Japanese Religions Unit

We invite papers sessions, individual papers, and roundtables that address all aspects of Japanese religious practice and thought. All time periods are welcome. To facilitate maximal exchange within and beyond Japanese religions, we prefer proposals that include explicit reflection on the study of religion more broadly. This year's presidential theme is "Freedom.” Proposals need not be limited to this theme, but they should reflect a robust engagement with scholarship on religion beyond the Japanese context.

Below are topics proposed by our members this year. Please contact the person listed if you would like to collaborate on one of these topics:

"Shinto Ritual" Mariangela Carpinteri (m_carpinteri@umail.ucsb.edu)

"Body/Embodiment in Japanese Religions, time period open" Gwendolyn Gillson (gwendolyn.gillson@ic.edu)

"Gender and Sexuality in Japanese Religions" Dana Mirsalis (danamirsalis@pacificu.edu)

"Japanese Religions in the Edo Period" Matt Mitchell (mmitche4@highpoint.edu)

"Women Leaders in New Religious Movements." Tori Montrose (vmontrose@furman.edu) (possible co-sponsorship with the New Religious Movements unit) 

"ESGs and Japanese Religions" Mark Rowe (rowemar@mcmaster.ca)

"East Asian Self-Cultivation Practices in Transnational Perspective" Justin Stein (justin.stein@kpu.ca) (possible quad-sponsored between Japanese Religions, Chinese Religions, Korean Religions, and Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society)

This panel proposal invites scholars interested in discussing the utility of the concept of “self-cultivation” (in dialogue with the categories of “religion,” “(East) Asia,” and/or “Asian American”) for the field of religious studies, and explore its potential evolution as a concept and discipline.

"Humor and Laughter in Japanese Religions" Eric Swanson (Eric.Swanson@lmu.edu)

“Popular Culture and Japanese Religions.” Kaitlyn Ugoretz (kugoretz@ucsb.edu) (with the Religion and Popular Culture Unit)

We invite proposals that consider how popular culture acts as a medium for religious expression and expression about religion with reference to Japan. We are interested in works that span mediums (movies, television, music, games, material culture), time periods, and places of production/consumption.

We welcome proposals on other topics as well. Creative formats (films, organized discussion, pre-circulated papers/texts, workshop, etc.) are encouraged, as are co-sponsored programs with other units of the AAR or associated societies.  For instance, recent co-sponsorship partners have included Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Unit; Esotericism Unit; Bioethics and Religion Unit; and the Hagiography Society.  We encourage proposers to think broadly about ways they can engage their work on Japanese religion with current questions in the field, and with scholars working on religion in regions beyond Japan.

In submitting proposals, please follow the AAR guidelines carefully.  First-timers are encouraged to contact the co-chairs for additional advice (Jessica Starling at jstarling@lclark.edu and Takashi Miura at tmiura@arizona.edu). Our Unit is allotted two two-hour sessions. Co-sponsorship adds an additional 90-minute session.

Our Unit is committed to diversity and inclusion. We strongly encourage considering balance in terms of gender, ethnicity, nationality, and institutional affiliation, as well as balance between graduate students, junior scholars, and senior scholars. Showing little or no regard for such diversity will have an adverse effect on the likelihood that your proposal will be accepted.