Corey Sanderson, NMC Philosophy instructor, recently attended The American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. This professional development opportunity was funded by CIE. Here’s what Corey had to say about the experience: 

Please share details from a memorable keynote speaker, conference session, or something else notable from the event:

The conference theme was Religions and Violence so there was plenty to talk about. I attended a few sessions on Christian Nationalism and a few on Hindu Nationalism. One powerful session was on ‘New TV and Violence’ where the professors spoke about recent TV shows and how religious themes showed up in the way violence was portrayed in these shows (E.g. Fauda, Yellowjackets, Cobrai Kai).

How likely are you to recommend this opportunity to a colleague? 

Very Likely

Do you have any big takeaways that you’ll be applying to your pedagogy in the near future?

Yes! Lots of books and ideas to use in teaching Gen-Z students, especially on violence – such as adding a session to my Eastern Religions class about religious violence and looking more at violence in my two ethics classes.

Is there anything else you’d like CIE or your colleagues at NMC to know about this experience? 

There’s so much going on at this conference that you can only scratch the surface. The picture of the convention hall is the world’s largest religious bookstore (when all the publishers bring their resources to see). It takes many hours to see all the books! 🙂