As I'm looking through the program to try and find sessions that I'd like to attend, I'm running into the issue of having 3-4 sessions per time period that I really want to see.
How do you decide?
Is it okay to sit in on one session for a bit, hear the paper you like, then run over to the other session and hear the other one?
What is the usual for the evenings? Do Bible scholars paint the town red or is it back to the room before dark for some nice contemplation? (I'm half-way kidding, I hope).
I want to make sure I get all I can out of this SBL, so I'm trying to figure out how to appropriately schedule my time.
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Yes, it's ok to come and go between papers. You don't have to stay for the whole session. Just come and go quietly and politely. The down side is that you may end up standing in the back for some of the papers. In the evenings, there are often a lot of receptions thrown by different schools or organizations. Meet people, try to get invited, or just crash the party. If it's late enough, they won't really notice that you're not from Brown or Harvard or wherever. Make friends, tag along with your roommates, tag along with your new friends. Stuff like that.
And I have the same problem with the sessions. Virtually all of the ones that I want to attend are on Sunday in the same timeslot.
Unfortunately, I heard my roommates are all a bunch of nerdy Hebrew Bible guys...
Thanks for the advice!
Publishers' receptions are a great blessing for the starving grad student who has enough for plane fare and accomodation but not food... :)
James - that is absolutely my primary concern anywhere I travel. Thanks for the inside scoop. I'm taking an Erasmian approach to my SBL budget - books first, then, if any is left, food.
There are receptions most evenings. Go to them. No one will question your presence there, although I suppose that may be different this year with the downturn in the economy. You may need to demonstrate a desire to publish a book with the publisher hosting the reception before they'll let you anywhere near the stuffed mushrooms this year... :)
Yes, it is very common to go from session to session.
Yes, there are lots of receptions each evening. SBL is not a monastery. If you want a monastery, you know where to find it.
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