A special opportunity for Chairs and Directors and similar leaders of Religious Studies and adjacent departments:

If you are serving as department chair or in a similar leadership position in your school, you can apply for a special leadership training opportunity: a multi-day training seminar at San José State University at the end of May 2026 “Meeting the Current Moment: Leading for the Future of the Humanities.” For the second of two years, AAR can send six department chairs/leaders to the upcoming training.

The 2026 training seminar will be May 28-30 in San José, CA.

Background

The MLA (Modern Language Association) has conducted an annual chairs and academic leaders training seminar for several years and noticed that participants from other disciplines have found it to be useful as well. (Such appeal is not surprising, since so many challenges in the current university affect many of our Humanities disciplines in similar ways.) MLA leadership has invited other learned societies to collaborate and share these resources, supported by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Details

Through the grant, we are able to waive the registration fee of over $900 (which covers all the seminars, a workshop, and some meals during the three days) for six participants. This grant will cover registration fees for 1 core registration and 1 workshop (the workshop is either before or after the ‘core’ conference). Chosen participants still need to cover travel and lodging – please note that they are arranging for affordable campus housing and more details will follow (we are hoping that you may have some institutional resources that could contribute to the cost of travel and lodging for this opportunity).

There is also the option to attend the virtual Leadership Institute: “Sustaining the Humanities: How to Be an Effective Leader Now ” 22-25 June (with pre-institute workshops 15-16 June 2026).

To give you an idea of the training, please see past programs here (the program for this year is currently only a draft).

How to Apply

If you are interested in being considered for this opportunity, please send an email to Claudia Schippert by Apil 9, 2026 and indicate:

  • (a) your name + position/role + institution
  • (b) whether you are interested in being considered for the in-person San José training seminar or the virtual leadership institute, each supported by the registration waiver through the grant
  • (c) if you are interested in the San José seminar, please indicate that you will be able to cover transportation and lodging for yourself to the training seminar.

Testimonials

You may want to check out the endorsements from seminar attendees – or note the following perspectives from AAR members who participated:

“I enjoyed the Seminar very much. It was very well organized and attended to our food needs and time for being social and receptions, etc., for meeting department chairs from across the country. The panels that I attended were excellent. I wasn’t used to people striving to provide the resources I need … and my morale rose considerably just from receiving thoughtful attention. Everyone was welcoming. … The issues affecting us were so similar that I could get something out of every session and sometimes contribute. … I am all for maintaining the AAR’s connection to the MLA Summer Seminar…. it can help other department chairs.”

Another AAR member and department chair said:

“I came away with new strategies and models for thinking about applied and engaged humanities, and new resources I had not previously known about. It was wonderful to learn from the presenters and other participants about their own contexts and perspectives and to share ideas with one another. The workshop would have been entirely cost-prohibitive for me to attend otherwise, so the grant made all the difference and I am very grateful.”