The 2026 November Annual Meeting in Denver, CO: Friday, November 20 - Tuesday, November 24. All times are listed in Mountain Time Zone. For more information about the November Annual Meeting, co-hosted with the Society of Biblical Literature, click here.
Please note that this is the preliminary schedule and is subject to change. We anticipate a mostly final schedule in mid-August. If you have any questions, please contact annualmeeting@aarweb.org. For Other Events, your event is not confirmed until you received notification from AAR staff.
Immediately following the Presidential Address, join AAR leadership and colleagues to celebrate you as AAR members.
A reception for alumni and friends of Asbury Theological Seminary. This is a come and go reception, with just a brief presentation from faculty and representatives of each skill. A time for fellowship and (re)acquaintance over light refreshments.
Annual reception for authors and friends of Baker Academic & Brazos Press.
Chicago Theological Seminary welcomes current students, alumni, and friends to an evening reception. We'll share updates on CTS's institutional transition, future initiatives, and ongoing mission, while reconnecting with our community and introducing attendees to the next chapter of our work.
Film Screening and Panel Discussion:
I'd Rather Be Dead Than Silent
Directed by Tina Mascara
SYNOPSIS: After 9/11, fear and Islamophobia spikes in America. Into this storm steps Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl. Professor El Fadl is an Islamic jurist, human rights advocate, and one of the fiercest critics of Wahhabism and the Saudi regime. His refusal to stay silent makes him a lightning rod: vilified, threatened, and nearly killed for his words. Surrounded by a private library of half a million books — some banned for centuries — Khaled fights for an Islam rooted in pluralism, democracy, and justice.
Panel discussion: What 'a humanistic Islam' means and stands for in the present and future days to come. What it means for academic institutions to truly fight for freedom of speech, preserve rare Islamic texts, and support Muslims in the face of extreme right-wing attacks on universities and Islamic scholarship.
Rice University's Boniuk Institute and Department of Religion Reception for alumni, friends/affiliates, and those interested in connecting.
UNDIVIDED follows scholar and writer Simran Jeet Singh on a cross-country tour of the United States, uncovering stories of exclusion, resilience, and belonging among the country's diverse religious communities.
At the AAR Annual Conference, we will screen the episode on Gullah Geechee Stories. This episode explores several questions, including: How did African American Christian practices and traditional African spirituality combine to create Gullah Geechee culture in the South? How did the attempted uprising led by Christian preacher Denmark Vesey and conjurer Gullah Jack Pritchard exemplify collaboration among diverse religious actors in the abolitionist movement? And how are young hoodoo practitioners today navigating their relationship with Christian identity?
Come join us for drinks, tapas, music, and dessert while gathering with colleagues who share a commitment to teaching, learning, and faculty life in theology and religion. Reconnect with past participants of Wabash Center gatherings, and meet new friends who are part of this growing community of educators. Come for conversation, connection, and celebration of the teaching life!
Hosted by the Catholic Studies Unit and Religion and Popular Culture Unit
When Satan wakes up in the basement of a Catholic church, Catholic theologians and quantum physicists must team up to prevent the apocalypse! John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (1987) is a cult Catholic supernatural horror classic: campy, cerebral, and, surprising as it may sound, timely. The second entry in Carpenter’s renowned “apocalypse trilogy” is set in the ruinous landscape of Reagan-era Los Angeles and poses a question facing our field today: When endings arrive, are our institutions adequate to the task? Following the film screening, the co-authors of Body and Blood: Catholic Horror in America (NYU Press, 2026) will lead a discussion situating the film in the longer history of Catholic horror in America.
Join the AAR Publications Committee, AAR/OUP Book Series Editors, JAAR editor, Religious Studies News editors, and authors and friends to celebrate AAR publications, network, and share resources.
