American Academy of Religion

In this plenary 2015 AAR president Tom Tweed addresses urgent issues we face within and beyond the academy by asking about how the study of religion is valued. First, he analyzes how it is valued—and devalued—in the public arena and discerns what that can tell us about how to refine the usual arguments for the importance of the study of religion and, thereby, help endangered programs fare better in negotiations with administrators and stakeholders. Second, he encourages the Academy to identify the epistemic, moral, and aesthetic values it enacts to confront two challenges we face in the AAR: how to advance the divisive conversation about divergent approaches and how to enhance our ongoing discussion about professional obligations and professional ethics—from institutions’ duty to report graduate student placement rates to individual researchers’ obligation to adhere to standards of professional conduct. We must remain vigilant in addressing trends that violate shared commitments and endanger professional life—from the recent rise in contingent faculty to the chilling challenges to academic freedom. Finally, a focus on values allows us to address divisions within the academy by reframing the stale debate about the relation between religious studies and theology. By frankly acknowledging our guiding values—and concomitant normative judgments—we will not resolve all differences, but we might gain more clarity about what we share and what we don’t. Serene Jones, of Union Theological Seminary, presides over the session and introduces Tweed. This plenary was recorded at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion on November 22, 2015 in Atlanta, GA.

This conversation focuses on one of the most enduring and difficult issues facing the Academy: what is the relationship between theology and religious studies? 2015 AAR president Tom Tweed presides over the exchange between Ann Taves, a distinguished scholar of religious studies (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Graham Ward, a distinguished scholar of theology (University of Oxford), by asking each to identify the epistemic, moral, and aesthetic values that inform their work.

Recorded at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the AAR in Atlanta, GA. The 2015 annual meeting focused on “Valuing the Study of Religion,” which includes pondering how religion has been valued—and devalued—in public spaces. Addressing a variety of social spaces from the legislature to the streets, this panel analyzes religious responses to racial injustice. In 2015, the fiftieth anniversary of the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, attending to injustice seems more morally urgent than ever. Considering both the historical trajectory that led us to this painful moment and the religious resources activists have employed, this conversation brings together notable voices to offer their assessments of the contemporary situation. Ruby Sales, the human rights activist and public theologian who joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s and later founded a non-profit organization dedicated to “racial, economic, and social justice,” joins Cornel West, distinguished religion scholar and democratic intellectual, in a conversation with Professor Imani Perry, a celebrated scholar of African American Studies and Law who has written eloquently about racial injustice and “pathways to freedom, equality, and enriched democracy.” Panelists: Imani Perry, Princeton University Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary Ruby Nell Sales, SpiritHouse Project, Atlanta, GA Thomas A. Tweed, University of Notre Dame, Presiding

Leela Prasad, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Duke University, was awarded an American Academy of Religion’s 2014 Individual Research Grant. She talks to Religious Studies News about her project Moved by Gandhi -- A Documentary Film. Music is Dexter Britain, “Fresh Monday” (www.dexterbritain.co.uk)

Mark Rowe, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McMaster University, was awarded an American Academy of Religion’s 2014 Individual Research Grant. He talks to Religious Studies News about his project Female Priests in Japanese Temple Buddhism. Music is Dexter Britain, “Fresh Monday” (www.dexterbritain.co.uk)

Brian Pennington, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society and Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University, was awarded an American Academy of Religion’s 2014 Individual Research Grant. He talks to Religious Studies News about his project Natural Disaster and Divine Agency: Hindu Theodicies of Climate Change. Music is Dexter Britain, “Fresh Monday” (www.dexterbritain.co.uk)

SherAli Tareen, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College, was awarded an American Academy of Religion’s 2014 Individual Research Grant. He talks to Religious Studies News about his project Islam, Tradition, and Democracy: The Case of the Deoband Madrasa. Music is Dexter Britain, “Fresh Monday” (www.dexterbritain.co.uk)

A panel discussion with Judith Butler about her book "Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism" (Columbia University Press, 2012). November 25, 2013 Baltimore, Maryland Panelists: Claire Katz, Texas A&M University Samuel Brody, University of Cincinnati Yaniv Feller, University of Toronto Mark Lewis Taylor, Princeton Theological Seminary Saba Mahmood, University of California, Berkeley Martin Kavka, Lehigh University Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley (Responding) Rebecca Alpert, Temple University (Presiding) (Audio File: 2 hours, 28 minutes)

November 25, 2013 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting Baltimore, Maryland Panelists: Shaun Allen Casey, Wesley Theological Seminary Ingrid Mattson, University of Western Ontario Josef Sorett, Columbia University Laurie Zoloth, Northwestern University (Presiding) (Audio File: 57 minutes)

November 25, 2013 Baltimore, Maryland Panelists: Robert P. Jones, Public Religion Research Institute E.J. Dionne, The Brookings Institution and Washington Post Kristin Heyer, Santa Clara University Manuel A. Vasquez, University of Florida William Galston, The Brookings Institution Erik Owens, Boston College (Presiding) (Audio File: 2 hours, 26 minutes)