Biography
Anthony B. Pinn is currently the Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and professor of religion at Rice University. He is the founding director of the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning, and he served as the inaugural director of the Center for African and African American Studies both at Rice University. Pinn is Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition, he is Director of Research for the Institute for Humanist Studies – a Washington, DC-based think tank. Pinn’s work for the American Academy of Religion includes service as a member of the Board of Directors, the Nominations Committee, and the Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion. He also served as chair of the Committee on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities. His research interests include African American religious thought, religion and culture; Black humanism; and hip hop culture. He is the author/editor of numerous books, including The Nature of Things: Religion, Art, and Presence Together (Duke, 2021), The End of God-Talk: An African American Humanist Theology (Oxford, 2012), and the novel The New Disciples (Pitchstone Publishing, 2015).
Candidate Statement
Over the course of my professional life, the American Academy of Religion has played a vital role. From feedback on projects, to hearing the latest research, to the development of lasting friendships and professional networks, the AAR has mattered to me in significant ways.
Within the context of our work, we have unpacked and explored the nature and meaning of religion. We’ve written about our findings and, in other ways, we have shared what we’ve uncovered. And while the structure of the AAR promotes important conversation, this is typically internal with limited reach beyond professional thinkers on religion and those in training to assume such roles. The AAR acknowledges and rewards public discourse on religion, and some of our members maintain a public presence as media experts. Yet, isn’t there more the AAR can do to enhance the level and quality of public conversation regarding religion? Increasing the public reach and impact of our work remains an area of potential growth, and a much-needed service we are equipped to offer. This commitment is ever more urgent, as we are challenged by department of religion reductions and restrictions on the nature of our activities permitted by certain institutions.
Like you, I impress upon my students the importance of religion. I highlight the manner in which religious ideas inform and influence life beyond the walls that mark off our campuses and other places of employment. Mindful of this, current efforts and programming need to continue. In addition, we have a chance to expand our reach by providing AAR members with training and opportunity to contribute to more expansive debate on ways in which religion has and continues to matter in socio-political realms of collective life. I believe this effort to foster more engagement with the larger public should be tied to greater attention to what the study of religion means at our particular historical moment, with all that moment entails. For example, students join the AAR (if they can afford to do so) as part of their professional development, and we encourage undergraduates to believe (rightly so) the study of religion has significance. Yet, as students engage in the study of religion, they do so within a changing Academy and a social world in need of (but often resistant to) their expertise. All this requires that we continue to wrestle with a set of important questions: What does it mean to train students in the study of religion in light of our contemporary circumstances? How might the AAR utilize its limited resources so as to better help us think through a wider range of opportunities to apply our expertise as part of our public presence and commitments? And, how should we undertake this work mindful of the AAR’s reach and self-understanding?