AAR-WR
Annual Conference
Graduate Theological Union
Pacific School of Religion
March 2027
2027 Conference Theme
Beyond Boundaries and Silos: Toward Interconnection and Collaboration
Gregory S. Cootsona, Ph.D., President-Elect and Program Chair
Beyond Boundaries and Silos: Toward Interconnection and Collaboration
Gregory S. Cootsona, Ph.D., President-Elect and Program Chair
About the Conference
In light of our deeply polarized times, the American Academy of Religion, Western Region (AAR/WR) invites scholars, practitioners, educators, and community leaders to submit proposals for its Annual Conference. This year's theme is Moving Beyond Boundaries and Silos Toward Interconnection. It reflects AAR/WR's foundational commitment to inter-religious, inter-disciplinary, and inter-generational dialogue.
Across academic disciplines, religious communities, and generations, we find ourselves separated by walls of assumed difference, entrenched institutional structures, and the echo chambers of siloed discourse. And yet there is a growing hunger, among scholars and seekers alike, for approaches that build connections rather than reinforce divisions, that illuminate what we share across traditions and fields of inquiry, and that honor the wisdom present at every stage of life. Too often, it has to be said, scholars work in their separated worlds of scholarship that often reinforce divisions. But AARWR is, by its nature, created to move toward connection and integration.
Co-hosting the conference at the Graduate Theological Union and the Pacific School of Religion embodies the theme, since the GTU is a consortium of theological schools, centers, and institutes spanning Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and other traditions that share faculty, library resources, and cross-registration. GTU’s design dissolves the kind of religious and disciplinary silos this call critiques, making it an appropriate setting to ask how scholars and communities can engage difference generously rather than retreat into separate worlds of discourse. In gathering at a place built on inter-religious and interdisciplinary collaboration, AARWR situates its conversation about interconnection in an institution that has long modeled exactly the aspiration of this call.
In sum, this conference calls us to ask: What does it mean to move beyond the silos that confine our scholarship, our religious communities, our relationships across generations, and other boundaries that we can name? How do we cultivate genuine interconnection—not by erasing difference, but by engaging it more honestly, generously, and creatively?
Thematic Areas
We welcome submissions that engage with the conference theme across — and between — the following three interconnected dimensions:
1. Inter-Religious Engagement
Religious traditions have long been both sources of division and wellsprings of wisdom about human solidarity. Proposals in this area might explore:
2. Inter-Disciplinary Scholarship
The most pressing questions of our time resist containment within any single academic discipline. We encourage submissions that cross conventional scholarly boundaries, including:
3. Inter-Generational Dialogue
The siloing of generations—in scholarship, religious institutions, and civic life—impoverishes all involved. Proposals in this area might address:
Intergenerational transmission of religious and cultural heritage
In light of our deeply polarized times, the American Academy of Religion, Western Region (AAR/WR) invites scholars, practitioners, educators, and community leaders to submit proposals for its Annual Conference. This year's theme is Moving Beyond Boundaries and Silos Toward Interconnection. It reflects AAR/WR's foundational commitment to inter-religious, inter-disciplinary, and inter-generational dialogue.
Across academic disciplines, religious communities, and generations, we find ourselves separated by walls of assumed difference, entrenched institutional structures, and the echo chambers of siloed discourse. And yet there is a growing hunger, among scholars and seekers alike, for approaches that build connections rather than reinforce divisions, that illuminate what we share across traditions and fields of inquiry, and that honor the wisdom present at every stage of life. Too often, it has to be said, scholars work in their separated worlds of scholarship that often reinforce divisions. But AARWR is, by its nature, created to move toward connection and integration.
Co-hosting the conference at the Graduate Theological Union and the Pacific School of Religion embodies the theme, since the GTU is a consortium of theological schools, centers, and institutes spanning Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and other traditions that share faculty, library resources, and cross-registration. GTU’s design dissolves the kind of religious and disciplinary silos this call critiques, making it an appropriate setting to ask how scholars and communities can engage difference generously rather than retreat into separate worlds of discourse. In gathering at a place built on inter-religious and interdisciplinary collaboration, AARWR situates its conversation about interconnection in an institution that has long modeled exactly the aspiration of this call.
In sum, this conference calls us to ask: What does it mean to move beyond the silos that confine our scholarship, our religious communities, our relationships across generations, and other boundaries that we can name? How do we cultivate genuine interconnection—not by erasing difference, but by engaging it more honestly, generously, and creatively?
Thematic Areas
We welcome submissions that engage with the conference theme across — and between — the following three interconnected dimensions:
1. Inter-Religious Engagement
Religious traditions have long been both sources of division and wellsprings of wisdom about human solidarity. Proposals in this area might explore:
- Comparative theology and shared ethical frameworks across religious traditions
- Interfaith practices of dialogue, hospitality, and collaborative action
- The role of religious communities in addressing social fragmentation and polarization
- Sacred texts and hermeneutical approaches that cross traditional boundaries
- Mystical and contemplative traditions as sites of inter-religious encounter
- Interfaith responses to ecological crisis, displacement, and systemic injustice
2. Inter-Disciplinary Scholarship
The most pressing questions of our time resist containment within any single academic discipline. We encourage submissions that cross conventional scholarly boundaries, including:
- Intersections of religious studies, philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences
- Humanities and STEM dialogues around questions of meaning, ethics, and human flourishing
- Religious studies in conversation with environmental science, AI, public health, or political theory
- Methodological innovations in qualitative and community-based research
- Pedagogical approaches that foster integrative and boundary-crossing inquiry
- The role of the arts, literature, and media in advancing cross-disciplinary understanding
3. Inter-Generational Dialogue
The siloing of generations—in scholarship, religious institutions, and civic life—impoverishes all involved. Proposals in this area might address:
Intergenerational transmission of religious and cultural heritage
- Emerging voices in theology and religious scholarship: early-career and student perspectives
- Mentorship, apprenticeship, and collaborative knowledge-making across age cohorts
- Generational shifts in spiritual practice, institutional affiliation, and religious identity
- Youth activism, the wisdom of elders, and the renewal of communities of faith
- Technologies, digital culture, and the challenge of bridging generational divides
Last Updated: June 30, 2026