Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion

Duties and Responsibilities

Members of the Public Understanding of Religion Committee are expected to participate in the following:

• The PUR Committee is a highly active committee that takes on a lot of projects. Each committee member is expected to do substantial work.
• Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award - Committee members are responsible for the annual review of nominations and selection of recipient. A Special Topics Forum is held at the Annual Meeting in November for the Marty Award recipient.
• One representative from the PUR Committee serves on Journalism Award jury. A Special Topics Forum is held at the Annual Meeting in November for the Journalism Award recipients.
• The PUR Committee sponsors (collaboratively with the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum) a media-skills workshop on the Friday afternoon of the Annual Meeting.
• The PUR Committee usually sponsors or cosponsors additional Annual Meeting sessions. Generally, each member of the committee takes the lead in organizing and often presiding one or more committee events at the Annual Meeting.
• The group often pursues collaborations with relevant Washington, DC, institutions.

Meeting Schedule

• Once in-person at the Annual Meeting in November
• Meets in the spring in-person each year in Washington, DC, typically for 1.5 days. The time tends to be a Thursday afternoon through Friday. Unless a committee member has no institutional funding available, members' institution typically covers their transportation (including flights/trains) to and from the meeting.

Timeline of Activities

• Mid-February through March: heavy planning and organizing for Annual Meeting events
• In-person PUR Committee meeting on Friday morning before the start of the Annual Meeting

Recommended Resources

• RSN In the Public Interest column
• Public Scholars Project
• AAR Guidelines for Teaching about Religion in K–12 Public Schools in the United States
• AAR Religious Literacy Guidelines

Committee Members

• Term of Service: Four years, non-renewable
• Committee Composition: Up to six members