Coming Out Religiously

Religion, the Public Sphere, and Religious Identity Formation

REA Annual Meeting 2013

8-10 November, Boston, Massachusetts

REA2013 Schedule

Thursday, November 7

12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Pre-Conference Meeting and Outing to Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI)

6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.       REA:APPRRE Board Meeting

Friday, November 8

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.       Exhibits and Bookstore

8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.        Registration

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.       REA:APPRRE Board meeting continues

11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.
• New Members Orientation
• Moderators Meeting

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.     Religious Education Journal Editorial Board (Meeting & Lunch)

1:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.         Conference Opening by Program Chair Siebren Miedema

1:10 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.          Plenary #1        Boston: A Storied Place
Keynote speaker: Marshall Ganz, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
Chair:  Susanne Johnson

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.        Break

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.        Breakout Sessions I  (RIGs, Colloquia, Workshops)
Including a Horizons Session related to the new REA Book Series in which authors receive feedback from experienced writers on book proposals to be submitted for the Horizons Series.  Chair: Jack Seymour

4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.         Break

5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.         Plenary #2         Overcoming Religious Illiteracy
Keynote speaker: Professor Diane L. Moore, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
Responding: Charles R. Foster, Emeritus, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Chair: Mary Hess, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, US

Evening Free for Dinner Locally

9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.         Video Documentary: “Visionary Thinkers about the Future” (hosted by Hanna Markus)
What do visionary philosophers and writers think about our future in a rapidly changing world? This issue is discussed with, among others, philosophers Charles Taylor and Susan Neiman, political scientist Ian Buruma, Qur’an scholar Nasr Abu Zayd, poet Antjie Krog and chief rabbi and philosopher Jonathan Sacks. A course in world citizenship.

Saturday, November 9

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.        Exhibits and Bookstore

7:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.           PhD Student Breakfast – “Forming Your Teaching Persona”
Guest Speakers:      Margaret Ann Crain, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Joyce Mercer, Virginia Theological Seminary

7:45 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.           Task Forces

  • AANARE (Asians & Asian North Americans in Religious Education)
    Arch Wong, convener
  • Black Experience
  • History of REA
    Jonathan LeMaster-Smith, convener
    Session will include a presentation by former archivist Barney Kathan, “The National Council on Religion and Public Education, 1971-1994.”
  • Peace & Justice
    Harold (Bud) Horell, convener
    Group will discuss how to sponsor or co-sponsor an activity or event at the 2014 REA Annual Meeting in Chicago that highlights the importance of education for peace and justice as a constitutive dimension of religious education.
  • REA/APRRE Senior Think Tank (new)
    Bob O’Gorman, convener
    Senior members devoted to research and advocacy on the state and future of religious education. This first gathering will discuss focus, scope and procedures. Open to any and all members who self describe as “Seniors in the Field.”
  • Technology Advisory Committee
    Mary Hess, convener
    For anyone who has hopes and dreams about technology and REA:APPRRE.
  • Schools
    Matthew Geiger, convener

The taskforces are strongly encouraged to take an interreligious focus.

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Plenary #3      For Civic Good: On the Teaching of Religion in U.S. Schools
Professor Walter Feinberg, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, US
Responding: Mai-Anh Le Tran, Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, US
Chair: Jack Seymour, Garret-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL, US

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.       Break

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.      Poster Session (posters will remain on display until 10:00 p.m.)

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.     Breakout Sessions II    (RIGs, Colloquia, Workshops)

12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.        REA Community Luncheon (Chair: President Yolanda Smith)

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Plenary # 4: Theology, Theory, and Practice of Just Peacemaking
Presenter: Tom Porter, Executive Director of JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation, The United Methodist Church
Responding: Kevin Sandberg, Fordham University, Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, New York City
Chair: Leah Gunning Francis, Eden Theological Seminary, St Louis, MO, US

3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.        Break

3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.         Breakout Sessions III    (RIGs, Colloquia, Workshops)

4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.        Break

5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.        Reception with Cash Bar and Small Snacks

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.         Banquet (Master of Ceremony: Siebren Miedema)

7:00 p.m. – 7:05 p.m.         Celebration of the first book to be published in the Horizons Series (Jack Seymour)

7:20 p.m. – 7:35 p.m.         Memorials (Kathy Wining and Leah Gunning-Francis)

7:40 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.         William Rainey Harper Award, Laudations and Speaker
Laureate: Professor Robert (Bob) Jackson, Warwick University, UK
Chair: Charles R. Foster, Chair, Harper Committee

9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.       Jazz/Dixieland Music by Garden St Six and Poetry Reading by Participants (Cash Bar & Snacks)

Sunday, November 10

7:00 a.m. – 7:40 a.m.         Catholic Mass

7:45 a.m. – 8:25 a.m.         Meditative moment with contributions of participants from several religions and worldviews   (Coordinated by Siebren Miedema and Ina ter Avest)

8:30 a.m. – 9.45 a.m.         Breakout Session IV   (RIGs, Colloquia, Workshops)

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.        Refreshment Break

10:15 a.m. – 11: 00 a.m.
Plenary #5: Presidential Address       Coming out religiously! Religion, the Public Sphere and Religious Identity Formation
Siebren Miedema, VU University Amsterdam, NL
Chair: Mai-Anh Le Tran

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.        REA:APPRRE Business Meeting

12:30 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.       Closing by Program Chair Siebren Miedema

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