North American Association for the Study of Religion

ABOUT NAASR

The North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) was initially formed in 1985 by E. Thomas Lawson, Luther H. Martin, and Donald Wiebe, to encourage the historical, comparative, structural, theoretical and cognitive approaches to the study of religion among North American scholars; to represent North American scholars of religion at the international level; and to sustain communication between North American scholars and their international colleagues engaged in the study of religion.

In order to achieve these goals, NAASR has established annual meetings together with the American Academy of Religion (AAR) on the one hand, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) on the other; it is affiliated with the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) and it is the only organization from the United States that enjoys such affiliation; it regularly hosts regional, and co-hosts international, meetings; it has arranged for a variety of publications including a book series, conference volumes, its official quarterly journal, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, as well as an electronic newsletter sent to all members.

NAASR is incorporated in the state of Vermont and holds tax-free status.

A brief history of NAASR, written by two of its founders, can be found here (PDF).

ORGANIZATION

Oganizational Chart of the NAASR Executive Council (PDF)

NAASR's Governance Documents and Bylaws

Members of the NAASR Executive Council

Some documents on this site
are in PDF format, requiring
Adobe Acrobat Reader.