Monthly Archives: May 2012

CSCMS Seminar

Posted on by

The Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies
http://www.uws.edu.au/centre_for_the_study_of_contemporary_muslim_societies/home
and the School of Social Sciences and Psychology
http://www.uws.edu.au/ssap
at the University of Western Sydney invites you to attend a seminar by Professor James T. Richardson:
“Engaging the Media on Controversial Topics Involving Religion”

James T. Richardson<http://www.unr.edu/cla/socpsy/richardson.html>, J.D., Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno

Date: Wednesday 23 May, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Venue: Bankstown Campus, Building 1 Level 1 Room 119
RSVP to a.possamai@uws.edu.au<mailto:a.possamai@uws.edu.au> by Monday 21 May.

This seminar will focus on experiences with media representatives over several decades of research dealing with controversial topics on which Professor Richardson has conducted research. Included are areas of study such as the “Satanism Scare” of a decade or so ago, the People’s Temple/Jonestown tragedy, the Waco episode involving the raid against and burning of the Branch Davidian compound with large loss of life, the Heaven’s Gate suicides in San Diego, raids by authorities in Australia against The Family and other groups in the 1990s, coverage of so-called “cults” accused of “brainwashing” participants, the more recent raid on the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community in Texas, and other media related experiences. Also, research on media coverage of some of these topics will be discussed, including from Australia, as well as what some professional organizations have done to deal with issues raised when media coverage of controversial topics occurs in the realm of religion.

James T. Richardson, J.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies and Director of the Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies http://www.unr.edu/justicestudies/ at the University of Nevada, Reno. He also is Director of the Judicial Studies graduate degree program for trial judges, a program offered in conjunction with the National Judicial College and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, both of which are headquartered on the University campus. His research focuses mostly on comparative studies of law and religion and on use of expert evidence in legal systems. Recently he has been conducting research on treatment of religion and religious groups in judicial systems such as constitutional courts and the European Court of Human Rights. He is the author of many books including Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe (Kluwer, 2004).
Professor Richardson’s visit is supported in part by a UWS IRIS Grant.

Religion and Society: Advances in Research vol. 2

Posted on by

A reminder that the second volume of Religion and Society:
Advances in Research
is now available.

A table of contents is listed below. For information on subscriptions please go to:

http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/air-rs/ or more directly to http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/air-rs/index.php?pg=subs

We have done our best to make the rates very reasonable:

Institutional Rate (Print and Online): $170.00/ £104.00/ €126.00 Institutional Rate (Online Only): $153.00/ £93.00/ €113.00 Individual Rate (Print only) : $48.00/£28.00/€35.00 Student Rate (Print only) $25.00/ £15.00/ €20.00*

Volume 2

Contents

Introduction
Simon Coleman and Ramon Sarró: Dialogues and Trajectories

I. PORTRAIT – José Casanova

De-Privatization, the Public Sphere and Popular Religion Hubert Knoblauch

Public and Private in the Study of Religion: Innovative Approaches Grace Davie

Casanova, Asad and the Public Debate on Religion in Modern Societies Kim Knibbe

Toward a Post-Weberian Sociology of Global Religions Manuel A. Vásquez

From Modernization, to Secularization, to Globalization: An Autobiographical Self-Reflection José Casanova

II. ARTICLES

Encountering the Supernatural: A Phenomenological Account of Mind Julia Cassaniti and Tanya Luhrmann

The Case for Religious Transmission: Time and Transmission in the Anthropology of Christianity Vlad Naumescu

On and Off the Margin: The Anthropology of Contemporary Jewry Andrew Buckser

Inter-Publics’: Hindu Mobilization Beyond the Bourgeoisie Public Sphere Ursula Rao

Pentecostalism and ‘National Culture’: A Dialogue Between Brazilian Social Sciences and the Anthropology of Christianity Cecilia Mariz and Roberta Campos

III. DEBATE SECTION: RELIGION AND VIOLENCE

Religious Violence as Folklore William T. Cavanaugh

Reflections on ‘Religious Violence’: Reconsidering Durkheim Wendy James

Religion and Civil War in Africa: Durkheim and Douglas Revisited Paul Richards

IV. AN AUTHOR MEETS HER CRITICS

Around Ruth Marshall’s Political Spiritualities: The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria

Comments
John Peel, Daniel Smith, Joel Robbins, Jean-François Bayart

Response to Comments
Ruth Marshall

V. TEACHING ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION

The Anthropology of Religious Controversy: A Masters Level Course Peter Collins and Yulia Egorova

VI. NEWS

VII. BOOKS AND FILMS REVIEWS

Researching the contemporary moral landscape: doctoral training programme

Posted on by

RESEARCHING THE CONTEMPORARY MORAL LANDSCAPE: CONCEPTS, METHODS AND APPROACHES TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

An intensive residential training programme for doctoral students and early career researchers run by the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, University of Kent in conjunction with the RSA

Monday 10th – Friday 14th September, 2012

The AHRC’s Care for the Future research theme emphasises the importance of studying the ‘ethical, moral, cultural and social landscapes’ of contemporary life. How do we engage with this challenge conceptually, though, or practice research in ways that engage effectively with these complex phenomena? What public audiences do these questions matter to and how can we communicate our work in creative and useful ways? This week-long intensive training workshop, delivered in conjunction with the RSA, will provide doctoral students and early career researchers with a unique opportunity to address these questions through workshop sessions with a range of experienced researchers. The programme content will include a range of disciplinary perspectives and will aim not so much to provide a comprehensive framework, but diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives which can act as a stimulus for participants’ future research.

Speakers at the event will include Louisa Bolch, Abby Day, Adam Dinham, Lois Lee, Gordon Lynch, David Morgan, and Linda Woodhead. Specific areas to be covered in the programme will include:
* forms of ‘belief’ in everyday life
* visual and material culture as media of moral life
* understanding the contemporary moral landscape through literature and the arts 
* the good life and the ‘social brain’
* the contemporary significance of the sacred and the profane
* new forms of ritualization in contemporary society
* the policy context for understanding the contemporary moral landscape
Other training sessions will also explore different approaches to public engagement through print, digital and broadcast media.
The event will run from the morning Monday 10th September until the end of the afternoon on Friday 14th September at the RSA’s offices just off the Strand in central London. There is no registration fee. Lunch and dinner will be provided free of charge, and free overnight accommodation will also be provided in central London for those participants who require it. Delegates’ travel costs within the UK will also be met.
We anticipate a high degree of interest in this programme, and the deadline for applications is Monday 4th June.
Further information on the programme, and how to apply for it, is available at
http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/researchcentres/crcs/moral_landscape.html

Gordon Lynch
Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology
Department of Religious Studies
University of Kent

Women, Leadership, and Mosques: Changes in Contemporary Islamic Authority

Posted on by

I am pleased to announce the publication of the following 22-chapter edited volume, which focuses on contemporary female Islamic leadership and authority. Please feel free to forward this to colleagues with interests in this area.

Women, Leadership, and Mosques: Changes in Contemporary Islamic Authority investigates the diverse range of female religious leadership present in contemporary Muslim communities in South, East and Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. Its chapters discuss the emergence of female Islamic authority, the limitations placed upon it, and its wider impact, as well as the physical and virtual spaces used by women to establish and consolidate their authority. It highlights how the acceptance of female leadership in mosques and madrassas is a significant change from much historical practice, signaling the mainstream acceptance of some form of female Islamic authority in many places.

In addition to 20 chapters exploring specific examples of female leadership, the volume includes an introduction that lays out main themes in the study of Islamic authority, three section introductions that bring out thematic links between chapters, and a conclusion presenting a case study of a major Pakistani madrasa. It will be invaluable as a reference text, as it is the first to bring together analysis of female Islamic leadership in geographically and ideologically-diverse Muslim communities worldwide.

For more information, see here: http://www.brill.nl/women-leadership-and-mosques. 
There is also a series of essays related to the volume on openDemocracy:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/masooda-bano-hilary-kalmbach/spread-of-female-islamic-leadership

Finally, those interested in the volume may also want to join the mailing list we have started for individuals interested in female Islamic leadership.  See the following website for further information and instructions on how to join:
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sant1959/Mailing%20List.html.

Best wishes,
Dr Hilary Kalmbach
Sir Christopher Cox Junior Fellow (Islamic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies)
New College, Oxford, OX1 3BN, United Kingdom
hilary.kalmbach@new.ox.ac.uk
www.hilarykalmbach.com

New Religion Database

Posted on by

This is to announce the launch of a new cumulated International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) dataset with data from all three rounds of the ISSP religion survey (1991, 1998 and 2008). It covers 28 countries across the world, each of which has participated in at least two of the ISSP religion modules. Prior to this analysts have had to work with the three datasets separately.

Documentation and data access, including download in SPSS, SAS, or Stata format, is offered online via the GESIS ZACAT online analysis database at:

http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp

This is the direct link to the cumulated ISSP religion file in ZACAT:

http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp?object=http://zacat.gesis.org/obj/fStudy/ZA5070

And general information about ISSP can be found here: http://www.issp.org/

I hope this is of interest.
Alison Park
ESRC funded coordinator of Britain’s participation in ISSP
alison.park@natcen.ac.uk

Call for papers: London conference on women and authority in Islam and Christianity

Posted on by

Please find below a link for details on a forthcoming ( Mon 10 to Wed 12 Sept 2012) conference in London, University of Roehampton, on the theme:
“Women, Authority and Leadership in Christianity and Islam”

Deadline for abstracts is 31st May 2012.

http://estore.roehampton.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&prodid=85&deptid=164&catid=70

When submitting the abstract of 250 words, please add the full details of your position at university and a working bibliography of at least 5 titles of the main sources you are going to use for your paper. Participation to the conference is also open to a few post graduate students who are nearing completion of their PhD.

Dr Simonetta Calderini
Reader in Islamic Studies
Department of Humanities
University of Roehampton | London | SW15 5PJ
s.calderini@roehampton.ac.uk
www.roehampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8392 3422 |

Pentecostal Politics of Space and Power – Conference

Posted on by

Pentecostal Politics of Space and Power
A Global Perspective

June 7-8-9, 2012

University of Padova, Italy

Pentecostalism emerged on a global scale in the twentieth century as one of the most influential religious movements and the most important recent development in Christianity.

With its new styles of religious leadership, powerful communication strategies, and widespread urban proliferation, Pentecostalism is creating new social orders and religious spaces while reshaping cities into battlegrounds of spiritual warfare. Massive Pentecostal crusades and religious events are transforming the nature of contemporary religious experience in many parts of the world. With the power of their charisma, messages and promises of salvation, deliverance, healing, and prosperity, women and men pastors have been steadily gaining influence in social, urban, religious and political spheres and challenging the power of mainstream religions and governments.

The conference brings scholars from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the US together for a comparative analysis of the social, aesthetic and religious impact of Pentecostalism on global cities and societies. Plenary speakers include some of the leading thinkers in these areas.

Conference Program and website: http://www.pentecostalaesthetics.net/

Enzo Pace and Annalisa Butticci, Convenors

Europe with or without Muslims – narratives of Europe

Posted on by

Call for Papers
for a special issue for the Journal of Muslims in Europe
“Europe with or without Muslims – narratives of Europe”

Guest editors:
Göran Larsson, University of Gothenburg
Riem Spielhaus, University of Copenhagen

We are seeking papers for a special issue of the new double blind-peer reviewed Journal on Muslims in Europe by BRILL to come out in Spring 2013. This special issue seeks to take up tensions in conflicting stories about and different perspectives on Europe’s history and identity that present Europe without Muslims or contrastingly portray Muslims as part of Europe’s past and present.

Under the headline “Europe with or without Muslims – narratives of Europe” we aim to bring together a number of perspectives from multiple disciplinary fields such as history, religious studies, cultural anthropology, political science and sociology in an analysis of diverging accounts and notions of Europe over time and places throughout the continent, open as well to external perspectives. The initial question thereby is, what role Islam and Muslims have played and still play in the imagining of what Europe means. (See more details on different possible themes for contributions below.)

This way we aim to direct our view at the nexus between constructions of Europe and developments within contemporary European Islam providing space both for a critical review of academic approaches and the development of new impulses for future research.

Besides empirical papers we strongly encourage theoretical papers that challenge current research on Islam and Muslims in Europe and reflect on the own position of the researchers and his or her contributions to the construction of Europe and the role and function of Islam and Muslims.

We invite papers that address one of the topics of two sessions described below. Deadline for sending your abstracts: July the 1st, 2012<https://secure.mail.ibt.ku.dk/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>. Accepted participants will be notified by July 20, 2012<https://secure.mail.ibt.ku.dk/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>. If your paper is accepted, you must submit the final paper (max 10,000 words inclusive of footnotes) by 20 October 2012<https://secure.mail.ibt.ku.dk/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>.

Applications to submit a short paper should include: 1. Proposer’s name and affiliation, 2. a title for the paper, 3. a ca. 500 word abstract.

All abstracts and paper should be written in English.
Time frame:
Deadline for abstracts (ca. 500 words) 1.July 2012
Deadline for sending final papers 20.October 2012
Publication 15.March 2013

Paper proposals should be send electronically in Microsoft Word formats to Göran Larsson, University of Gothenburg: goran.larsson@religion.gu.se and Riem Spielhaus, University of Copenhagen: rsp@teol.ku.dk.

For this special issue we invite papers on the narratives imagining Europe with and without Muslims analyzing contents, actors and setting of those narratives that relate to one or several of the following questions:

1. Localizing debates connecting Europe and Islam:
• In what way are debates about Europe and its identity mentioning the European past with reference to Muslim’s presence in Europe on the local, regional, national or European Union level? How do these different levels (local, regional, national, transnational) intersect?

2. Imagining Europe without Muslims:
• What are the main patterns of the dominant constructions of Europe’s heritage like notions of a Judaeo-Christian heritage? Where and by whom are these narratives told? To what extent are they embedded in European integration or projects of community or nation-building?

3. Narratives of Europe inclusive of Muslims:
• In what cases is the Muslim history of Europe used as counter narrative to question the construction of Europe as a Christian continent? What groups of people insist on an imagination of Europe with Muslims? How are these narratives used to strengthen a feeling of belonging and responsibility of current Muslims?

4. Contextualizing Islam debates in European history of thought:
• Is it possible to make any comparison between current debates about Islam and Muslims and previous debates about ties between religions and national identities e.g. different Christian denominations in early modern Europe?

5. Imagining Europe from outside:
• How is the relationship between Europe and its Muslim inhabitants viewed beyond the Mediterranean? Do accounts of European history and presentations of the contemporary Europe from within and without bear considerable differences?

Call for Papers: Pagan Studies Symposium

Posted on by

Pagans in Dialogue with the Wider World: A Pagan Studies Symposium
Friday, February 15, 2013
at San José State University
(semi-concurrent with PantheaCon, February 15-18, 2013, DoubleTree Hotel, San Jose, CA)
Sponsored by San José State University, Humanities Dept., Comparative Religious Studies Program
Organizers: Lee Gilmore (SJSU) & Amy Hale (St. Petersburg College)

Contemporary Paganism, in all its varieties, stands at a unique cultural and religious intersection that can provide insights for a wide range of global, social, and political subjects, beyond its own inward facing concerns. For this symposium, we are calling for scholarly submissions that focus on Paganism’s contributions to and engagements with broader cultural and religious dialogues in an increasingly pluralist world. These could include, but are not limited to, explorations of Paganisms’ endeavors in community, economic, media, health, legal, social justice, and institutional development work, as well as activist, applied, interdisciplinary, and interfaith work.

More generally, all submissions that critically examine Paganism(s) in relationship to categories such as religion, culture, gender, identity, authenticity, power, and ritual–among other possible frameworks–are welcome. In addition, all papers presented at the symposium will be considered for publication in a special issue of The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies.

All proposals & queries should be sent to: pagansymposium@gmail.com
Deadline: September 15, 2012
More info (including submission requirements & a pdf of this call):
http://www.sjsu.edu/people/lee.gilmore/paganstudies/

Call for Papers: Essay Prize, Modern Jewish Studies

Posted on by

Call for Papers: Journal of Modern Jewish Studies Essay Prize 2013

Journal of Modern Jewish Studies are inviting submissions to their annual
essay prize for scholars in the early stages of their career. Papers are invited on
topics in Jewish history, social studies, religion, thought, literature and the arts from the 16th century to the present day. They should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere, and should not be submitted to any other journal until the outcome of the competition is known.

The Prize:
Cash prize of £150 GBP/$244 USD
Publication of the winning essay in Journal of Modern Jewish Studies as the opening article of the July 2013 issue (volume 11, issue 2)
The winning essay will also be promoted on the journal website

For further information about the jury and the prize conditions, please click here.
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/cfp/cmjscfp.pdf