What is the AAR?

It would be fascinating — and the subject of a book, not a blog post — to trace the ways in which this professional organization has been regarded through its long history by the members of the guild … as well as by its members-in-training. But for most students in 2007, the question: “What is the AAR?” sooner or later means: “How can the AAR help my career?” Eventually, you get the hang of the circus they call the Annual Meeting; and you get used to the large quantities of (recycled) paper and (recycled?) electrons sent your way from the mysterious AAR headquarters; and the way you think about the AAR starts to run along a couple of standard tracks.

1. Present papers: get exposure.
2. Meet people: build your network.
3. Look and apply for jobs: stop being a student.
4. For the highly committed (or crazy) among us, deepen your involvement: chair a session, join a task force, write a newsletter column.

All of these are important ways in which the AAR fulfills its purpose; indeed, the AAR offers opportunities of many other kinds to get professional exposure, establish a professional network, find professional information, and render professional service. That’s why it’s worth knowing more about how the AAR is organized: how the board works, who’s on the staff, what the committees do, and which region you’re in.

In addition to all this, the AAR does something perhaps less tangible but arguably as important. Insofar as it fosters excellence in the academic study of religion, it raises the public profile of the field and contributes to the public recognition of its relevance. So we can see the AAR not just in terms of the “internal” advantages and services characteristic of a full-fledged professional organization, but also in terms of its “external” role as a key public mediator of critical — critical in several senses! — reflection on religion. And that, too, is a way that the AAR can help our careers.