Program Unit Online June Annual Meeting 2026

Nineteenth Century Theology Unit

Call for Proposals

Intersections of Theology and Literary Culture in the Nineteenth Century

This panel investigates the role of theology in nineteenth-century literature from an interdisciplinary and global perspective. Proposals may address fields such as cultural studies (including gender studies), aesthetics, and artistic theory, among others. As writers of the nineteenth century engaged with questions of faith, the divine, redemption, moral religion, and the nature of evil, we invite proposals that shed light on the complex and evolving relationships between literary expression and theological thought. We also welcome papers that use new or emerging approaches to the study of theology and literature. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: 

  • Theological Themes in Works of Fiction

  • Literary Theology

  • Religion and National Mythology

  • Religious symbols in literature

  • Theology and Romantic literature

Statement of Purpose

Our Unit focuses on major themes, thinkers, and movements in nineteenth century religious thought and theology — from the French Revolution to World War I — and on the relation of religious thought to its historical, political, and cultural contexts. Each year the Unit selects two or three focused topics and predistributes papers before the AAR sessions.

Chair Mail Dates
Annette G. Aubert aaubert@wts.edu -
Matthias Gockel matthias.gockel@unibas.ch -
Review Process: Participant names are visible to chairs and steering committee members at all times
When the proposals are made available for review, the co-chairs send an email with instructions to all the committee members for the review process. During the review, every committee member in our Unit plays an important role in evaluating the proposals submitted through the PAPERS system. To facilitate this, we organize a virtual meeting where we discuss the quality and potential of each paper proposal.
Final rankings are determined through a careful assessment that considers the paper's overall argument and thesis, the relevance of the topic to our Unit’s purpose, the current state of research and its contribution to the field, alignment with the AAR presidential theme, and the potential to spark meaningful discussion. An essential aspect of the review process also focuses on promoting diversity in gender and ethnicity and on representing varying career stages among potential presenters.