In-person November Annual Meeting 2025 Program Book

Anthropologists, sociologists, theologians, and religious studies scholars together reflect on how biohacking, a DIY approach to augmenting the human body and mind (including DIYbio, spiritual augmentation, health and wellness optimisation, and technological futurism) relates to broader questions of meaning, purpose and spirituality.

This workshop is for anyone who is involved in (or interested in being involved in) programs/centers/institutes or initiatives related to religion and public life. It offers:

• insights into the 'state of the field' with established and emerging leaders working in a diversity of institutions
• networking, dialoguing, and peer-resourcing opportunities for  anyone involved in leading or supporting an institute, center, or program that engages with religion in public life.
• discussion of critical topics relevant to religion and public life, both substantively and practically
• resources on public scholarship, public programming, funding, and building institutional infrastructure for research, teaching, and other initiatives
• support for all stages of leadership, including early-career and non-traditional

This is an ongoing venue to share best practices, pool ideas, and develop collaborations. 

This workshop will support theological researchers to assess themes of power, reflexivity, agency, and accountability in their qualitative and ethnographic research projects. Writers, artists, students, instructors, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds are invited to explore strategies that challenge extractivist postures in ethnographic theology and qualitative research methods. Extractivist approaches foreground non-reciprocal knowledge acquisition that offers little to no benefit to those communities who are subjects of and/or partners in research and to the contexts from which academic and practical knowledge is mined. The workshop features interactive and small and large group discussions and foregrounds the conference theme of freedom by querying dynamics of ownership, access, interpretation and the afterlives of projects in ethnographic theological research as well as other relevant ecclesial and academic contexts such as conferences, classrooms, and congregations.

.

.

.

This podcast workshop is designed for religion scholars interested in exploring the growing role of audio media in academic and pedagogical contexts. Participants will gain an understanding of foundational skills necessary to launch and maintain a podcast, including scripting, recording, editing, and publishing. In addition to hands-on training, the workshop will offer critical insight into the evolving pedagogical landscape, examining how podcasts can be used as powerful tools for teaching, public scholarship, and engagement beyond the classroom. Whether you're looking to integrate podcasts into your curriculum or launch your own scholarly series, this workshop will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to get started.

Brought to you by the co-hosts of Straight White American Jesus (SWAJ), Dr. Bradley Onishi and Dr. Daniel Miller. SWAJ is downloaded 3 million times per year and has been assigned in courses at dozens of universities across the world. Joining Brad and Dan will be Dr. Leah Payne, creator of the award-winning PRX podcast Rock That Doesn't Roll and Spirit and Power: Charismatics and Politics in American Public Life. 

During this workshop, participants will explore a diversity of teaching practices, strategies, and activities that enable more accessible pedagogy through inclusive ways of being and thinking. The workshop includes a series of lightning talks on various issues and approaches related to access and disability within contexts of religious studies and theological education. Participants are invited to bring their own teaching materials (syllabi, learning activities, assessments, etc.) to this workshop. With these materials, participants will work in two distinct small groups to identify salient areas for new perspectives and change.

This pre-conference session brings together the process and accomplishments of the AAR "Hagiology" seminar and "New Directions in the Study of Religion, Monsters, and the Monstrous” seminar. The aim of the session is to use case studies in order to explore areas of overlap and future collaboration between the seminar's participants and insights. The seminars have historically shared methodological and substantial overlap in terms of their subject matter, as well as their ethos around disciplinary innovation, multimedia studies in and at the margins of religion, and cross-cultural attention through the lens of concepts ("saints," "monsters"). The pre-conference session includes a methodological section and an applied section. Both sections will be based upon working examples in either or both sainthood and the monstrous, using skills from one of the seminars.