Author Archives: SISR/ISSR General Secretary

call for papers- Special Issue on Kurdish Islam

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CALL FOR PAPERS
Sociology of Islam (SOI)
Special Issue on Kurdish Islam

Sociology of Islam, a peer reviewed quarterly journal published by BRILL
(http://www.brill.com/publications/journals/sociology-islam ), plans a special issue on Kurdish Islam to be published in January 2014 (Volume 2, Number 1). Original research articles from any discipline are welcome, with special emphasis on papers that use vernacular-language empirical material and sociological perspective. Lately, Kurdish Islamic cultural repertoires and public religious symbolism have become a significant issue in defining contentious ethnic politics in Kurdish-populated regions in the Middle East. Despite its growing importance especially after the Arab Spring, the topic remains to be understudied among scholars. This special issue aims to shed light to recent revitalization of Kurdish Islamic sphere as well as emerging ethno-religious Kurdish initiatives in the Middle East and will be edited by Mustafa E. Gurbuz, University of South Florida, and Gulsum Kucuksari, University of Arizona.

Submission Info: Please submit manuscripts to the editor of the special issue, Mustafa Gurbuz, gurbuz@usf.edu, by April 15, 2013. Maximum length is 40 pages, not including figures and tables. Remove all self-references (in text and in bibliography) save for on the title page, which should include full contact information for all authors. Include the paper’s title and the abstract on the first page of the text itself. For initial submissions, any standard social science in-text citation and bibliographic system is acceptable. All submissions will be evaluated upon receipt and, if judged appropriate, sent to referees for review.

Research Possibilities at the University of Ottawa, Call for Graduate Student

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Call for Graduate Students:
Research Possibilities at the University of Ottawa

The Religion and Diversity Project, a SSHRC funded Major Collaborative Research Initiative, is seeking new PhD level students who are interested in completing thesis research related to the goals of the project (see project proposal at www.religionanddiversity.ca/about) in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa.
Students will be supervised by either Dr. Lori Beaman (Project Director) and/or Dr. Peter Beyer (Project Co-investigator).

This research funding is contingent on successful application and acceptance to the Department of Religious Studies graduate program and the offer of an admissions scholarship as well as demonstrated research capacity. The research award granted through the Religion and Diversity Project will be determined based on the number of successful applications but will range from $3,000-$7,500 per year and will be contingent on completion of assigned research tasks. The funding and expectations will be outlined specifically with the successful student (s).

As one of the few large scale research initiatives housed in a Canadian institution for the study of religion, the Religion and Diversity Project in the Department of Religious Studies offers a unique graduate research experience. Students involved in the project are afforded a broad array of opportunities, such as graduate student workshops, participation at team meetings, workshops and conferences, access to a large research network, and research opportunities with the team.

The Department of Religious Studies focuses on religions in Canada and on religions in a comparative cultural context, particularly religions in the Roman Empire and in the contemporary period. The department offers specialization in Canadian Studies. Because the study of religions reaches well beyond programs and courses, the Department seeks many other avenues to facilitate the exchange of ideas. This includes regular lecture series (Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory and Building Bridges Lunch and Learn Lecture Series) and Professional Development Workshops for graduate students. The Religious Studies Graduate Students’ Association hosts a variety of social and scholarly events throughout the year. The Department also publishes the Ottawa Journal of Religion, a peer-reviewed journal showcasing some of our graduate students’ best work.

Proposals should be 2-3 pages in length, and should include a project description that specifically addresses the ways in which it will work within the broader mandate of the Religion and Diversity Project. It should also include theoretical and methodological approaches and elaborate on previous research experience. We are presently especially interested in projects related to religious nones, religion and health, comparative policy studies, and the spatial and geographic aspects of religious diversity.

Send proposals to Dr. Heather Shipley, Project Manager, at hshipley@uottawa.ca no later than March 1, 2013.

Inform Director

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Director of charity
Central London
£40000-55000 per annum
Inform collects, evaluates and disseminates objective information about minority religions.  The Director is responsible for ensuring that it achieves its aims.

Inform is a registered charity that collects, evaluates and disseminates information about minority religions which is as reliable and objective as possible. The Director is responsible to Inform’s Board of Governors for ensuring that these aims are achieved.  The job requires ‘vision’ in the sense of setting the directions in which research needs to be steered in order to investigate the constantly changing landscape of minority religions and the reactions to them.  The Director also needs to be a ‘self-starter’ and ‘doer’ who not only initiates new areas of research but also sees them through to completion, including the dissemination of findings for the benefit of stakeholders and the public.

Further particulars and the application form can be downloaded from http://www.inform.ac. Applications and any questions to be sent to informdirector@yahoo.co.uk.

“Taking Part: Muslim Participation in Governance" Report Launch Event

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TAKING PART: Muslim Participation in Governance – Report Launch

31 January 2013, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, Bishopsgate Institute, London

– Launch of the final report from the large 30-month study of Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance at Bristol University led by Dr Therese O’Toole and Professor Tariq Modood.

– Research findings and public policy insights on issues such as Muslim-government relations, integration, equality, participatory democracy, and countering extremism.

– Panel discussion with Dilwar Hussain, Humera Khan, and Professor Maleiha Malik.

For more details see http://www.bris.ac.uk/ethnicity/takingpart.pdf (650kb).
Registration required at http://takingpart.eventbrite.co.uk<http://takingpart.eventbrite.co.uk/>.

Edited Volume Call for Chapters

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Please find below a call for chapters for an edited book on visual methods in the sociology of religion. All queries regarding this should be sent to roman.williams@calvin.edu.

Over the past 40 years, visual sociology has grown from a small group of enthusiasts with insufficient numbers to become a section of the American Sociological Association to an international network of practitioners organized as the International Visual Sociology Association. While this growing subfield continues to make inroads into the discipline, the use of visual methods in the sociology of religion is only beginning to gain traction. This comes as a surprise, however, given the visual, symbolic, and material nature of religion and spirituality. Houses of worship, for example, are a prominent feature of the modern landscape and everyday religious faith and practice is materially present in everything from clothing and garden statues to the artifacts present in people’s homes and workplaces. It is curious, then, that visual methods are not more prevalent in the sociology of religion and that the literature in this subfield does not approach the range of methodological possibilities currently available.

“Seeing Religion: Toward a Visual Sociology of Religion” will assemble original chapters by sociologists who employ visual methods in their work on religion or spirituality. Instead of producing chapters with a singular focus on visual methods, contributors will present findings from their current research, include a detailed discussion of their methodology, and situate their research within the broader contexts of visual sociology and the sociology of religion. As such, the book will take the form of a reader that will demonstrate the unique contribution and potential of visual methods for the sociology of religion. An effort will be made to present the widest possible variety of methodological approaches and research topics. Visual data (photographs and images) will be incorporated throughout the book, and a DVD-ROM will provide space for contributors to present additional visual data in the form of color photographs, images, and video clips.

Authors should submit a 250–500 word abstract via email (roman.williams@calvin.edu) by February 22, 2013. Contributors will be notified by mid-March of editorial decisions, at which time a book proposal will be presented to potential publishers—several academic presses have already been approached and expressed interest in reviewing the proposal. The tentative deadline for completed chapters is January 2014. Contributors will be encouraged to present drafts of their chapters in sessions being organized in 2013 for the annual meetings of the International Visual Sociology Association (July 8-10, London), the Association for the Sociology of Religion (August 11-12, New York), and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (November 8-10, Boston).

Roman R. Williams, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of SociologyCalvin College Tel. 616.536.6026calvin.academia.edu/RomanWilliams

Social relations and Human Security Conference

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Call for Papers
Social relations and Human Security Conference Friday 22nd – Saturday 23rd March
Centre for Social Relations (incorporating the Institute of Community Cohesion), Coventry University

We live in an interconnected world that transports social issues across and between people, sectors, communities and societies. Tackling some of the drivers and misconceptions that underpin the most pressing problems for societies today -ethnicity, the environment, or socio-economics – requires continued multi-disciplinary dialogue between, governments, practitioners and publics.

The context of contemporary people-to-people relationships and the consequences of differences are both an opportunity and challenge for human security agendas. The question of how we interact, whether at work or at home, with people who we perceive as different to us is central to our sense of stability and security, not just for ourselves, but also for our families and communities. How do we challenge polarising narratives and negative representations through new models of engagement or dialogue? How can we develop communities where people interact in a meaningful way and experience true equality of opportunity? How can we help to equip people in the UK and globally to live engaged and peaceful lives in pluralistic societies?

In learning to understand how our social relations play out in communities both locally and globally, we can begin to address how to live together in peaceful relationships in a world of difference.

Keynote speakers include:
Professor Linda Woodhead, Professor in the sociology of religion in the Department of Politics, Philosophy & Religion at Lancaster University,
Prof. Salman Hameed, Director Centre for the study of Science in Muslim Societies, Hampshire College, US.

Registration Fees: Coventry University will be offering a subsidized rate for registration and accommodation for all delegates and a significantly subsidized rate for registration and accommodation to all postgraduate students, recently qualified postdoc’s or early career scholars who are not currently in full-time employment.
Registration fees will be advertised shortly.

Publications: We are currently in discussion with publishers to produce an edited volume of selected papers from this conference. Further details will be available in due course and a call for submissions will be circulated to those who successfully submit a paper to the conference.

Abstract submission:
Our conference will explore the importance of work under the broad banner of social relations in policymaking, international inter-cultural dialogue/cross-community dialogue and academic research. Applied research, empirical studies and critical theoretical papers are welcomed on topics including, but not limited to:
* Agendas for social relations at a community level
* The role of belief, class or ethnicity in society, public space, or discourse
* New directions in intercultural dialogue/cross community dialogue
* The impact of top down vs. bottom up approaches on communities and policy
* Individuality vs. Individualism
* Secularism and Pluralism in local, national and international contexts
* Multiculturalism, Identity and Integration
* Inter-generational conflict/relations
* Do we need a new social contract for diversity?

Proposals are welcomed from researchers of all nationalities at all stages of their careers.
Session proposals should normally consist of three or four papers, with or without a commentator/chair. Sessions will be 90 minutes to 2 hours long. Proposals for alternative types of session (eg. round-table or witness seminar) are strongly encouraged. Please discuss this with us in advance of the Call for Papers deadline.

Proposals for individual papers should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Abstracts should not contain footnotes and should be comprehensible to a non-specialist audience.
The deadline for submitting a session or abstract is 14th January 2013

Abstracts should be submitted to: socialrelationsevents@coventry.ac.uk
Any enquiries should be directed to: Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker For further information and updates please go to:
http://www.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/NewsEvents/SocialRelationsAndHumanSecurity

Religion, Rights And Secular Society: European Perspectives

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Religion, Rights And Secular SocietyEuropean Perspectives
Edited by Peter Cumper, University of Leicester, UK and Tom Lewis, Nottingham Trent University, UK
December 2012
http://www.e-elgar.com/bookentry_main.lasso?id=14080

Description
‘Religion, Rights and Secular Society by Peter Cumper and Tom Lewis is a both timely and important publication. In a series of highly interesting and well-written essays – some of which are case studies covering many different European nations whereas others are more theoretical – the book looks at a key paradox in contemporary Europe: the relatively high levels of secularity in most European countries on the one hand, and the marked resurgence of religion in public debates on the other. While never pretending that there are ready answers to the problems of reconciling secular and religious values in Europe, the contributors make it quite clear that Europeans need to return to questions about religion that they had previously regarded as being settled. This is food for thought at a very high level!’ – Helle Porsdam, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Contents
Contributors include: S. Bacquet, P. Cumper, E. Daly, G. Davie, P.W. Edge, A.C. Emilianides, T. Lewis, T. Loenen, V.A. Lykes, J. Mertus, M. Moravcíková, J.S. Nielsen, E. Relaño Pastor, J.T. Richardson, G. Robbers, R. Uitz, M. van den Brink, M. Ventura

Further information
‘Religion, Rights and Secular Society by Peter Cumper and Tom Lewis is a both timely and important publication. In a series of highly interesting and well-written essays – some of which are case studies covering many different European nations whereas others are more theoretical – the book looks at a key paradox in contemporary Europe: the relatively high levels of secularity in most European countries on the one hand, and the marked resurgence of religion in public debates on the other. While never pretending that there are ready answers to the problems of reconciling secular and religious values in Europe, the contributors make it quite clear that Europeans need to return to questions about religion that they had previously regarded as being settled. This is food for thought at a very high level!’
– Helle Porsdam, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

This topical collection of chapters examines secular society and the legal protection of religion and belief across Europe, both in general and more nation-specific terms.

The expectations of many that religion in modern Europe would be swept away by the powerful current of secularization have not been realised, and today few topics generate more controversy than the complex relationship between religious and secular values. The ‘religious/secular’ relationship is examined in this book, which brings together scholars from different parts of Europe and beyond to provide insights into the methods by which religion and equivalent beliefs have been, and continue to be, protected in the legal systems and constitutions of European nations. The contributors’ chapters reveal that the oft-tumultuous legacy of Europe’s relationship with religion still resonates across a continent where legal, political and social contours have been powerfully shaped by faith and religious difference.

Covering recent controversies such as the Islamic headscarf, and the presence of the crucifix in school class-rooms, this book will appeal to academics and students in law, human rights and the social sciences, as well as law and policy makers and NGOs in the field of human rights.

Full table of contents
Contents:
1. Introduction Peter Cumper and Tom Lewis
2. The Netherlands: Neutral But Not Indifferent Marjolein van den Brink and Titia Loenen
3. Secularism and Establishment in the United Kingdom Peter W. Edge
4. Law, Religion and Belief in GermanyGerhard Robbers
5. Religion in the Constitutional Order of the Republic of Ireland Eoin Daly
6. Religion and Secular Values in Spain: A Long Path to a Real Religious Pluralism Eugenia Relaño Pastor
7. The Rise and Contradictions of Italy as a Secular State Marco Ventura
8. Religious Freedom in a Secular Society: An Analysis of the French Approach to manifestation of Beliefs in the Public Sphere Sylvie Bacquet
9. Secularism, Law and Religion within the Cypriot Legal Order Achilles C. Emilianides
10. The Pendulum of Church-State Relations in Hungary Renata Uitz
11. Law, Religion and Belief in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland Michaela Moravcíková
12. Human Rights and Religion in the Balkans Julie Mertus
13. Understanding Religion in Europe: A Continually Evolving Mosaic Grace Davie
14. Islam and Secular Values in Europe: From Canon to Chaos?Jørgen S. Nielsen
15. Legal Considerations Concerning New Religious Movements in the ‘New Europe’ James T. Richardson and Valerie A. Lykes

Multipolar religious production: old and new trends

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CALL FOR PAPERS

ECAS 2013 – 5th European Conference on African Studies June 27-29 Lisbon

Panel 171: Multipolar religious production: old and new trends
The age of European imperial rule in Africa brought forth an accrued complexity in the cultural and historical roles played by religion, as the impact of colonialism on African societies and the effects of counter-hegemonic struggles also carved out the post-colonial landscape of African religions. On the other hand, the religious circulation between Africa and other continents has a long history with new trends in the current era. The transatlantic slave trade and European colonial rule resulted in the travelling of religious ideas, practices and symbols from and to Africa. Taking this complex narrative into account, our panel intends to discuss and compare historical and contemporary forms of religious production within African societies as well as the circulation of religions to and from Africa, looking at how they are distributed and made sense of. We aim to address some of the following issues:
– Colonial policies towards religions and their effects in post-colonial settings.
– Strategies of integration/transformation/survival of local and traditional religions in new African cultural and political contexts. – New forms of south-south and north-south religious circulation.
– Processes of religious globalization in Africa; African religious transnationalism, understood in its plurality and complex inscription in global networks; local impacts of global religions; ethnic and other factors that weighed on the transnational diffusion of religious customs and ideas.

Convenors
Linda van de Kamp (Tilburg University)
Clara Mafra (State University of Rio de Janeiro)
Marina Pignatelli (Technical University of Lisbon – Political and Social Sciences Institute)
Mário Machaqueiro (CRIA/FCSH-UNL)
http://www.nomadit.co.uk/ecas/ecas2013/panels.php5?PanelID=2334

Congregational Studies Fellowships

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Congregational Studies Fellowships

The Congregational Studies Team is pleased to announce the availability of Fellowships* to support scholars who are interested in disciplined inquiry into the life of local communities of faith. These 18-month fellowships include $18,000 in research support, plus $2000 for related travel. In addition, Fellowships include a program of mentoring by a senior-scholar coach and participation in two summer consultations that bring together the Fellows and coaches with the Team.

Applications are encouraged from scholars in a variety of disciplines — from practical theology to the social sciences, from history to biblical studies and contextual education — for projects that involve learning from and about living communities of faith. Fellows will explore avenues for making that knowledge available for the sake of those communities’ wellbeing, as well as developing strong academic contributions appropriate to their disciplines. Applicants should have completed their graduate work and be placed in a professional position at the time of application. We especially encourage early-career scholars to apply, but will consider applications from persons who have recently been tenured.

The application deadline is 15 February 2013. For application information and instructions, visit www.hirr.hartsem.edu or contact the Engaged Scholars project office at Hartford Seminary (engagedscholars@hartsem.edu).

Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Syncretism

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Call for Papers
International interdisciplinary scientific conference Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Syncretism
May 3-4, 2013
Kaunas, Lithuania

From the earliest times, encounters between people of different societies resulted in adoption of non-native religious customs, beliefs, practices, and concepts. Successful adoption of foreign customs and beliefs allowed some religions to spread so widely that today they are considered “the great world religions”. Today in Western society multiple religions coexist. There are many ways in which different religious traditions interact. They oppose or assimilate each other. They also enrich each other with new insights and cultural expressions. The contemporary situation of “religious market” and spread of modern technologies create many opportunities not only to know better the existing religions but also to create one’s own “private religion” by mixing various elements of different religious traditions.
This conference is the 4th one dedicated to the research of religious experience, tradition, and religious consciousness. Main questions of this conference are: What do we mean by “syncretism”? Where is the dividing line between interreligious dialogue and religious syncretism? Is the interreligious dialogue possible without absorbing some features of the other side? Is it possible for religious tradition to stay pure and without additives for longer time? What influence do religious experiences and practices have (if they do) on the merger of religious traditions?

The Conference organizers invite scholars of different disciplines to address these and similar questions and welcome papers in line with the Conference theme, particularly in relation to the following subthemes:
• Problems of defining syncretism
• “Good” and “bad” syncretic processes
• “Eastern” and “Western” syncretism
• Inculturation of Christianity
• Missionary work in the modern societies
• Religious experience as an ecumenical phenomenon
• Clash of religions as the form of interreligious dialogue
• Psychological, social, anthropological, artistic aspects of interreligious communication

Please submit an abstract of your paper of 250-300 words, together with your name, position, and institutional affiliation to religio@ktf.vdu.lt by February 15, 2013. The abstract should be sent as an email attachment in Microsoft Word format.

Registration fee is 30 € (EUR). Unfortunately, there are no funds available at the time to cover the accommodation- or travel-expenses.

Selected extended papers from the conference will be invited to appear in the scientific journal ‘SOTER’ published by the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Vytautas Magnus University. The Journal is reviewed in the international databases: CEEOL, The Philosopher’s Index, eLABa, DOAJ.

Organizing institute: Vytautas Magnus University (Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Catholic Theology).
Venue: Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania Conference languages: English, Lithuanian.
Submission of proposals – February 15, 2013 Notification of acceptance – February 27, 2013

Organizing committee: Assoc. prof. dr. Agnė Budriūnaitė (chair, VMU, Dep. of Philosophy), prof. habil. dr. Alfonsas Motuzas (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), prof. dr. Eugenijus Danilevičius (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), assoc. prof. dr. Živilė Advilonienė (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), assoc. prof. dr. Povilas Aleksandravičius (MRU, Dep. of Philosophy), assoc. prof. dr. Benas Ulevičius (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), assoc. prof. dr. Jurga Jonutytė (VMU, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy), dr. Aušra Kairaitytė (VMU, Faculty of Humanities), assist. prof. dr. Valdas Mackela (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology).