PALEOJUDAICA SLOWDOWN? The good news is that I've been promoted to Reader. (The terminology doesn't map readily onto non-British systems, but for those unfamiliar with it, "Reader" is an academic rank that is something more than associate professor but less than full professor and recognizes that you're a researcher of international standing.)

The, um, other news is I have been appointed Acting Head of the School of Divinity for the next six months. Due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, this came with almost no advance notice. This is sort of like being made department chair, only much more so. It also involves being Acting Principal of St. Mary's College and Acting Dean of Divinity. I don't feel like explaining in detail what all that means, and you probably don't want to know, but the main point is it is going to take up almost all my time for the rest of 2006. What little time it doesn't take up will go to teaching (luckily I have a light load this coming semester), and such time, if any, left over after that will go to research. I'm sorry to have to say that PaleoJudaica will come after that, with maybe even a little time sandwiched in for family.

The bottom line is that I shall be very, very busy. I will try to keep up regular postings on PaleoJudaica, but these may well come less often than usual and with less commentary. I hope you will continue to stop by frequently, even if for the next six months the blog isn't as quite as active as it has been.

If in recent weeks you have e-mailed me and I haven't replied, apologies. I've been preoccupied. I'm likely to be even worse at replying to correspondence in the coming months, so apologies in advance for that too.