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IMPORTANT MEMBER UPDATES
Changes to AAR Bylaws: Vote November 20
The Board of Directors proposes two bylaws changes for AAR Regions. The proposed changes are shown at the bottom of this e-mail. Vote at the Annual Business Meeting in San Francisco on Sunday, November 20, at 7:30 am (A20–3).
AAR Elections Are Open: Vote Today!
By now, you should have received notice of the electronic ballot for the 2011 AAR elections. Four positions are to be filled during this election. You can view the candidates' bios and statements here. The successful candidates will take office at the conclusion of the 2011 Annual Meeting. This is a wonderful opportunity to influence the governance of the AAR, so please cast your vote for the candidates now. Elections are open September 26–October 26, 2011.
If you have not yet received a link to the ballot, please notify us via e-mail at nominations@aarweb.org. Be sure to include your full name and the e-mail address to which you would like the link to the ballot sent.
AAR Joins the International Association for the History of Relgiions
The International Association for the History of Religions accepted the AAR's application to become an IAHR member society. The IAHR is a "society of learned societies," comprised of nearly fifty member organizations and several other affiliated societies across the globe. Partnering with the IAHR opens new opportunities for AAR's international programs. For some months, the AAR International Connections Committee, as well as our Board and Executive Staff, have been discussing ways we might take better advantage of AAR's new IAHR membership. Read more about AAR's new international programs directions here.
Luce Summer Seminar on Comparative Theology
The AAR will once again deliver a Summer Seminar on Theologies of Religious Pluralism and Comparative Theology to theological educators. These seminars will help faculty participants to formulate a working answer to the properly theological question, "What significance does my neighbor's faith and tradition have for my own?" The next cohort will be composed of 18 participants and 7 instructors and will gather for a week-long event during summer 2012, then a one day event the following fall at the 2012 Annual Meeting, followed by another week–long event the next summer. The application deadline is January 15, 2012. Find out more information about this seminar.
Renew Today for 2012 Membership
Don't miss a beat! Renew today for the 2012 AAR membership year. Renew for 2012 at the 2011 rate — member rates increase on January 1, 2012.
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ANNUAL MEETING NEWS
Annual Meeting Registration and Housing
AAR Annual Meeting Registration and Housing is now open! You must be registered to secure housing. Advance registration rates are in effect until November 17, 2011.
Online Annual Meeting Program Book
Check out the Online Annual Meeting Program Book! The print Program Book will be included in the tote bag at the Annual Meeting, available onsite in the registration area of the Moscone Center West in San Francisco this November. A print copy of the Annual Meeting Program Planner was sent to all AAR members earlier this month.
Employment Center Deadline is October 24
The Employment Center, sponsored by the AAR and SBL, is open for candidates through the Annual Meeting registration system. Employers can register through the AAR and SBL job advertisement submission websites. The deadline to preregister for both candidates and employers is October 24, 2011. Register early to receive full benefits.
Women's Mentoring Luncheon
The Status of Women in the Profession Committee, Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Task Force, and the Women's Caucus invite women who are graduate students and new scholars to a luncheon on Sunday, November 23, at the Annual Meeting. Women will have the opportunity to mentor and be mentored in a context where every question is valued. Lunch costs $10 per person; sorry, no refunds. Registration is limited to 100. Click here to register.
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The 2011-2012 AAR Regional Development Grant Award winners are announced. Congratulations to the winners!
The AAR's ten regions usually conduct their Annual Meetings in the spring of each year. Many of the regions have already released their calls for papers for their upcoming 2012 Annual Meetings. To view the various calls, visit https://www.aarweb.org/Meetings/Regions.
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AAR AWARDS NEWS
2011 AAR Book Award Winners
The 2011 AAR Book Award Winners have been announced! Congratulations to the winners. An awards ceremony will be held at the Annual Meeting to recognize these members' achievements. The awards ceremony will take place Sunday, November 20, at 7:00 pm at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel in the Golden Gate Room.
2011–2012 International Dissertation Research Grants – Deadline December 1
The 2011–2012 International Dissertation Research Grants applications process is open. These annual grants, designed to support AAR student members whose dissertation research requires them to travel outside of the country in which their school or university is located, are intended to help candidates complete their doctoral degrees by offsetting costs of travel, lodging, and other dissertation research-related expenses.
Religion and the Arts Award - Deadline February 1, 2012
Nominations are being accepted for the Religion and the Arts award, which is presented annually to an artist, performer, critic, curator, or scholar who has made a recent significant contribution to the understanding of the relations among the arts and religions, both for the Academy and for a broader public. Nominees need not be AAR members. Please, no self nominations. To be considered for the 2012 award, nominations must be made by February 1, 2012. For submission requirements and more information, please see here.
Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award - Deadline January 25, 2012
To nominate someone for the AAR's Martin E. Marty Award, which recognizes extraordinary contributions to the public understanding of religion by those whose work speaks to the public as well as to scholars, please see here. The deadline for nominations is January 25, 2012.
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AAR Syllabus Project
The AAR Syllabus Project has finished its transition to the Wabash Center Internet Guide. New syllabi can be sent directly to Charles Bellinger, c.bellinger@tcu.edu, for inclusion on the Wabash Center Internet Guide. The Internet Guide to Religion contains some 1,500 syllabi. AAR members can search for syllabi through topical areas or through a special page for syllabi searches.
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ACADEMIC ABBY – Professional Advice from Your Colleagues
Do you have a question about life in academe that you are at a loss to answer by yourself but don't feel you can approach your colleagues with it? Ask Academic Abby! Academic Abby is able to answer questions large and small, from dealing with faculty dilemmas, to tenure issues, to work/life balance troubles. Questions can be submitted anonymously through an online form. Members of the AAR Status of Women in the Profession Committee will respond to each question received. The question and answer will be posted on the SWP web page and issues of Religious Studies News.
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In Memoriam: Wangari Maathai, Nobel Laureate
Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who began a movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and who went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died on September 25. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement, an international nongovernment organization dedicated to promoting environmental consciousness and action. Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Price for her work in her native Kenya and around the world.
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AAR MEMBER NOTES
Awards:
Douglas S. Duckworth, East Tennesseee State University. Received a National Endowment for the Humanities Award for his proposed project, "Introducing the Tibetan World and Thought of Mipam (1842-1912)," to complete his latest book, Jamgon Mipam: His Life and Teachings.
Irving Hexham, University of Calgary. Awarded a Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant for the project: "The worldview of Alfred Rosenberg and its continuing impact on popular and academic culture."
Books:
Candy Gunther Brown, Indiana University, Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing, editor. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780195393408.
Patrick S. Cheng, Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology, Seabury Books, March 2011. ISBN: 978-1596271326
Daniel Davies, Method and Metaphysics in Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, Oxford University Press, August 2011 release date. ISBN: 978-0-19-976873-8
Douglas S. Duckworth, East Tennessee State University, Botrul. Distinguishing the Views and Philosophies: Illuminating Emptiness in a Twentieth-Century Tibetan Buddhist Classic, Albany: SUNY Press, 2011. ISBN: 1438434375
Susan E. Hill, Eating to Excess: The Meaning of Gluttony and the Fat Body in the Ancient World, Praeger/ABC-CLIO, September 2011.
Irving Hexham, University of Calgary, Understanding World Religions: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011. ISBN: 0310259444, ISBN-13: 9780310259442
Vladimir Kharlamov, Colorado Technical University, Theosis: Deification in Christian Theology, editor. Vol. 2. Princeton Theological Monograph Series 156. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-1610970709
Bruce Ledewitz, Church, State, and the Crisis in American Secularism, Indiana University Press, June 2011 release date. ISBN: 978-0-253-35634-5
Jeffery D. Long, Historical Dictionary of Hinduism (New Edition), Scarecrow Press, September 2011 release date. ISBN: 9780810867642
Christopher M. Moreman, Race, Oppression and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations of the Caribbean Tradition, Edited with Cory James Rushton, McFarland, 2011. Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-5911-7
Elaine Peña, Performing Piety: Making Space Sacred with the Virgin of Guadalupe, University of California Press, June 2011. ISBN: 9780520268340
Matthew S. Rindge, Gonzaga University, Jesus' Parable of the Rich Fool: Luke 12:13-34 among Ancient Conversations on Death and Possessions, Society of Biblical Literature Early Christianity and Its Literature Series 6. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. October 2011 release. ISBN: 978-1589836143.
Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Readings from the Edges: The Bible and People on the Move, Studies in Latino/aCatholicism Series, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-57075-944-4
Megan Adamson Sijapati, Gettysburg College, Islamic Revival in Nepal: Religion and a New Nation. Routledge, 2011. ISBN: 9780415618748
Tim Suttle, An Evangelical Social Gospel? Finding God's Story in the Midst of Extremes, Eugene, OR: Cascade Books. ISBN: 1610975413
Storm Swain, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Trauma and Transformation at Ground Zero: A Pastoral Theology, Fortress Press, August 2011. ISBN: 978-0800698058.
Catherine Wessinger, Loyola University New Orleans, Oxford Handbook of Millennialism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Let your AAR colleagues know about your professional milestones! Submit your Member Note online.
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PROPOSED CHANGES TO AAR BYLAWS
Acting on a recommendation from the Regions Task Force, the AAR Board of Directors has unanimously recommended changes to the bylaws. In order to finalize the proposed changes, this description of the proposed changes will be made available at least 30 days before the Annual Business Meeting. If two-thirds of the members at the Business Meeting vote to support the changes, the changes will be ratified. The Annual Business Meeting will take place at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel, at 7:30 AM on Sunday, November 20. The Annual Meeting session number is A20-3.
The proposed changes concern Article VIII of the bylaws. Proposed additions are underlined. Proposed deletions are struck through.
Article VIII. Regional Groups
Section 1. Nature and Scope. To enhance the AAR's programs and activities in support of its purposes, the Board of Directors may establish regional groups. Each regional group may sponsor meetings and other activities within its assigned geographical area and charge fees sufficient to cover the costs of such activities. No region may levy additional dues or fees. Members may belong to only one region. Members who reside within a region are automatically constituents members of the region that regional group. However, members may choose to become a member of a different region if they wish. Attendance and participation in non-governance related regional activities shall be open to all Members, regardless of their place of residence.
Section 2. Governance. Each Board-established regional group is subject to the authority of the Board of Directors. Each regional group shall maintain a record of its activities, and the Regional Secretary Coordinator shall submit an Annual Report with financial statements to the Executive Director. Only current Members who reside within the geographical area of the regional group may hold office or vote in regional elections. Regional directors and officers must be AAR members and must be members of that region. The regional student director must be a student in good standing at a school located within that region. Only members of a region may vote in that region's elections.
Please join us at the Annual Business Meeting to discuss these bylaws changes.
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