Biography
Matthew Emile Vaughan is currently the Regional Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR-AAR), a post he has held since 2018. He has served the MAR-AAR as President (2015-2016) and as a Section Chair since 2014.
As Associate Director of Instructional Design and Operations at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies, Matthew manages a team of designers and developers who ensure academic and technological integrity in online academic programming. He holds an Adjunct Assistant Professorship in Professional Writing at the New York University School of Professional Studies, where he was the recipient in 2019 of the Teaching Excellence Award. He also serves as a technology consultant for the Hispanic Summer Program. He is a former public high school teacher.
Matthew's academic work is located at the intersection of religious learning and religious pluralism. His writing has been featured in the Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, Restoration Quarterly, and other edited contexts. He completed his PhD (Religion & Education) in 2015 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He sits on the editorial board for the Journal of Scriptural Reasoning.
Matthew lives in New Orleans with a Red Heeler named Rosie.
Candidate Statement
I ask for the opportunity to serve the AAR as Regions Director for the 2023-2026 term. I have long aspired to this role, and have a clear vision for my time in it. I will bring operational structure, strategic planning, and creativity to the Regions Committee.
We need the AAR as a guild – and scholars of religion need each other – now more than ever. The health of the AAR as a whole in the coming years will be shaped by a number of factors, including the health of its regional affiliates. Regions are the AAR’s point of entry for many people: aspiring, established, and independent scholars alike. Regional conferences and events are also excellent contexts for innovation, leadership cultivation, and alternative programming. I firmly believe that stronger regions will mean a better, more sustainable, AAR.
I have three priorities for my time as Regions Director:
- Simplify Day-to-Day Work for Regional Officers. Most regional officers come to their roles with little preparation. I will work with the Board, established regional leaders, and the AAR Staff to offer onboarding and orientation assistance for incoming volunteers. And I will support them in their required tasks, offering (among other things) annual reporting assistance each summer. I will provide administrative assistance for conference planning. And I will work to produce robust and easily accessible documentation for each role and function.
- Ensure the Long-term Viability of the Regions. Every region is at a unique stage in its organizational life. I will help each region establish its own, distinct Strategic Planning process – through small groups and at the Annual Meeting. I will also assist each region in tracking its own data, development, and financial health more efficiently. I will work with regional leaders to create workflows for streamlining their web presence, databases, regional communications, and technological infrastructures.
- Increase the Scope of Regional Programming. I will help regional leaders offer more than (and more within) their conferences. Regional conferences are operationally nimble, and can address local and specialized contexts. By expanding the kinds of projects, sections, and topics with which we engage, regional leaders will chart new paths for the growth of the guild. For example, I will encourage more Professional Development opportunities, media offerings (like audio and other publishing), and research initiatives.
I have the experience needed to succeed in this role. In addition to my leadership of the MAR-AAR, I led a joint Executive Committee from three regions to plan and execute the 2021 Virtual Symposium – a first-of-its-kind online event that brought scholars together for dialogue and presentations. In 2022 I was the Executive Producer for a podcast sponsored by the AAR called Deus Et Machina, which deals with religion and technology. And in 2023 I worked alongside Ronald Bernier, Regional Coordinator for the New England/Maritimes Region, to establish an entirely new region: AAR Northeast. I am indebted to previous Regions Directors, Brian Pennington and Kathy Downey, for their support and guidance through the past decade.