Annual Meetings
The society's annual meetings are held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion. Please consult the AAR web site for details as to location, housing, and the like.
The format of our meetings typically consists of two sessions, Friday evening and Saturday morning, with a business meeting (open to all members) in the final half hour of the Saturday morning session.
The society’s 2008 Annual Meeting will be held in Chicago, Illinois, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. This year, we are co-sponsoring two sessions on Sunday with AAR sections.
2008 Annual Meeting Program
Friday, October 31
7:00-9:00pm, CHT-Joliet
AAR Program: M31-414
Constructing and Crossing Religious Boundaries in South Asia: A Discussion with International Visiting Scholars
Amy Allocco, Emory University, Presiding
Panelists
Tissa Balasuriya, OMI, Centre for Society and Religion, Colombo
Dominique-Sila Khan, Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Jaipur
K. Srinivasan, Vivekananda College, Chennai
Paul M. Collins, University of Chichester, Respondent
Saturday, November 1
7:30-8:45am, PH-PDR 4
AAR Program: M1-4
Board Meeting
Saturday, November 1
9:00-11:30am, PH-PDR 4
AAR Program: M1-114
9:00-11:00am, Panel Discussion
Female Authority and Religious Power in Hindu Traditions: A Reappraisal of Grace Jantzen's Power, Gender, and Christian Mysticism
John Thatamanil, Vanderbuilt University , Presiding
David Buchta, University of Pennsylvania
An Honorary Male or an Honorary Non-female? Baladeva Vidyabhusana on Gargi VacaknaviTracy Sayuki Tiemeier, Loyola Marymount University
Engendering the "Mysticism" of the AlvarsMichelle Voss Roberts, Rhodes College
Power, Gender, and the Classification of a Kashmir Saiva MysticAntoinette E. DeNapoli, Emory University
"Crossing over the Ocean of Existence": "Mystical Experience" and Religious Authority amongst the Female Hindu Sadhus of Rajasthan
Ella Johnson, University of St. Michael's College, Respondent
This panel seeks broad audience participation. Panelists will make brief remarks based on papers that will be made available in advance on HCac, the society's listserv, and audience members will then be invited to join in the discussion.
To get copies (after Oct. 15), please email: reid.locklin@utoronto.ca.
11:00-11:30, Business Meeting
Corinne Dempsey, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Presiding
Sunday November 2
9:00-11:30am, CHT-Conference Room 4F
Co-Sponsored with History of Christianity Section
AAR Program: A2-107
Possession among Christians in India: Issues of Authenticity, Authority, and Identity
Catherine Cornille, Boston College, Presiding
Will Sweetman, University of Otago
The Cessation of the Oracles: Authenticity and Authority in Missionary Reports of Possession in IndiaEliza Kent, Colgate University
Syncretism and Sin: The Yuyomayan Sect in Colonial KeralaMathew N. Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross
Distinguishing between Hindu and Catholic Exorcism in a North Indian VillageKristin Bloomer, University of Hawaii
Possession: Syncretic and Somatic Semantics
Frederick M. Smith, University of Iowa, Respondent
Sunday, November 2
5:00-6:30pm, CHT-Conference Room 4F
Co-Sponsored with Anthropology of Religion Group
AAR Program: A2-313
Complicating Indian Christian Identities amid Competition, Conflict and Colonialism
Rebecca Sachs Norris, Merrimack College, Presiding
Kristin Bloomer, University of Hawaii
O Mother: Problems of IdentityCorinne Dempsey, University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point
Messing with Political and Religious Empire: The Suffering Nun and the Drunken Priest of Indian and Irish FolkloreChad M. Bauman, Butler University
Reporting Violence: Media Accounts of Hindu-Christian Violence in Orissa and Beyond
Eliza Kent, Colgate University, Respondent
Past Annual Meetings
2007 San Diego, California
2006 Washington, D.C.
2005 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2004 San Antonio, Texas
2003 Atlanta, Georgia
2002 Toronto, Ontario
2001 Denver, Colorado
2000 Nashville, Tennessee
1999 Boston, Massachusetts
1998 Orlando, Florida
1997 San Francisco, California
1996 New Orleans, Louisiana
1995 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1994 Chicago, Illinois