Material Religion
Venue: Durham University, UK
Date: 9 – 11 April 2013

Dr Marion Bowman (Department of Religious Studies, Open University)
Professor David Morgan (Department of Religion, Duke University)
Professor Veronica Strang (Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University)

This conference will focus on the physical, material dimension of religious life and practice, one of the major themes of religious research over the last decade. Material forms express and sustain the human search for holiness, transcendence and identity, and attention to the physical can lead scholars to unique and valuable insights. Commitment to religious communities is learned and displayed through relationships to clothing, food, ritual and decoration, in the home, workplace, street or place of worship. This event will encourage interdisciplinary discussion of the significance of material culture in contemporary religion, including the images and architecture of sacred places and the objects and practices of everyday life.

Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:
–         Material religion in everyday life
–         The materiality of gender, class, age and ethnicity
–         Sacred objects: statues, icons, relics, holy books, architecture
–         Sacred objects in museums and galleries
–         Religion, landscape and the environment
–         Religion and the arts
–         Marketing and consuming religion
–         Religion and the body: ritual, experience and emotion
–         Health, sickness, disability, death and bereavement
–         The materiality of religious media and technologies
–         Research methods for the study of material religion

We invite proposals for conference papers (300 words), panels (3-4 papers on a shared theme, 750 words) and posters (200 words). Alternative formats will also be considered. Abstracts must be submitted by October 31st 2012 to Tim Hutchings and
Joanne McKenzie at materialreligionconference@gmail.com.

SOCREL is the British Sociological Association’s study group on Religion. For more details about the study group and conference please visit www.socrel.org.uk<http://www.socrel.org.uk/>.

Call for Papers (September- 15 November 2012)
“Thinking Out of the Box: Devising New European Policies to Face the Arab Spring”(NEPAS) –
Website: http://nepas-project.net/
University of Minho, Braga – 21-22 February 2013.

The University of Minho, with the support of the LLP programme of the European Union, is pleased to invite PhD students, master students and young scholars to submit their abstracts for papers for the upcoming seminar in its campus in Braga in February 22-23, 2013 on “Thinking Out of the Box: Devising New European Policies to Face the Arab Spring”. The University of Minho is a reference point in high-quality teaching and learning, not only for Portuguese universities, but also in Europe.

The main objective of NEPAS is to bring together a transnational and multidisciplinary research network to reflect on how the European Union (EU) should address the long-term consequences of the “Arab Spring” for EU-Mediterranean (North Africa and the Middle East) relations. It also aims at creating a network among young scholars in the Arab world and the European countries and, through two academic seminars, give young scholars the opportunity to present their research in EU-Med relations and of the needs, the requirements and the means of putting into place a more effective policy. NEPAS´ first aim is thus to provide opportunities for academics from a range of disciplines and countries to share their research both through the conference podium, roundtable sessions and workshops. It also intends to create a transnational and multidisciplinary research network to provide a framework for international information exchange in this area and to conduct collaborative research in view of the newly adopted EU agenda towards the Mediterranean. A related aim is the promotion and dissemination of knowledge related to the complex reality and evolution of the internal political and socio-cultural processes of the different southern Mediterranean countries and the reforms underway in terms of governance, social development, human rights and political transition. The project means to raise the political recognition of the relevance of a new EU-Med approach: help develop a truly Euro-Med culture and improved knowledge about it. The fourth is to translate participants´ knowledge into policy recommendations for EU decision-makers. The organisation also intends to stimulate interest in the fields of Euro-Mediterranean relations and to provide stimulus to students interested in pursuing research in this area. This initiative envisages offering an opportunity to students of all academic levels to meet, visit, and exchange views and experiences with other practitioners and academics. The project aims to appealing to an enlarging community of post-graduate students, who are working on European Integration, in particular on EU policies towards its southern Mediterranean neighbours.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 November, 2012

Seminar themes:

The workshop invites papers dealing with theoretical and empirical studies of the following topics:

• The Arab Spring: Revolutions or Stalemate?
• Outcome and Perspectives of the Arab Spring
• Geopolitical Implications of the Arab Upheavals in the Mediterranean
• The Arab Spring: the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ and International Law Implications
• The Fall of Authoritarianism and the New Actors in the Arab World: What Challenges Lie Ahead?
• A New Mediterranean Political Landscape? The Arab Spring and Euro-Mediterranean Relations
• A New Mediterranean Agenda for a New Mediterranean Political Setting

Abstract Submission:

• All abstracts and papers need to be presented in English
  The maximum length of abstracts is 300 words
  Email your abstract as an attachment to: nepasproject@gmail.com
  Please include the following information in your email:
  Name
  Institutional affiliation (if any) and a short CV
  Contact information (including preferred email address)

Authors whose full abstract has been accepted will be asked to deliver a full paper.

For this purpose the following steps are envisaged:

• September 2012: Call for Papers starts
• 15 November 2012: Call for Papers closes
• 15-30 November 2012: review of submitted abstracts and selection by the Scientific Committee
• 1 December 2012: call for full Papers starts
• 1 January 2013: conference registration opens (no registration fee)
• 15 January 2013: call for full Papers closes
• 31 January 2013: announcement of conference programme

A number of selected papers (conference proceedings) will be published in an E-Book and possibly also in hard copy.
Scholars who want to participate in this seminar are encouraged to travel in the framework of the LLP/Erasmus programme, since the University of Minho will validate their mobility.

Scientific Committee

• Maria do Céu Pinto: Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Minho.
• Tiberio Graziani: President of IsAG (Institute for Advanced Studies in Geopolitics), Rome.
• Maria Luisa Maniscalco: Full Professor, Roma Tre University, Rome.
• Maurizio Vernassa: Associate Professor, University of Pisa, Pisa.
• Miguel Estanqueiro Rocha: Lecturer in International Relations, University of Minho.

Call for Papers: Engaging Sociology of Religion

BSA Sociology of Religion conference stream, Annual Conference of the British Sociological Association
Grand Connaught Rooms,
London, 3-5 April 2013

How does sociology of religion engage with topical issues affecting contemporary society? How can field-specific theories and models help in understanding religion’s role in recent global and local social movements (the Occupy movement, transitions in the Arab world, London riots in 2011), the economic crisis and austerity, social mobility, the ‘Big Society’, cultural pluralisation, climate change, and so on? How have – and how should – sociologists of religion engage broader public arenas? What could be the specific contribution of sociology of religion to public discussion? We invite papers that address topical issues such as the above, but also papers on core issues in the sociology of religion, including – but not limited to – the following:

* ‘Public’ Sociology of Religion

* Religion, Social Movements and Protest

* Religion and Welfare (including Faith-Based Organisations)

* Religion and inequalities (gender, ethnicity, class)

* Religion and media

* Religion and State in the 21st Century

* Social Theory and Religion

* Secularism and secularisation

Abstract submission to be completed at:
http://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/Conference

Deadline for abstract submission: 5 October 2012.

E-mail:
bsaconference@britsoc.org.uk
for conference enquiries; t.hjelm@ucl.ac.uk or
j.m.mckenzie@durham.ac.uk for stream enquiries.
Please DO NOT send abstracts to these addresses.

Call for Papers
Christian Congregational Music: Local and Global Perspectives Conference Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, United Kingdom

1-3 August 2013
Congregational music-making has long been a vital and vibrant practice within Christian communities worldwide. Congregational music reflects, informs, and articulates local convictions and concerns as well as global flows of ideas and products. Congregational song can unify communities of faith across geographical and cultural boundaries, while simultaneously serving as a contested practice used to inscribe, challenge, and negotiate identities. Many twenty-first century congregational song repertories are transnational genres that cross boundaries of region, nation, and denomination. The various meanings, uses, and influence of these congregational song repertoires cannot be understood without an exploration of these musics’ local roots and global routes. This conference seeks to explore the multifaceted interaction between local and global dimensions of Christian congregational music by drawing from perspectives across academic disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, history, music studies, and theology. In particular, the conference welcomes papers addressing or engaging with one or more of the following six themes:

* The Politics of Congregational Singing
The choices congregations make to include (or exclude) certain kinds of music in their worship often have significant political ramifications. Papers on this topic may consider: what roles does music play in local congregational politics? How do congregations use musical performance, on the one hand, to build and maintain boundaries, or, on the other, to promote reconciliation between members of differing ethnicities, denominations, regions, or religions?

* Popular Music in/as Christian Worship
Christian worship has long incorporated musical styles, sounds, or songs considered ‘popular’ or ‘vernacular.’ To what extent does congregational music-making maintain, conflate, or challenge the boundaries between ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’? How do commercial music industries influence the production, distribution, and reception of congregational music, and, conversely, how do the concerns of congregational singing shape praxis within the realm of commercial music?

* From Mission Hymns to Indigenous Hymnodies
This theme invites critical exploration of how congregational music has shaped-and been shaped by-Christian missionary endeavours of the past, present, and future. How have colonialism and postcolonialism influenced congregational musical ideologies and practices? Who defines an ‘indigenous hymnody,’ and how has this category informed music-making in the postmissionary church? What does the future of music in Christian missions hold?

* Congregational Music in the University Classroom
What preconceived notions of Christian beliefs, Christian music-making, or the Christian community do instructors face in the 21st century? What should the study of congregational music involve in the training of clergy and lay ministers? How do the experiences and perspectives of university students challenge the way congregational music is practiced and taught?

* Towards a More Musical Theology
Though it has been over twenty-five years since Jon Michael Spencer called for the cross-pollination of musicological and theological studies in ‘theomusicology,’ the theological mainstream still rarely pays attention to music. How might acknowledging the diversity of human musical traditions influence theological reflection on ecclesiology, eschatology, or ethics? What might insights from musicology and ethnomusicology bring to bear on contemporary debates within Christian theology?

* A Futurology of Congregational Music
Papers on this subtheme will offer creative, considered reflection on the future of congregational music. What new emerging shapes and forms will-or should-congregational worship music take? Will congregational song traditions become more localized, or will they be further determined by global commercial industries? What must scholars do to provide more nuanced, relevant, or critical perspectives on Christian congregational music?

We are now accepting proposals (maximum 250 words) for individual papers and organised panels of three papers. A link to the online proposal form can be found on the conference website at
http://www.rcc.ac.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=prospective.content&cmid=182.

Proposals must be received by 14 December 2012.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 28 January 2013, and conference registration will begin on 2 February 2013. Further instructions and information will be made available on the conference website.

Conference Information

Location
All conference sessions will be held at Ripon College Cuddesdon, a theological college affiliated with the University of Oxford. The college is located seven miles
south-east of the Oxford city centre and is accessible by car or bus.

Fees
Fees for conference registration, room and board will be posted in January. Ripon College Cuddesdon has extended reasonable rates to make this conference affordable for domestic and international scholars in various career stages.

There are a small number of bursaries available for graduate student presenters. Students interested in being considered for a bursary should tick the box on the paper proposal form.

Conference schedule
The schedule for the three-day conference maintains a unique balance of presentations from featured speakers, traditional conference panel presentations, roundtable discussions, and film documentary screenings. A draft conference programme will be available in February 2013 on the conference website.

Featured Speakers

The Rev Canon Professor Martyn Percy
Professor of Theological Education, King’s College London
Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, UK

Dr Zoe Sherinian
Associate Professor and Chair of Ethnomusicology
University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA

Dr Suzel Riley
Reader in Ethnomusicology, School of Creative Arts
Queen’s University, Belfast, UK

Dr Marie Jorritsma
Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Dr Amos Yong
J Rodman Williams Professor of Theology
Regent University School of Divinity, Virginia Beach, USA

Dr Gerardo Marti
L Richardson King Associate Professor of Sociology
Davidson College, Davidson, USA

Dr Roberta King
Associate Professor of Communication and Ethnomusicology
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, USA

Dr Clive Marsh
Director of Learning and Teaching
Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Leicester, UK

Dr Byron Dueck
Lecturer in Ethnomusicology
Open University, UK

Conference Organisers and Conveners
The Rev Canon Professor Martyn Percy, Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford
Dr Monique Ingalls, University of Cambridge
Tom Wagner, Royal Holloway, University of London
Mark Porter, City University, London

For all programme-related queries, please contact:
music.conference@ripon-cuddesdon.ac.uk<mailto:music.conference@ripon-cuddesdon.ac.uk>