Interested in shaping the regional conference?

The Southwest region of the American Academy of Religion invites proposals for the SWCRS regional conference, March 5-7, 2027 in Irving, Texas. We warmly encourage scholars (at all career stages) who work on religion in the Southwest region to submit proposals and to join us for a weekend of scholarly exchange, collegial conversation, and community. Also note that our meeting takes place in person. There are no virtual sessions.

Our theme for the 2027 conference is Religion and Power. This is an open call for all topics related to religion or theology, but we especially invite proposals that examine religion as both a source of power and a response to it, exploring how religious actors and communities shape, and are shaped by, the forces that structure human life. This year, we are also excited to welcome Dr. Laurel Schneider, President of the American Academy of Religion, as our plenary speaker.

Power shapes religious ideas, institutions, practices, and communities in a multitude of ways. It is exercised through authority, persuasion, ritual, knowledge, economics, politics, social relationships, and cultural influence, but it is also negotiated, resisted, shared, or transformed. We hope this theme encourages scholars to examine religion as both a source of power and a response to it, exploring how religious actors and communities shape and are shaped by the forces that structure human life.

We especially invite proposals that engage the conference theme by addressing questions such as:

• How do religious communities acquire, negotiate, wield, contest, or resist power?
• Who holds power within religious communities, and how is that power obtained, exercised, and maintained?
• Where do power dynamics shape religious expression, identity, or community?
• When is religion a source of influence, and when does it appear constrained or powerless?
• How do changing social, political, and cultural contexts reshape the relationship between religion and power?
• How can religion tap into the power of imaginative creation rather than reactive opposition?
• How do questions of power shape the academic study of religion, theological inquiry, or the work of scholars and educators?
• How is increased dependency on adjunct labor affecting power dynamics within academia?

We welcome historical, textual, ethnographic, philosophical, theological, and interdisciplinary approaches to these questions.

Special Areas of Interest

In addition to our usual program units, we invite proposals in three particular areas for this year:

• Plenary Conversation:We welcome proposals that engage themes raised by our plenary speaker, Dr. Laurel Schneider, President of the American Academy of Religion. Dr. Schneider invites you to imagine with her a future where our field(s) and region build on the power of convening. What’s working? Who is crafting new ways of convening? What are we not tapping into? What can we rebuild, or where can we build something new?
• Religion, Power, and the Southwest:Thinking specifically about our region, we are also interested in papers that consider regional concerns as they intersect with religion and power. For example, immigration and borderlands; Indigenous communities, religion and energy or the environment, church-state issues in Texas and neighboring states, public education, and other topics of regional significance.
• Teaching Religion and Power:How do questions of power shape the teaching and study of religion today? Considering ongoing AI challenges and opportunities, political tensions in the classroom, restrictions on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, and broader pressures on higher education, what pedagogical approaches are proving effective? How do issues of authority, expertise, and institutional power affect our work as scholars and educators? We welcome individual papers, panel proposals, and teaching-focused sessions that explore these questions.

Ongoing Proposal Opportunities

• Meet My Monograph:As a part of AAR-SW’s commitment to support regional scholarship and publication, we welcome suggestions for Meet My Monograph sessions featuring regional scholars and their new books. If you or a colleague has recently published, or has a forthcoming monograph, consider a proposal for this section.
• Undergraduate Students: Undergraduate proposals should include the name and contact information of a faculty advisor. Full papers are due by January 15, 2027. For questions about TAK/undergraduate proposals, please contact Andrew Lee (AAR-SW Vice President) at alee58@uco.edu.
• Graduate Students:We are also committed to creating a collaborative and supportive conference for Graduate Student scholarly development. We strongly encourage graduate students to propose papers and panels. We are exploring additional opportunities for graduate student mentorship, community, and professional development as part of this year’s conference.

For questions about the CFP or the conference, contact Cindy Dawson (AAR-SW Chief Regional Officer) at cdawson2@uh.edu or Marie Olson Purcell (AAR-SW President Elect) at mariep@smu.edu. For undergraduate/Theta Alpha Kappa questions, contact Andrew Lee (AAR-SW Vice President) at alee58@uco.edu.

Deadline: Proposals due October 1, 2026.

View past conference programs here.