We are pleased to invite AAR and SBL attendees to our second Exploratory Session on “Maternal Agency and Choice: Raising Children in or against Religion/s“, taking place this Saturday, November 23, at the 2024 AAR Annual Meeting, in San Diego.
🗓️ When: Saturday, November 23, 2024
⏰ Time: 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM (Pacific Time)
📍 Where: Hilton Bayfront, HB-Aqua Salon AB
👁️🗨️ Look us up in the AAR program as session A23-215.
This roundtable explores maternal agency, choice, and children’s upbringing within or against religious frameworks. Although maternal agency (mothers’ ability to make autonomous decisions that shape their children’s lives) is a crucial aspect of parenting, it is significantly influenced by religious beliefs and practices on maternal agency. For many mothers, religion is a guiding force in shaping decisions regarding themselves and their children, from moral teachings to ritual participation and community engagement. For others, religion poses challenges, constrains their agency, and prompts questions about autonomy and freedom of choice. Contributors will share perspectives and empirical research on the dynamics of navigating the intersection of motherhood and religious norms. Within a framework centered on matricentric feminist approaches, they explore the experiences of mothers who grapple with the tensions between observing religious traditions and asserting autonomy in child-rearing in several religious contexts, past and present, including Antiquity, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Daoism.
This session, organized and presided by Pascale Engelmajer and me, will feature insights from five panelists (Giulia Pedrucci, Claire Wolfteich, Anna Hennessey, Sophea Seng and Cara Rock-Singer), followed by a general discussion. We would also like to take this opportunity to discuss our proposal to establish a new AAR Unit, building on five years of fruitful collaborations that include pre-conference workshops, exploratory sessions, and publications. Your support for this proposal would be greatly appreciated. To contribute, please complete the brief online form (General Letter of Feedback: Proposed Program Unit) directly on the AAR website.
Please note, you do not need to be a current AAR/SBL member or attend the 2024 AAR meeting to complete this form. When filling it out, kindly list the Name of Proposed Unit as: Motherhood and Religions.
If you would like more information about this initiative, we encourage you to attend our Exploratory Session or reach out to us via email (details below). Feel free to share this invitation with colleagues who might be interested.
We look forward to seeing many of you in San Diego at the Hilton Bayfront, Aqua Salon AB, at 12:30 PM this Saturday. Wishing you safe travels!
Florence Pasche Guignard (florence.pasche-guignard@ftsr.ulaval.ca), Université Laval
Pascale Engelmajer (pengelma@carrollu.edu), Carroll University