In-person November Annual Meeting 2026 Program Book

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Museums are sacralizing institutions. They make decisions about what material culture will be preserved, set apart, and narrated as valuable, special, irreplaceable, priceless. Museums make the sacred throughout various forms of frontstage and backstage labor: from forming and maintaining collections to managing research access, curatorial choices and practices, and designing public exhibitions. The sacralizing work of museums is capacious, transecting contingent binaries such as religious-secular, religion-culture, religion-science, religion-heritage, and religion-politics. This pre-conference workshop invites participants who are interested in collaboratively exploring the ways in which museums perform sacralization.

Location: Denver Museum of Science and Nature

Qualitative research often unfolds in complex, unpredictable environments. Securing funding, managing relationships, handling data, and ensuring meaningful impact all require thoughtful planning and adaptive strategies. This workshop opens up the “black box” of research management by creating space for honest conversation about what works, what doesn’t, and what researchers wish they’d known earlier. Participants will gain insight into the realities of running qualitative projects—from negotiating with funders to collaborating with communities, from managing multi‑year grants to navigating emerging questions around AI. Whether you are new to qualitative research or looking to refine your practice, this workshop offers practical wisdom and a supportive environment for reflection. This interactive session brings together 6–8 invited facilitators, each offering five‑minute presentations on a key aspect of qualitative research projects, such as funding, assessment, data management, and more. Then, participants will join facilitators for in‑depth discussions, allowing for rich, small‑group exploration of the issues raised.

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.

The workshop offers a full day devoted to networking and community building, peer resourcing, skills building, and leadership development. Special sessions will be devoted to skills-building such as funding, staffing and infrastructure, and collaboration across disciplines. We will also be diving into the key content issues and opportunities for increased scholarly engagement and effectiveness at the intersections of religion and public life as well as envisioning pathways for future mutual coordination and collaboration.

This is an ongoing forum for sharing best practices, pool ideas, and developing collaborations. We welcome all who are interested to join our network.