CFP Due Date Extension>November 30
AAR-WR
Annual Conference
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
March 13-15, 2026
President's Message
Roberta Sabbath
Whether as a first timer or a frequenter, if you are visiting this American Academy of Religion-Western Region website, you are comfortable with intellectually stimulating scholars, innovators, and scholarship. For that alone, we welcome you!
Our grist is discussion, intertextuality, and intersections. I echo the words of media pioneer Red Burns. “You will find yourself wearing the ill-fitting clothes of someone else’s world…dining on the strange food of someone else’s thought….And, if you permit yourself the intellectual curiosity to explore your differences as you would explore a new city,” then welcome to our world of the American Academy of Religion-Western Region (AAR/WR).
We are the largest of American Academy of Religion’s regional organizations with over 700 members and have the most diverse membership. In addition, AAR/WR has the most units and the most diverse units of all the AAR regional organizations.
AAR/WR is a regional organization associated with the non-profit, AAR. In 1992, AAR/WR and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)/PCR, established the Western Commission for the Study of Religion (WECSOR) as a non-profit organization to coordinate their annual meetings. The AAR/WR ran its annual meetings within this structure up to 2012. Discussions between the leadership of the two regional organizations led them to conclude that the interests and the needs of their respective national organizations were better served if they ran their annual conferences independently. To that end WESCOR was dissolved and the two organizations became separate organizations through their national offices. The year 2013 was the first year that AAR/WR and SBL/PCR ran separate conferences in different venues. On our website, AAR/WR maintains a record of its past conferences, including conference themes, plenary speakers, and programs.
Several university campuses have hosted our conferences in recent years including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of California, Davis, University of Arizona, and Arizona State University. We welcome students presenting for the first time, artists creating works related to religious topics, and scholars developing their arguments for future publications.
AAR/WR launched my academic career and gave me the confidence that my voice mattered. Conference scholarship and organizational friendships have all helped me refine my intellectual pursuits and passions.
In that same spirit of challenge, risk-taking, and possibility, we all welcome you to our world of American Academy of Religion-Western Region. We welcome your commitment to make our organization more vibrant, relevant, and supportive.
Roberta Sabbath
Assistant Professor-in-Residence
English Department
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Our grist is discussion, intertextuality, and intersections. I echo the words of media pioneer Red Burns. “You will find yourself wearing the ill-fitting clothes of someone else’s world…dining on the strange food of someone else’s thought….And, if you permit yourself the intellectual curiosity to explore your differences as you would explore a new city,” then welcome to our world of the American Academy of Religion-Western Region (AAR/WR).
We are the largest of American Academy of Religion’s regional organizations with over 700 members and have the most diverse membership. In addition, AAR/WR has the most units and the most diverse units of all the AAR regional organizations.
AAR/WR is a regional organization associated with the non-profit, AAR. In 1992, AAR/WR and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)/PCR, established the Western Commission for the Study of Religion (WECSOR) as a non-profit organization to coordinate their annual meetings. The AAR/WR ran its annual meetings within this structure up to 2012. Discussions between the leadership of the two regional organizations led them to conclude that the interests and the needs of their respective national organizations were better served if they ran their annual conferences independently. To that end WESCOR was dissolved and the two organizations became separate organizations through their national offices. The year 2013 was the first year that AAR/WR and SBL/PCR ran separate conferences in different venues. On our website, AAR/WR maintains a record of its past conferences, including conference themes, plenary speakers, and programs.
Several university campuses have hosted our conferences in recent years including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of California, Davis, University of Arizona, and Arizona State University. We welcome students presenting for the first time, artists creating works related to religious topics, and scholars developing their arguments for future publications.
AAR/WR launched my academic career and gave me the confidence that my voice mattered. Conference scholarship and organizational friendships have all helped me refine my intellectual pursuits and passions.
In that same spirit of challenge, risk-taking, and possibility, we all welcome you to our world of American Academy of Religion-Western Region. We welcome your commitment to make our organization more vibrant, relevant, and supportive.
Roberta Sabbath
Assistant Professor-in-Residence
English Department
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2026 Conference Theme
Religion, Technology, and Innovation
Alexander W. Marcus, Ph.D., President Elect and Program Chair
Religion is often seen as a conservative force in the face of rapidly-developing technologies. Yet, as both scholars of religion and practitioners know, religious thought and practice are necessarily in dialogue with the world and can also serve as catalysts for transformation or reference points for negotiating the intersections of tradition and innovation. Religious texts and rituals have always served as sources of meaning that anchor and frame our relationships with technological progress. And the field of Religious Studies, in turn, inevitably intersects with the pressing issues of a given era -- shaped by, and at times shaping, the technological, economic, and social forces around us.
The AAR Western Region has long championed diversity in academic expression and activity, fostering a community where multiple voices, traditions, and methodologies are not only welcomed but celebrated. Our annual gathering is a testament to this legacy, providing a space for robust scholarly exchange. Our theme seeks to balance optimism about the future with a sober awareness of the ethical and spiritual challenges that innovation brings.
Responding to feedback from previous year’s participants, we invite proposals that expand conversations beyond established canons. We seek contributions that explore both historical and emerging forms of religiosity as they engage with societal innovation, including those that challenge conventional boundaries or arise from unexpected contexts. We encourage submissions that push the envelope of what academic presentations can look like, whether through performance, media, or other innovative forms.
We furthermore invite critical examination of the many intersections between religion and contemporary innovation. How have religious communities historically responded to technological and social change -- sometimes resisting, sometimes adapting, sometimes embracing? How do religious teachings grapple with challenges to traditional views of the human being (such as ground-breaking and increasingly pervasive forms of artificial intelligence), or with Marshall McLuhan’s enduring insight that “the medium is the message”? In what ways can technology generate its own spiritualities, or offer alternatives to traditional religious practice? How are our understandings of community and individuality being reshaped by digital life, and what role might sabbath-like praxis, or other forms of counter-cultural religious expression, play in response? How is Religious Studies itself being transformed, and how might our discipline contribute to these inquiries inside and outside of the classroom?
We are especially interested in papers/presentations that address the ethical and social implications of these issues, including how they intersect with cultural and socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, race, and differing ability. We welcome all perspectives, including those not yet represented in our ongoing conversation.
We look forward to continuing our tradition of critical inquiry, creative expression, and communal learning. On behalf of the AAR-WR leadership, I invite you to join us in exploring the rich and complex terrain where religion, technology, and innovation meet.
Alexander W. Marcus
President Elect & Program Chair
Belzberg Family and Jewish Federation of Edmonton Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies
Department of History, Classics, and Religion
University of Alberta
The AAR Western Region has long championed diversity in academic expression and activity, fostering a community where multiple voices, traditions, and methodologies are not only welcomed but celebrated. Our annual gathering is a testament to this legacy, providing a space for robust scholarly exchange. Our theme seeks to balance optimism about the future with a sober awareness of the ethical and spiritual challenges that innovation brings.
Responding to feedback from previous year’s participants, we invite proposals that expand conversations beyond established canons. We seek contributions that explore both historical and emerging forms of religiosity as they engage with societal innovation, including those that challenge conventional boundaries or arise from unexpected contexts. We encourage submissions that push the envelope of what academic presentations can look like, whether through performance, media, or other innovative forms.
We furthermore invite critical examination of the many intersections between religion and contemporary innovation. How have religious communities historically responded to technological and social change -- sometimes resisting, sometimes adapting, sometimes embracing? How do religious teachings grapple with challenges to traditional views of the human being (such as ground-breaking and increasingly pervasive forms of artificial intelligence), or with Marshall McLuhan’s enduring insight that “the medium is the message”? In what ways can technology generate its own spiritualities, or offer alternatives to traditional religious practice? How are our understandings of community and individuality being reshaped by digital life, and what role might sabbath-like praxis, or other forms of counter-cultural religious expression, play in response? How is Religious Studies itself being transformed, and how might our discipline contribute to these inquiries inside and outside of the classroom?
We are especially interested in papers/presentations that address the ethical and social implications of these issues, including how they intersect with cultural and socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, race, and differing ability. We welcome all perspectives, including those not yet represented in our ongoing conversation.
We look forward to continuing our tradition of critical inquiry, creative expression, and communal learning. On behalf of the AAR-WR leadership, I invite you to join us in exploring the rich and complex terrain where religion, technology, and innovation meet.
Alexander W. Marcus
President Elect & Program Chair
Belzberg Family and Jewish Federation of Edmonton Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies
Department of History, Classics, and Religion
University of Alberta