So You’re Going to the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting by Kecia Ali

Kecia Ali Bio pic officeTen thousand people descend on San Diego this weekend for the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature joint Annual Meeting. We will present papers, interview and be interviewed, shop for books, and network busily. Many will feel overwhelmed, lost, and/or hungry – convention center food somehow always manages to be lousy and expensive.

I have attended nearly every AAR Annual Meeting since 1999. I have presented papers, spoken on panels, responded to sessions, led tables at pre-conference workshops, and presided at business meetings. I have served on program unit steering committees and chaired a Section. I have gone to editorial board breakfasts and AAR committee meetings.  I have had coffee with editors with whom I’ve gone on to publish books. I have served as a mentor at the Women’s Mentoring Lunch. Though I never used the Employment Center as a job candidate, I have put in cubicle time as part of two search committees.

In other words, I know something about the Annual Meeting. Continue reading “So You’re Going to the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting by Kecia Ali”

The New Feminist Revolution in Religion by Gina Messina-Dysert

Gina Messina-Dysert CGUThis week I will be attending the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature (AAR/SBL) Conference in Baltimore Maryland.  In celebration of the second anniversary of Feminism and Religion and the continued efforts of feminists in the field within the digital world, Xochitl Alvizo and I will lead a roundtable discussion on the intersection of feminism, religion, and technology – or what I refer to as the new feminist revolution in religion.

Reflecting on two years of blogging and engaging in dialogue within a global community reveals how powerful a platform social media can be.   Small gatherings in living rooms, classrooms and coffee shops have grown into global conversations.  Borders are being expanded and new frontiers are being built as the feminist revolution in religion continues to grow and evolve. Continue reading “The New Feminist Revolution in Religion by Gina Messina-Dysert”