Music and Religion Unit
The Music and Religion section is perpetually interested in panels that combine performance and scholarly reflection, and/or book panel discussions that help to advance the field. These ideas can be incorporated into any of the other ideas below.
- The impact of generative AI on music in religious practice
- The role of music in the religious formation of children--intergenerational religious community through music
- Presentations that relate to our 2026 presidential theme of “futurity” in religious thought and practice
- Anniversary-themed presentations related to musical works and music scenes celebrating milestones in 2026
- Presentations on musical works and music scenes connected to our host city of Denver
The discipline of religious studies has expanded beyond linguistic rationality to include the importance of musical phenomena in the development of religious communities and religious consciousness. Meanwhile, theological aesthetics is moving beyond the textual to include music as a resource in its own right for constructive and transformative meaning-making. Music, religiously speaking, is no mere adjunct to the study of sacred space, ritual, visual art, liturgy, or philosophical aesthetics; rather, it is a distinct field in its own right — with its own particular content, methods, and norms. By placing the relationship between music and religion at the center of our endeavor, this Unit seeks to serve scholars who operate out of this ubiquitous, but ironically unrepresented, realm of academic pursuit within the guild.