Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Professor James W. Watts Hosts Religion and Senses Symposium in Germany

Wednesday, April 6, 2016, By Renée K. Gadoua
Share
College of Arts and Sciences
Jim Watts in Admont Stift library Austria

Professor James W. Watts in the baroque library of Admont monastery in Austria.

A fellowship funded by Germany’s Ministry for Education and Research has allowed religion professor James W. Watts to apply his work on the Syracuse University-based Iconic Books Project to a broader study of the interaction of religion and the senses.

Watts is completing a year as a Käte Hamburg Kolleg visiting fellow at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. He is part of an international research group at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES).

Watts, an expert in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern textual traditions and former chair of Syracuse’s Department of Religion, founded the Iconic Books Project in 2001. The project catalogs and describes the symbolic or “iconic” uses of books and other texts. The idea, Watts explains, is that books themselves are considered valuable separate from the words and ideas they contain.

Examples include a Catholic priest kissing the Gospel, or, in the Jewish tradition, rules that govern how to handle the Torah. Secular examples include the respect afforded Shakespeare’s folios or the U.S. Constitution.

“Nobody has thought much about the iconic use of books,” Watts says. “It’s a whole new realm not just of religious studies but of the humanities. The value of books comes not just from what books say and their meaning on the page, but their ritual uses as physical objects.”

Watts will host “Seeing, Touching, Holding, and Tasting Sacred Texts,” on April 7 and 8. The international symposium he organized will feature scholars from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Korea and the United States. Watts will present “Scripture’s Iconic Touch” at the symposium.

Watts has been surprised at the prevalence and consistency of ritual uses of books across traditions and time periods. Art from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, for example, depicts people displaying scrolls the same way a rabbi holds up the Torah—as a demonstration of the book’s importance.

After the CERES symposium, Watts will edit and publish the papers as a collection. His research also is informing his book in progress, “Understanding the Pentateuch as a Scripture.” (The Pentateuch consists of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.)

In addition to the history of biblical interpretation, his book will also cite ritual and performative uses to explain how the Torah and Bible became important to Judaism and Christianity. “It turns out that seeing, hearing and touching the books in rituals has played a large role in establishing and maintaining scripture’s influence,” he explains.

Watts late last year presented research papers on iconic books and texts and on performing and translating scriptures. He will also lecture April 22 at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; May 12 at the University of Zurich, Switzerland; and May 26 at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, before returning to Syracuse to teach in the fall.

 

 

 

 

  • Author

Renée K. Gadoua

  • Recent
  • Chancellor Syverud Addresses Athletics, Benefits, Sustainability at University Senate
    Wednesday, September 27, 2023, By News Staff
  • Setting the Agenda in Biology Research: 2 Professors Join NIH Peer Review Committees
    Wednesday, September 27, 2023, By News Staff
  • iSchool Student Selected for Highly Competitive Data Librarianship Internship
    Wednesday, September 27, 2023, By Anya Woods
  • Exploring the Existence of Life at 125 Degrees Fahrenheit
    Tuesday, September 26, 2023, By Dan Bernardi
  • How Climate Warming Could Disrupt a Deep-Rooted Relationship
    Tuesday, September 26, 2023, By Dan Bernardi

More In Campus & Community

Chancellor Syverud Addresses Athletics, Benefits, Sustainability at University Senate

On Sept. 27, Chancellor Kent Syverud addressed University Senate at its first meeting of the Fall 2023 semester. His remarks were as follows: Thank you, Professor [Kira] Reed. It’s a pleasure to see so many of you in person. We’re…

‘Leading With Distinction’: Academic Strategic Plan Officially Launches at Tuesday’s Symposium (Video)

More than 400 members of the University community gathered in person and online yesterday for the official launch of “Leading With Distinction,” Syracuse’s new academic strategic plan. The launch of the plan follows more than a year of collaborative and…

Be Proactive: How to Keep Yourself Safe on Campus

While the chances of you becoming the victim of a crime during your time at Syracuse are low, it is still important to know what steps you can take to keep yourself and your belongings safe. We have teamed up…

College of Visual and Performing Arts Welcomes New Full-Time Faculty

Sixteen new full-time faculty joined the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) for the 2023-24 academic year. Two of the faculty members are also new department chairs in the college. Gregg Barron, assistant teaching professor of music industry in…

Academic Strategic Plan Launch Symposium Set for Sept. 26

Following a yearlong planning and development process involving hundreds of members of the campus community, “Leading With Distinction,” Syracuse University’s new academic strategic plan, was unveiled earlier this month. A launch symposium will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 26, from…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.