Greenville rose to prominence as a medium sized textile manufacturing city, prosperous into the late 20th century. After two decades of economic decline, the 21st century has seen tremendous growth in population, cultural diversity, and economic opportunity. Underneath the “New South” glitter, however, there are still the wounds of racism and class oppression as well as the cultural gravity of religious fundamentalism — a situation evidenced throughout the South. Fractures created by these cultural shifts have become even more visible and consequential in recent years and months. This is a time in which the academic study of religion should take into account its physical and social location in this region, and consider how our subject matter, and the ways in which we study it, might help us understand and adapt to the shifting ground under our feet.
We encourage papers that consider how religion is constructed or activated in local, regional, political or social contexts, how identities shift over time and in new contexts, as well how religious studies might confront the growing fractures within our communities.
Please send section paper proposals directly to [email protected]
To avoid confusion about program units please include the name of the unit that you are submitting and “CFP” in the subject line.
For consideration, please submit a paper title and 300-word abstract to the above email. Only one proposal will be considered by each applicant, but you may indicate first and second choice for possible units.
AAR fosters its mission through energetic cultivation of accessible regional intellectual networks and identities to serve members where they live and work, and to respond to local publics and concerns.
Regional meetings of the Academy often incorporate patterns of organization and presentation similar to those followed at the Academy-wide meetings: section meetings, giving and responding to papers, plenary speeches. Regional meetings, however, offer unique and distinct opportunities for members. Regions have developed a distinct character of their own, providing the following opportunities:
For several years, the America Academy of Religion (AAR) had met and partnered with Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) for a southeast regional conference. The partnership of the two groups created a dynamic exchange of scholarship and a community of support in the region. The leadership of this regional meeting was constituted by shared responsibility between the two groups in an executive committee.
In the summer of 2022, SBL ceased their support of the formal regional meetings. For those involved in the southeast region, this was seen as a great loss to the network of local scholarship in the region. In response to this decision, the Southeast regional gathering of the AAR has committed to providing a space for biblical scholars in their regional meeting. The inclusion of biblical scholars in this regional meeting will continue to create a rich academic exchange and mark the Southeast regional gathering as hub of creative scholarship, professional development, and academic fellowship.
To this end, the Southeast Region of the AAR has made the following commitments to the inclusion of biblical scholarship in the region:
We believe our academic community is stronger with the inclusion of biblical scholars and we look forward to many more years of mutual support and exchange in the future.
Access the full CFP here: Call for Papers AAR 2025
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30 June 2025