Preparing for the SBL Annual Meeting

On Thursday morning (very early in the morning..) I am leaving Norway for a short week, heading for the SBL Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. And just when I feel I have recovered from the jet-lag, I am no return back home, to take up another term of teaching.
The list of lectures and discussions to attend is written up, and so is the list of books wanted...

Acccording to the Program Book, it looks like Philo is popular at this Annual Meeting; in the 10 to 12 years I have been a participant I have never seen so many lectures and topics dealing with Philo, or at least including him in the material discussed. Early in the fall I listed the relevant sessions, but here is the relevant list of sessions I have on my schedule (including both Philo and non-philo related sessions):

S18-51Biblical Exegetical Software in the Classroom—Integration 101
11/18/2005
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 112-A - Pennsylvania Convention Center

S19-23Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity
11/19/2005
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 409 - Marriott
especially: Celia Deutsch, Barnard College
Text Work and Religious Experience: Philo and Clement

S19-72Religion in Roman Egypt
11/19/2005
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 106-A - Pennsylvania Convention Center
especially Steven Weitzman, Indiana University at Bloomington
Philo on How to Befriend an Emperor (25 min)

S19-123Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity
11/19/2005
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Room 409 - Marriott
(some of these will include Philo, according to the Abstracts)

S19-133Presidential Address
11/19/2005
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Room: Salon G/H - Marriott

S20-12Computer Assisted Research
11/20/2005
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Room: Room 411 & 412 - Marriott
(probably not much about Philo, but I am a participant in the panel)

S20-58Construction of Christian Identities
11/20/2005
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Liberty Ballroom A - Marriott
Theme: Ephesus and Antioch: Plurality of Christian Groups and Christian Texts in the First Two Centuries.
or
S20-62Hellenistic Judaism
11/20/2005
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Independence I - Marriott
Theme: Boundaries and Limits in Diaspora Judaism
here especially
Sarah Pearce, University of Southampton
Philo on Atheism, Judaism, and Egyptian Identity (20 min)
Abraham Terian, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary
Philo's Definitions of Israel in Relation to Historical Realities in the Greco-Roman World (20 min)

S20-119John's Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern
11/20/2005
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM

S21-29 Philo of Alexandria
11/21/2005
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 103-B - Pennsylvania Convention Center
Theme: Linguistic Border Crossing: Philo of Alexandria and the Dead Sea Scrolls

S21-68Hellenistic Judaism
11/21/2005
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 404 - Marriott
Theme: The Cultural Context of Judaism in Alexandria

S21-127Social History of Formative Christianity and Judaism
11/21/2005
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Salon I (Level Five) - Marriott
Theme: Ethnicity, Identity, and Social Boundaries

S22-16Philo of Alexandria
11/22/2005
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 109-B - Pennsylvania Convention Center
Theme: Interpreting Philo’s De Virtutibus

Well, I will probably not be able to show up at all these sessions; by experience I know that the time spent in book exhibition area is eating up session-time every day. But where else do you get interesting (and sometimes expensive) books for 50 % discount? Long ago I discovered that people attend these annual meetings for three reasons; meeting people, buying books, and attend sessions. But not necessarily in this order....

By the way, did you ask for my book list? There is not one Philo-book on it! I did not find any in the advertisements texts in the printed Program book. Hopefully there might be some on the tables at the book exhibition.....