APARRI 2011

The 2011 Annual Meeting of the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative

APARRI
Call for Papers

Here and There: Race, Religion, Law and Immigration

Dates:  August 3–5, 2011
McCormick Theological Seminary
Chicago, IL

APARRI is a community advancing the interdisciplinary study of Asian Pacific Americans and their religions. Through conferences, mentoring, and collaboration, APARRI promotes the professional development of scholars and the emerging field of Asian Pacific American religious studies. The APARRI conference began in 2000 among a group of doctoral students and early-career scholars of religion and theology who sought to develop a community of mutual support for the development of interdisciplinary scholarship on Asian Pacific American religion.  The conference continues this cross-disciplinary work by organizing concurrent sessions. Presenters are encouraged to share their research and works-in-progress with other APARRI participants by organizing panels, presenting papers, and/or by structuring small group dialogue sessions on an important topic of inquiry in the study of Asian North American and Pacific Island religions. Selected papers/sessions will be scheduled during the concurrent panels.

Entitled “Here and There: Race, Religion, Law and Immigration” the 2011 conference will be held August 3–5 on the campus of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL.  The conference will feature a plenary as well as concurrent sessions that showcase research-in-progress. Additionally sessions focusing on professionalization (“Research and Writing: Staying Productive and Sane” and “I got the Job: Now What?”) will be available for students and faculty.

Debates around immigration have become increasingly fraught in the U.S. and abroad.  The impact of these debates has affected the lives of Asian Americans in predictable and unexpected ways, especially when considerations about citizenship take into account religion, law, and race.  The 2011 Annual Meeting of the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) will explore the nexus of race, religion, law, and immigration through papers, working groups, and experimental keywords sessions.  Among the questions the meeting will consider are: How have changes in legal, civic, and cultural understandings of religion and race affected the formation of immigration policies in the U.S. and in other nations? What role have Asian American religious communities and traditions played in the fight for the rights of immigrants? How have race relations among Asian Americans and other racial and ethnic groups affected attitudes about immigration policies and religious affiliations?  What discourses about social justice have Asian American religious communities developed?  We invite working papers that will address these and related questions.

Deadline for Submissions:  June 1, 2011.
Email submissions to:  We encourage work in multiple and diverse religious contexts. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to Joe Cheah at jpcheah@aol.com
Acceptances will be sent out by June 15, 2011.