Online Paper/Panel Proposal System is up and running for 2010!
As of January 26, the OP3 system for the 2010 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA is up and running. Deadline for proposal submissions is March 1, 2010 (midnight, EST). See the Call for Papers for more details. |
Report from 2009 Annual Meeting, Montréal
The “city of a hundred bell towers” received over 4700 religion scholars in early November, as the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion was held at the impressive Palais des Congrès. As to be expected, a healthy proportion these scholars were graduate students presenting papers, meeting with smaller research societies, interviewing for jobs and, of course, stocking up on books.
The Graduate Student Committee organized several events in Montréal, including a luncheon discussion with the Wabash Center for first-year teachers, a genuine Montréal “ghost tour,” a “student lounge” that hosted twelve “Conversations about Academic Life,” and three casual presentations at local pubs, entitled “Beyond the Boundaries.” GTU’s Elizabeth Ingenthron reports on one of these events below. Many thanks are due to the GSC for organizing these events, as well as to all the presenters and those graduate student members who attended and made these events a great success!
Theo-poetic Reflections at Beyond the Boundaries 2009
~ contributed by Elizabeth Ingenthron,Graduate Theological Union
On the Saturday evening of the 2009 AAR annual meeting, the first of three “Beyond the Boundaries” gatherings was held at the Alfred Dallaire Memoria Cafe. This was the second annual “Beyond the Boundaries” series, a Graduate Student Committee initiative to take the AAR out of the boundaries of academia into public spaces so that we might share our work with both colleagues and the broader public. We gathered around with our drinks as Dr. Whitney Bauman welcomed those present and introduced Carmen Lansdowne, a doctoral student at the Graduate Theological Union studying indigenous epistemology and Christian mission. Her presentation for the evening was entitled: “My Reservations: Theo-poetic Reflections on Indigenous Canada.” Lansdowne described her poetry as being one of the ways that she processes the emotional, psychological and spiritual work that comes with doing theological academic scholarship. She shared poems that express love, anger and hope. The poetry reflects Lansdowne’s life as a First Nation’s woman and the theological understandings that have emerged through her relationships and experiences. For many, her poems are cathartic. The poems could also be received as a challenge to question ways of living that are too often taken for granted. At this time, Lansdowne’s poetry is unpublished, but one poem is available for download from the Graduate Theological Union. At the Western regional AAR meeting in March 2010, Lansdowne will present an auto-ethnographic paper which integrates this theo-poetic work with her academic scholarship. |
Student Appointments Announced
Last year the GSC sought nominations for student members for several standing committees of the AAR. Appointments have been made and congratulations are due to the following student members:
Student Director
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Elizabeth Lawson
Temple University |
Graduate Student Committee
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Steven Barrie-Anthony
University of California, Santa Barbara |
Technology Task Force
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Elonda Clay
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago |
If you are interested in serving on a standing committee, find out more at the AAR Committee Page and stay tuned to this publication for future announcements. |
Further Opportunities to Confer
Spring is approaching…and so are countless conference opportunities! Each of the ten regions of the AAR hosts its own annual meeting where graduate students may meet, mingle and present their work in a friendly and constructive environment. Most regions also offer competitions for student papers, so follow the links below to see how you can participate and perhaps win accolades for your efforts!
In addition to the conferences of each AAR Region, there are multiple conferences organized by and for graduate students (a partial list is compiled below). If you have a conference that you would like mentioned here in Speaking of Students, please contact the editor.
2010 AAR Regional Meetings
Graduate Student Conferences
arranged chronologically
Florida State University Department of Religion’s Annual Graduate Student Symposium
Theme: “Sects and Sexuality: Issues of Division and Diversity”
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
February 19-21
Dominican University College 10th Annual Student Conference
Bilingual Conference in Philosophy and Theology
Dominican University College, Ottawa, ON
February 26-27
McGill University-Centre for Research on Religion Graduate Students’ Conference
Theme: “Sites of Transformation: New Perspectives on Religion as Revolution”
McGill University, Montréal
March 26-27
Extended Deadline for Papers: February 12
Middle East and Islamic Consortium of British Columbia Annual Student Conference
University of Victoria
March 27
Columbia University Religion Graduate Students' Conference
Theme: “Divining the Message, Mediating the Divine”
Columbia University, New York City
April 1-3
North American Graduate Student Conference on Buddhist Studies
University of Toronto
April 9-11
Toronto School of Theology 40th Anniversary Conference
Theme: “Ecumenism and the Challenges of Pluralism: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue”
Toronto School of Theology
May 7-8 |
Religion Scholars in the News
Cornel West on Sunday Mornings
Mark C. Taylor et al discuss the Academic “Market”
Following AAR suit, Hilary Clinton permits Tariq Ramadan back into the U.S.
AAR Press Release
AP Report
NY Times Report |
Facebook Presence Continues to Grow
As of this writing, the Student Members and Friends of the American Academy of Religion stands at a membership of 699! Membership in this group provides yet another means for the AAR's graduate student community to share information and keep updated on relevant news and events. Recent posts in the discussion forum have included conference announcements, opportunities to publish, and a thought-provoking opinion piece in the New York Times. All members and friends of the AAR are welcome to join (free registration with Facebook required). |
2010 Speaking of Students Editor Selected
The Graduate Student Committee announces that Andy Edwards has been selected as the 2010 editor of Speaking of Students, the e-newsletter of the GSC.Andy has been a student member of the AAR since 2003, having earned graduate degrees from Union Presbyterian Seminary and the University of St Andrews before beginning his doctoral work in systematic theology at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto in 2008. If you have any departmental news or event announcements to share with the AAR’s graduate student community, please contact the editor at andy.edwards@utoronto.ca. We especially welcome announcements regarding awards given to our student members and the various projects and initiatives in which they are participating. | |
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