Prediction Thread: Dominant fields and desiderata

As those of us who have been in “the game” for a while know, each year there is a field in the AAR job listings that has an inexplicable number of listings. In addition, there are often mysterious “also desired” fields that tend to pop up frequently. Last year, for instance, it seems clear that Catholic moral theology was the winner, while “global Christianity” was the miscellaneous desideratum. (I leave non-Christian fields out of consideration here, as they all seem to be pretty robust every year.)

What do you think will capture the imagination of search committees this year? I’ve detected some momentum in “practical theology” for the past few years, so maybe it’s time for it to break through to the big time. In addition, I’d be surprised if we didn’t start seeing references to “digital humanities” in the miscellaneous desiderata, though I’m expecting global Christianity to make another strong showing — so I’m not sure what to predict there.