Afro-American Religious History Unit

The Afro-American Religious History Unit invites proposals that explore the religiosity of African-descended people within the geographical and geo-cultural boundaries of the United States. For our 2026 Annual Meeting in Denver, we are especially interested in proposals that engage one or more of the following topics:

SPECIAL CALL FOR GRADUATE STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

The Afro-American Religious History Unit strongly encourages submissions from graduate students at all stages. We welcome paper proposals that showcase original research based on term papers, dissertation chapters, or other works-in-progress. 

In addition, this year we invite proposals for five-to-seven-minute graduate student presentations to comprise a “fireside chat” style conversation that would include faculty commentary. These mini-presentations should each identify a primary source that is illuminative of an historiographical and/or methodological contribution of the student’s work. 

SPECIAL NOTE ON THE JUNE ONLINE MEETING

The committee encourages proposals that are willing to be considered for both the June and November meetings. The virtual format and low cost (flat $50 registration) makes it an accessible space to showcase original work and host conversations relevant both to the work of our Unit and to the field of religious studies writ large. 

BLACK RELIGIOUS HISTORY AND ITS FUTURE/S

Building on our celebration of the 50th anniversary of our Unit in 2025, we gather in 2026 under the AAR presidential theme "FUTURE/S" to consider how African American religious history illuminates pathways toward imagining futures beyond despair or superficial hope. Scholars of African American religious life and history have long engaged questions of futurity—from eschatological visions in spirituals and sermonic traditions, to the prophetic imagination of Black freedom dreams, to contemporary Afro-futurist aesthetics that remix past, present, and future. We invite proposals exploring how African American religious communities have imagined and enacted futures in contexts of constraint; the roles of archives, memory, and historiography in shaping visions of Black religious futures; and how Afro-futurist frameworks engage with or reimagine Black religious histories. 

AFFECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF RESEARCH IN AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGIOUS HISTORY

Building on conversations sparked by Ahmad Greene-Hayes's Underworld Work at our 2025 meeting, we invite proposals that reflect on the spiritual, affective, and ethical dimensions of historical research. Who and what brings us into the archives? What forms of presence, absence, and haunting do we encounter there? What modes of training or learning are available to us? We welcome proposals addressing the spirituality and ethics of archival research, the role of intuition and spiritual discernment in historical research, relationships between researchers and ancestors/subjects, and archival silences.

THE PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION AT 65 AND THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF BLACK BAPTIST LEADERSHIP

2026 marks the 65th anniversary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention's 1961 split from the National Baptist Convention, USA—a rupture shaped by debates over civil rights activism, denominational governance, and prophetic leadership. It also marks the 20th anniversary of Wallace D. Best's influential scholarship on J.H. Jackson and Martin Luther King Jr. , which reframed our understanding of this pivotal moment. We are interested in proposals that might engage this denominational history and address the theological and institutional dimensions of the split, leadership models and generational tensions, the role of women in these debates, and the legacy of these conflicts for contemporary Black church life.

BLACK RELIGION, MUSIC, SEXUALITY, AND AFRO-FUTURISM: FROM COLTRANE TO PRINCE

2026 marks the 100th birthday of John Coltrane (1926), the 10th anniversary of Prince's death (2016), and a decade since Beyoncé's Lemonade (2016). Black musical innovation has long been entangled with religious formation, sexual expression, and visions of Black futures. Artists like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Little Richard, John Coltrane, Prince, Michael Jackson, and Beyoncé have navigated the tensions and possibilities at the nexus of Black religiosity, musical genius, and sexual/gender identity.

We invite proposals examining the religious dimensions of Black musical performance; gospel music and the negotiation of sexuality and gender; queer aesthetics and Black sacred music; Coltrane's engagement with transnational religious traditions (including the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church); the intersection of Afro-futurism and spiritual jazz; and music as site of both religious constraint and liberatory possibility.

"FORMATION" AND DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST: BLACK WOMEN'S VISUAL STORYTELLING AND RELIGIOUS IMAGINATION

2026 marks the 35th anniversary of Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust (1991) and the 10th anniversary of Beyoncé's Lemonade (2016). Both works center Black women's spiritual lives, ancestral connections, and the religious dimensions of memory, healing, and futurity. We invite proposals exploring the religious and spiritual dimensions of Black women's visual culture, filmmaking as theological practice, representations of African-derived spiritual practices, intergenerational transmission of Black women's religious knowledge, and Afro-futurist aesthetics in Black women's cultural production.

BLACK RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND THE MAKING OF HISTORIANS: HBCUs AND THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL SCOPE OF THE FIELD

2026 marks the 170th anniversary of the founding of Wilberforce University by the Cincinnati Conference of the AME Church. It is the oldest privately owned and operated HBCU. In the spirit of this commemoration, we invite papers and/or panel proposals that consider the relationship between Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the development of African American religious historiography. HBCUs have been central sites for the formation of Black religious intellectuals, archive preservation, and scholarly communities. We invite proposals exploring the role of missionaries and Black denominations in the formation of HBCUs; the influence of HBCU education on approaches to Black religious history; graduate education and pedagogy at HBCUs; and the future of Black religious historical scholarship. We especially welcome proposals from graduate students and recent PhD recipients trained at HBCUs.

BLACK RELIGION AND CHILDHOOD

This panel examines the understudied terrain of Black childhood and religious experience. How have Black children been religious subjects and agents? How have these designations changed over time? How have Black religious communities theorized and shaped childhood? We invite proposals addressing children's religious experience and agency, pedagogical practices and religious formation, the role of children in worship and community life, intergenerational religious transmission, and the impacts of racism and trauma on Black children's religious lives.

GENERAL NOTE

The Unit is always excited to receive paper, roundtable and panel proposals addressing the following themes in African American Religious History:

• African American Religious History and slavery/freedom
• Retheorizations of the geographical and cultural boundaries of African-American Religion
• Redressing the historiographical dearth of LGBTQI+ African American religious histories
• Black Catholic history
• Studies of Black religio-racial movements (Nation of Islam, Moorish Science Temple, Commandment Keepers, etc.)
• African American Religion and climate catastrophe
• Complex Afro-Protestant institutions (HBCUs, Prince Hall Freemasons/Order of the Eastern Star, Greek organizations)
• Black Religions, property, land, and the environment

**Guidelines for successful/strong proposal submissions**

Successful proposals should:

1) respond directly to the call's themes;

2) engage historical and interdisciplinary archival methods and name sources used or examined;

3) situate the intervention(s) in historiographical context by engaging relevant authors and key texts, but only as necessary; and

4) indicate the time period and relevance to the field of African-American religious history.

We also invite creative proposals that are attentive to alternative methods of presenting, including but not limited to multimedia presentations, interviews, flash/micro talks, fireside chats, and facilitated discussions.