PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS
Paper and proposal submissions are now open for the 2025 regional conference this May. Proposal submissions are due by April 1st, 2025, unless special arrangements are made directly with unit chairs.
Proposals should be submitted electronically using this form. (If you are unable to use the form, please email your proposal directly to the chairs of the program unit to which you wish to submit it for review.) Presentation or panel proposals should be NO LONGER than 400 words (unless indicated differently for a specific program unit). Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes in length to allow for fuller engagement. Discussion of presentations and questions typically follow each presentation. Participants with accepted proposals will be notified in early April.
All accepted presenters MUST register for the conference. Be advised: any presenter not registered will have their presentation automatically cancelled and will be omitted from the program.

Please choose one of the following program units for your proposal, or select "other" on the form and we will place your paper in a pre-existing session or organize a new session accordingly:

ARTS AND RELIGION
The Arts and Religion section is committed to exploring the relationship between creative expression and spiritual practice. We invite multiple perspectives, embodied passionate scholarship, and rich discussion about the ways in which the arts and spirituality contribute to a deeper understanding of the human condition.
Call for Papers
Our program unit is interested in all forms of spiritual, creative, and ritual work. We recognize and take seriously the many creative forms undertaken by human beings in pursuit of leading meaningful lives. This includes but is not limited to handiwork, the use of image, symbol, ritual, music, percussion, dance, poetry, theatre, myth, folklore and storytelling. We invite you to contemplate about how art is created and used and perceived in human society, especially in times of peril and struggle. Consider: How do people engage in the creative act in order to affirm their humanity, recover their dignity, and commemorate joy and grief with an aim towards healing? Interdisciplinary approaches and multimedia presentations as individual or panel proposals are welcome. We look forward to hearing from you.
For more information, contact the co-chairs: Octavio Carrasco, PhD (doctavioc@gmail.com)

ASIAN AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES
To promote scholarship in non-Western areas of religion and theology and to assess various comparative methods of investigation.
For more information, contact the chair: Nick Gier, University of Idaho (ngier006@gmail.com).

HEBREW BIBLE
The primary goal of the Hebrew Bible session is to foster study and interaction in the field, more specifically:
• To promote academic dialogue between scholars in the Pacific Northwest Region.
• To showcase and promote research in the Hebrew Bible.
• To advance the quality of research and writing in the area of Hebrew Bible by mentoring and recommending work for publication.
• To provide mentoring and opportunities for graduate students to present their work to the
Hebrew Bible session, thus incorporating new scholars into the greater goals of the SBL.
1. General Call for Papers: We welcome papers on any topic related to Hebrew Bible, with priority given to papers that deal with language and linguistics, wisdom literature, and prophetic literature. Early proposals are especially welcome with the goal of organizing a panel discussion for a regional scholar’s recent work and/or organizing a thematic topic session. Graduate students are required to send full copies of their papers for consideration.
2. Hebrew Bible Research Group on Dress 2022-2024: The Hebrew Bible unit announces the creation of third research group on the topic of dress in the Hebrew Bible. The work of the second research group on this topic is close to publication. The goal of this third group is going to be the sustained examination of the multivalent importance of clothing in ancient Israel. This group will work closely over the course of three years in the manner of a think tank. Each member of the group will undertake the investigation of a topic that s/he will select. Each member will share her his research with the rest of the group for peer review, brainstorming and feedback. The members of this group will meet during the Pacific Northwest SBL/AAR meeting. The minimum commitment time to this research group is two years.
Questions should be submitted directly to the chair: Antonios Finitsis, Pacific Lutheran
University (finitsak@plu.edu).

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY AND NORTH AMERICAN RELIGIONS
This program unit invites both historians of Christianity and scholars studying North American religions to present their research and engage in collegial discussion of their work. Review panels of selected new works in these fields are also included in the sessions. The section seeks to develop an ongoing dialog and network among participants.
Call for Papers
Papers are welcome in any area of the History of Christianity and North American Religions.
Proposals are especially invited on the following themes:
• Papers reflecting current research in the history of Christianity (any era).
• Papers related to the history and practice of North American religions.
• Papers related to churches and religious organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
For more information, contact the chair: Christopher Roberts (robertschristopher4@gmail.com).

MORMON STUDIES
Mormon Studies promotes the exploration of a wide range of topics relating to Mormonism. This section seeks to provide scholarly inquiry into Mormon history, culture, belief and practice, theology, scripture, and the role of Mormonism in contemporary politics. This section encourages the study of Mormonism from multiple disciplines and methodologies. This section will better equip those in the academy to teach on the subject of Mormonism and actively promotes opportunities for interfaith dialogue.
Papers are welcome in any area of Mormon Studies. We encourage papers from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives.
For more information, contact the co-chairs: Jenny Webb (jennywebb37@gmail.com) and
Amanda Buessecker (amandambuessecker@gmail.com).

NEW TESTAMENT AND THE WORLD OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY
This program unit strives to include a wide range of topics of interest to the study of early Christian writings and the world in which they developed. With this objective, we encourage explorations from researchers in archaeology, classics, late antiquity, and Christian texts (canonical and non-canonical), and we welcome disciplinary and interdisciplinary examinations that incorporate insights from the social sciences and humanities.
Call for Papers
This year our Program Unit will continue to work on our ongoing research, discussion, and publication project: Power and Authority in the Early Christian World. We had our first year for this project in 2021. The minimum commitment to this research group is two years as the objective is to provide two opportunities for discussion of all papers.
For more information, contact the co-chairs: Anne Moore, University of Calgary
(amoore@ucalgary.ca); Stan Helton (snhelton@abccampus.ca); and Ron Clark, Portland
Seminary (rclark@georgefox.edu).

RELIGION AND SOCIETY
Our section welcomes all papers related to ethics, contemporary social issues or events, and social scientific perspectives on religion. Recurring themes in our discussions include neuroscience, psychology of religious experience, demographic and cultural transitions, war and violence, science, and Speculative Fiction (SF).
Call for Papers
We are excited to announce our call for papers that address the phenomenon of community. How does religion and/or religious groups or individuals build community through the use of hospitality or diplomacy? Other topics could look at conundrums (phenomenon or issues that defy easy answers) to community. What constructs, religious, social, or cultural, create obstacles to community? How can religious or spiritual resources be engaged to overcome these obstacles? For more information, contact the co-chairs: Joseph Paxton, (joseph.paxton@cst.edu) and Bruce Hiebert, (brucehiebert@shaw.ca)

***RELIGION AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES WILL NOT BE MEETING THIS YEAR***

THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
The Theology and Philosophy of Religion Section exists to provide a forum for scholars to critically examine politics, scriptures, ethics, history, art, literature and/or culture from explicitly philosophical and theological perspectives. We welcome all perspectives and encourage the collegiality of frank and open dialogue between and among disciplinary areas.
Call for Papers
The Theology and Philosophy of Religion Section welcomes proposals for papers or panels concerning any aspect of theology and/or the philosophy of religion. Proposals may focus on any topic or issue.
In addition to the general call for papers, we would like to invite paper presentations that specifically consider the topic of “Friendship.”  We are also looking for papers exploring “Problematology” and the work of Belgian philosopher Michel Meyer.
Please note that all individual presentations will be limited to 15-20 minutes in order to allow time for questions and conversation immediately after the presentation.
For more information, contact the co-chairs: Norman Metzler (npjmetzler@gmail.com) and
Gilad Elbom (gilad.elbom@gmail.com)

WOMEN AND RELIGION
The Women and Religion unit invites individual papers and panel proposals from a variety of religious traditions that develop and utilize methods of interpretation and scholarship that centers the lived experiences of women-identified individuals and communities.
We invite papers addressing the following areas:
• The centering of women’s scholarship within a given religious tradition;
• Feminist, Womanist hermeneutics of scripture, theology, and/or spirituality;
• Historical revisionist reworkings of female religious figures;
• Women’s roles in places of worship throughout history; and
• The significance of women’s bodies in sacred text, sacred spaces, and sacred rites.
There is an opportunity to offer a joint session with Gender, Religion, Sexuality and Power, and we will gladly consider any papers that appear to bridge the two units.
For more information, contact the chair, Kristen Daley-Mosier (kdaleymosier@pm.me )

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EXPLORATORY SESSION ON TEACHING RELIGION

The Exploratory Session on Teaching Religion critically examines pedagogical theory and practice. We particularly value proposals that combine scholarship of teaching and learning with innovative teaching practices. We invite both individual paper proposals and proposals for fully developed roundtables or sessions.  

We invite proposals for individual papers and panel sessions that join innovative teaching practice with the scholarship of teaching and learning. Of particular interest this year are papers that might include teaching with/about AI (artificial intelligence), its effect on teaching religion, new approaches to assessment, and new models for co-teaching across disciplines. Preference will be given to presentation formats that model engaged, interactive, and experiential pedagogy.

For more information, contact the chair, Scott Starbuck (starbuck@gonzaga.edu)

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Exploratory Session on Experimental Exegesis​

To employ a predictable pun, the name of this session is open to interpretation. Aiming to explore and expand hermeneutical boundaries, we invite close readings of biblical literature and adjacent texts from experimental, experiential, or otherwise innovative perspectives. We also welcome papers that examine and evaluate existing attempts at new, unorthodox, potentially groundbreaking interpretations of biblical texts. To what extent are such interpretations conducive to a better understanding of God, humanity, the universe, biblical literature itself, and other related concepts? Please send paper proposals of approximately 400 words to Lauryn Stanfield (lstanfield22@georgefox.edu) and Gilad Elbom (gilad.elbom@oregonstate.edu). We value creativity and originality of thought.