Plenary Address

Theme: A Life Biography of Wolfhart Pannenberg

Born in 1928 in Stettin, Germany, Pannenberg began his theological studies at the University of Berlin after World War II and also studied at the University of Göttingen and the University of Basel. He completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of Heidleberg. He studied under theologians Karl Barth and Edmund Schlink, among others. Pannenberg has drawn together religion and science through much of his life. Wolfhart Pannenberg published his magnum opus, the three-volume Systematic Theology, in the 1990s. He has also contributed substantially to the philosophy of history and the philosophy of science. He has been called an “eschatological realist" and a great interdisciplinary thinker.

Plenary Address

Theme: AAR Presidential Address and Awards Ceremony: Hans Hillerbrand, On Book Burnings and Book Burners: Reflections on the Power (and Powerlessness) of Words and Ideas

(and Powerlessness) of Words and Ideas

A native of Germany, Hans J. Hillerbrand did his graduate work in theology and religion at the University of Erlangen, Germany, with a focus on the Protestant Reformation. After briefly teaching at Goshen College, he received an appointment to the faculty of the Divinity School at Duke University in 1959, where he taught until 1970, when he moved to the History Department of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In 1981, he accepted the position of provost at Southern Methodist University, and in 1988 he joined the faculty of the Department of Religion at Duke University. A specialist in the Reformation, his publications include two bibliographies of Anabaptism, a monograph on religious dissenters in early modern Europe, and the Protestant Reformation, as well as the editorship of both the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation and the Encyclopedia of Protestantism. He has served as president of the Society of Reformation Research and the American Society of Church History. He has been editor of the Archive for Reformation History, Church History, and the Zeitschrift für Religions-und Geistesgeschichte. The faculty of Montclair State University conferred the honorary doctor of laws on him.

Plenary Address

Theme: Master Narratives and the Future of Christianity

David Martin, born 1929, is emeritus Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, and past Professor of Human Values, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (1986-90), as well as International Fellow of the ISEC, Boston University. He is author of some 20 books, including A General Theory of Secularisation (1978), Pentecostalism - The World Their Parish (2002), and On Secularisation: Towards a Revised General Theory (2005).

Plenary Address

Theme: Templeton Plenary: Charles H. Townes -- The Parallelism and Ultimate Convergence of Science and Religion

Charles H. Townes is the 2005 Templeton Prize Laureate. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 for his investigations into the properties of microwaves, which resulted first in the maser, and later his co-invention of the laser. Townes has spent decades as a leading advocate for the convergence of science and religion. His 1966 article, “The Convergence of Science and Religion,” established Townes as a unique voice – especially among scientists – that sought commonality between the two disciplines. Recently, Townes has been a champion of optical searches for extraterrestrial intelligence, using methods he first proposed in 1961 as a complement to searches for radio transmissions. Townes attended Furman University, Duke University, and the California Institute of Technology (PhD, 1939). After holding positions at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was appointed University Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in 1967.

Plenary Address

Theme: Plenary Panel: The Future of Religion in the West: Perspectives

This panel will use David Martin's plenary address as the point of departure for reflections on the prospects of "organized" religion in the twenty-first century. This involves an appraisal of the current state of religions so as to propose conjectures for future developments. The appraisal will need to focus on such topics as globalization, inculturation, secularization. The panelists reflect a variety of specializations and perspectives. Panelists include: Sarah Coakley, Harvard University; Peter J. Paris, Princeton Theological Seminary; Julius Schoeps, Potsdam University; Teresa Berger, Duke University; and Vincent J. Cornell, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Chairs Workshop - Enlarging the Pie: Strategies for Managing and Growing Departmental Resources

The workshop will include plenary sessions with invited panelists with expertise and experience in developing physical, financial, faculty and student resources. Also, there will be breakout sessions for participants seeking help with budgets and financial management, and with growing links to other departments.

Religion and Media Workshop - "Spinning" God: Teaching, Researching, and Reporting on Politics and Religion

This day-long workshop brings together prominent journalists and scholars of religion and media to the AAR who are concerned with the interrelation of politics and religion. The day’s events will include lectures, a film screening, and plenty of time for questions, answers, and further conversation. Topics covered include: Teaching about politics in the religious studies classroom; reporting on the religious dimension of politics; and up to date research on the field.

Questions about the workshop should be directed to S. Brent Plate, Texas Christian University, b.plate@tcu.edu.

Women’s Caucus Workshop - Using Feminist Pedagogies in the Classroom

The Women's Caucus is presenting a workshop on teaching feminist pedagogies.

Scholars including Vasudha Narayanan, Melissa C. Stewart, Karma Lekshe

Tsomo, Julie Kilmer, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, and Victoria Rue will

present on teaching their fields. Paula Trimble Familetti, Harriet Luckman,

and Laurie Wright Garry will preside.

EIS Center Orientation

The EIS Center orientation features a short presentation which includes an overview of the Center, an explanation of how best to utilize the Center, and a question and answer session. After the presentation, the Center will be open for use, with the exception of the Interview Hall. Employers will be able to review candidate credentials, leave messages for registered candidates, and make reservations for booth space. Candidates can pick up their copy of the Annual Meetings Special Edition of Openings, as well as leave messages for employers. The Center will also be accepting onsite registrations at this time. Employers and candidates are encouraged to participate in orientation but are not required to attend.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Popularizing Our Scholarship: Its Pleasures and Pitfalls

According to the 2004 NEH study Reading at Risk, religion books are the healthiest segment of adult publishing. In this panel, we will discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of publishing religion and spirituality books for the larger marketplace, as well as the tensions that may arise when one tries to balance academic writing and teaching with "pop" publishing. All panelists have published books with trade houses, and each will consider how and why they got into trade publishing, as well as the response from academic colleagues and communities to these broader scholarly pursuits. The panel, comprising both senior and junior, tenure-track and nontenure-track scholars, who will address a variety of questions about the impact, good and bad, of writing popular books while remaining in academia. This panel will interest AAR members who seek to write for the broadest possible audience and who are also concerned with the professional consequences that accompany this choice.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Quo Vadis Eastern Europe?

The session raises the question of the direction in which contemporary Eastern Europe (a term which we use to include former socialist countries of Europe, including the Soviet Union) is developing. Connecting the roots with the present, the presenters are exploring the relationship of nationalism, religion, and civil society as well as ecumenical and interreligious relationships.

The Basilian Monks of Grottaferrata and the Pursuit of Christian Unity
Ines A. Murzaku, Seton Hall University

The paper will articulate the intricate religious and political circumstances that gave rise to the movement of the Orthodox faithful of mid and southern Albania to unite with the Catholic Church during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. This occurred at a time when the return or an exclusivist ecclesiology was ruling in the West. Special attention will be given to the Basilian missions to revive the country's Byzantine Catholic tradition.

Teaching about the Other: Inter-Church Dialogue for Russian/Ukrainian Christianity
Walter Sawatsky, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

The paper will examine the conflicts between Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant communities in Russia and Ukraine since 1988 in light of what the schools and press appear to be teaching about the other churches; comparing it with the rise of global Christian consciousness in the West.

Cordoba and Sarajevo: Contrasts in Religious Separation and Tolerance
N. Gerald Shenk, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Recent studies of Medieval Spain (Menocal) and of contemporary Bosnia (Velikonja) invite comparisons between two very different chapters of strong Muslim influence in Europe. The interpretation of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in various combinations, including both political power and disenfranchisement, suggest that conditions of toleration are more complex than merely external constraints of a strenuous secularism.

Turkish Millet, Religious Nationalism, and Civil Society
James R. Payton, Redeemer University College

The paper will examine the close interrelationship between nationality and religion, nurtured and fomented over centuries, in the southern regions of former Yugoslavia and the challenges faced in developing civil society in the present.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: AAR Student Luncheon and Panel Discussion: Career Alternatives for Doctoral Students in Religion and Theology

The skills and knowledge students acquire in doctoral studies in religion and theology prepare them for a wide array of career alternatives, not just the role of classroom professor. Today, PhDs in religion and theology are working in venues such as: nonprofit organizations; publishing and other media; theological libraries and archives; offices of campus life, both administrative and auxiliary; foundations specializing in religion; parish or diocesan ministry; providing programming for clergy and laity renewal or for retreat houses; religious high schools; nongovernmental organizations providing human and other services; institutes, religious think-tanks, centers of inquiry, etc.; government; and business. Work in these career alternatives often carries different, sometimes greater financial and psychological rewards than comparable academic positions, as well as different challenges and opportunities for personal development and for influencing others. Panelists will discuss some of these challenges and opportunities and share their own personal experiences in career alternatives. Separate registration is required.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Imagining Religion in the Postcolony: Beyond Orientalism and Occidentalism

Postcolonial practices and ways of imagining religion challenge our existing notions and understanding of religion. Is the study of religion still trapped in the binary of occidentalist and orientalist notions of religion? This special topics forum will explore the multiple experiences and practices of religion in postcolonial contexts and scholarly responses to them.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: The Supreme Court and Religion

As Chief Justice Rehnquist's tenure on the Court draws to a close, this panel looks back on the legacy of the “Rehnquist Court” with respect to religion. We will also discuss some of the “hot topics” of the preceding term, including the religious rights of prisoners and the display of the Ten Commandments on government property.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: AAR Excellence in Teaching Forum: A Conversation about Teaching with the 2005 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner

This interactive session will focus on discussion of issues raised by the teaching materials posted by Professor Zayn Kassam at the AAR's Virtual Teaching and Learning Center. They can be accessed after October 15 at http://www.aarweb.org/teaching/default.asp.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and U.S. Culture

A relationship with the Haudenosaunee “People of the Longhouse” (i.e., Iroquois) has persisted over the entirety of United States history. For example, the Longhouse system was an inspiration to the founding fathers and nineteenth-century feminists; thanksgivings which ceremonially address the whole of creation and decision making with the Seventh Generation in mind, have been an inspiration to transcendentalists, environmentalists, and ecologists; Haudenosaunee leaders like Oren Lyons, have inspired indigenous people around the world to fight together for their rights through institutions like the United Nations. The Haudenosaunee today remain among the last sovereign Native American nations completely separate from the federal government, which continue to govern themselves within the Longhouse clan system. The Haudenosaunee legacy is of profound importance and yet the legacy of this relationship is largely hidden from view. This panel will explore the legacy of the Haudenosaunee and the ongoing challenges to their cultural survival.

Misplaced Origins and Debts Ignored: Democracy Isn't Free
Schuyler Shawn, Syracuse University

A heated debate exists over Haudenosaunee contributions to U.S. democracy. Sources suggest that the controversy is primarily political: tenured 'experts' react negatively to challenges to their authority, incursions into 'their' ideological/economic territory. The History of Religions suggests other interpretations for this reaction, centering on stories of origin and ways of relating to land. 'Democracy'--in the Euro-American imagination--is founded in a temporal tale: the colonists broke free of their places of origin and took up a classical Western (Greek) tradition, attempting a return to that time. This utopian orientation to origin can be contrasted with the origin story of the Haudenosaunee confederacy, a way of governance intrinsically linked to the place(s) from which it came, and expressing an obligation to those places. The Euro-American story conceals debts to place and to the people of that place. This both obscures Haudenosaunee contributions and influences the equation of 'democracy' to 'freedom' (vs. 'responsibility').

What the American Founders Did Not Learn from the Haudenosaunee
Chris Jocks, Arizona State University

Rather than looking at the influence of the Haudenosaunee on the governmental system of the United States, this presentation will focus on six indispensable dimensions of Longhouse practice that are conspicuously absent from it. These six principles can be named as follows:

1. Consensus: government based on persuasion rather than coercion

2. The Good Mind: the source of real consensus

3. Women: cultivators of the future

4. Condolence: healing has to come first

5. Nationhood: the ground we walk on

6. Leadership: listening and voicing

In local contexts of small-scale change, principles like these may have real promise: in schools, and in humanly-scaled workplaces and organizations of all kinds. Where such re-thinking works, it will be a result not of imitation but of thoughtful reflection upon Longhouse practice and experience in ways that respect both the original soil and the new.

Clan Mothers: The Role of Haudenosaunee Clan Mothers in Survival of the Iroquois Confederacy
Nancy Napierala, State University of New York, Buffalo

Clan Mothers: The Role of Haudenosaunee Clan Mothers in the survival of the Iroquois Confederacy.

An historical outline of the unique role of female leaders of clans in the Iroquois Confederacy and their importance in the survival and revival of the culture.

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on Early American Feminists
Sally Roesch Wagner, Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation

I will explore how the woman’s rights movement took form in the territory of the Iroquois confederacy, where women have always lived with considerable status and authority. I will share research on how Haudenosaunee women fired the revolutionary vision of early feminists by providing a model of freedom for women at a time when EuroAmerican women experienced few rights. The thought of Matilda Joslyn Gage and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was shaped by their involvement with their indigenous women neighbors in upstate New York. Having no legal existence, once married, EuroAmerican women learned and were inspired by the decisive political power, control of their bodies and property, religious voice, custody of their children, satisfying work, and absence of rape and domestic violence women experienced in Haudenosaunee nations. Supporting treaty rights and native sovereignty, Matilda Joslyn Gage was adopted into the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Responding to Political Targeting of Religion Scholars in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

This workshop consists of four presentations by the panel followed by discussion with the audience. Part One: The Big Picture: Recognizing a Systematic Approach to Silencing Dissent and Demonizing Critique in the Academic Study of religion; Part Two: Disparate Cases: Connecting the Dots to reveal a Common Agenda behind Regional Cases; Part Three: Mobilizing Effective Institutional and legal response: When to Call a Lawyer; Part Four: Protecting Open Inquiry in the Academic Study of Religion: Strategies with Administrations, media, and Regional Response and Support.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Storming the Ivory Tower: Conflict, Complicity, and Social Change

This special topics forum discusses the complex issues of identity, vocation, and multiple obligations of racial and ethnic minorities in the academy: How to deal with conflictual situations in the workplace? How to balance obligations to communities of origin and to the academy? In what ways have racial and ethnic minorities been complicit with the various -isms? How can we be accountable to a wider public and challenge the academy to be a place for social change? How can institutions attract and retain minority scholars? Panelists include Miguel Da La Torre, Hope College; Joan M. Martin, Episcopal Divinity School; John J. Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University; Andrea Smith, University of Michigan; and Debra Mubashshir Majeed, Beloit College. The AAR Career Guide for Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession will be introduced.

A reception hosted by the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee directly follows.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Religion in Europe East and West

The process of European integration has given rise to pivotal debates that signal the evolving place of religion in Europe. Arguments over the potential inclusion of Turkey in the EU and over a constitutional reference to Christian heritage have forced many to reassess the religious dimensions of European identity and to confront the reality of religious pluralism. This forum is designed to shed light on some of the most significant debates involving religion in contemporary Europe. Representing numerous disciplines and regions, a distinguished panel of experts will address a range of issues, including: religion and the politics of identity; the rapid transformation of the mainstream churches; the contentious role of religion in the process of European expansion; the renegotiation of sensitive boundaries between church and state; conflicts between the collective rights of traditional religious communities and the individual rights of European citizens; and the encounter between Islamic and Christian cultures.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Religion and the Science Curriculum: Implications and Strategies

Cosmology, genetics, ecology and evolution are just a few of the topics within the standard science curriculum that regularly elicit questions and challenges from religious parents and communities. In this session our panelists will share their expertise in addressing the following questions: What are the dynamics at work in these debates? What are the implications for American education? What strategies are available for addressing these issues in the K-12 classroom?

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Wabash Student-Teacher Luncheon

The Wabash Center and AAR Graduate Student Task Force cordially invite AAR and SBL doctoral Student Members to this lunch gathering with experienced faculty mentors to share conversation about teaching. What influenced your choice to become a teacher? What opportunities have you had to develop your teaching skills? What joys and frustrations do you experience in teaching? What assistance do you have in developing as a teacher?

Participation is by advance registration only, limited to the first 75 doctoral Student Members whose registration the AAR receives. (Overflow registration is accepted in case of cancellations or late arrivals.) Eligibility is limited to doctoral students nearing completion of study who have teaching experience or will soon be teaching, and who have not previously participated in this annual event. Seating is assigned in advance, so if you register and do not attend, your presence will be missed. Lunch is provided. Separate registration is required.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Women in Religion - Thriving, Not Just Surviving: A Conversation with Mary E. Hunt, Editor of A Guide for Women in Religion

Guide to the Perplexing: A Survival Manual for Women in Religious Studies (1992) framed women's entry into the field of religion in terms of their basic “survival”: balancing career and family, finding one's voice, handling commuting partnerships, negotiating contracts, building the case for tenure, etc. Now an updated view for the twenty-first century, A Guide for Women in Religion: Making Your Way from A to Z (2004), looks beyond women merely surviving to aim at their thriving in religion. Structural challenges to this persist in various forms, including sexism, racism, economic injustice, and the effects of colonial and patriarchal traditions. But new questions also have arisen: choosing among various career alternatives (administration, publishing, libraries and technology, nonprofits, ministry, etc.), teaching on-line, moving from associate to full professor, facing retirement, and moving into emerita status. Come join a lively discussion of these and other related topics with the editor, Mary Hunt.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: The Marty Forum

The recipient of the 2005 Martin Marty Award for contributions to the public understanding of religion is John L. Esposito, Founding Director of Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Editor-in-chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Professor Esposito is the author of over 30 books, including Muslims' Place in the American Public Square: Hope, Fears, and Aspirations (2004).

The Marty Forum provides an informal setting in which Dr. Esposito will talk about his work with journalist Caryle Murphy of the Washington Post, and engage in discussion with the audience.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: What the Study of Mormonism Brings to Religious Studies: A Special AAR Session Organized on the Occasion of the Bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s Birth

Jan Shipps, whose case study approach virtually set the framework for the study of Mormonism within religious studies, will present a paper designed to provide contours for the reflections of five well-known scholars of religion. These contributors have been invited to consider the question of how treating Mormonism as a case study might enrich their own fields of specialization. Briefly outlining the current situation in which, even though more of its members reside outside than inside the U.S., the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the now the fourth largest church in the nation, Shipps will describe how religious studies helps to explain how this once provincial tradition embedded in particular geographic places and idiosyncratic cultures is managing to make itself at home in myriad places and cultures. From their multiple perspectives, the panelists will consider what the study of Mormonism can add to the scholarly study of religion.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Annual Meeting Initiatives and How to Propose a New Program Unit

Join the chair of the Program Committee and the AAR Annual Meeting Program Director for an informal chat about upcoming Annual Meeting initiatives as well as the guidelines and policies for proposing a new Annual Meeting program unit.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Got Life? Finding Balance and Making Boundaries in the Academy

This session explores the question of whether it is possible to balance a broad set of life pursuits with academic work. Is the academy structured so as to enable or even allow a variety of important life activities? Within the contemporary academy can one be a scholar/teacher and have a life? The panelists will address issues such as parenting, participation and leadership in religious communities, caregiving, work in the arts, adjunct appointments, and graduate student life. The panel, in conversation with the audience, will engage not just the question of how individuals manage to have a life while pursuing academic careers, but also the best practices that academic institutions can pursue to enable work-life balance.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Teaching Ethics: The Challenges of Moral Discourse in the Classroom

In the aftermath of September 11, the field of religion has increasingly been turned to, by students and others, for insights on ethical issues and perspectives. What challenges and opportunities exist, and what kind of creative techniques can one employ in teaching ethics? How does teaching ethics differ in a variety of academic contexts, ranging from large state universities to small denominational schools? Is it the role of the instructor to be moral advocate, referee for disparate opinions, or something else? A distinguished group of panelists, all of whom have extensive experience in teaching ethics, will engage each other and the audience on these questions and share some of their successes and failures.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: The Gifford Lectures: Retrospect and Prospect

Larry Witham's new book, The Measure of God: Our Century Long Struggle to Reconcile Science and Religion, provides an insightful history and analysis of the Gifford Lectures and their legacy. Endowed by Lord Gifford in 1887, the lectures have included such great and diverse thinkers as William James, Albert Schweitzer, Niels Bohr, Karl Barth, and Iris Murdoch. Using this as a starting point, the panelists will together address the importance of the Gifford Lectures and the impact that they have had on the philosophy of religion, the relation of religion and science, and on the broader intellectual currents of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Since most of the speakers are themselves Gifford lecturers, the panel will also include personal reflection on giving the Gifford lectures and how the experience has shaped their own thoughts.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Before You Sign That Book Contract: Negotiating with a Publishing House

As the demands on scholars to publish continue to increase, it’s vital to understand the elements of a book contract. In this session, experts will guide you through the basic clauses of a standard contract, alerting you to some areas that are usually negotiable and discussing important matters like subsidiary rights, out-of-print clauses, advance s and royalties, delivery dates, option clauses and right of first refusal, and indemnities. More than half of the session will be devoted to questions from the audience.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Designing the Intellectual Experience

Sometimes we can take for granted what happens in a classroom: lecturing, answering students' questions, returning and discussing graded work. But excellent teaching requires studied attention in advance to compose the elements of students' intellectual experiences. Accomplished teachers align class materials, activities, and assignments to support and extend students' learning in a variety of ways. In this interactive workshop presented by an experienced Wabash Center workshop director and consultant, participants will be led through a series of exercises to reflect together on how they currently compose intellectual experiences for their students and explore ways of doing so more effectively. Participants are encouraged to come on time and remain in attendance throughout the event. Participants are encouraged to bring three copies of an assignment that they use in a course.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: The Accessible Career Journey: Employment and Disability

This session will examine the role of disability in the academic career journey from the perspective of both the employer and the employee from the job application through to retirement. Issues such as when to identify oneself as a person with a disability in the hiring process, how to request accommodations when disability occurs mid-career, what are the employers legal obligations in regards to the employee with a disability, and what should one do if they find that they must limit their work load due to disability prior to retirement. The discussion will include insights from personal experience, knowledge of disability law and government regulations, and ethical theory. This will consist of a question and answer format that will provide an opportunity for AAR membership to ask questions about their individual or institutional concerns regarding issues of employment and disability.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Christian Theology's Engagement with Religious Pluralism

In this forum, scholars of religion and theology discuss Christian theological thinking and the challenge of religious pluralism. What does it mean for Christian theology to take seriously the engagement of Christians with the world of religious pluralism? Does religious pluralism create a new global and local context for theological thinking? How will an engagement with religious pluralism impact theological education in the years ahead?

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Racial and Ethnic Minority Mentoring: A Conversation among Graduate Students and Scholars

The AAR Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee (REM) has received a generous grant from the Luce Foundation to assist in preparing a first-of-its-kind guide for racial and ethnic minority graduate scholars in the field of religion and theology. This guide, to be published on the AAR Web site, will address preparation for graduate study, the various stages of graduate study itself, and the myriad career issues arising after graduation.

In connection with this project, REM and the Graduate Student Task Force (GSTF) members are cohosting a conversation with graduate students and scholars in religion and theology seeking creative input about how to put together an effective mentoring program for racial and ethnic minorities at the AAR Annual Meeting. Any other issues of interest to racial and ethnic minority students and scholars in the field are welcome.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: The Second Edition of the Encyclopedia of Religion

This Special Topics Form is devoted to a critical appraisal of the 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Religion as a reflection of the state of the field and a guide to emergent issues. Panelists will assess different aspects of the revision, including the revisions of entries related to the conceptualization and study of religion, entries on traditions, and the thematic entries. Attention will be devoted to innovations, both in format (e.g. “Further Considerations”, “Composite”, and “Visual” entries) and substance (e.g. new attention to gender and religion, new religious movements, and the study of religion). This session is co-sponsored by the AAR Publication Committee, Comparative Studies in Religion Section, Critical Theory and Discourses on Religion Group, and Cultural History of the Study of Religion Consultation.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Picturing Faith: Photography and the Great Depression

In 1935 in order to generate support for New Deal reforms, the Historical Division of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) began making a photographic survey of economic struggle and social dislocation in Depression era America. Historical Division director, Roy E. Stryker, also wanted to produce a composite picture of American society. So, in the "scripts" he sent out to his photographers, he asked them to include pictures of America's religious life. These "sociologists with cameras" entered the homes and churches of the poor as well as the middle class. They photographed people in prayer, domestic shrines, dinner graces, parishioners going into their churches, revival meetings, and even the gospel trucks of itinerate preachers. While many of the FSA (and later Office of War Information) photographs are familiar, this is the first exhibition of how government photographers represented religion during this critical time in our nation's history.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: David Tracy: Tragedy as Cultural Unconscious of Western Religion and Philosophy

David Tracy is a Professor at the University of Chicago. He is the author of many books and articles, including: Dialogue with the Other (1990), On Naming the Present (1995), and the forthcoming book revising his Gifford Lectures, This Side of God (2006). This AAR lecture, by returning to the debate in German philosophy on tragedy and philosophy (especially Neitszche) and in French thought on religion (especially Simone Weil and Emmanuel Levinas), will argue for an understanding of tragedy as related to necessity, suffering, and active response to both. It will suggest how such factors provide the unconscious to both Western philosophy and religion. Neither, it will be argued, are simply reducible to a tragic vision, but consciously or unconsciously need it. The recent recovery of a tragic vision in both Marxism (Eagleton) and feminism (Butler) are further suggestions of the import of this category for religious scholars.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: How to Publish Your Book: Advice from Oxford University Press and the AAR Book Series Editors

Founded on the premise that scholars know best what books are needed in the field of religion, the AAR publishing program with Oxford University Press produces quality scholarship for religion scholars and their students. OUP is a premier international publisher, and the AAR has published hundreds of titles, many of which have become essential tools in the development of our field and in the training of new scholars. AAR/OUP books are published in five series: Academy Series; Cultural Criticism Series; Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion Series; Teaching Religious Studies Series; Texts and Translations Series. (For more information on the series go to Publications.) This panel provides the opportunity to hear from experienced OUP and AAR editors, and ask any and all questions you might have about publishing in the AAR/OUP Series. There will also be an opportunity to speak individually with an editor.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Exploring the Field: Philosophy of Religion, and Religion and Literature - A Graduate Student Discussion Series

This session, the first in an ongoing series of discussions sponsored by the Graduate Student Task Force, invites graduate students and others to reflect on two prominent subdisciplines within the field of religion and theology: Philosophy of Religion and Religion and Literature. What is the nature of these disciplines? What is their current status? How do our graduate institutions answer these questions? Does a dependable canon or course of study in these specializations? Do we know what exactly it is that we're doing in these subdisciplines? Do we want to define them more precisely? These questions (and many more) will be on the table for group discussion, with participation from all in attendance. The session will also include responses to these questions from senior scholars.

Barnes Museum Bus Tour

The Barnes Foundation art collection is unsurpassed in breadth, quality and depth in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. It is enhanced by Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities, Chinese painting, African sculpture, retablos from New Mexico, Native American works, and American decorative arts. Juxtapositions of objects from different cultures, periods and media are intentional and provide exciting resources for teaching and viewing the world from a diverse perspective. Self-guided audio tours can be purchased upon arrival at the museum.

Mother Bethel Church Bus Tour

Mother Bethel is the “mother church” of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and “stands on the oldest piece of land continuously owned by African Americans in the United States.” It is located on a section of Sixth Street renamed Richard Allen Avenue in tribute to the former slave and founding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The present sanctuary was erected in 1889 and underwent major renovation in 1987. Of special note and significance are its stained glass windows. Located in the basement of Mother Bethel is the Richard Allen Museum Collection which holds numerous documents, photographs, paintings, and artifacts related to the history of Mother Bethel and the AME denomination. Additional information related to Mother Bethel and the Richard Allen Museum can be found at www.motherbethel.org.

Religion and Ecology Tour: Eco-Justice and Chester, Pennsylvania

Please join the Religion and Ecology Group for an on-site Eco-Justice discussion in the city of Chester, Pennsylvania. Eco-Justice or Environmental Justice analyzes how ecological ills are disproportionately shared based upon race, class, and the environment. Chester is an impoverished, predominantly African-American community just west of Philadelphia. Chester has the highest infant mortality rate and percentage of low-weight births in the state. Five waste treatment plants have been built on a concentrated site surrounded by homes and parks in a low-income, largely African-American neighborhood in Chester. One hundred percent of all municipal solid waste in Delaware County is burned at the American Ref-Fuel incinerator; 90% of all sewage is treated at the Delcora plant; and, until recently, close to a hundred tons of hospital waste from a half-dozen nearby states was being sterilized each day at the Thermal Pure plant.

Arts Series/Films: Sharon O'Brien - Readings from The Family Silver

Sharon O’Brien will give a talk and lead a workshop on the creative and spiritual meanings of memoir, including a reading from The Family Silver: A Memoir of Depression and Inheritance. Her memoir records the story of her struggle with depression (“a rude houseguest”) and her search to understand her family’s past. She uses biographers methods to weave together the scattered pieces of the past – a mother’s memo books, a father’s reading journal, family photographs, hospital records, dance cards – into a narrative of redemption. She will go “backstage” about the craft of memoir, giving examples from her own creative process to show how writing can be a journey full of dead ends and side roads as well as open spaces. She will give suggestions for ways to begin writing life stories in a personal narrative workshop. Participants will work in small groups. No experience necessary; bring a pen and a notebook.

Arts Series/Films: Dennis and Dan Bielfeldt - Jazz on Sax and Piano

In addition to being a Philosophy and Religion Professor and a member of the AAR, Dennis Bielfeldt is a jazz pianist with a degree in piano performance. He has done club work throughout the Midwest, particularly in Iowa City and Des Moines, IA, Wichita, KS, and Sioux Falls, SD. He has played with scores of musicians, has taught jazz piano, and has worked as a clinician. He especially enjoys recreating the sounds of the great solo jazz pianists of the thirties and fourties. Dennis' 19 year-old son Dan is already an accomplished jazz saxophonist who has performed in various venues. He has been the first-chair all-state jazz sax player in South Dakota the last three years. He particularly enjoys playing be-bop.

Arts Series/Films: Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble

The Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble was founded in 1972. Voloshky has earned renown for the vigor and resplendence of its performances. The Voloshky style is bold, powerful, and one of sparkling athleticism. The ensemble generates a dynamic blend of art and energy characterizing the vitality of the Ukrainian people. Voloshky achieves a delicate balance between authenticity and originality in style and composition. The dancers combine the strengths of classical ballet, with the vigor of traditional Ukrainian dance. Voloshky's artistry and portrayal of Ukrainian dance is testament to a vibrant and enduring culture steeped in rich history. Under the artistic direction of Taras Lewyckyj, Voloshky accomplishes dance on a truly lofty scale.

Sacred and Religious Sites of Philadelphia Bus Tour

A bus tour focusing on historic and contemporary

religious diversity in South Philadelphia. We will include as many of the following as possible: the Father Divine Circle Mission Church; the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia; Bra Buddha Bansi Temple; an historic synagogue; and Gloria Dei Episcopal Church. For those interested in the

Historic District, including Christ Church and the Arch Street Meetinghouse, information on self-guided tours will be available on the AAR website.

Arts Series/Films: F. S. A. Photo Exhibit Curated by Colleen McDannell

Following the special topics forum Picturing Faith: Photography and the Great Depression (A21-53), is a reception at the photography exhibit based on Colleen McDannell’s work at the Mellon Society of Fellows, 10th Floor Gladfelter Hall, (12th Street and Berks Mall) on the campus of Temple University. A bus will be provided following the session for attendees interested in viewing the photos.

Arts Series/Films: Peaceable Kingdom

In Peaceable Kingdom, we hear the riveting stories of people struggling with their conscience around some of our society’s most fundamental assumptions. An inspiring story of personal redemption, compassion, healing and hope, Peaceable Kingdom is described by many of its viewers as “a life changing experience.”

Directed by Jenny Stein, 2005, 70 minutes (color, USA).

Arts Series/Films: Mana: Beyond Belief

The central idea behind the new motion picture Mana: Beyond Belief is that the way people behave in the presence of power objects reveals a process of the human mind which is fundamental and universal: belief. By filming power objects around the world--things that are precious because people believe they are--and revealing the myriad activities and behaviors that take place around them, this film presents an exciting new way of looking at what is happening all around us, all the time. Belief is not just religion; it drives the stock market, it determines how we deal with history and our personal memories, it underlies racism and war. Bringing together diverse cultures, characters, visual styles, music and fascinating objects, Mana helps us see the essential, invisible element underlying them all.

Directed by Peter Friedman and Roger Manley, 2004, 92 minutes (color, USA).

Arts Series/Films: Alambrista

Robert M. Young's critically acclaimed 110-minute film Alambrista (1977) depicts the harsh realities of Mexican life on both sides of the border. Following the birth of his first child, a young Mexican slips across the border into the United States in search of the American dream for himself and his family. He finds heartbreak, exploitation, and disappointment, but also friendship, affection, and help along the way.

When first released, Alambrista received critical praise and a number of awards, including a Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. For the University of New Mexico Press release, a distinguished group of scholars has packaged a new director's cut of the film with a book of essays devoted to immigration and the U.S.–Mexican borderlands.

Directed by Robert Young, 1977, 110 minutes (color, Mexico; Spanish with English subtitles).

Arts Series/Films: Dogma

Directed by Kevin Smith, 1999, R rated

Even before Kevin Smith’s 1999 film was released, it was the subject of controversy. The Catholic League strongly condemned Dogma for anti-Catholic purpose and content, and objections emerged from several countries. Smith, however, asserted his right to free speech and audiences responded enthusiastically. Like Smith’s previous films (especially Clerks and Mallrats), the movie aims at a particular generation. Critics and scholars have often assumed that this generation, referred to as the “slacker” generation or Generation X, either rejects religious and spiritual meaning or embraces it in dogmatic and authoritarian forms. Dogma attempts to intervene in this set of assumptions, poking fun at many of its misconceptions and offering an alternative and playful understanding of God. In the film, a woman who is the last living descendent of Jesus is called upon by the Voice of God to stop two renegade angels from entering a Catholic church in New Jersey, and thereby erasing all existence.

Arts Series/Films: Freaks

Directed by Tod Browning, 1932, unrated

Tod Browning’s 1932 film Freaks disappeared from theatres very shortly after its initial release, saddled with a reputation of financial loss and critical denunciation. Throughout the 1960s, however, the film was successfully screened in drive-ins around the USA as part of the exploitation-cult circuit. In the ‘90s, the film became a central artifact in a growing theoretical conversation between film theory and disability studies. Freaks is perhaps best known for Browning’s decision to employ genuine circus freaks as actors. Set in the environs of a circus sideshow, the film tells a tale of romance and revenge in which the characters with non-normative human bodies are the heroes and the characters with culturally normative human bodies are the villains. The most memorable scene in the film, and the heart of its narrative, depicts the performance of a ritual.

Arts Series/Films: By the Dawn’s Early Light: Chris Jackson’s Journey to Islam

Directed by Zareena Grewal, 2004, unrated

In 1996, NBA basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson, who played collegiate basketball at Louisiana State University) caused a stir when the NBA suspended him for refusing to stand during the national anthem because of his “Muslim conscience.” The incident was the basis for Khaled Abou El Fadl’s 2001 book And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and the Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses. This documentary film reexamines the controversy, the media (mis) representations and the differing reactions of African American Muslims and immigrant American Muslims. The film’s director, Zareena Grewal, will preside over a discussion of the issues raised in the film.

Arts Series/Films: What the Bleep Do We Know?

The movie “What the Bleep do we Know?” was a surprise indie hit, combining mysticism and quantum physics. Does matter exist? Does time flow in one direction? Is the universe a construct of the human mind?

Arts Series/Films: Transnational Savior: A Salvadoran Jesus Reunites with His People in the United States

This 40 minute documentary film chronicles the Salvadoran celebration of La Bajada (the Lowering) and The Day of the Salvadoran in Los Angeles. The film traces the development of the event over the past five years and the creation of SANA (Salvadoran American National Association), the journey of El Divino Salvador del Mundo to the U.S., and the ritual itself. SANA leaders and other Salvadorans are the main narrators of the story. Their voices are complimented with images of the event from 2000-2003. The documentary was created by an assistant professor of Religious Studies, Dr. Jeanette Reedy Solano, who is especially interested in the symbolic and theological significance of this popular Catholic rite. Transnational Savior is a moving tribute to a brave people who are transforming the religious landscape in California as they negotiate their new identities as Salvadoran-Americans north of the border.

Arts Series/Films: Left Behind: The Movie

Left Behind: The Movie

Directed by Vic Sarin, 2000, PG-13 rated

This is the first of two movie adaptations of the bestselling Left Behind books (by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins), which offer a fictional account of what will happen to those who have been “left behind” on earth after the Rapture. The novels and films are an explicit attempt to create an appealing fictional vehicle to deliver the very specific dispensationationalist end-times doctrine that co-creator Tim LaHaye has been promulgating within the fundamentalist subculture for many years. For this reason, many aspects of the story are relatively inaccessible to those outside the fold of evangelicalism. In this film, a number of airline passengers mysteriously disappear during a flight to London. A television journalist seeks to connect these and other disappearances with an international conspiracy.

Arts Series/Films: The Magdalene Sisters

"The Magdalene Sisters" is a fact-based account of three young Irish women who were imprisoned in a Magdalene Laundry in Dublin in 1964. The original purpose of the ten Magdalene Laundries that were established in Ireland in the 19th century was to reform prostitutes. Women were imprisoned by the State and Church and expected to do penance for their sins through hard work and prayer. By 1930, instead of being populated by former prostitutes, Ireland's Magdalene Laundries were occupied primarily by unwed mothers whose families had rejected them. An estimated 30,000 Irish women were detained in the Laundries during the 20th century, until the last one closed in 1996, and were used as a slave labor force, working from dawn until dusk to turn a profit for the Order that administered the Laundries.

Chairs Workshop - Enlarging the Pie: Strategies for Managing and Growing Departmental Resources

The workshop will include plenary sessions with invited panelists with expertise and experience in developing physical, financial, faculty and student resources. Also, there will be breakout sessions for participants seeking help with budgets and financial management, and with growing links to other departments.

Religion and Media Workshop - "Spinning" God: Teaching, Researching, and Reporting on Politics and Religion

This day-long workshop brings together prominent journalists and scholars of religion and media to the AAR who are concerned with the interrelation of politics and religion. The day’s events will include lectures, a film screening, and plenty of time for questions, answers, and further conversation. Topics covered include: Teaching about politics in the religious studies classroom; reporting on the religious dimension of politics; and up to date research on the field.

Questions about the workshop should be directed to S. Brent Plate, Texas Christian University, b.plate@tcu.edu.

Women’s Caucus Workshop - Using Feminist Pedagogies in the Classroom

The Women's Caucus is presenting a workshop on teaching feminist pedagogies.

Scholars including Vasudha Narayanan, Melissa C. Stewart, Karma Lekshe

Tsomo, Julie Kilmer, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, and Victoria Rue will

present on teaching their fields. Paula Trimble Familetti, Harriet Luckman,

and Laurie Wright Garry will preside.

Academic Teaching and the Study of Religion Section and Hinduism Group

Theme: Teaching Hinduism in a Survey Course

The participants in this roundtable will present a range of approaches to the problem of how to cover “Hinduism” in an introductory survey course. Such a course involves us either in teaching a single “Hinduism,” or perhaps teaching Hinduism as a dialogue among a narrow range of alternate values. At the same time, research on religion in South Asia increasingly stresses the ways we need to view “Hinduisms” as multiple, contextualized and contested. The courses we teach range from multi-religion introductory surveys to more methodologically focused introductory courses that deal with Hinduism as one of one or two case studies. Our goal is not to try to “solve” the problem of how to address Hinduism in the introductory survey course. Rather, our goal by presenting a range of approaches is to open a conversation that will allow for collective reflection on the issue.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: AAR Student Luncheon and Panel Discussion: Career Alternatives for Doctoral Students in Religion and Theology

The skills and knowledge students acquire in doctoral studies in religion and theology prepare them for a wide array of career alternatives, not just the role of classroom professor. Today, PhDs in religion and theology are working in venues such as: nonprofit organizations; publishing and other media; theological libraries and archives; offices of campus life, both administrative and auxiliary; foundations specializing in religion; parish or diocesan ministry; providing programming for clergy and laity renewal or for retreat houses; religious high schools; nongovernmental organizations providing human and other services; institutes, religious think-tanks, centers of inquiry, etc.; government; and business. Work in these career alternatives often carries different, sometimes greater financial and psychological rewards than comparable academic positions, as well as different challenges and opportunities for personal development and for influencing others. Panelists will discuss some of these challenges and opportunities and share their own personal experiences in career alternatives. Separate registration is required.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: AAR Excellence in Teaching Forum: A Conversation about Teaching with the 2005 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner

This interactive session will focus on discussion of issues raised by the teaching materials posted by Professor Zayn Kassam at the AAR's Virtual Teaching and Learning Center. They can be accessed after October 15 at http://www.aarweb.org/teaching/default.asp.

New Religious Movements Group and Contemporary Pagan Studies Consultation

Theme: Neo-Pagan Religions in Central and Eastern Europe: Identity, Community, and Challenge

This session will examine the resurgence of pre-Christian and Pagan religions in Central and Eastern Europe. It will be particularly focused on Slavic and Baltic forms of Neo-Paganism, with reference as well to Neo-Shamanic practices. Participants will include scholars from and with expertise on Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. The presenters will probe the motivations of Neo-Pagan adherents and relate them to broader developments of the post-Soviet/post-Socialist world, including the rise of environmentalism, especially in the immediate years following the Chernobyl nuclear accident; the upsurge of ethnic nationalism and ethnic identity movements from the 1980s until the present; and processes of 'westernization' and globalization, along with the growth of anti-western and anti-globalist reactions.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Storming the Ivory Tower: Conflict, Complicity, and Social Change

This special topics forum discusses the complex issues of identity, vocation, and multiple obligations of racial and ethnic minorities in the academy: How to deal with conflictual situations in the workplace? How to balance obligations to communities of origin and to the academy? In what ways have racial and ethnic minorities been complicit with the various -isms? How can we be accountable to a wider public and challenge the academy to be a place for social change? How can institutions attract and retain minority scholars? Panelists include Miguel Da La Torre, Hope College; Joan M. Martin, Episcopal Divinity School; John J. Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University; Andrea Smith, University of Michigan; and Debra Mubashshir Majeed, Beloit College. The AAR Career Guide for Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession will be introduced.

A reception hosted by the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee directly follows.

Academic Teaching and the Study of Religion Section

Theme: Ethics, Art, and Drama: Teaching Purpose and Performance

Members of this panel will address a wide range of topics related to, for example, how to: use film when teaching ethics; foster critical thinking in emotionally and politically charged contexts through the use of feminist pedagogy; use theatre to introduce students to religious experience; teach Religious Studies in a general education or core curriculum; use a spectrum approach to introduce the full range (spectrum) of Christianity’s position on ethical issues including identifying positions deemed incompatible with Christian morality. A wide variety of pedagogical approaches will be included such as experiential, contract, and cooperative learning; and issues related to diverse learning styles will be recognized.

Hitmen and Whistleblowers: Using Films to Teach Ethics
Helen Benet-Goodman, Charlottesville, VA

Films allow students to rehearse the skills composing moral reflection, including perception, moral imagination, and deliberation. In an increasingly visual culture, students are often more sophisticated visually than they are verbally, allowing them to focus on applying concepts, rather than the difficulties of the text. The presentation reviews how I prepare the class to discuss the films: preparing a study guide for the class; supervising a panel of students who plan the format and content of the class, and evaluating the final results. I draw on the films Crimes and Misdemeanors, Crimson Tide, The Insider, startup.com, and Grosse Pointe Blank to illustrate this process. I also discuss alternative ways of using film in a class: on-line discussion groups, Roger Ebert’s “democracy in the dark” method, and using short films for the final exam. Finally, I review the advantages and drawbacks of these methods.

Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies and Theology
Victoria Rue, San Jose State University

Paper: Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies and Theology

The fields of religious studies and theology are in need of fresh pedagogy.

In this presentation, I will map new approaches using theatre to introduce students to religious experience. My book, Acting Religious: Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies will be published by Pilgrim Press in September 2005. My presentation will feature methodology offered in the book and approaches I use in my teaching. Theatre makes ideas palatable, visceral, available. Theatre incarnates ideas. Theatre embodies experience. It is somatic learning. Using theatre in the religious studies or theology classroom links the imagination to cognition, visceral connectivity to understanding. I will show video and photographic documentation from two introductory courses to religion.

A Spectrum Approach to Christian Ethics: Respecting Difference without Resorting to Relativism
Joel Heim, National-Louis University

While some courses educate students about “the correct” Christian position on ethical issues, others introduce students to “both sides” so that students will make up their own minds. In this paper we argue that neither approach is adequate because actual moral disagreements within Christianity reveal far more than two positions.

This paper introduces “A Spectrum Approach,” an alternative pedagogical approach to teaching Christian ethics. Rather than focusing on one or two positions, a spectrum approach presents the full range (spectrum) of Christianity’s position on ethical issues including identifying positions deemed incompatible with Christian morality. After introducing the spectrum approach, the paper describes a Christian ethics course that uses it and concludes by reviewing some practical benefits its use.

Negotiating Transformative Education through Feminist Pedagogy: Challenging Perspectives from Ethics and Art
Kathlyn A. Breazeale, Pacific Lutheran University

Negotiating Transformative Education through Feminist Pedagogy: Challenging Perspectives from Ethics and Art

Marit A. Trelstad and Kathlyn A. Breazeale

Pacific Lutheran University

This presentation examines how to foster critical thinking in emotionally and politically charged contexts through the use of feminist pedagogy. The two presenters converse with each other to model the dialogical nature of feminist pedagogy as they respond to the question: When dealing with “combustible issues” in the field of religion, how can we develop a truly democratic classroom of critical inquiry? One presenter analyzes how critical thinking skill development is enhanced when feminist pedagogy is supplemented with the theories for teaching art developed by Corita Kent. The other presenter raises questions regarding the ethics of encouraging learning that may dismantle or realign a student’s identity, personal relationships, vocational understanding and meaning structures.

Promoting Freedom, Responsibility, and Learning in a General Education Religious Studies Course: The Learning Covenant a Decade Later
Fred Glennon, Le Moyne College

This presentation discusses an approach to teaching Religious Studies in a general education or core curriculum which I call the 'learning covenant.' The learning covenant brings together various pedagogical theories, including experiential, contract, and cooperative learning, in attempts to address diverse learning styles, multiple intelligences, and student learning assessment. In this way, it has some advantages over more traditional methods of evaluation, including meeting student resistance to “required” courses head-on by inviting them to identify learning needs they have regardless of chosen vocation and engages them in meeting their needs in the context of a religious studies course; recognizing the multiple ways in which students learn and providing a variety of opportunities for students to express their learning; and allowing students an opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning. The session will be interactive and provide participants with materials to incorporate this approach into their own classrooms.

Cultural History of the Study of Religion Consultation

Theme: Courtrooms, Schoolrooms, and the Making of Religion

Making Religion in the Courtroom: The Practical Implications of the Anthropologist Expert Witness
Kathleen Holscher, Princeton University

Through the twentieth century, anthropologists testified as expert witnesses in American court cases where the very definition of religion, as interpreted and executed under free exercise laws, is at stake. This paper examines the expert witness work of Omer Stewart and John Hostetler, two prominent mid-century anthropologists. Both men testified on the religious merits of practices they studied; Stewart described the use of peyote among American Indians and Hostetler the early removal of Amish children from formal schooling. By considering both the grounds for the authority granted these anthropologists by the courts as well as the layered meanings embedded in each man’s experience as “witness”, the paper works to flush out the sorts of empirical accounts privileged in the courtroom, and uncover the divergent implications that scholarly description can have upon communities of practitioners.

The Collapse of Religion as a Constitutional Construct: Can the Study of Religion Help?
Kathleen M. Sands, University of Massachusetts, Boston

In the American judiciary and in the academic study of religion, parallel changes have taken place within concepts of religion and related concepts of the secular. This paper describes three such changes – the creation of an ever more inclusive list of “religions,” the shift from normative to descriptive accounts of religion, and a recognition that no fixed or coherent boundary exists between religion and culture. As the result of these changes, the definition of religion has become an intractable problem and the religion clauses of the First Amendment are becoming inoperable. The paper illustrates these changes through Supreme Court cases involving Native American religions, Faith-Based initiatives, and sexual dissent. In conclusion, the paper suggests specific ways in which critical studies in the discourses of religion and of secularism might break this conceptual logjam, contribute to a new constitutional concept of religion, and reorient the academic study of religion itself.

The Discourse of "Orthodox Culture" in Postcommunist Russia
Brian P. Bennett, Niagara University

The transition from Soviet empire to Russian nation has been a highly complex and contested affair. Battles over the Soviet past and the Russian future have been waged in both the courthouse and the classroom. A firestorm of controversy erupted over a textbook called THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ORTHODOX CULTURE, which affirmed Orthodoxy's role in Russian civilization, but which critics condemned as retrograde and chauvinistic. The paper discusses this text as a key artifact in the constitution of religion in postcommunist Rusia.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Religion and the Science Curriculum: Implications and Strategies

Cosmology, genetics, ecology and evolution are just a few of the topics within the standard science curriculum that regularly elicit questions and challenges from religious parents and communities. In this session our panelists will share their expertise in addressing the following questions: What are the dynamics at work in these debates? What are the implications for American education? What strategies are available for addressing these issues in the K-12 classroom?

Academic Teaching and the Study of Religion Section

Theme: What You Don't Know Won't Kill You: Learning Teaching on the Job

These papers explore the different kinds of learning that teaching can give, ranging from what one learns during one's first year of full-time teaching to 'ways in which religious and philosophical ethics can be presented in such a manner that it 'teaches itself' to what professors might want to know as they assist students in transformational education.

“Make the Part Your Own”: What Soap Opera Digest Should Have Taught Me about Teaching
Katherine Janiec Jones, Transylvania University

Using the notion of a “recast” -- an actor who has been hired to replace someone else who is vacating a popular role -- this paper addresses the difficult choices faced by new teachers trying both to fill the shoes of their predecessors and blaze new trails of their own. I suggest that courses tend to be more effective when the instructor structures the syllabus around what she knows and what she enjoys, rather than adhering to imaginings of how others might think the course “should” be taught. The instructor’s enthusiasm for the material is, in many ways, a necessary (but not necessarily sufficient) condition for a syllabus to work. I then flesh out this assertion by looking at the initial, less successful version of an introductory course I taught, and then the revised, much more successful (and enjoyable) version that I now teach.

Negotiating the Chasm between Graduate School and the First Year of Teaching: How I Stopped Crying and Started Drinking
Emily Askew, Carroll College

Six months into teaching religion at a regional undergraduate institution, following ten years of graduate education, I have questions, such as: “Why didn’t you tell me I would have to learn to compose a syllabus reading something like a state penal code, in order to avoid being sued, taken advantage of or humiliated?” In the first part of this paper, I highlight issues that challenge the romantic notion of world-transformation many of us had when we entered colleges and universities as new professors. In the second part, I suggest assignments born from the fire of necessity. With these, I want those who traversed this terrain to remind me of the romance, offer practical teaching suggestions and discuss what kind of wine best accompanies student essays comparing the Dao and YHWH.

What I Wished They'd Told Me about Teaching and How I Learned Better
Anette Ejsing, Augustana College

Everything I was told about teaching is what I have learned: it is hard work, preparation takes more time than you think, female professors have a harder time gaining respect than male professors, I am too ambitious about what to accomplish in the classroom, students are at a low level of knowledge about religious methodology, and they cheat. Still, my argument is that effective teaching is centered on student-learning more than academic content. Designing my courses with the goal in mind that students find them interesting and intellectually stimulating to attend, I have removed the sting of what I was told to expect. My presentation reflects on these three main issues involved in teaching centered on student-learning: 1) The subtle, nearly undetectable dynamics involved in using personal disclosure 2) Tapping into the high energy level of the young learner 3) Calling forward in students a curiosity driven love for learning.

Teaching Itself
Gitte Butin, Gettysburg College

This presentation explores ways in which religious and philosophical ethics can be presented in such a manner that it “teaches itself.” The subject matter is no longer a detached message issued by the instructor and made into an object to be assimilated by the student; rather, the subject matter is worked through as an embodied experience emerging from the learner in response to encounters that address basic religious and philosophical paradigms. The presentation focuses on two modes of teaching itself, both primarily developed in my ethics courses dealing with crime and punishment. The modes consist of 1) experiential learning exercises pertaining to ethical issues and 2) community-based learning, which brings together students and incarcerated people in dialogue concerning crime and punishment. Moreover, the presentation examines the theoretical underpinnings of my pedagogy, primarily the notion of indirect communication as developed by Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein.

The Existential Anxiety of Learning: Stages and Elements in a Seminarian's Journey of Transformational Education
Andrea Hollingsworth, Bethel Seminary

When “combustible issues” are raised in classroom settings, professors need to negotiate not only the interpersonal realities of passionately voiced opinions, but also the intrapersonal existential anxieties of individual students who may be encountering ideas that are transforming their personhood. This paper, creatively presented as an engaging first-person narrative of a recent seminary graduate’s learning experience, describes stages and elements of transformational religious education. The goal of such a presentation is to inspire educators to consider the existential anxieties of individual learners, and to structure learning environments in ways that will foster progression in light of those anxieties. The stages highlight the presenter’s progression from myopic fundamentalism to expanded and integrated selfhood, while the elements describe specific teaching styles and classroom environments that furthered the presenter’s transformational learning. It is possible that greater attention to intrapersonal anxieties will aid in the management of interpersonal conflict in emotionally charged classroom discourse.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Wabash Student-Teacher Luncheon

The Wabash Center and AAR Graduate Student Task Force cordially invite AAR and SBL doctoral Student Members to this lunch gathering with experienced faculty mentors to share conversation about teaching. What influenced your choice to become a teacher? What opportunities have you had to develop your teaching skills? What joys and frustrations do you experience in teaching? What assistance do you have in developing as a teacher?

Participation is by advance registration only, limited to the first 75 doctoral Student Members whose registration the AAR receives. (Overflow registration is accepted in case of cancellations or late arrivals.) Eligibility is limited to doctoral students nearing completion of study who have teaching experience or will soon be teaching, and who have not previously participated in this annual event. Seating is assigned in advance, so if you register and do not attend, your presence will be missed. Lunch is provided. Separate registration is required.

Special Topics Forum

Theme: Women in Religion - Thriving, Not Just Surviving: A Conversation with Mary E. Hunt, Editor of A Guide for Women in Religion

Guide to the Perplexing: A Survival Manual for Women in Religious Studies (1992) framed women's entry into the field of religion in terms of their basic “survival”: balancing career and family, finding one's voice, handling commuting partnerships, negotiating contracts, building the case for tenure, etc. Now an updated view for the twenty-first century, A Guide for Women in Religion: Making Your Way from A to Z (2004), looks beyond women merely surviving to aim at their thriving in religion. Structural challenges to this persist in various forms, including sexism, racism, economic injustice, and the effects of colonial and patriarchal traditions. But new questions also have arisen: choosing among various career alternatives (administration, publishing, libraries and technology, nonprofits, ministry, etc.), teaching on-line, moving from associate to full professor, facing retirement, and moving into emerita status. Come join a lively discussion of these and other related topics with the editor, Mary Hunt.

Chinese Religions Group

Theme: Teaching Chinese Religions in the Undergraduate Classroom: A User's Guide

'Teaching Chinese Religions in the Undergraduate Classroom: A User's Guide' explores resources, approaches, and pedagogies, and is directed to both specialists and non-specialists in the field. The four panelists address textbooks and other resources, new directions in Confucian studies, new directions in Taoist studies, and pedagogical methods relating Confucianism and Taoism to comparative religious studies and the survey course on Asian Religions. 'Transmitters and Innovaters: Re-presenting Authentic Religion in Chinese Religions Sourcebooks' evaluates the reliability of primary source textbooks in Chinese Religions courses. 'Learning Confucianism through its Exemplars' adapts a traditional Chinese teaching tool to the modern American classroom. ‘Teaching Taoism in the 21st Century: Opening Moves' draws upon current scholarship to present a new vision of the tradition, its teachings, and its true place in Chinese society. ‘Problematizing 'Confucianism' and 'Taoism'