AAR Leadership

The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world’s largest association for scholars of religion. Kristy Slominski has been a member since 2006 and has attended Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. (2006), Chicago (2007), San Diego (2008), Montreal (2009), San Francisco (2011),  Chicago (2012), Baltimore (2013), San Diego (2014), and Atlanta (2015) as well as AAR Regional Meetings in the Midwestern, Western, and Southeast regions. In addition to presenting her research at Annual and Regional Meetings, she has also served the AAR in various capacities to contribute to the profession.

 LEADERSHIP POSITIONS and COMMITTEE SERVICE:

  • Student Director and member of the Board of Directors, AAR National, from December 2013 to December 2015.
    Elected by the general membership of the AAR. To read her election platform, click HERE.
  • Graduate Student Committee, AAR National, member from January 2010 to December 2013, chair from December 2013 to December 2015.
    As a member of this committee, Kristy Slominski organized and presided over a Special Topics Forum for the 2011 Annual Meeting on “Retooling for the New Job Market.” In 2012, she organized the Student Lounge Roundtable series, which included six roundtables, for the Annual Meeting. She also created a GSC Handbook to help orient new members and articulate the policies and procedures of the committee.
  •  Board of Directors, AAR Western Region, member from March 2010 to December 2013.
    As a voting board member, Kristy Slominski has helped to raise awareness about student member concerns and participated in the transition of the AAR-WR from its membership in the Western Commision for the Study of Religion (WECSOR) to its independent status with a new Operating Agreement.
  • Student Representative, AAR Western Region, elected two terms, 2010-2012 and 2012-2014.
    In this capacity, she has led a graduate student workshop on course design and started a new Section, entitled Graduate Student Professional Development. She also reported on student issues to the AAR Speaking of Students Newsletter, as well as to the AAR Graduate Student Committee. Since 2011, Slominski has been active in helping the GSC transition from a committee of nationally appointed members to one of regionally elected student representatives.
  • Unit Chair, Graduate Student Professional Development, AAR Western Region, 2012-2014.
  • Unit Chair, Nineteenth Century, AAR Western Region,  2009-2012.

PANEL MODERATOR (also known as “Presider”):

  • AAR National, Special Topics Forum “Retooling for the New Job Market,” 2012.
  • AAR National, Student Lounge Roundtable “Creating Syllabi Your Students Will Use,” 2012.
  • AAR National, Panel on “Queer Religious Bodies” for the Queer Theory and LGBT Studies in Religion Consulation, 2009.
  • AAR-Western Region, Panel on “Christian Frontiers in the American West” for the Nineteenth Century Section, 2010.