As embodiment has sought to assert itself in humanities and psychology, it has had to borrow and augment existing language from other theories and methodologies. This might be a necessary step in establishing a new body of theories and/or methods. It may also be a particular growing pain for introducing a theory/method that contrasts so distinctly from the established theories and methods for those topics that embodiment tends to address: ritual, performance, religious experience, religion and psychology, etc.... However, since embodiment has been emerging for decades now, it seems fair to ask: Have we arrived (or are we arriving) at a point when we can point to a cohesive vocabulary for embodiment studies? If such a cohesive vocabulary is desirable, what would it look like and where might gaps in vocabulary suggest gaps in research or in embodiment as a theory/method?
Roundtable Session
In-person November Annual Meeting 2025
A Discourse of Our Own?: on the merits (and demerits) of a cohesive vocabulary for embodiment in the study of religion
Hosted by: Body and Religion Unit
Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)
Audiovisual Requirements
LCD Projector and Screen
AAR 2026: Tentative Participants
Thomas Csordas, UC San Diego
Sam Gill, Emeritus, U Colorado, Boulder
Katherine Zubko, UNC Asheville
Kristy Nabhan-Warren, University of Iowa
Tanya Luhrman, Stanford University
Sarah Imhoff, Indiana University