Events

2020 Annual Meeting

Your AAR staff continues to work toward holding the Annual Meeting in Boston, Nov. 21-24, 2020. We are aware of the uncertainty and contradictory projections related to the COVID-19 pandemic and with health and safety as a priority, we will continue monitoring the guidance of governments and health experts as we plan and make decisions. Should any changes need to be made related to the 2020 Annual Meeting, we will promptly notify you.

2020 Regional Meetings

Open Registration:

All remaining regional meetings for 2020 have been canceled

Membership

Welcome to the American Academy of Religion!

With some 9,000 members, the American Academy of Religion is the world’s largest organization serving teachers, scholars, and other professionals in the field of religion. AAR members are affiliated with institutions of higher education, and are also media and publishing professionals, clergy, independent scholars, high school teachers, and non-profit community workers. The professional diversity of the AAR’s membership reflects the substantial and growing role religion plays in the lives of individuals and communities as well as social, political, and economic events worldwide.

See below to learn more about membership benefits in the AAR. Find out what membership in the AAR can offer you and how you can contribute to the field. Questions? Just contact us at 1-404-727-3049 or membership@aarweb.org.

Join or Renew

Why Join? AAR Membership provides a spectrum of opportunities to both enrich your professional life and contribute to the field. Attend Annual and Regional Meetings at deep discounts. Find fellow members using the Membership Directory online. Attend professional development workshops specially designed to assist you at every stage of your career. Help shape the AAR by volunteering to serve on committees and other leadership groups. Read the latest scholarship and news in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Reading Religion, Religious Studies News, and monthly e-bulletins. Receive member discounts on more than a dozen academic journals and book publishers, including Oxford University Press. Join or renew today!

Do you live or work outside the United States? See our International Members section for helpful information about AAR membership, grants, proposing a paper and attending the Annual Meeting, and more!

Students

Student members comprise about one third of the AAR membership. The AAR strives to address specifically the needs of students in the field of religion, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Student members are served by the Graduate Student Committee (GSC), which orchestrates programming focused on professional development and student life. The AAR, through the work of the GSC, serves as an important network of resources for students that can be accessed through national and regional conferences, workshops, and social events. Join today and take advantage of all the AAR has to offer!

Aurora

Aurora is an e-learning platform designed to help scholars explore career options and strategies for pursuing paths outside academia. Aurora offers webinars, forums, classes, and quizzes on topics such as interview skills, resume writing, and networking, among many others. 

Member Directory

Connect and network with colleagues in and across your field of interest. Search online by member name, institution, or research interests. View member photos, bios, research areas, social media connections, and more! For Current Members Only.

Regions

The annual Academy-wide meeting is augmented by ten geographically distinct regional meetings. They often incorporate patterns of organization and presentation similar to those followed at the Academy-wide meeting: section meetings, presentation of papers, plenary speeches. Regional meetings, however, offer distinct opportunities for members, including greater personal contact among members; more opportunity for academic exchange across sub-field specializations; occasions for cooperative research projects; higher local visibility of professional development efforts through mentoring; programs to enhance teaching skills; more frequent presentation of graduate student work; and contact for job opportunities opening late in the academic year. 

While the Board of Directors supervises the whole AAR, regional officers have direct responsibility for the regions. The Regional Coordinators link the interests and concerns of regions with those of the entire Academy. The Regions Committee, comprises ten Regional Coordinators, who promote the regions'  work by recommending policies and good practices; fostering communication among regional secretaries and other regional officers; and administering Regional Development Grants.

My Account

This is the member virtual center where you can add your photo, bio, research interests, CV, and website and social media links; update contact information; change privacy settings; reset your password; check on membership status; check on annual meeting registration status; print receipts; and much more.

Support the AAR

For more than 30 years, contributions to the Academy Fund have provided much needed support for general operations, Annual Meeting travel grants, program support, international initiatives, and the International Dissertation Research Fellowships. One-time contributions or recurring gifts are greatly appreciated. 

Member Discounts

More than a dozen academic journals and book publishers offer discounts to our members. Available for Current Members Only. Click here to view the journals and book publishers offering discounts.

Member Notes

Let your AAR colleagues know about your professional milestones, including awards (e.g., research, grant funding, and teaching), news media mentions, memorials, career transitions (e.g., promotions, appointments, and leaves), new books, and other items of interest.