2013 Western Regional Meeting March 9–11, 2013 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ, USA

Call for Papers

The deadline for the Call for Papers for this Region has passed. Please visit the Region's website for more information about the regional meeting and preregistration instructions.

Conference Theme: Religion in Public Life

For this year's conference theme we take a cue from the 2008 AAR publication The Religion Major and Liberal Education. That white paper tied its vision of a robust future for religious studies to the recognition on many fronts that religion is "an inescapable part" of public life around the globe. How do we in the discipline of religious studies represent that public dimension of religion?

The calls for papers from the 20+ units making up the Western Region take up this question in a variety of ways. Some focus on controversies related to religion and politics in the Western United States (e.g., same sex marriage or immigration reform), others turn to other regions of the world (e.g., the "Arab Spring") or to historical antecedents (e.g., the Jesuits' entry into China). Topics raised are richly diverse, including ecology, pluralism, the current "Mormon moment," terrorism, and popular culture, among others.

The Sections are asking scholars and teachers of religion to reflect on how we frame questions and analyses about the ways religion plays out in various public settings. Do we, for instance, tend to privilege particular public expressions of religion as normative or paradigmatic, or even problematic? How is our work shaped by the institutions in which we teach and their calls to, for example, cultivate a critical tolerance of diverse religions or to help students form a religiously informed public voice? By what criteria do we select among traditions, texts, histories, institutions, events, and figures to develop analyses of religion's intersection with politics? And perhaps location does matter; how do distinctive features of our region (California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawai'i, and the Pacific Islands) inform how we approach this theme, and how should it be different from the approach developed by colleagues in other parts of this country and/or other regions in the world?

Sections and Chairs of the Regional Annual Meeting

Buddhist Studies Section
Kenneth Lee, California State University, Northridge, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Catholic Studies Section
Lauren Horn Griffin, University of California, Santa Barbara, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ecology and Religion Section
Sarah Robinson, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Joel Stoker, Arizona State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Education and Workshops Section
Bret Lewis, Arizona State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ethics Section
Kelly Fitzsimmons Burton, Arizona State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Goddess Studies Section
Laura Truxler, California Institute of Integral Studies, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Graduate Student Professional Development Section
Kristy Slominski, University of California, Santa Barbara, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

History of Christianity Section
Enrico Beltramini, Notre Dame de Namur University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Dyron Daughrity, Pepperdine University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Indigenous Religions Section
Mutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha, California State University, Northridge, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Islamic Studies Section
Abdullahi A. Gallab, Arizona State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Sophia Pandya, California State University, Long Beach, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Jewish Studies Section
Emily L. Silverman, Graduate Theological Union, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Miri Hunter Haruach, California Institute for Integral Studies, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Latino/a Religions Section
Paul Rodriguez, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Nineteenth Century Section
Natalie Fawcett, University of California, Santa Barbara, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Philosophy of Religion Section
Hester Oberman, University of Arizona, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Psychology, Culture, and Religion Section
Franz Metcalf, California State University, Los Angeles,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Queer Studies in Religion Section
Marie Cartier, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and John Erickson, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Queer Studies in Religion Section and Religion and Arts Section (Joint Session)
Marie Cartier, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and John Erickson, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Religion and Social Sciences Section
Siroj Sorajjakool, Loma Linda University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Religion and the Arts Section
Dirk von der Horst, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Roy Whitaker, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Religion in America Section
Doe Daughtrey, Arizona State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Religion, Literature, and Film Section
Jon R. Stone, California State University, Long Beach, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Religions of Asian America Section (Joint Session)
This is a joint session between the Religions of Asia Section and Religion in America Section.  Jonathan H. X. Lee, San Francisco State University,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Doe Daughtrey, Arizona State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Religions of Asia Section
Jonathan H. X. Lee, San Francisco State University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Womanist/Pan-African Section
Paula McGee, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Arisika Razak, California Institute of Integral Studies, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Womanist/Pan-African/Religion and the Arts Section (Joint Session)
This is a joint session between the Womanist/Pan-African Section and Religion and the Arts Section. Dirk von der Horst, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Paula McGee, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Roy Whitaker, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Women and Religion Section
Chandra Alexandre, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Alka Arora, California Institute of Integral Studies, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Preconference Meetings Scheduled for the 2013 Meeting

Women's Caucus: Professional Development Panel
Theresa Yugar, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Sara Frykenberg, Claremont Graduate University, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Queer Studies in Religion Caucus
The Queer Studies in Religion Caucus presents its Fourth Annual QV Queer View Film Screening and Discussion. John Tubera, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Seeking Nominations for the Position of AAR Regionally Elected Coordinator

Responsibilities: The Regionally Elected Coordinator will:

• Serve on the AAR/Western Region Board Executive Committee to promote the goals of the AAR/WR plan
• Attend both the AAR Annual Meeting and Western Regional meeting
• Serve with the elected Western Region leadership to plan and execute annual Regional meetings
• Serve as Regional liaison to the National AAR and as AAR/Western Region legal representative for the Region
• Submit annual budget and financial report to the AAR/Western Region Board and National AAR office
• Maintain communication with the National AAR on behalf of the AAR/Western Region Board and Regional membership
• Attend two regularly scheduled meetings of the National AAR Regions Committee, one in conjunction with the AAR Annual Meeting

Term: The Regionally Elected Coordinator will serve a three-year term with an evaluation by the AAR/Western Region Board; and may serve for a second three-year term upon the Board's recommendation.

The AAR national office provides limited hotel accommodations at the AAR Annual Meeting in order for the Regionally Elected Coordinator to attend the Regions committee meeting held at the AAR Annual Meeting.

Process: Please submit a nomination after contacting the person you wish to nominate and obtaining her/his consent. Send nominated name and reason for nomination to Souad T. Ali, President, AAR/Western Region, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Nominations are due by October 31, 2012.

The nominations for the position from AAR/Western Region members will be reviewed by the AAR/Western Region Board, and they will make a decision on the final selection.

On behalf of the AAR/Western Region Board, we would like to extend our thanks, appreciation, and gratitude to Susan M. Maloney for her six-year service of excellence as Regionally Elected Coordinator. The AAR/Western Region in the past six years has made marked strides in efforts to enrich the scholarly study of religion and by expanding innovative programs. Susan Maloney brought leadership and rigor to the Western Region that will help us to evolve and develop at the next stage.