When economic ruin mysteriously threatens, when sons and daughters inexplicably die, and when illness threatens life itself, people around the world struggle with the question, “Why?” Different answers to this question are provided in different cultures. The wise men of Job’s culture “knew” that everyone “reaps what they sow” and therefore that Job must have…

Academic conferences are core to the life-blood of any discipline. By conference participation younger scholars are inducted into the discipline, and all scholars overcome isolation, receive encouragement, develop scholarly networks, interact in ways that sharpens their own scholarship, and find opportunities for collaboration and publication.