Yii-Jan Lin

With the SBL deadline for proposals extended, consider submitting!!

Good thing some US colleges are closing their Religious Studies departments—definitively not “useful” at all or an area of expertise that might be relevant for understanding our present…

Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation: "The Stranger": Call for Papers on the 'stranger,' 'foreigner,' and those fleeing disaster in the bible, which can be connected to current actions of ICE, U.S. Homeland Security, and broader global politics driving migration and refuge0seeking. We also want to highlight those reading scripture under authoritarianism and from transnational and noncitizen perspectives.

Bible in America: "The Bible + American Expansion" Call for Papers on recent U.S. activities and statements regarding Central and South America, the Caribbean, Greenland, and Canada, vis a vis biblical themes of expansion, territory, empire, and related topics.

Two calls for papers for SBL 2026 from the units I co-chair: Bible in America and Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation. Please consider submitting an abstract on either of these urgent topics!

I'm happy to announce the publication of my article about a curious early episode in the U.S.-Afghan relationship: the Inland oil concession. In 1936, the Afghan government offered the Inland Exploration Company – the local arm of a mid-sized domestic U.S. firm – an exclusive concession across 🇦🇫.

I’m looking forward to the talk! Your book is excellent.

Wocka wocka!

I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false.

Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.

Donate to Support for Washington Post international employees, organized by Michelle Lee Among the hundreds of journalists laid off by The Washington Post on … Michelle Lee needs your support for Support for Washington Post international employees

Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries.

One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home.

Abolish the billionaire class:

Flyer for event: "Immigration and Apocalypse: Trapped with the Walls of the New Jerusalem," 5:30-7pm.

I will be giving the Harshbarger Lecture at Penn State on Feb. 25, on a topic that is increasingly terrible. Link below, also streaming. Register here: events.la.psu.edu/event/harshb...

Children screaming and crying can be heard as a possible uprising is underway at the ICE Children's Concentration Camp in Dilley, TX (1/24/26).

Also, may I say that I don’t agree with people saying ICE and CBP need “more training.” They’re doing exactly what this administration has trained them to—impose a reign of fear in blue cities. They don’t need more training. They need to be ripped up root and branch.

Disabled son of ICE detainee dies after 30 days of hospitalization It had been months since Wael Tarabishi seen his father. The family is calling on ICE to release Maher Tarabishi so he may attend his son's funeral.

In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi.

He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.

At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.

Wael died on Friday at age 30.

ICE caused his death.

They didn’t get to say goodbye.

Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026

U.S. to suspend immigrant visas from 75 countries over public assistance concerns The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States. n.pr/49BDR41

NEW: President Trump is expanding the previous 19-country travel ban to a whopping 39 countries (plus the Palestinian Authority), and appears to expand a block on legal immigration to now include spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, who were previously exempted.

The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.

I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...

30% off at Yale Press, including my book, Immigration + Apocalypse

Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage

Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage

AAR/SBL 2025: Changing People, Changing Worlds Yale University religious studies scholar Yii-Jan Lin sees parallels between immigration stories and the Book of Revelation.

I'm featured in Publisher's Weekly in the ramp-up to the #AARSBL book panel. If you're in Boston for the annual meeting, please come by.

Two important and timely panels at #AARSBL co-sponsored by Poverty in the Biblical World with Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation and Latino/a/e & Latin American Biblical Interpretation respectively: The Bible, Poverty, & Minoritized Peoples and Engaging the Legacies of Gustavo Gutiérrez

Oh I will miss you! Yes, there are rumblings, will keep you posted!

Book flyer showing cover of Immigration + Apocalypse, with panelists Lloyd Barba, Amherst College, Melissa Borja, University of Michigan, Willie James Jennings, Yale Divinity School, Jennifer Kaalund, Independent Scholar, Tat-siong Benny Liew, College of the Holy Cross, Roberto Mata, Santa Clara University, Moderated by Jacqueline Hidalgo, University of San Diego. Co-sponsored by AAR Politics & Migration, SBL Asian and Asian-American Hermeneutics, Bible in America, John's Apocalypse & Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern, Latino/a/e and Latin American Biblical Interpretation.

Come to my book review panel at #AARSBL2025 ! A cross-organization, interdisciplinary joint session, Sat. Nov 22 @ 1-3:30 Hynes Convention Center 201 -- if not for me, then to hear one of these fabulous panelists! @jaxhidalgo.bsky.social @elprofebarba.bsky.social

Screenshot of a Facebook post featuring three of the Portland protesters wearing inflatable frog costumes with the following text: Episcopalians on Facebook Elizabeth Rose Elrod • 22h • Exodus 8:2-6 "But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs... The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials."

you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Post from X by Claude Taylor: “Portland is leading the way. This is how you (non-violently) beat Facism. Humor and ridicule are key.” Image is a still from video of protestors wearing inflatable costumes (a dinosaur, raccoon, and unicorn) dancing in front of National Guard.

Something I’ve written about: how cuteness, silliness, and humor strengthen protest. theconversation.com/pikachu-prot...

wizard frog is insane

U.S. deports journalist Mario Guevara to El Salvador, family says Mario Guevara, an independent journalist, was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.

Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.