Date: November 17-20, 2018

Venue: Denver, CO, US

Co-hosted by the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion, the Annual Meetings 2018 will be held November 17-20 in Denver, Colorado. With more than 1,200 academic sessions, and workshops, along with one of the world’s largest exhibits of books and digital resources for biblical studies, the Annual Meetings is one of the largest events of the year in the fields of biblical scholarship, religious studies and theology.

This Unit seeks to provide a forum for comprehensive scholarly discussion of the Qur’an, its commentaries, and its role in Muslim and world societies through a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. We particularly welcome student-scholars and scholars from all areas of the academy to help us achieve our goals of promoting an understanding of the Qur’an.

The Qur’an Unit explores all aspects of the Qur’an, its role in the lives of Muslims, its tradition of commentary, liturgical use, aesthetics and material forms, and its influence in the world generally.

Topics that were mentioned at the last annual meeting are:

The Qur’an and the Late Antique, the Qur’an and philosophy, Conceptions of time and history in the Qur’an, Liturgical uses of the Qur’an, Material culture and the Qur’an, Mystical letters and symbols in the Qur’an, Popular culture and the Qur’an, Reception history of the Qur’an, Regional issues and the Qur’an (e.g., the Qur’an in Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.), Ulum al-Qur’an, The Qur’an in the context of teaching the study of religion. This list of topics is meant as inspirational rather than limiting.

Together we propose an invited panel that focuses on Parody, Polemics and Wordplay through Scriptural Interpretation across religious communities in the (very) Late Ancient East and into Early Islam. Co-sponsored with the Quran Unit and the Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity Unit.

As a learned society and professional association of teachers and research scholars, the American Academy of Religion has about 9,000 members who teach in some 900 colleges, universities, seminaries, and schools in North America and abroad. The Academy is dedicated to furthering knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations. This is accomplished through Academy-wide and regional conferences and meetings, publications, programs, and membership services.

Source: aarweb.org