We are excited about our upcoming gathering at the AAR in
Atlanta! Our session is on Saturday, November 21, from 4:00 to 6:30pm in
Hilton-307.
This year’s session is titled “Religious Promotion and
Sacred Space in the American West.” The American West has long been known for
innovative forms of religious self-promotion from the miracle-working snake oil
salesman to the charismatic founders of new religious movements to the
well-coiffed stage preacher. The four papers that make up this session explore
how unique western spaces and sites have combined with religious self-promotion
and self-definition to create new and often contested forms of religious
practice.
As is the custom of the Group, all four papers will be
pre-circulated, and presenters will give only short points of entry into their
papers. This year, Prof. Sarah Pike
of California State University, Chico, will respond to the papers before
opening up the floor to lively Q & A. The papers will be available to AAR
members by November 1 here. (https://www.aarweb.org/aar-full-paper-submission-program)
Presenters and their paper titles:
Jenna
Gray-Hildenbrand, Middle Tennessee State University
“Religion, Fraud, and the American West: The ‘I AM’ Activity
and Defining the Limits of Religious Freedom”
Justin Doran,
University of Texas
“Bayou Revival: Houston as the Contact Zone between the New
South and the American West”
Megan Goodwin,
Bates College
“‘This Is Not About Religion’: The State of Texas v.
Yearning For Zion”
Angela Tarango,
Trinity University
Isaiah Ellis, University of North Carolina
“Hunting Buffalo in Oklahoma: Native American Casinos,
Sacred Land, and Portrayals of of Native Culture and Religion”
We hope to see you all at the meeting and hope that you can
stay for the business meeting afterward!
