventures in Long Beach and
> greater LA, I am beginning to think about next year's meeting in Mobil
> (January 9-12, 2002).
>
> I have started to put together a session on the archaeology of religion,
> ritual, and magic.  I am seeking papers that use material evidence to
> address some aspect of spiritual beliefs, broadly defined.  I am somewhat
> more interested in "informal" folk pratices than "formal" religion, but I
> think there is room for material that expresses the full range of
> spiritual
> beliefs and practices.
>
> Contact me off-list if interested in participating!
>
> John
>
>
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