The AAR is pleased to announce its support for the Doctoral Futures Initiative, a transformative, collaborative effort to rethink and strengthen humanities doctoral education in the United States. Convened by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) in partnership with the American Historical Association (AHA), the Modern Language Association (MLA), and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), Doctoral Futures brings together scholars, students, administrators, and academic leaders to explore how PhD programs can be more equitable, effective, and future-ready.
The initiative responds to longstanding structural challenges in graduate education, including questions around recruitment and admissions, mentoring and retention, curricular innovation, and career pathways inside and beyond the academy. AAR is committed to work with other scholarly societies to:
- Advocate for higher completion rates, efficient time-to-degree, equitable funding, and sustainable program structures;
- Support the recruitment of diverse cohorts including first-generation students, students from underrepresented institutions, and non-traditional candidates;
- Promote curricular innovation that integrates rigorous academic and scholarly training with professional development;
- Support collective and holistic mentorship models and training faculty in inclusive advising practices;
- Center principles of access and inclusion in all aspects of graduate education;
- Prioritize student well-being throughout the doctoral experience.
AAR recognizes the increasing diversity of our members’ professional trajectories. Religious studies scholars work in many different settings. Doctoral Futures encourages programs to make these different pathways visible and valued from the start and to support the vitality and sustainability of humanities scholarship and graduate professional preparation. AAR joins our peer societies to advocate for doctoral education that equips students for rich, varied careers while sustaining the intellectual rigor at the heart of our disciplines.
For more information about the Doctoral Futures Initiative, visit the ACLS website.