Professional/academic memberships

[Yetanotherdegree]

Are you a member of any academic societies or organizations? Groups like The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) or the American Academy of Religion (AAR)?

If so, which ones? I know many of these are area-specific, but I'm curious about which ones students seem to join.

What are the benefits of membership beyond the obvious subscription to the society's journal?

And what would you recommend for someone who has not yet signed up for any of these organizations but is thinking about doing so?

[AbrasaxEos]

I am a member of SBL and AAR, as well as two area-specific societies.  The benefits of membership in these kinds of organizations depend on how you use or leverage your membership.  The area specific ones are obviously smaller, and depending on how active they are, can be helpful in connecting you with older or more experienced scholars, especially as a M* student.  With the bigger ones, membership gives you access to the meetings (though you can go as a non-member, the price is pretty steep vs. a student member), as well as the job boards if/when you arrive at that stage of the game.  They are actually helpful to look at even as someone early in a M* or PhD, as they give you an idea of what kinds of places are hiring and what they are looking for (as well as depress you as you realize that there are 26 jobs posted...).  Being a member of SBL/AAR also allows you to do a paper at the annual/regional conferences.  Depending on your interests, it is probably worthwhile to do either SBL or AAR at this point (you could do both if you have interests that span them and think you might want to do a paper at both, but if you just want to attend sessions for both at the annual meeting, you can do that without being a member of both), and to keep an eye out for any other specific ones that fit your interests.  Some are by invitation so you'd have to wait or find a prof who was willing to extend that to you, but others just require a short application or explanation of your interest.

[Yetanotherdegree]

Thanks, AbrasaxEos. Great, helpful explanation.

Can I ask which area-specific societies?

I'm curious because I've never seen a list by subject, so I really don't know what's out there, in my area or in others.

[AbrasaxEos]

I am in the Societas Magica and IACS (Coptic Studies).  I don't know of any subject lists, though there well may be.  There are also ones such as NAPS (Patristics) and APA (Philological Association), of which I have many friends who are a part, but don't hold much interest for me.

[Yetanotherdegree]

Ok, those are fairly specific . Interesting, but specific. Thanks for sharing.

I think I'm going to join NAPS, and I guess either SBL or AAR would be a good idea. Or both...

Edited July 15, 2013 by Yetanotherdegree

[ἠφανισμένος]

To be clear, the APA is the professional organization for classics as a whole, so it's really quite broad in scope.