AAR AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

MARTHA REINEKE: 2012 EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD RECIPIENT
The Teaching and Learning Committee is pleased to announce Martha Reineke is the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award. Reineke, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa, will make remarks and engage questions and answers from the audience during the Special Topics Forum at this year's Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The Teaching and Learning Committee encourages and solicits nominations for the 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award. Nominations must be received by October 1. For more information, click here.

HOLLAND CARTER: 2012 RELIGION AND THE ARTS AWARD RECIPIENT
The Religion and the Arts Award Jury is pleased to announce Holland Cotter is the recipient of the 2012 Religion and the Arts Award. The award 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. Cotter, a staff art critic for the New York Times, will be the focus of a Special Topics Forum at this year's Annual Meeting in Chicago. The Religion and the Arts Award Jury encourages nominations for future award recipients. Please see here for more information.

ANNUAL MEETING NEWS

ACCEPTANCE TO ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM
If you submitted a proposal for the Annual Meeting, you should have received notification of whether or not your proposal was accepted. If you did not receive notification and submitted your proposal using the online proposal system, you can check your status by logging in to PAPERS. If your status is not listed, please contact the Chairs of the Program Unit(s) to which you submitted.

REGISTER FOR 2012 ANNUAL MEETING TODAY!
Register today to receive the best price on the Annual Meetings! The 2012 member rate is deeply discounted. Annual Meeting registration rates increase on June 15, so lock in the savings today.

ADDITIONAL MEETINGS RESERVATIONS NOW OPEN
Reserve your reception, editorial meeting, or other business at the Annual Meeting today through the online Additional Meeting reservation system! Additional Meetings are published in the online and print Annual Meetings Program Book.

CALLS TO AAR MEMBERSHIP

CALL FOR COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS
Each year, members of the American Academy of Religion are invited to nominate persons to fill open positions on AAR Standing Committees, Task Forces, and Juries. This year, there are openings on the following groups:

• Academic Relations Committee
• Book Award Juries
• History of Religions Jury
• International Connections Committee
• Public Understanding of Religion Committee
• Religion and the Arts Award Jury
• Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee
• Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee
• Status of Women in the Profession Committee
• Teaching and Learning Committee
• Theological Education Committee

Nominations for positions on these groups must be made in writing, and must include:

1. A description of the nominee's academic and professional interests
2. A summary of the nominee's activity in the AAR
3. A statement describing the nominee's interest or promise for a particular assignment
4. A current copy of the nominee's curriculum vita

Members may nominate themselves. All nominees must be members in good standing of the AAR. Nominations must be received by April 30, 2012, and may be e-mailed, faxed, or posted to:

Elizabeth Hardcastle
Service Coordinator
American Academy of Religion
Suite 300
825 Houston Mill Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30329 USA
Fax: 404-727-7959
nominations@aarweb.org

Otto A. Maduro, President of the AAR, and the Board of Directors will review nominations and make selections during August and September 2012. Nominees will be notified of their status soon thereafter. If you have questions about particular assignments, please feel free to contact the AAR's Executive Staff, Board members, or Committee/Task Force/Jury chairs. Committee descriptions and rosters are available at www.aarweb.org/about_AAR/committees.

CALL FOR RELIGION, CULTURE, AND HISTORY BOOK SERIES EDITOR

The AAR Publications Committee seeks a book editor for the Religion, Culture, and History Series, which is sponsored by the American Academy of Religion and published in cooperation with Oxford University Press. The Religion, Culture, and History Series publishes scholarly work that addresses the complex interrelationship between religious studies and cultural studies. The Series is thus open to a range of methodological approaches: historical, comparative, theological, and philosophical. By emphasizing the religious dimensions of culture and the cultural dimensions of religion, the Series promotes a widening and deepening of the study of "popular" culture and cultural theory, and attempts to decenter our academic discourse about religion by focusing on its particular embeddedness in a wide range of cultural phenomenon.

AAR Series Editors help set editorial policy, acquire manuscripts, and work with Oxford University Press in seeing manuscripts through to publication. Editors sit on the AAR Publications Committee for the duration of their term. This is a volunteer position. All applicants must be members of the American Academy of Religion. If you are interested in this position, you are highly encouraged to read further information about the position in the RSN March 2012 issue. Please e-mail inquiries, nominations (self-nominations are encouraged), and applications (a letter describing interests and qualifications, plus a current curriculum vita) by Word or PDF attachment to Kim Connor, Publications Committee Chair, connork@usfca.edu. The application deadline is June 1, 2012.

AAR MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

The Member Spotlight is a series of interviews with AAR members who have shaped the field of religious studies. Do you have a colleague who you think we should spotlight? Nominate them at info@aarweb.org!

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

Have you considered applying for a 2012–2013 Regional Development Grant? Regional Development Grants provide funds for special projects within the regions that promise to benefit the scholarly and professional life of AAR members and do the work of the AAR in the regions. Workshops, special programs, training events, and other innovative regional projects may be funded through this source. Where possible, projects are designed so that they may be duplicated or transported to other regions.

Applications should include a narrative description of the project detailing how the project promises to benefit the scholarly and professional lives of AAR members and the work of the region. Please include comments on how these projects or activities may be adapted to other regional groups. The application should state the time period covered by the project and provide a detailed budget (office expenses, travel expenses, honoraria, stipend, and other expenses). Institutional overhead costs should not be included in this budget. No grant will exceed $4,000.

Successful grants from prior years can be found here. Application deadline are:

• August 1, 2012 – Grant proposals due to Regional Directors
• September 1, 2012 – Regional Directors forward grants to Regions Committee
• October 15, 2012 – Regional grant awards announced

LGBTIQ SCHOLARS OF RELIGION: YOUR PERSONAL NARRATIVE
The Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee is gathering stories of people's experiences (good and bad) as LGBTIQ scholars of religion. We would be deeply appreciative if you could send in narratives. Your identity will be kept confidential unless you specify that your name should be used in relation to your narrative, and you are welcome to send your narrative from an anonymous e-mail address if you wish.

Please send both your questions and your narratives to the Chair of the Committee, Melissa Wilcox, at wilcoxmm@whitman.edu.

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 Status of Women in the Profession web page and issues of Religious Studies News.

ASK THE DIVA
If you are experiencing issues of special concern to LGBTIQ scholars of religion, the Diva can help! What questions do you have about graduate school, career development, teaching, etc.? Send your questions to the chair of the Status of LGBTIQ Persons in the Profession Committee, Melissa Wilcox, at wilcoxmm@whitman.edu. Your confidentiality is assured; you may use an anonymous e-mail address if you wish. The questions will be posted anonymously in Religious Studies News.

1. AAR Award Winners Announced
2. Annual Meeting News
3. Calls to AAR Membership
4. Member Spotlight
5. Regional Grants
6. LGBTIQ Initiative
7. Academic Abby
8. Ask the Diva
9. AAR Member Notes

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