July 27, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephanie Gray
404-727-3059, sgray@aarweb.org
The American Academy of Religion (AAR) has selected the 2009 recipients of the Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion and the Best First Book in the History of Religions:
Awards for Excellence in Religion: Analytical-Descriptive Studies
G. John Renard, Saint Louis University
Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood
University of California Press, 2008
Awards for Excellence in Religion: Constructive-Reflective Studies
Andrew F. March, Yale University
Islam and Liberal Citizenship: The Search for an Overlapping Consensus
Oxford University Press, 2008
Awards for Excellence in Religion: Historical Studies
Stuart B. Schwartz, Yale University
All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World
Yale University Press, 2008
Awards for Excellence in Religion: Textual Studies
Shaul Magid, Indiana University
From Metaphysics to Midrash: Myth, History, and the Interpretation of Scripture on Lurianic Kabbala
Indiana University Press, 2008
Best First Book in the History of Religions (Cowinners)
Benjamin Lazier, Reed College
God Interrupted: Heresy and the European Imagination between the World Wars
Princeton University Press, 2008
Christian Lee Novetzke, University of Washington
Religion and Public Memory: A Cultural History of Saint Namdev in India
Columbia University Press, 2008
The Awards for Excellence and Best First Book in the History of Religions recognize new scholarly publications that make significant contributions to the study of religion. The awards honor books of distinctive originality, intelligence, creativity and importance, books that affect decisively how religion is examined, understood, and interpreted. For more information, please see here.
Awards will be presented at the AAR’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, November 8, 2009.
As a learned society and professional association of teachers and research scholars, the American Academy of Religion has over 11,000 members who teach in some 1,500 colleges, universities, seminaries, and schools in North America and abroad. The Academy is dedicated to furthering knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations. This is accomplished through Academy-wide and regional conferences and meetings, publications, programs, and membership services.
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