Posted on Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Dr. Bryan Rennie, associate professor of religion and Vira L. Heinz Chair in Religion, has been invited by the organizers to present his research at two major conferences in Germany and Chicago
Rennie will present his paper, "The Influence of Eastern Orthodox Christian Theology on Mircea Eliade's Understanding of Religion," at the conference of "Paradigms and Politics: Mircea Eliade and Joachim Wach," which will be held at the Martin Marty Center at The Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago. Rennie was invited to this conference by Wendy Doniger, the Mircea Eliade professor of religion at the University of Chicago.
"Shaul Shaked and Amnon Netzer of the Ben Zwi Institute for the Study of Judaism in the Middle East at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Ludwig Paul, who represents the Asian African Institute of the University of Hamburg, have invited me to present to the 6th International Conference on Irano-Judaica, which will be held at the Asian-Africa Institute of Hamburg University in Germany," Rennie said. "I will present 'Iranian Eschatology and Middle Eastern Religion: How Should We Explain the Relative Absence of the Zoroastrian Tradition from Mainstream Biblical and Religious Studies?'"
Rennie has also been notified that his work, "Mircea Eliade: Apologia pro Opere suo," has been published as a chapter in Thinking About Religion: A Reader published by Blackwell.
"This volume, has been edited by Ivan Strenski of the University of California, Riverside," Rennie said. "What is notable about this publication is that all of the contributors to the volume are major figures in the study and the history of religion, and commentaries upon them by very significant scholars in the field. It's a great honor to be included among such notable figures."
"I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be part of these significant events," Rennie said. "I believe that they reflect positively on the standard of academic achievement of the Westminster faculty and should encourage both our faculty and our student body to ever greater academic honors."
Rennie, who has been with Westminster College since 1994, earned his undergraduate degree, master's and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact Rennie at (724) 946-7151 or e-mail brennie@westminster.edu for more information.
