Dr. Bryan Rennie, Westminster associate professor and Vira I. Heinz chair in religion, organized three academic sessions on the study of religion for the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature (AAR/SBL) at their conference in San Diego.

As vice president and program chair of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR), Rennie chaired the session on "Taxonomies in the Study of Religion," and organized "The Ritual Transformation of Agency" and "Novelty, Presence, and History: Pre-Modern Discourses on Method and Theory" sessions.

Rennie is also responsible for organizing the sessions at the next national conference to be held in Chicago, Nov. 1-3, 2008.

NAASR is centrally involved in organizing the 20th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), scheduled for 2010 in Toronto. Previous congresses were held in Tokyo, Japan (2005), and Durban, South Africa (2000).

Rennie, who has been with Westminster since 1994, earned an undergraduate degree, master's, and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Contact Rennie at (724) 946-7151 or e-mail brennie@westminster.edu for additional information. 

Dr. Bryan Rennie

American Academy of Religion

Society of Biblical Literature

North American Association for the Study of Religion

International Association for the History of Religions