ANNUAL MEETING NEWS

Annual Meeting Registration and Housing

AAR Annual Meeting Registration and Housing is now open! You must be registered to secure housing. Registration rates will increase after June 30, 2010, so register today for housing, tours, workshops, and the Annual Meeting Job Center! Online registration is fast and easy! Registration and housing forms for fax and surface mail are also available. Please send them to the contacts listed on the forms.

Annual Meeting Job Center

Annual Meeting Job Center preregistration is currently open for candidates and employers. Register early to receive full benefits. Preregistration will close October 11. For more information, click here.

Annual Meeting Program Planner

Update your mailing address now to receive a copy of the new Annual Meeting Program Planner, to be mailed in early June to all current members of the AAR. The Program Planner will contain full information for all AAR Annual Meeting sessions and a listing of the day, time, and theme for all Additional Meetings sessions. The Annual Meeting Program Planner is a great way to begin your Annual Meeting planning.

Make sure your membership address is listed correctly in the AAR member directory by logging in to your account. Please allow 3–4 weeks for delivery. For more information on Annual Meeting publications, check out the upcoming June issue of Religious Studies News.

2010 Plenary Addresses

Come join us on the many tours offered at this year’s Annual Meeting. Sign up soon as these tours fill up fast!

African American Religion and Civil Rights Sites
Friday, 12:00 PM–5:00 PM

This walking tour examines four sites among Atlanta’s treasure house dealing with the African American religious experience and specifically the Civil Rights struggle, the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, the African American Panoramic Experience (APEX), Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the King Center.

Tour fee: $25

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Monday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is the largest Hindu temple of its kind outside of India. The temple boasts hand-carved stone spires that tower 75 feet. More than 12,300 tons of stone was quarried and shipped to the craftsmen in India. Then, the nearly 35,000 pieces were shipped to Atlanta, where more than 900 volunteers dedicated their time in putting this marvel together.

Tour fee: $20

Drepung Loseling Monastery
Monday, 10:00 AM–1:00 PM

Drepung Loseling provides theoretical knowledge and practical training in Tibetan Buddhist scholarly traditions for Western students, scholars, and the general public and helps preserve the endangered Tibetan culture. The tour will be led by the abbot, Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi.

Tour fee: $30

Food, Justice, and Sustainability: Atlanta’s Urban Agriculture
Monday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

This bus tour will take us to places in urban Atlanta where residents are working to address food, justice, and sustainability concerns in their communities. Tour guide Erin Croom of Georgia Organics will lead us through several sites to show how local organizations have been addressing hunger and nutrition by developing new forms of urban agriculture and garden-based education. The tour will include sites such as the Edgewood Community Garden, Oakleaf Mennonite Farm, and Truly Living Well Natural Urban Farms.

Tour fee: $30

High Museum of Art
Saturday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

The High Museum of Art’s collections consist of more than 11,000 pieces and include nineteenth and twentieth century American and decorative art, significant European pieces, modern and contemporary art, photography, African art, and folk art.

Tour fee: $15

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
Saturday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum is home to the presidential papers of the Carter Administration. An exhibit of significant events occurring during Carter’s life and political career includes photographs with interpretative text. Several exhibits focus on important twentieth century issues such as war and peace, disarmament, and the economy.

Tour fee: $20

Michael C. Carlos Museum
Monday, 1:00 PM–4:00 PM

Tour fee: $30

Oakland Cemetery
Monday, 1:00 PM–4:00 PM

Oakland Cemetery, founded in 1850, exemplifies the nineteenth century “rural garden” cemetery movement. It is the final resting place of many of Atlanta’s most noted citizens. It is also a showplace of sculpture and architecture, and a botanical preserve with ancient oaks and magnolias. Here in this peaceful place, the full scope of the city’s rich and fascinating history unfolds before you.

Tour fee: $15

Pitts Theology Library Special Collections
Saturday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

Pitts Theology Library houses many distinguished collections of theological materials, including the English Religious History Collection; the Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection on the Protestant Reformation in Germany; the English and American Hymnody and Psalmody Collection; and the North European Theological Dissertations Collection.

Tour fee: $20

Sacred and Religious Sites of Atlanta
Monday, 1:00 PM–5:00 PM

This religious sites tour explores four sites exemplifying the rich diversity of Atlanta’s religious communities, the Shrine of Immaculate Conception, Buckhead Church, The Temple, and Al-Farooq Masjid.

Tour fee: $25

William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum
Monday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

The Museum’s extraordinarily vivid exhibitions use the personal remembrances of Atlantans to explain seminal moments in the Jewish experience. “Creating Community” tells the story of Atlanta Jews creating and experiencing community. “Absence of Humanity” tells the story of the Holocaust through historical photographs and documents, personal memorabilia, and family pictures, and in the voices of those who survived and made new lives in Atlanta.

Tour fee: $10

Yerkes Primate Center
Monday, 8:30 AM–12:00 PM

The Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University is an international leader in biomedical and behavioral research. Thus the Center provides a critical link between research with small laboratory animals and clinical trials with humans. Yerkes Research Center is dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of primate biology, behavior, veterinary care, and conservation. The tour will be led by Yerkes Director and AAR Plenary speaker Frans de Waal.

Tour fee: $20 

NOMINATE A SCHOLAR FOR THE 2011 INTERNATIONAL FOCUS: MEDITERRANEAN

The International Connections Committee (ICC) invites you to nominate scholars from the Mediterranean for sponsorship to the 2011 Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting will take place in San Francisco from November 18–22, 2011. The AAR sponsors scholars to attend and participate in the program of the Annual Meeting. Program Units are encouraged to think about scholars to participate in their sessions, but the nomination is not limited to Program Units. Any member can nominate a scholar for consideration. Click here to nominate a scholar. The deadline to nominate a scholar is August 31, 2010.

2010 EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD RECIPIENT ANNOUNCED

The Teaching and Learning Committee is pleased to announce Barbara (Bobbi) Patterson is the recipient of the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award. Patterson, a senior lecturer in the department of religion at Emory University, will make remarks and engage questions and answers from the audience during the Special Topics Forum at this year’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. The Teaching and Learning Committee encourages and solicits nominations for the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award. Nominations must be received by October 1. For more information, visit www.aarweb.org/programs/awards/Teaching_Awards.

APPLY FOR AN INDIVIDUAL OR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GRANT

Each year the AAR awards grants of up to $5,000 for individual and collaborative research projects. The online proposal submission form is now open. All applicants must apply online through the AAR website. The proposal submission deadline is August 1. For additional information, see http://www.aarweb.org/programs/grants.

1. Annual Meeting News
2. 2011 International Focus: Mediterranean
3. 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient Announced
4. Apply for a Research Grant

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