Regional Coordinator: John J. O'Keefe Department of Theology Creighton University Omaha, NE 68178 USA 402-280-4799 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Region's Website

This is just a gentle reminder that the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Regional meeting is only days away! You can register onsite.

March 23–24, 2012
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT, USA

Hotel Information

Guests are staying at the Springhill Suites Provo, 1580 North Freedom Boulevard, 801-373-0073.

Art Exhibits

Brigham Young University's Museum of Art

On display is the Islamic Art Exhibit, "Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of the Islamic Culture."

Harold B. Lee Library

On display is the "Life And Legacy of the King James Bible Exhibit," featuring an original copy of the second edition of the KJV.

Business Meeting

For the last few years, the AAR Board of Directors, the Regions Committee, and a special Regions Task Force have been working to provide a solid legal basis on which the AAR national organization and its various regional groups could be affiliated. You may not be aware that the Regions have been operating without such a basis since they were constituted; each group has its own constitution, bylaws, and ways of operating. Many if not all of those constitutions or bylaws assert a relationship to the AAR as a national organization, but the relationship was not legally defined. This has left the AAR in a precarious position. If a Region misbehaved or was negligent, the AAR might be held responsible, with neither limitations on that responsibility nor ways to hold Regions accountable for their own operations.

Thanks to very hard work on the part of the Regions Task Force (chaired by former Southeastern regional coordinator Brian Pennington) and the executive staff of the AAR (especially Director of Finance and Administration Deborah Minor, who is the staff liaison to the Regions Committee), we are now in the process of clarifying that relationship and placing both national and regional groups on solid legal footing. The mechanism for this clarification is a new Operating Agreement for each Region, which incorporates the Region as a limited liability corporation in the state of Georgia. The AAR national office can then manage some of the more complex tasks of financial reporting for Regions, including tax filings, and can cover the Region under its liability insurance, while the Region continues to enjoy local autonomy in its finances and operations.

Members of our Region should notice few if any changes in their relationship to the Region. We will continue to meet with the regional SBL, and the meeting structure will not change in any way.

At the Regional Meeting, we will hold our regular business meeting, and we will vote on the adoption of this new Operating Agreement. I encourage you to read it carefully and ask any questions you might have. And I request your attendance at the Business Meeting to constitute a quorum for this important vote.

Business Meeting
March 24, 7:30 AM

We are very excited to be part of a long and productive process of reimagining and strengthening the AAR's Regions. This Operating Agreement, while important, is only one piece of the AAR's renewed centennial commitment to the Regions; we will be benefiting from that commitment for decades to come. Thank you for your participation in the AAR and in the Rocky Mountains–Great Plains Region.

Sections at the Regional Annual Meeting

• Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Archaeological Methods
• Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Texts and Cultures
• Pedagogical Methods and Technologies
• Processes of Ritualization
• Religion and Popular Culture
• Religious Traditions — Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Native American Religions, etc.