Religions in the Latina/o Americas Unit

The Religions in Latina/o Americas Unit is interested in individual paper and pre-arranged panel proposals that advance interdisciplinary and theoretically innovative analyses of religiosities and spiritualities in the Latina/o/x Americas. This includes work focused on particular geographical locations within Latin America, Latin American diasporic communities in the United States and Canada, transnational and hemispheric studies that challenge state structured divisions, as well as thematic & theoretical work that engages Latina/o/x imaginaries. We welcome studies related to any time period across all disciplines and methodologies. Additionally, we are interested in paper and panel proposals related to the list of topics below, as well book panels, “new format sessions,” and emerging scholarship panels. We also seek individual paper proposals for our co-sponsored session. Please note: When submitting your proposal, please identify the proposal as either an INDIVIDUAL or PANEL proposal, and please indicate whether you would like to be considered for our co-sponsored panel or an emerging scholarship panel.

This year, we encourage submissions related to the presidential theme, LA LABOR DE NUESTRAS MANOS and papers that engage the location of San Antonio, Tejas/Texas.

In addition, we are especially interested in papers and panels that address the following topics in relation to religion in the Latina/o/e Americas and Latinx diasporic communities everywhere:

• Labor Histories and contemporary realities of labor in Texas
• Re-living and Re-thinking “Apocalypse” in the Context of the Americas: Resources for Embracing Our Uncertain Future
• New Religious Movements and latinx religion
• Eco-spiritualities and Eco-philosophies and in the Latinx Americas  
• Tejano Religion
• Borders, migration, Texas
• Religion, authoritarianism in Latin America
• The impact of COVID-19 in Latin America and on Latinx communities, as well as responses to the global pandemic
• Latinx futurisms
• Alternate temporalities, narratives of historicity, and conceptions of the relationship between time and space in Latina/o/e/x histories, presents, and futures
• Latina/o/e/x studies and communities and post-humanist thought
• Latina/o/e/x communities and climate change
• Critical archive studies
• The politics of translation
• Indigenous language studies, recovery, and preservation
• Embodiment/disembodiment, virtual space, and community
• African diasporic communities in the Latina/o/e/x Americas
• Indigenous communities, including transnational communities and connections
• Latinx and Latin American queer studies
• The Spanish speaking Caribbean and Latinx Caribbean communities in the US 

We also invite proposals for the following co-sponsored panel:

The Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society, Religion in the Latina/o Americas, and the Religion in the Americas program units invite proposals that explore the sociopolitical relevance of Brazilian Protestantism by engaging Protesting Poverty: Protestants, Social Ethics, and the Poor in Brazil by Raimundo Barreto (Baylor Press, 2022). In this watershed publication, Barreto contends that “progressive Evangélicx Christianity, a branch of Brazilian Christianity that combines charismatic spirituality and sociopolitical progressive action, offers valuable sources for Christian social ethics in contemporary Brazil” (publisher’s description). This session welcomes proposals that consider the implications of Protesting Poverty for our understanding of Latinx and Latin American religions.  We seek submissions that explore the transnational dimensions and material implications of a progressive Brazilian Protestant social ethic. Panelists should seek to highlight how religious communities develop and deploy liberative practices, strategies, or theories to contest global systems of exploitation.

Prearranged Panel Sessions

In addition to accepting INDIVIDUAL paper proposals, our unit will also consider PANEL proposals, which usually consist of 3-4 presenters, along with a moderator and a respondent. In addition to prearranged panel proposals related to our general call and areas of particular interest this year, we also encourage proposals for book panel sessions and emerging scholarship sessions.

Book Panel Sessions

These sessions work best when 2-3 authors work together to propose a panel with a single, overarching theme. Each panelist should submit an individual proposal that refers to the larger theme, and the panel as a whole should determine ahead of time who the respondent(s) will be. These "New Book" sessions are meant not merely to highlight the merits of each book, but, more substantially, to serve as springboards for a larger group discussion (i.e., What broader issues are raised by placing the books in conversation with one another?)

Emerging Scholarship Session

We encourage 1) doctoral students and recent Ph.D. graduates working in the area of the Latina/o Americas who 2) have never presented at the national AAR meeting to submit papers. To apply, upload your individual paper proposal in the AAR’s PAPERS system, explicitly labeling it as an "Emerging Scholarship” submission.

All participants accepted to the program must be current AAR members and must register for the Annual Meeting. Membership waivers are available to participants working outside the field of the study of religion or participants from developing nations. Contact the program Unit chair for more details on how to arrange a waiver.

Questions may be directed to the group's co-chairs.