As mentioned in previous posts, I like having a cross- and inter-disciplinary approach to scholarship, academia, and pedagogy.  I think that any discipline can get itself into trouble when only their own crowd dictates and informs what topics they approach and the methods they use to interact/solve/answer them—academic incest, if you will.  To that end, I always try to bounce new ideas off of friends in many different fields, each of whom have varying philosophies on interpretation. (There\’s nothing quite like discussing ancient Semitic grammar with an engineer to help you write with concision and clarity.)

To this end, I also try to read from perspectives outside of an (excellent, surely) bibliblogosphere.  However, my google-reader subscription has been somewhat lacking in blogs of that nature.  However, thanks to expanding my net and some helpful citations from fellow biblioblogers, I\’m happy to add a few more to my list and figured I\’d share them with you.

ProfHacker:  ProfHacker is to education what LifeHacker is to electronics.  I\’ve not read through the entire backlog, but this certainly looks to be helpful for those of us who are, or plan to pursue, teaching.  A few key entries immediate jump out: Encouraging Effective Note Taking, and (a personal favorite because of a personal problem) Hacking the Office (aka, desk management).

Chronicle of Higher Education:  The main page for ProfHacker.  Though far more broad, and therefore somewhat less useful, this site hosts a tremendous amount of information to be sifted for gems.

LifeHacker:  While we\’re here, I might as well mention LifeHacker.  LifeHacker, honestly, has little to do with education or academia at all. Except for the fact that most of us have to deal with issues of time-management, computers, smartphones, and other accessories which make our professional lives easier, better, and quicker.  LifeHacker is particularly useful in letting me know about new MacApps, ways to use my iPhone, and other internet downloads that just make life easier (think notation software or citation software).

Matt Might:  I\’ve mentioned Matt\’s blog before, but he always merits a second mention.  Matt focuses in on the math and science aspects of education, but his advice consistently hits home for anyone, particularly his Illustrated Guide to the PhD, but really you should just peruse his article list and read the ones that seem relevant (and most of the ones that don\’t). 

What other blogs or resources have y\’all found that are helpful in forming yourselves as students or professors?

My good friend Joseph Bingham is finishing up his Law degree over at the University of Chicago and I constantly rely on him to find all sorts of news goodies for myself.  Considering his interests, most of them concern policy, politics, and economics, and I must admit that sometimes I have no idea what he\’s talking about or why anyone should care about what he posts. I\’m reasonably certain he feels the same about my own interests. 

However, a few days ago he posted a gem from Megan McArdle on the question of bias in the university. Her post, \”What Does Bias Look Like?\”, is an interesting read on the scientifically-proven disparity between liberals and conservatives present in the university system (and covering all disciplines). In her post, she attempts to explain the actuality, reason, and nature of this bias.  In her discussion she fields several possibilities for this statistic that don\’t include bias, but what I found most interesting were her discussion on the danger of eliminating \”out groups\” (whether on the basis of race, ideology, religion, or sex) from academia:

Unless we assume what to many liberals is \”proven\” by their predominance in academia–that conservative ideas have no merit–leaving conservatives out means that important viewpoints are excluded.  We are never the best interrogators of our ideas.  It requires motivated critics to lay bare our hidden assumptions, our misreading of the data, our factual inaccuracies.  No matter how scrupulously honest you try to be, you are no substitute for an irritated opponent thinking, \”That can\’t possibly be right!\”

 No matter how one considers him or herself––liberal vs. conservative; liberal-critical vs. evangelical; maximalist vs. minimalist––I think we can all agree that McArdle is probably right.  No matter how discerning I am on my own, there are things that I will miss.  No matter how many people look at my work, if they all agree with my conclusions, they will not question my methods or my precision.  I know that I learn more from, and provide better work because of, those people who disagree with me. 

As I mentioned before, I\’ve decided to start my own informal study of Akkadian.  In that vein, I decided to look around and see what what resources were available on the internet to help me in my pursuit. 

The first stop was ANELanguages.com, which is a great resources for all sorts of ANE Languages (imagine that, right?) including Akkadian, Aramaic, Classical Hebrew, Egyptian Hieroglyphic, and others.  Though the resources available for each language varies, and many of the links are dead, it\’s a great first-stop to get an idea for what\’s available on the internet.  The Akkadian page is here, and includes a nice list of resources, key among them is a link to free PDF downloads of the CAD! (Thanks to the Oriental Institute for their gracious allowance. Also note the terms of use). 

John Huehnergard has also placed a number of his articles and papers online and available for download,  there are a number of related materials available at PDF Pick, and you can see what Charles Halton has put up under his handy Akkadian Language category over at Awilum.  You also might want to check out a nifty explanation of the typography of the alphabet (Aleph Bet, anyone?  Or would you be more familiar with the Alpha Beta?).

Do any of you know of any other online resources available for Akkadian (or other Semitic language) study?

Since most of my readers are interested in either biblical studies, ancient near eastern studies, or both, most of us have considered going on an archeological dig at some point in their lives. However, if any of you are like me––that is, poor grad students––then this hasn\’t been feasible unless you receive funding from your institution.  However, there are some possibilities available if you\’re interested.

B.A.R. offers a scholarship to those who would be otherwise unable to attend (details here).  To apply, you\’ll need to \”simply send a letter to BAS dig scholarships, 4710 41st St., NW, Washington, DC 20016, or send it by e-mail to bas@bib-arch.org, stating who you are, where and why you want to dig—and why you should be selected for a scholarship. We require your mailing address, email address, phone number and the names, addresses and phone numbers of two references. Applications must be received by April 1, 2011.\” 

If you\’re a member (or your institution is) of ASOR, there are two scholarship opportunities (Heritage Excavation Grant and Platt Excavation Grant) that you should definitely look into. 

These really are great opportunities for those of us who haven\’t had the opportunity to go on an archeological dig before.  Perhaps you\’ll finally get to go to Khirbet Qeiyafa with Luke Chandler?

While on my much-needed one year hiatus from my standard school studies, I knew that I wanted to continue to develop myself.  So, aside from just continuing my Hebrew studies, I\’ve also been assembling a list of resources to study on other ANE history, religion, language, and literature.  I just got in my first book, and I\’m pretty excited to begin digging into it.

Since I\’ve been wanting to learn a cuneiform language for some time, and was told that Akkadian would be the most useful for my area of study.  After reading a number of reviews, I thought that Richard Caplice\’s Introduction to Akkadian (Amazon $17.95) would be a good start.  The main reason this was suggested to me, as opposed to Marcus or Huengaurd, is that the signs are actually large enough to read without a magnifying glass.  Having learned Hebrew from Jacob Weingreen\’s A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew (Amazon $50.74), which has print so small and so poor that it is many times impossible to distinguish Shegol from Sere, and Sere from Pathah, etc., I knew that I wanted to begin with something that was visually possible before moving onto another grammar. 

What other Akkadian resources would any of you recommend/used?

Also, what other resources would you recommend for me to acquire/study/read during my year of complete academic independence?

Well, I\’m now back from my quite long break.  There have quite a number of goings-on since I last posted, first and foremost among them is my finished thesis and course-work for my MA.  Once I get my finished copy back, I\’ll try and find some way of posting it here in pdf form for those of you who might be interested in looking at it. 

The break was equally productive, giving me time to spend time with family and friends as well as pursuing my plethora of non-academic interests which had lain on the wayside while I was finishing my MA.  While many of my friends often spend their school breaks to catch up on academic reading or other research, I\’ve always found it more helpful to attain to a very strict non-academic schedule.  While I do continue to read through my BHS (check out the Miqra\’ Group\’s 2 year read through!), I otherwise \”waste\” my time.  This break I read caught up on my other reading  (Brandon Sanderson\’s Mistborn trilogy was most enjoyable), television, and––most importantly!––rest and relaxation! My wife and I were complete bums; it was wonderful. 

Refreshed and re-focused, I look forward to getting back to my academic interests and endeavors and maybe even semi-regular blogging!

P.S., those who are similarly interested in the juxtaposition of sci-fi literature and biblical studies might want to look at the (now old news) possibility offered by James McGrath for a SBL session.

As anyone who\’s active in the blogosphere, peruses BAR, attended one of the past several ASOR conferences, or watched PBS is aware of, the finds at Khirbet Qeiyafa have caused quite the furor. The discoveries found there, while perhaps not as concrete as some might paint them, certainly appear to be the type of formative finds every archaeologist hopes to find. However, though the evidence continues to stack up against minimalists who have no room in their scholarship for an early centralized Israel, many proponents of that interpretation turn a blind eye towards the influences of the site.

As a good friend relayed to me, when at ASOR this past month he witnessed several presentations given by members of the \”Finkelstein School.\” At some of these, the finds at K.Q. were pertinent and various audience or panel members would inquire about the impact of the site on their research, and at every junction the reply was, \”There\’s no connection.\”

This story made me recall something I read earlier this year when writing a paper on the text critical issues of the synoptic episodes between Chronicles and Samuel-Kings in light of the (then new) discoveries at Qumran held on the debate.  In one of the several articles supplied by F.M. Cross, he discussed the somewhat radical nature of the find and the polarizing effect that it would have on several questions: the use of the LXX for textual criticism, the place of the MT\’s superiority, the understanding of the methods of the Chronicler, etc.  He then concludes with this gem:

The discoveries in the Jordan Rift, especially at Qumran, have initiated a new era in the study of the history of late biblical religion and of Jewish sectarianism. The assimilation of the new data will be slow. Older scholars will prefer to ignore the new materials: The ferment they produce is too strong for their stomachs. I listened to the late Yigael Yadin read diatribes against his colleagues accusing them of ignoring the Temple Scroll he published. Of course, it is uncomfortable to be told that here is a new scroll—go rewrite all your books. Or, “Here is a new Jewish library of the third to first centuries, B.C.; examine all your old presuppositions, retool, and start afresh.” New directions in research will rest largely on a young generation of scholars. I envy those who will live to read the new syntheses the future will bring (Frank Moore Cross, \”Light on the Bible from the Dead Sea Caves,\” Understanding the Scrolls: A Reader from the Biblical Archeology Review (Edited by Hershel Shanks. New York: Random House, 1992: 156–66), 166. 

New discoveries are difficult.  It\’s never fun to have something come up that leaves you with academic egg on your face, especially if you\’re heavily invested in the now-obsolete views.  I know that I would be somewhat upset if new research came out in a few years, or ever!, that rendered my thesis on how to read Chronicles invalid.  However, I hope that if that happened I would retain the academic integrity to say, \”Mea Culpa.  I did the best I could with what I have, but now I have more information and it\’s time to move on.\”  If I didn\’t, I could end up trading whatever influence I could have in order to save face.

Hopefully, all of us, whether scholar, student, or thinker, can agree that that would be a terrible trade.

(P.S. This was all written in an effort to avoid studying for my comps which are tomorrow. Wish me luck, but remember: Procrastination will always triumph!)

As someone who very much looks forward to teaching, I\’m constantly on the look out for useful materials, examples, and methods.  After talking to one of my good friends who\’s a post-doc at KAUST he recommended I look at an \”illustrated guide to a phd.\” And let me say, this is certainly something that I\’ll be using for future classes. (All thanks go to Matt Might, for his extremely helpful and insightful work.)

Hubris has been the death of many a scholar.  Here\’s an injection of humility for us all.

See here for the Illustrated Guide to the PhD.

I\’ve long been a fan of the LifeHacker blog.  As a pseud-techie and all-around Applefile, I find their posts very useful in pointing me towards techniques, apps, and approaches that I wouldn\’t have otherwise figured out.  These so-called \”hacks\” are all about saving time, making needlessly difficult things easier, or else giving you a new way to approach an issue.  Do they solve all of your problems?  No.  But they can make managing them easier.

As students/grad students/professors/researchers, we all know that the one thing we have too little of is time.  So I\’ve decided to — as soon as I figure out how to do it on my blog (remember, pseudo-techie) — post a side roll with a bunch of techniques and helps for various academic tasks.  \”Hacks,\” if you will.

Any of us who want to approach the ANE in general, or Old Testament/Tanak/Hebrew Bible will probably have to learn Hebrew.  As you do so, you will learn that Hebrew grammar is relatively simple (as far as these things go).  It\’s the vocab that will kill you.  The amount of vocabulary, and the absolute necessity of having a full knowledge of the vocabulary, is essential to your Hebrew success.  Not knowing a word is bad enough, but attempting to look up \”hollow\” verbs in BDB/HALOT will be extremely time consuming unless you have a few possibilities already in mind.

Now, there are several ways to learn Hebrew vocabulary.  The first is to sit down for X amount of time and learn word lists.  I did this my first year of Elementary Hebrew.  I just sat down with my Weingreen grammar and worked through the exercises using half a sheet of paper to cover up the English.  I can honestly say that was about the worst method ever.  First, Weingreen chooses somewhat random words for students to learn, they\’re not arranged in a logical way, and having to flip through that many pages is time-consuming.  Since then, I\’ve come up with some better alternatives.

1.  Vocabulary Cards:  (You can get them for about 10-15$ on Amazon.) 

Pro: They arrange the order of the cards by word-count in the Tanak, so the words you learn first are the ones you\’re most likely to see.  They are also keyed to several major grammars, so if you\’re using one of those, even better!  They\’re easily portable. They\’re cheap.  Saves you the absolute headache of cutting index cards in half, writing your own Hebrew/English on them, and then loosing them.

Con: They\’re just cards.  You\’re not going to carry the whole box around with you, so you\’re going to be limited on which ones you have with you.  You can\’t re-order them to cover a specific sections/book that you\’re reading.

Recommendation: Stick them in a tin.  I cycle through them, about 75x at a time.  I also realized that they fit perfectly inside of an Altoids tin.  This protects them from being too horribly misshapen, and keeps me from losing them.  I carry the tin around with me and look through them whenever I\’m in traffic, waiting between classes, waiting for a meal, etc.  It works pretty well.

Also, if you\’re a Biblical Studies Student and learning Greek as well, get the red tin for the Hebrew cards and the blue tin for your corresponding Greek vocab cards (It\’ll even match your Mounce/Wallace!)

2. Learn the Roots, not the Words. ($12 on Amazon.)

Pro: It makes learning Hebrew vocab a lot easier if you realize that for every root you learn, you\’re actually learning many different words.  You realize that often-interconnected nature of verbs and nouns (e.g., ילד = to bear (child); יָלֵד = child), and the many variations on a verb based on binion or \”added\” letters.  They\’re arranged by popularity, but there are also a number of other chapter selections, including Weak Verbs, Proper Nouns, etc.  So it\’s easier to learn how you\’d like to learn. It\’s also cheap.

Con: It\’s a book.  It\’s not easy to stick in your pocket and carry around.  Although it\’s somewhat customizable for how you learn, you\’re still stuck to its own format.

3. Computerize it.  (Free – $X.) There are any number of vocabulary programs available on your computer.  However, my personal favorite is Genius.  Sorry, PCs, it\’s just for Macs. 

Pro:  Now, you probably can\’t tell on such a small screen, but those are vocabulary words only from 1 Samuel.  Genius is completely based on your input, and is, because of that, extremely customizable.  All you need to input vocabulary is have access to an unicode font.  You input both the Hebrew word (or what ever language) in question, and then the corresponding English answers.  Because of this, you can arrange them however you\’d like.  You can have multiple files, as well.  Though the customization is neat, there\’s another feature of Genius that really sold it to me.  It\’s based on a rotating system for which words it gives you. There\’s a simple scroll bar on the top left that you can slide based on if you\’re learning new words or reviewing ones you should already know.  You can take notes on your various sessions and words, and  if you look at the yellow dots on the right of the file (and the one red dot). These dots keeps track of how often you get an answer right/wrong (yellow for right, red for wrong), and will show you the words that you\’ve gotten wrong more often than the ones you\’ve gotten right.  It also mixes the words up, it doesn\’t just go in a top-to-bottom approach, but randomly selects which words you see when.  One of the best things about it?  It\’s completely free.

Con: The only thing that I don\’t like Genius is a necessity of one of its strengths: you have to input everything yourself.  To do so, you have to learn your unicode font and then take the time to input everything yourself.  This can take a long time if you\’re wanting to input several hundred words.  The unicode font is one of the most annoying aspects for me, but perhaps I\’m somewhat jaded from the number of Hebrew fonts (and corresponding keyboard layouts) that I\’ve had to learn.  I have to use SHebrew for my school texts, but use Yehudit for Accordance, and Unicode for online programs.  However, maybe you\’re not as picky as me. 

Conclusions:  Really, there are any number of ways that you can use to learn vocabulary.  I personally use all three of these methods.  The main thing is to do it constantly, even if it\’s just for a short amount of time.  15 minutes a day can add up easily, if you can use it to learn 10 new words and review a large number of old ones. If you did that, you\’d very quickly create a working-vocabulary of about 1,000 words, which would set you far above a lot of incoming grad students in terms of their language ability. 

Future Updates:  Unfortunately, I\’ve not tried any of the smart-phone varieties.  I keep on meaning to try some of the possibilities for my iPhone, which would replace the Pratico/Van Pelt vocab cards, but haven\’t gotten around to trying them out. 

What methods do you find effective?