2026 NetVUE Gathering at the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting Is Citizenship a Vocation? Loyalty, Protest, Advocacy

Scriptural Reasoning and/as Vocational Discernment (Boston, 2025)

This NetVUE gathering considered how educators in the field of religious studies and theology might consider and make use of the practice of Scriptural Reasoning (SR) to bring our undergraduate students into conversations about differing religious traditions, healthy forms of disagreement, and mutual support. The keynote speaker was David Ford, formerly Regius Professor of Theology at the University of Cambridge; the event also included a series of panels featuring the Scriptural Reasoning theorists and practitioners.

Nonviolence and/as Vocation (San Diego, 2024)

This NetVUE gathering provided an opportunity for teachers and scholars in the field of religious studies to explore the ways that their classroom teaching and their research agendas can become sites for thinking through critical issues relating to violence and nonviolence. As our students explore and discern their own vocations, what are our responsibilities for helping them do so in ways that step away from an easy reliance on violence (broadly defined)? As participants discussed last year in our gathering on “Vocation and/as the Work of Our Hands,” our work in theology, scripture, and religious studies is certainly focused on the life of the mind, and sometimes of the soul; but it also affects, and is affected by, our bodily presence in the world. Taking a cue from this year’s AAR theme “Violence, Nonviolence, and the Margins,” participants considered the degree to which scholars of religious studies and theology can help students pursue their efforts at vocational exploration and discernment in dialogue with commitments to nonviolence.

Vocation and/as the Work of Our Hands (San Antonio, 2023)

This NetVUE gathering provided an opportunity for teachers and scholars in the field of religious studies to explore the ways that their classroom teaching and their research agendas can become sites for developing and implementing practices to help undergraduate students explore and discern their many callings in life. Our work in theology, scripture, and religious studies is certainly focused on the life of the mind, and sometimes of the soul; but it also affects, and is affected by, our bodily presence in the world. Taking a cue from 2023’s AAR theme “La Labor de Nuestras Manos,” we considered the degree to which scholars of religious studies and theology can help students understand their efforts at vocational exploration and discernment in practical as well as theoretical ways: as the work of the hands, as much as the mind and soul and heart.

Vocation and Catastrophe (Denver, 2022)

Over the last few years, the world has experienced a global health pandemic, extreme polarization along lines of race and class, an increase in armed violence, and a surge of climate-related disasters. How have these events and trends altered conversations with undergraduate students about vocation and calling? How are students, staff, and faculty members affected by a sense of impending catastrophe? This event aligns with the American Academy of Religion’s 2022 theme (“Religion and Catastrophe”) and builds on NetVUE gatherings at AAR/SBL meetings in 2019 and 2021 (focusing on interreligious conversations and issues of justice). As always, the event included panel presentations, book discussions, and interactive conversations, as well as opportunities for socializing and networking. Attendees of the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting were invited to arrive in Denver a day or two early for this pre-conference gathering.

Religion and Justice Issues in the Undergraduate Classroom (San Antonio, 2021)

Faculty members and scholars in theology and religious studies gathered to explore the ways that their undergraduate classrooms can become sites for deeper conversations about issues of justice. These conversations often involve matters of vocational reflection and discernment, focusing both on the students’ individual lives and on the various communities of which they are a part. Attention was given to the relationships among religion, justice, and vocation—not only on a theoretical level, but also in terms of classroom resources, pedagogical approaches, and practical ways to address potential obstacles to conversation. The event included discussion of immigration, incarceration, and environmental justice, as well as response to Jason Mahn’s Neighbor Love through Fearful Days (Fortress, 2021).

Vocation, Teaching, and Religious Studies (San Diego, 2019)

Faculty members and scholars in religious studies gathered to discuss the role played by issues of vocation, meaning, and purpose in the field of religion. Attention was given to the wide range of faith traditions and life stances that are addressed in the religious studies classroom. Speakers included contributors to the 2019 books Interreligious/Interfaith Studies: Defining a New Field and Hearing Vocation Differently: Meaning, Purpose, and Identity in the Multi-Faith Academy.

New Scholarly Resources on Vocation (Boston, 2017)

Even though the language of vocation and calling has deeply theological (and even specifically Christian) roots, it is being increasingly employed by a variety of academic institutions, including secular ones and those with multi-faith constituencies. The NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project represents one attempt to think through the impact of this language, drawing on the work of scholars in theology, religious studies, philosophy, and related fields. This one-day gathering was designed to provide an academic setting in which to examine and discuss the Project’s three books, all of which were published or forthcoming from Oxford University Press.