The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

in the

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a professional and learned society for scholars involved in the academic study of religion. It has some 10,000 members worldwide, with the largest concentration being in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. AAR members are university and college professors, independent scholars, secondary teachers, clergy, seminarians, students, and interested lay-people.

History

AAR was founded in 1909 as the Association of Biblical Instructors in American Colleges and Secondary Schools. The name was changed to National Association of Biblical Instructors (NABI) in 1933. The American Academy of Religion was adopted as the organization name in 1963 to reflect its broader, inclusive mission to foster the academic study of all religions. Over its long history, AAR has broadened its scope to reflect contemporary values of its membership, such as responding to feminist scholarship and women in religion, increased attention to religions beyond Christianity, differentiation between theology and/or religious reflection within the academic study of religion as a cultural/historical/political phenomenon, and engagement with the public understanding of religion. Stausberg suggested that "Probably because of its more encompassing and open policy and its strategy to position itself as the default home for Religious Studies in the United States, the AAR has been a success story." Presidents of the AAR have included well-known scholars such as

Judith Plaskow Judith Plaskow (born March 14, 1947) is an American theologian, author, and activist known for being the first Jewish feminist theologian. After earning her doctorate at Yale University, she taught at Manhattan College for thirty-two years before ...

Mark Juergensmeyer Mark Juergensmeyer (born 1940 in Carlinville, Illinois) is an American sociologist and scholar specialized in global studies and religious studies, and a writer best known for his studies on comparative religion, religious violence, and global ...

Wendy Doniger Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indian textual traditions, her major works include, 'The Hindus: an alternative history'; ' ...

Emilie Townes Emilie Maureen Townes (born August 1, 1955, Durham, North Carolina) is an American Christian social ethicist and theologian, currently Dean and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanism, Womanist Ethics and Society at the Vanderbilt ...

, Peter J. Paris,

Rebecca Chopp Rebecca S. Chopp (born 1952) is an academic administrator and professor. She was the 18th chancellor of the University of Denver, and the first female chancellor in the institution's history. Prior to that, Chopp was a president of Swarthmore Coll ...

Elizabeth A. Clark Elizabeth Ann Clark (September 27, 1938 – September 7, 2021) was a professor of the John Carlisle Kilgo professorship of religion at Duke University. She was notable for her work in the field of Patristics, and the teaching of ancient Christi ...

and

Ann Taves Ann Taves (born 1952) is Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a former president of the American Academy of Religion (2010).

Publications

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

publishes ''

Journal of the American Academy of Religion The ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', formerly the ''Journal of Bible and Religion'', is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The ''JAAR'' was e ...

'' on behalf of the AAR. ''Religious Studies News'' is the quarterly newspaper of record for the organization; it transitioned from a print to online-only publication in 2010. AAR published the online book review Reading Religion. AAR publishes five book series through

: Academy; Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion; Religion, Culture, and Theory; Religion in Translation; and Teaching Religious Studies. AAR presents awards each year to notable books in the study of religion. It offers three categories of Awards for Excellence: Analytical-Descriptive Studies, Historical Studies, and Constructive-Reflective Studies.

Annual meeting

AAR hosts an Annual Meeting each year in November. The AAR Annual Meeting is the world's largest meeting for religious studies scholars. Over 400 events, including meetings, receptions, and academic sessions, occur on the AAR program alone; hundreds more, hosted by affiliated societies and institutions, occur over the course of the meeting. The location of the meeting changes each year. The annual meetings of the AAR are attended by about half their membership "(some 4,500 in 2014), which make these meetings by far the most important social arena for academic interaction" in comparison with meetings of other North American academic societies for the study of religion.The AAR Annual Meeting program is developed entirely by volunteers involved in program units representing disciplines and sub-disciplines within the field.

Other activities

AAR offers activities on a regional level for its members. Professional development resources such as research grants, career services, and scholarships are some of the member benefits. AAR also advocates the importance of the critical study of religion on institutional and national levels.

Presidents

The President is part of the Board of Directors, which is elected by AAR members each September and takes up their post at the close of each annual meeting. * 1910–1925:

Charles Foster Kent Charles Foster Kent (August 13, 1867 - May 2, 1925) was an American Old Testament scholar. Biography He was born at Palmyra, New York, and educated at Yale (A.B., 1889; Ph.D., 1891). He studied at the University of Berlin (1891–92). He was an ...

* 1926:

Irving Francis Wood Irving Francis Wood (1861–1934) was an American biblical scholar. Professor Wood was born at Walton, New York. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1885 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and taught at Jaffna College, Ceylon, until 1889. Woo ...

* 1927: Eliza H. Kendrick * 1928: Walter W. Haviland * 1929: Ralph K. Hickok * 1930: Irwin R. Beiler * 1931: Laura H. Wild * 1932: Chester Warren Quimby * 1933:

James Muilenburg James Muilenburg (1 June 1896 – 10 May 1974) was a pioneer in the field of rhetorical criticism of the Old Testament. Muilenburg was born in Orange City, Iowa, and studied at Hope College, the University of Nebraska, and Yale University. He taug ...

* 1934: Elmer W. K. Mould * 1935: Florence M. Fitch * 1936: S. Ralph Harlow * 1937: Frank G. Lankard * 1938: Mary E. Andrews * 1939: William Scott * 1940:

Harvie Branscomb Bennett Harvie Branscomb (December 25, 1894 – July 23, 1998) was an American theologian and academic administrator. He served as the fourth chancellor of Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1946 to 1963. P ...

* 1941: Katherine H. Paton * 1942–1943:

Edgar S. Brightman Edgar Sheffield Brightman (September 20, 1884 – February 25, 1953) was an American philosopher and Christianity, Christian theologian in the Methodism, Methodist tradition, associated with Boston University and Liberal Christianity, liberal ...

* 1944: Floyd V. Filson * 1945:

Mary Ely Lyman Mary Ely Lyman (1887 – 1975) was an American professor of religion. Life Her education was notable because of the discrimination she suffered due to her gender. She attended Mount Holyoke College which she found empowering and she briefly went ...

* 1946: J. Paul Williams * 1947: Rolland E. Wolfe * 1948: * 1949:

Vernon McCasland Selby Vernon McCasland (September 27, 1896 – November 15, 1970) was an American scholar of religion and was president of the American Academy of Religion in 1949. Earlier in life, he was a coach of American football and basketball Baske ...

* 1950:

Virginia Corwin Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

* 1951: Mary Francis Thelen * 1952:

Charles S. Braden Charles Samuel Braden (19 September 1887 – 1970) was Professor and Chair of the Department of History and Literature of Religions at Northwestern University. He joined the faculty in 1926 and held the professorship from 1943; he was awarded emeri ...

* 1953: Carl E. Purinton * 1954: W. Gordon Ross * 1955: Arthur C. Wickenden * 1956: A. Roy Eckardt * 1957: Robert M. Montgomery * 1958: H. Neil Richardson * 1959: Lauren Brubaker Jr. * 1960: Lionel Whiston Jr. * 1961: Robert V. Smith * 1962: Fred D. Geally * 1963: Clyde A. Holbrook * 1964: Ira Martin * 1965: James Price * 1966: William Hordern * 1967: John Priest * 1968: J. Wesley Robb * 1969:

Jacob Neusner Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books. Life and career Neusner was born in Hartfor ...

* 1970: Claude Welch * 1971: James Burtchaell * 1972: Robert Michaelson * 1973: Charles Long * 1974:

Christine Downing Christine Downing (born March 21, 1931) is a scholar, educator, and author in the fields of mythology, religion, depth psychology, and feminist studies. Early life and education Christine Downing was born in 1931 in Leipzig, Germany. Her mother ...

* 1975:

William E. May William E. May (May 27, 1928 – December 13, 2014) was an American theologian who was the Michael J. McGivney Emeritus Professor of Moral Theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic Univer ...

* 1976: Preston Williams * 1977: Schubert M. Ogden * 1978: John Meagher * 1979:

Langdon Gilkey Langdon Brown Gilkey (February 9, 1919 – November 19, 2004) was an American Protestant ecumenical theologian. Early life and education A grandson of Clarence Talmadge Brown, the first Protestant minister to gather a congregation in Salt ...

* 1980: William Clebsch * 1981:

Jill Raitt Jill Raitt (born 1931) was the first woman to receive tenure at Duke University's Divinity School faculty. She has been influential in the increasing acceptance of women in professional ministerial positions. Early life Jill Raitt was born on ...

* 1982: Gordon D. Kaufman * 1983:

Wilfred Cantwell Smith Wilfred Cantwell Smith (July 21, 1916 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian Islamicist, comparative religion scholar, and Presbyterian minister. He was the founder of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Quebec and later th ...

* 1984: Ray Hart * 1985:

* 1986: Nathan A. Scott Jr. * 1987:

John Dillenberger John Dillenberger (1918–2008) was professor of historical theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He was instrumental in forming the Graduate Theological Union which he headed during its first decade, first as dean f ...

* 1988:

Martin E. Marty Martin Emil Marty (born on February 5, 1928) is an American Lutheran religious scholar who has written extensively on religion in the United States. Early life and education Marty was born on February 5, 1928, in West Point, Nebraska, and raised ...

* 1989: Robert Wilken * 1990:

* 1991: Judith Berling * 1992:

Robert Cummings Neville Robert Cummings Neville (born May 1, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) is an American systematic philosopher and theologian, author of numerous books and papers, and ex-Dean of the Boston University School of Theology. J. Harley Chapman and Nancy ...

* 1993:

Edith Wyschogrod Edith Wyschogrod (June 8, 1930"Edith Wyschogrod." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Accessed via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2016-10-04. – July 16, 2009) was an American philosopher. She received her A.B. from Hunter C ...

* 1994: Catherine Albanese * 1995: Peter Paris * 1996: Lawrence Sullivan * 1997: Robert Detweiler * 1998:

* 1999: Margaret R. Miles * 2000:

Ninian Smart Roderick Ninian Smart (6 May 1927 – 29 January 2001) was a Scottish writer and university educator. He was a pioneer in the field of secular religious studies. In 1967 he established the first department of religious studies in the United Ki ...

* 2001:

* 2002: Vasudha Narayanan * 2003: Robert Orsi * 2004:

Jane Dammen McAuliffe Jane Dammen McAuliffe (born 1944) is an American educator, scholar of Islam and the inaugural director of national and international outreach at the Library of Congress. She is a president emeritus of Bryn Mawr College and former dean of Georget ...

* 2005: Hans J. Hillerbrand * 2006:

Diana L. Eck Diana L. Eck (born 1945 in Bozeman, Montana) is a scholar of religious studies who is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, as well as a former faculty dean of Lowell House and the Director of The Pluralism ...

* 2007:

Jeffrey Stout Jeffrey Lee Stout (born September 11, 1950) is an American religious studies scholar who is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Princeton University. He is a member of the Department of Religion, and is associated with the departments of Philosophy ...

* 2008:

* 2009:

* 2010:

Ann Taves Ann Taves (born 1952) is Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a former president of the American Academy of Religion (2010).

* 2011:

Kwok Pui-lan Kwok Pui-lan (, born 1952) is a Hong Kong-born feminist theologian known for her work on Asian feminist theology and postcolonial theology. Academic life and career Kwok was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents who practiced Chinese folk religi ...

* 2012: Otto Maduro * 2013:

John Esposito John Louis Esposito (born May 19, 1940) is an Italian-American academic, professor of Middle Eastern and religious studies, and scholar of Islamic studies, who serves as Professor of Religion, International Affairs, and Islamic Studies at Geor ...

* 2014:

Laurie Zoloth Laurie Zoloth (born 1950) is an American ethics, ethicist, currently Margaret E. Burton Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She was dean of the Divinity School from 2017 to 2018, whereupon she stepped into an advisory administr ...

* 2015:

Thomas Tweed Thomas Andrew Tweed (April 14, 1853 – April 4, 1906) was a merchant and political figure in the Northwest Territories, Canada. He represented Medicine Hat in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1888 to 1894 as a Co ...

* 2016:

Serene Jones Lynda Serene Jones (born 1959) is the President and Johnston Family Professor for Religion and Democracy at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. She was formerly the Titus Street Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and chai ...

* 2017:

Eddie Glaude Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (born September 4, 1968) is an American academic. He is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, where he is also the Chair of the Center for African Amer ...

* 2018:

David P. Gushee David P. Gushee is a Christian ethicist and public intellectual. Work and membership David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and formerly the Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer Univers ...

* 2019:

Laurie L. Patton Laurie L. Patton (born November 14, 1961) is an American academic, author, and poet who serves as the 17th president of Middlebury College. Early life and education Patton was raised in Danvers, Massachusetts, and graduated from Choate Rosemary ...

* 2020: José I. Cabezón * 2021: Marla F. Frederick * 2022: Mayra Rivera

References

External links

* {{authority control 1909 establishments in the United States Learned societies of the United States Professional associations based in the United States Religious studies conferences Theological societies