American Academy of Religion

The Teaching and Learning Committee facilitates an engaging, hands on workshop, helping participants build assignments that are creative, more plagiarism resistant, and, importantly, that also assess course outcomes. In this recorded workshop, participants identify the key components of a successful assignment; explore strategies for designing creative scaffolded and staged assignments; describe the purpose and features of a capstone project; discover how to effectively consider outcomes in assignment strategies; and demonstrate ways to buffer against plagiarism. Panelist: Amy Hale, Atlanta, GA This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

The American Academy of Religion presents its annual Journalism Award to recognize outstanding contributions to religion reporting in the previous year. This session celebrates journalistic excellence as it relates to the public understanding of religion, drawing insights from previous awardees, members of the award jury, and partners from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. Panelists will discuss partnerships and opportunities to advance the public understanding of religion amidst the changing media landscape and the different challenges faced by broadcast and print journalism. The discussion will engage the biggest religion news stories and religion topics of 2018. The 2019 recipients—Ian Johnson and Dawn Araujo-Hawkins—will be honored in absentia. Joshua McElwee, third place winner, is the Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter who often travels as part of the papal press pool. His articles covered some of the hottest topics of 2018 including Bishops' prosecutions may point to new phase in church's sex abuse crisis, Irish sex abuse survivors say Francis should admit to Vatican's cover-up, and Wuerl resigns, ending influential tenure in wake of abuse report. Evan Berry, Arizona State University, Presiding Panelists: - Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter - Liz Kineke, Broadcast Journalist - Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times - Shirley Abraham, Documentary Filmmaker - Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting - Asma Afsaruddin, Indiana University This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

This panel brings together five editors of religious studies journals to discuss the nuts and bolts of journal editing, with the aim of making the process more transparent. The panel will be of particular interest to graduate students and junior faculty who are new to the activities of scholarly publishing. Andrea Jain, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and S. Brent Plate, Hamilton College, Presiding Panelists: - Elizabeth Ann Pritchard, Bowdoin College - Johan Strijdom, University of South Africa - Jimmy Yu, Florida State University - Marie W. Dallam, University of Oklahoma This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

AAR 2019 - Aurora, a New E-Learning Platform: An Information Session with Co-Creator, Maren Wood by American Academy of Religion

When humanities scholars talk about exploring and pursuing “alt-ac” and “post-ac” careers, two concerns often dominate the conversation: 1) Graduate studies in the humanities don’t prepare us for or aren’t relevant to non-academic career paths, and 2) We don’t know where to look for or how to apply for non-academic jobs. Whether you are a scholar thinking about non-academic careers or a faculty member interested in supporting students engaged in such searches, join our panel of career services experts to discuss the many careers that are open to — and even looking for! — people with advanced training in the humanities. Panelists will discuss existing resources and where to find them, as well as ways that departments, universities, and professional organizations like the AAR can better support scholars in non-academic careers. Amy Defibaugh, Temple University, Presiding Panelists: - Giulia Hoffman, University of California, San Diego - Maren Wood, Beyond the Professoriate This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 25.

Not every PhD becomes a professor. Some never want to, but a growing number discover too late that there's little room in the academy for them or it's not a good fit for what they want their careers to be. They also might find that they are not prepared for a job hunt outside of the ivory tower. But religious studies scholars can shift into work outside the academy. Join Kelly J. Baker, co-editor of the 2018 book Succeeding Outside the Academy: Career Paths beyond the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM (University Press of Kansas, 2018) for a discussion of the book, including the diverse career options for religious studies scholars. Panelists will also reflect on why scholars leave the academy, share their experiences on their own professional paths, and consider how we should be preparing grad students for diverse careers. Shreena Gandhi, Michigan State University, Presiding Panelists: - Kelly J. Baker, Women in Higher Education - Heidi Ippolito, University of Denver - Sarah "Moxy" Moczygemba, University of Florida - Hussein Rashid, Islamicate, LLC - Mary Beth Yount, Neumann University This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

Dr. Mary E. Hunt has authored guidelines entitled Be Brief, Be Witty, Be Seated for presenting a conference paper that are posted on the AAR website. Come hear Dr. Hunt review and update the guidelines in a digital age. Join in a brown bag discussion on best practices an engaging conference presentation that will showcase you and your work to best advantage. Panelists: - Elizabeth Ursic, Mesa Community College - Mary E. Hunt, Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

In the face of increasing policy paralysis in Washington, regional and local governments have emerged as critical engines for progress on thorny issues from climate change and economic inequality to housing, homelessness, and racial equity. And despite the overall decline of religious affiliation in the United States, local policymakers increasingly are working closely with faith-based community partners and negotiating with multireligious and multiracial organizing coalitions. This panel, featuring distinguished political leaders who have placed justice at the core of their leadership, explores the relevance and influence of their training and expertise in religion, ethics, and religious history on policymaking and governing. J. Shawn Landres, University of California, Los Angeles, and Sara Kamali, University of Oxford, Presiding Panelists: - Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors - Lois Capps, U.S. Congress (retired) - Sadaf Jaffer, Princeton University This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

In recent years as the job market for tenure-track academic positions has tightened and the use of contingent faculty has exploded, increasing numbers of graduate degree seekers are intending to pursue nonacademic careers. While some areas of study present obvious nonacademic options, for scholars in the humanities, nonacademic career opportunities and the best preparation for them may not be obvious and religious studies faculty are exploring how graduate programs can — and should — prepare all alumni for multiple employment outcomes. This panel brings together faculty members from a variety of institutions to discuss some of the problems confronting their students and their programs as more people turn — by necessity and by choice — to nonacademic career paths. Annette Stott, University of Denver, Presiding Panelists: - Sylvia Chan-Malik, Rutgers University - Gabriel Estrada, California State University, Long Beach - Caroline T. Schroeder, University of Oklahoma - Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Claremont School of Theology This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.

Bissera V. Pentcheva, winner of AAR's 2018 Award for Excellence in Historical Studies for her book "Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium" talks about how digital technology, as applied to the ancient and medieval aural experience of the Hagia Sophia, makes it possible for historians to see, feel, and hear primary textual and liturgical sources in new ways.