A few weeks ago, after emailing a representative of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), it became apparent to me that the Fall conference-going season in our field will be moving forward as the usual in-person meetings instead of the hybrid format that, in the light of a year living with COVID-19, I had assumed would be offered. It’s now becoming apparent to others as well, with an online petition now circulating, addressed to the leadership of the Society of […]
Tag: Conference
Prof. Touna Prepares for Norway
This summer, Prof. Vaia Touna will travel to Trondheim, Norway to participate in a Religious Studies Conference hosted by NAASR and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The lectures will focus on critiquing the work of Prof. Jonathan Z. Smith, a religious studies scholar at the University of Chicago who passed away in December 2017. His expansive work in the field frequently complicated classification and description (among other scholarly tools) and provided reform for modern pedagogy. […]
20 Conference Dos and Don’ts
With the our field’s main annual conference just days away, we thought we’d offer a public service announcement to those who may be new to navigating the heady intellectual environment of a scholarly meeting. So here goes… 1. Don’t wander into the book display unprepared; instead, psych yourself up for the over-stimulating audio-visual onslaught that is a convention center ballroom filled with thousands and thousands of books — many of which are on either Jesus or the Apostle Paul — […]
Off to a conference in Atlanta
Yes, a group of REL faculty and students are hitting the open road tomorrow to head off to Atlanta, for our field’s annual regional conference. Game to find their names on the program…? And of course, we hope to post an update concerning how it all went — both the conference and the trip in the van. […]
Conference Time
Well, it’s that time of year again — when many of the REL faculty head off to attend annual scholarly meetings, to read papers or respond at panels where new work in the field is being presented or reviewed. They’ll also be meeting with publishers, hatching plans with collaborators and co-editors, getting lost in the surprisingly large book display, and generally trying to figure out a good place to meet someone for dinner, just as several thousand other people also […]
A Student Report from WordCamp Birmingham
This past weekend (October 21-22), I attended the annual WordPress conference in Birmingham, Alabama: WordCamp Birmingham. You may be asking: If she’s in an MA program for Religion in Culture, why does she need to go to a WordPress conference? An important aspect of the program is a focus on digital and public humanities — how we convey our research through digital media and to unconventional audiences. Part of that focus results in developing digital skills like WordPress to present […]
“Yes, and I’ve Met His Dog”: A Student Report from the Regional AAR
Parker Evans is junior studying English and Religious Studies. He spends most of his time drinking coffee and making reading lists when he should be reading. The regional AAR, or SECSOR, was a fantastic chance for a professionalizing experience. Sierra Lawson, another REL major, and I arrived late in the afternoon, and between checking into the hotel and presenting my paper, I had just enough time to change clothes from my flight and eat dinner. I was the first presenter […]
Read More from “Yes, and I’ve Met His Dog”: A Student Report from the Regional AAR
Welcome to Atlanta…
Many of the faculty in REL are soon hitting the road, heading east to Atlanta, to attend the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) — our main professional association here in the US. While our southeast region also meets in Atlanta (in the Spring), this is the national meeting, which takes place each November, and attracts thousands of scholars from around the world.REL A lot of things happen at these meetings — some of the faculty are […]