Religious Studies News

The AAR’s Call for Papers closed on March 6, 2013, with 3,236 proposals submitted. This was down slightly from a total of 3,281 proposals submitted in 2012. Of those 3,236 proposals, 2,925 were individual papers, 93 were for roundtable sessions, and 218 were for papers sessions.

After a month of review by AAR’s 148 program units (comprised of 280 Program Unit Chairs and 645 steering committee members), 1,132 of those proposals were accepted, for a 35 percent overall acceptance rate.

Overall, there will be 448 AAR sessions on the Annual Meeting program — and 403 of those are academic program sessions (the other 45 are committee meetings, tours, receptions, etc.). Eighty-seven of those sessions are sponsored by two or more program units, twelve are sponsored by four or more program units, and fourteen are cosponsored by SBL units. The program will feature six exploratory sessions for proposed new units and eleven wildcard sessions on topics outside of the direct purview of any existing program unit.

It is calculated that 1,969 individuals will participate on the AAR’s Annual Meeting program, filling 2,528 different roles in the various sessions.

All of this is to say that we anticipate a great program in Baltimore this November! Join us there!