American Academy of Religion

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)

November 24, 2013 Baltimore, Maryland Panelists: Harvey Cox, Harvard University David Little, Harvard University Ann Swidler, University of California, Berkeley Steven M. Tipton, Emory University Richard Madsen, University of California, San Diego Harlan Stelmach, Dominican University of California Philip Gorski, Yale University Anna Sun, Kenyon College Mark Juergensmeyer, U. of California, Santa Barbara (Presiding) (Audio File: 1 hour, 33 minutes)

November 24, 2013 Baltimore, Maryland Panelists: Wendell Berry, Port Royal, Kentucky Norman Wirzba, Duke University Michael Kessler, Georgetown University (Presiding) (Audio File: 1 hour, 32 minutes)