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http://www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Regions/Mid-Atlantic/call.asp

Mid-Atlantic Region

Call for Papers

Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting
March 27–28, 2008
Hyatt Regency New Brunswick
New Brunswick, NJ
 
We cordially invite you to submit proposals for the 2008 AAR Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting at our usual northern venue in New Brunswick, NJ. While we welcome rigorous proposals in any area of the academic study of religion, this year we are especially interested in proposals that address the theme Paradox as a Driving Force in the Religious Impulse. In this vein,papers might address one of many classic religious issues such as theodicy, free will and divine authority, fatalism and hope, repeated final comings, petitionary prayer, time and timelessness, apocalyptic irony, holy warfare, love and law, unconditional covenant, prophetic irreverence, explanation by indirection, exclusive inclusivity, multiplicity and simplicity, flexible canons, and other ways in which religion embodies and draws energy from apparently conflicting aims and ideologies. 

Our 2007 Baltimore conference included sessions on the academic study of religion, African religions, African-American religion, comparative and historical studies in religion, history of Christianity, philosophy of religion, religion and the arts, religion and psychology, religion and spirituality, religion in America, religions of Asia, religious ethics, religion and social science, study of Islam, study of Judaism, theology, and women and religion. You are also welcome and encouraged to propose new sessions, panel sessions, or paper sessions (see guidelines below).

Proposal Submission
Please send proposals by e-mail attachment to Natalie Houghtby-Haddon at drhsquared@gmail.com no later than November 1, 2007. You may submit no more than two proposals to the Program Committee. Since we review proposals as they arrive it is advantageous to send proposals as soon as possible.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Awards
As has become our custom, MAR–AAR will award $200 to the most innovative proposal for a group session (or panel) dealing with peace issues or women's studies; the deadline for submission is November 1, 2007. To help foster graduate student participation, the Executive Committee of the MAR–AAR will again award the Robert F. Streetman Prize of $200 for the best student paper presented by an AAR regional member. Those interested in the Streetman prize should submit their entire paper by November 1, 2007, and clearly indicate they are submitting the paper for prize consideration.

Preregistration
Online preregistration will be available in December. You will be notified when our preregistration is live. We hope you will take advantage of online preregistration since it saves a lot of on-site work for us!

Hotel Information
The Hyatt Regency New Brunswick will offer online hotel room registration as well. Again, we will notify you when the site is active. Alternatively you may call Hyatt at 800-233-1234 to reserve rooms. Please indicate that you are attending our conference. Discounted hotel rooms ($129) will be held until March 5, 2008. Since the normal room rate is $179 and only 40 discounted rooms have been reserved, we strongly encourage you to reserve rooms early.

Submission Guidelines

  1. Paper Proposals (250-500 words) should include full name, title, institution, phone number, fax number, e-mail, and mailing address. The proposal should state, as fully as possible, the proposal's purpose and how the argument will proceed. Provide enough context to show that you are aware of the basic literature in the field and summarize the argument of your presentation. An abstract of the paper (150 words) should also be included. Accepted abstracts will be posted online.
  2. Proposals for a Panel Session should include abstracts (150 words) and contact information for each individual participant. A “panel” is a session with one announced theme and a list of participants who address that theme but do not present separate formal papers.
  3. Proposals for a Paper Session should include the name of the designated session head and should include abstracts (150 words) and contact information for each individual participant. A session with separately arranged paper titles is considered a “paper” session.
  4. If you have not presented a paper before a learned society you must send the paper you plan to present (12 pages max) by November 1, 2007. In your cover letter please add any other information that may help us weigh your submission.
  5. You will have approximately 35 minutes to present your paper (whether by reading it or by interactive discussion) and to respond to questions. Since the average person reads one double-spaced, 10-font page, without notes, in 2.5 minutes, your paper should not exceed 12 double-spaced pages. This will allow a few minutes at the end for questions. Please do not exceed this limit.

We regret that we cannot supply any audiovisual equipment due to prohibitive rental costs so please plan accordingly. In lieu of audiovisual equipment, consider bringing photocopied handouts to your session.

For ongoing updated information please consult our website at www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Regions/Mid-Atlantic.

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