2005 SSSR Presidential Address: On Being a Community of Scholars—Practicing the Study of Religion

Given the opportunity to address this Society, I have chosen to reflect on the work we do together, especially as that work is displayed in our annual gathering. This gathering, like many of the events we study, is a ritual that intensifies and celebrates the “profane” work we do in “ordinary time.”1 It identifies us to others and to ourselves. And occasionally it allows us to see ourselves in a new light. From scattered locations around the globe, many know us only through our journal, but others—from time to time—participate in the fall meeting that renews and develops the intellectual and social world that defines our work. I have been a participant observer in these meetings for longer than I like to think about, and I have seen folkways worthy of any obscure cultural group. There are the initiation rituals of neophytes who have to deliver their first paper when they have just learned that their intellectual hero (or nemesis) is sitting in the back row. There are the magical rites performed by scholars who are sure that 20 pages can be delivered in 10 minutes. And there are the pecking orders that can be observed in hallway greetings.2 Exploring those folkways might be quite amusing, but my goal here is to take a step back to ask what all those rituals signify—Why does this group gather at all and what does this ritual occasion reveal about how the group is being transformed? In asking how we are being transformed, I have to confess to an agenda. Both in the observations that follow and in the form they take, I hope to embody and facilitate some of those changes. To state my hope quite clearly—the vitality of this community of scholars will best be fostered by bringing diverse perspectives to a common task. The form of this essay (and of the address on which it is based) is therefore intentional. I asked four friends to help me in reporting on the rituals of this gathering and in reflecting on the identity those rituals celebrate. While each is well-versed in the literatures behind the ideas they are presenting, I asked them to focus especially on what was presented at the meetings instead. Each of them is newer in this “tribe” than I and brings fresher ears to the task, and they represent diverse research interests and diverse ethnic identities. All of us are convinced that no single observer can stand alone to declare what is true about the world. We will come closer to understanding who we are by listening to multiple voices.