Remembering 37 years of 香蕉影视 book celebrations
Published: May 1, 2019
By David Cramer
The following is an address by聽Institute of Mennonite Studies聽Managing Editor聽David Cramer, delivered at the annual 香蕉影视 and IMS book celebration on May 1, 2019.
Since this is my first book celebration as IMS managing editor, I spent some time over the last couple of weeks preparing by digging through files of previous celebrations. What I discovered is that this celebration is itself a rich 香蕉影视 tradition, spanning four decades and a number of administrations. So, before we celebrate this year鈥檚 香蕉影视 and IMS publications, I trust you鈥檒l indulge me for a few minutes as we pay tribute to our predecessors.
In the fall of 1982, recently appointed IMS Director聽Willard Swartley聽sent a memorandum to 香蕉影视 faculty in which he wrote, 鈥淎s part of the IMS portfolio, I would like to assist the collegiality of the 香蕉影视 faculty in research and publication.鈥� As one way to do so, he requested that faculty send him their recent publications so that he could include them in a faculty bulletin. He also arranged with publishers and the bookstore to make the 40-percent author discount for any 香蕉影视 faculty publication available to the entire faculty. This not only encouraged faculty to purchase each other鈥檚 works, but it also served as a subtle reminder that writing and scholarship are communal endeavors. Extending the author discount to all faculty was a way of recognizing and honoring the role the seminary community as a whole played in birthing faculty publications into the world.
In response to Willard鈥檚 proposal, IMS founding director 鈥� who was still a faculty member at 香蕉影视 鈥� wrote Willard a brief note: 鈥淲illard: great. I didn鈥檛 do this. I did, fairly regularly as [books] came in, have a 15 min. 鈥榩arty鈥� in the lounge, with special table, a little speech, etc. to honor the author. Keep it up. CJD鈥�
Under Willard鈥檚 direction, what had been an ad hoc 鈥減arty in the lounge鈥� became a regular 鈥渇aculty-staff tea鈥� at the end of each semester to celebrate each other鈥檚 publications and to purchase them at the shared discounted rate. Throughout most of the 1980s and 90s, this celebration 鈥� referred to variously as 鈥渇aculty tea,鈥� 鈥渃elebration tea,鈥� and 鈥渂ook celebration鈥� 鈥� was a way to mark writing and editing accomplishments at the end of each semester.
By the fall of 1992, the Dean鈥檚 Office, under Gayle Gerber Koontz鈥檚 leadership, had begun partnering with IMS in these semi-annual book celebrations. By this time, a bibliography of 香蕉影视 faculty and IMS projects accompanied these celebrations, typically divided into three categories: books, articles and IMS publications.
By 1999, when聽Mary Schertz聽and聽Barbara Nelson Gingerich聽began as IMS director and managing editor, respectively, the book celebration became an annual event in early May rather than a semi-annual event at the end of each semester. That year, the accompanying bibliography was a full page long. By 2001, it was three pages long, and by 2004 it was seven pages long. I鈥檓 not sure whether this increase had more to do to an increase in faculty production or with the new IMS director and managing editor getting on their colleagues about submitted their work to the bibliography. (I suspect it was a bit of both.)
In 2005, a new section was added to the bibliography recognizing student publications, of which there were three that year. This was a significant development for an event once referred to as 鈥渇aculty tea.鈥� It acknowledges that the scholarly work of the seminary isn鈥檛 just done by faculty, with students simply absorbing the scholarship of their professors.
Instead, it presents a picture of an inclusive and collaborative scholarly community 鈥� one that is enriched by the contributions of students and staff in addition to faculty.
At some point in the 2010s, the references to student publications disappear. But this is not because students stopped producing scholarly work or because their work was suddenly demoted in importance. Instead, it鈥檚 because the distinctions among faculty, staff and student publications was eliminated. After all, such a distinction is difficult to maintain in an environment that encourages scholarly collaboration among faculty, staff and students. As Mary Schertz stated in her opening comments at the 2011 book celebration, 鈥淚 have been thinking these past few years that there may not be any seminary anywhere in North America that does more scholarly collaboration than we do 鈥� not only among faculty but also between faculty and students 鈥� not only within our particular community but [also] partnering with others on our continent and around the world.鈥�
By 2008, the bibliography expanded to include not just books, articles and journals but also lectureships. This addition is yet another reminder that scholarship isn鈥檛 a solitary endeavor that takes place behind a desk in an office but is something performed best in community. By 2009, there鈥檚 a recognition that scholarship can even be done via newfangled technology, as there鈥檚 a single entry for DVDs: a series of six DVD presentations on two disks by Alan Kreider, titled Resident but Alien: How the Early Church Grew. One suspects these DVD lectures were the genesis of his later magnum opus, , which appears in the 2016 bibliography.
So today, as we celebrate our 37th year of book celebrations, it is good and right to honor those whose labors established, maintained and developed this tradition of celebrating 香蕉影视鈥檚 scholarly achievements each year. And while not everyone who carried on this tradition can be with us today, we鈥檙e honored to have Willard, Mary and Barb join us.
For all those local history geeks like me, I鈥檝e copied all of the back issues of our bibliographies I could find, starting with what I鈥檓 calling Celebration 1.1 from spring 1983. (Incidentally, that first faculty tea took place when I was two days shy of eight weeks old, to give you some perspective.) That makes this year鈥檚 issue Celebration 37, which is the main reason we鈥檝e gathered here today.
As in past years, this year鈥檚 bibliography demonstrates a robust commitment to scholarship on the part of IMS and the 香蕉影视 community, including faculty, staff and students. Together we鈥檝e had a hand in publishing four books, eight journals, 25 articles and essays, and four book reviews.
Our scholarship has taken many forms, including online encyclopedia articles, blog posts, podcasts, academic presentations and lectureships, and public presentations and workshops.
Our faculty, staff, and students have taken our name from Elkhart to Notre Dame; South Bend; Granger; Chicago; West Palm Beach, Florida; Newton, Kansas; Denver; Vienna, Austria; and as far as Sydney, Australia, and Jakarta, Indonesia.
We鈥檝e published not only in English but also in French, Spanish, German and Arabic. In fact, three of the four books we published were in languages other than English.
And, finally, not only have we produced a substantial amount of scholarship this year, but we鈥檝e also had a substantial amount of scholarly work done about us this past year. Thus, if you go to the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, you can find a new entry on聽听产测听Jamie Pitts聽and a new entry on 香蕉影视 by聽Karl Stutzman. This past year聽Ben Ollenburger聽was honored with a Festschrift,聽. And just this past month, there was a special issue of聽聽devoted to remembering the life and legacy of the late聽Alan Kreider.
This has truly been another great year for the scholarly community of 香蕉影视. I鈥檇 like to thank our president, academic dean, and IMS director for the many ways they鈥檝e encouraged and supported our scholarship this year; our librarians and bookstore managers for the ways they not only support our scholarship but also work to disseminate it and make it more accessible; Karen Stoltzfus, for organizing this morning鈥檚 celebration and preparing this spread; and, finally, each of you for coming out to support and honor each other in your scholarly work.
Photo
(l. to r.) Former Institute of Mennonite Studies Managing Editor Barb Nelson Gingerich, former IMS Director Mary H. Schertz, former IMS Director Willard Swartley and current IMS Managing Editor David C. Cramer at this year’s book celebration in the 香蕉影视 lounge. (Not pictured: Current IMS Director Jamie Pitts and Associate Director Andy Brubacher Kaethler) (Credit: Annette Brill Bergstresser)
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