Religion Call for Papers | @relcfp

Dear Colleagues,

The Midwest American Academy of Religion will host its 2026 conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, from April 16-18, 2026.

The Midwest AAR seeks papers, panels, and other modes of scholarly presentation that engage the academic study of religion, theology, scripture studies, or related fields; public understandings of religion; and pedagogical practices in the study of religion and/or academic theology. The Midwest AAR welcomes both AAR and SBL members to submit and present their research at our annual meeting. The Midwest AAR has more than a dozen sections organized around areas of study, theories and methods, biblical literatures and languages, and special topics in the study of religion. We are especially interested in papers and panels that enrich these sections through relevant scholarship and/or critique.

The 2026 meeting will feature a keynote address by Dr. Alicestyne Turley, author of The Gospel of Freedom: Black Evangelicals and the Underground Railroad.

As a regional meeting, the Midwest AAR is committed to providing professionalization and networking opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, contingent and adjunct faculty, independent scholars, post-doctoral fellows, professionals in a range of industries whose work engages the academic study of religion, as well as tenure-line and tenured faculty. We encourage individual paper and panel proposals from all these groups (and any not listed).

Members of SBL, SCRIPT, and other affiliated organizations are welcome to present at Midwest AAR. AAR membership is not required.

The deadline for submissions is January 9th, 2026. Please note: Papers that wish to be considered for the graduate student paper prize, the religion and ecology paper prize, or the undergraduate paper prize MUST be submitted two weeks before the conference (i.e. by April 2nd, 2026). Only conference papers will be considered for prizes, not seminar papers from which conference talks are being drawn. A separate form will be emailed to all participants for the submission of papers to be considered for prizes. Prizes will be awarded at the plenary meeting at the conference.

Please submit paper abstracts here: https://sites.google.com/view/midwestaar/CFP

We hope to see you in Cincinnati this spring!

Warm wishes,

Philippa Koch Chief Regional Officer, Midwest American Academy of Religion Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, Religious Studies Missouri State University