New Book “Building a Shared Future: Religion, Politics and the Public Sphere”

Building a Shared Future: Religion, Politics and the Public Sphere
by Qamar-ul Huda, PhD, Ayatollahi Tabaar, Jocelyne Cesari, Nader Hashemi, Amjad Saleem, Mark Hammond, Florence Laufer, Sajjad Rizvi, Prof. Abdellatif Bencherifa, Maleiha Malik, Hilary E. Kahn, PhD, M.H. Vorthoren & Sheila B. Lalwani

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/building-shared-future-religion/id543980300?mt=11

Description
During the last decade, debates on the role of religion in the public space, migration, social cohesion and other issues have revealed increasing social tensions and polarisation in public opinion. Misperceptions and misinformation often dominate public dialogue about relations between Muslims and others. Although they don’t speak with the loudest voice, academics, scholars and thought leaders have a key role to play in helping to rebalance these debates by providing fact-based opinion and informed arguments. In the ‘Building a Shared Future’ series, these opinion leaders offer insights into the issues facing Muslims through American and European communities today.

How successful have European models of integration been compared with the American model of multiculturalism? How can multiple layers of identity be accommodated in pluralistic societies? This volume explores a selection of these questions.

Call for Participation in the Filipino Youth and Sacred Research Workshops 2012-13

The College of Liberal Arts of De La Salle University holds research workshops on The Youth and the Sacred: On Filipino Youth’s Sacred Experiences, Sacred Performances and Notions of the Sacred.

The workshops are divided into the following themes: “The Youth and Religious Discourses”, “The sacred as resource/s”, “Sacred in Spaces and Places: Visual and Material Culture As Media of the Sacred” and “Towards the Rubrics of the Sacred in Young Filipinos: Methodologies, Frameworks,and Avenues for Research.”

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE 1ST WORKSHOP JULY 27, 2012
“The Youth and Religious Discourses”
Main Speaker: Dr. Gerry Lanuza, University of the Philippines
July 27, 2012
Andrew Gonzalez Building RM 1506, De La Salle University Philippines

In the Philippines, a cursory research on Google yields results on sacred that are intimately connected to religion or religious identity. This first workshop gathers scholars who research on youth and religious discourses. Participants will explore the intersections of sacred and religion, of the varying manifestations of sacred in spiritualities, and how these intersect with gender, class and ethnicity in young Filipinos. Moreover, in Asian context, the affirmation of life is widely held and valued.
Nevertheless, an exhaustive research on youth cultures has to take into consideration the myriad of experiences of young people that seemingly undermine such value, like poverty, child labor, sexual trafficking and belonging in large families, to name a few.

Tentatively, the following questions will be considered:
1. In young Filipinos who find increasing dissonance between their new found beliefs and traditional beliefs, how is sacred conceptualized, interrogated or negotiated?
2. In young Filipino Muslims, how is sacred understood or conceptualized that takes into account the religious mandate of Islam that one’s life should be completely surrendered to Allah?
3. How have the “new religious movements,” “new-age movements,” “mega-church phenomenon,” and the like define or re-define the understanding of sacred in young Filipinos?
4. Is sacred to be identified solely as religious? How has spirituality revealed/manifested sacred? Is spirituality connected to sacred?
5. Is life in the Philippines sacred? What is the current evidence/s to show that it is so? What are the threats to the sacredness of life?

Expected output:

Critical inquiry into the classical division between sacred and profane, religious and secular, traditional and modern, sacralization and secularization, believers/nonbelievers, atheists, religious minority, indigenous peoples and its contemporary significance to young Filipinos in particular.

For more information on the workshop, please contact Dr. Jeane C. Peracullo, Philosophy Department, De La Salle University at jeane.peracullo@dlsu.edu.ph or mobile: +63-939-9208-132.  Workshop website is at
http://interfaithphilippines.wordpress.com/filipino-youth-and-sacred-research-workshops-2012/

International Congress: RUDOLF OTTO Marburg 2012

The Rudolf-Otto-Congress 2012 in Marburg, Germany, 4th-7th October.
For information please visit
www.rudolf-otto.com and
http://www.facebook.com/RudolfOtto .

Or please contact Peter Schüz
Academic Assistant
Rudolf-Bultmann-Institute for Hermeneutics
Fachbereich Evangelische Theologie
Philipps-Universität Marburg
Lahntor 3 D-35032 Marburg Germany
phone: +49-(0)6421-28 22437
hermeneu@staff.uni-marburg.de

Ordinary Lives and Grand Schemes: An Anthropology of Everyday Religion

ORDINARY LIVES AND GRAND SCHEMES
An Anthropology of Everyday Religion
Edited by Samuli Schielke and Liza Debevec Berghahn Books, 2012
http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=SchielkeOrdinary

“This volume is very well put-together. The editors have done a good job to rein in the various authors to a single collective argument.It’s an important volume on an important issue.”  ·  Jon Mitchell, University of Sussex

“The topic of everyday religion is becoming an increasingly attractive in the social sciences of religion, as an alternative to more orthodox and canonical accounts of religious phenomena. This volume sets out to debate the concept of ‘everyday religion’ in a very explicit and straightforward manner.The final result is a convincing volume with diverse and challenging case studies that open different paths for the discussion of the main theme.”  ·  Ruy Blanes, Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon

Everyday practice of religion is complex in its nature, ambivalent and at times contradictory. The task of an anthropology of religious practice is therefore precisely to see how people navigate and make sense of that complexity, and what the significance of religious beliefs and practices in a given setting can be. Rather than putting everyday practice and normative doctrine on different analytical planes, the authors argue that the articulation of religious doctrine is also an everyday practice and must be understood as such.

Samuli Schielke is a research fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin. His research interests include Islam, festive culture, subjectivity and morality, and migration and aspiration in Egypt.

Liza Debevec is a research fellow at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts. Her research focuses on the anthropology of everyday life practices in urban Burkina Faso.

Series: Volume 18, EASA Series
Subject: Religion, Anthropology, Sociology

Contents

Introduction
Samuli Schielke and Liza Debevec

Chapter 1. Divination and Islam: Existential Perspectives in the Study of Ritual and Religious Praxis in Senegal and Gambia Knut Graw

Chapter 2. Postponing Piety in Urban Burkina Faso: Discussing Ideas on When to Start Acting as a Pious Muslim Liza Debevec

Chapter 3. Everyday Religion, Ambiguity and Homosocial Relationships in Manitoba, Canada from 1911 to 1949 Alison R. Marshall

Chapter 4. ‘Doing Things Properly’: Religious Aspects in Everyday Sociality in Apiao, Chiloé Giovanna Bacchiddu

Chapter 5. The Ordinary within the Extraordinary: Sainthood Making and Everyday Religious Practice in Lesvos, Greece Séverine Rey

Chapter 6. Say a Little Hallo to Padre Pio: Production and Consumption of Space in the Construction of the Sacred at the Shrine of Santa Maria delle Grazie Evgenia Mesaritou

Chapter 7. Going to the Mulid: Street-smart Spirituality in Egypt Jennifer Peterson

Chapter 8. Capitalist Ethics and the Spirit of Islamization in Egypt Samuli Schielke

Afterword: Everyday Religion and the Contemporary World: The Un-Modern, or What Was Supposed to Have Disappeared but Did Not Robert A. Orsi

Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index

Event announcement: Religion, Youth and Sexuality: Stories from the United Kingdom & Canada

Religion, Youth and Sexuality: Stories from the United Kingdom & Canada

Monday 3rd September 2012 – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Followed by Buffet Reception

Venue: Room B63, School of Sociology & Social Policy, Law & Social Sciences Building, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK.

The School of Sociology and Social Policy cordially invites you to this event organised for young people, academics, and non-academic professionals (e.g. religious leaders, youth workers, sexual health workers, counsellors).

The event will present findings from two related research projects: The completed Religion, Youth and Sexuality: A Multi-Faith Exploration in the UK (www.nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/rys<http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/rys>).
The ongoing Religion, Gender, Sexuality and Youth among Youth in Canada(http://www.queensu.ca/religion/Faculty/research/dickeyyoung.html>).

Guest Speakers
Prof. Pamela Dickey Young, Queen’s University, Canada
Dr. Heather Shipley, University of Ottawa, Canada
Dr. Sarah-Jane Page, Aston University, England
Prof. Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, University of Nottingham, England

Registration

The event is free of charge, but registration is required. Please return all completed registration forms to michelle.fusco@nottingham.ac.uk.
These can be found on the School website, via the following link; http://tiny.cc/RYSSept2012

Read The Swiss Minaret Ban: Islam in Question

Read The Swiss Minaret Ban: Islam in Question

Edited by Patrick Haenni and Stéphane Lathion

With an Afterword by Olivier Roy

On 29 November 2009 Swiss voters approved the proposal to introduce a ban on building minarets on Swiss territory into the Federal Constitution. The result surprised large parts of the media and political class. The most frequently mentioned motive of supporters of the initiative was the wish to give a clear signal against the expansion of Islam and the type of society associated with this religion. The vote’s real objective was not the minaret as such. Rather, the minaret was being turned into a symbol of the issues raised by Islam.

Read full text: http://www.minaret.li/

Redeeming Power: Overcoming Abuse in Church and Society

Redeeming Power: Overcoming Abuse in Church and Society

A two-day conference at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, to launch a major new research project by the European Society for Catholic Theology (ESCT). Organized in conjunction with Heythrop College, University of London, and the Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham University.

4 Tuesday – 5 Wednesday September 2012

Confirmed speakers (more to be added):
* Rt. Revd John Arnold (Auxiliary Bishop, Westminster)
* Prof. John Bell (University of Cambridge)
* Prof. Annemie Dillen (KU Leuven)
* Mary Kenny (Irish Independent, Irish Catholic)
* Revd Dr Dariusz Krok (Opole University)
* Mgr Charles Scicluna (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)
* Madeleine Teahan (Catholic Herald)

Conference aims
· The aim of the event is to bring together researchers from a wide range of disciplines, interested in: a) examining the nature, scope, and context of abuses of power, both in the Church and beyond; and b) investigating the means by which they may be overcome.
· While the sexual abuse crisis will naturally form a major focus of the conference (and project), this cannot be understood within a vacuum. We are therefore keen to explore all other issues relating to the topic of theology, power, and abuse.
· The conference will identify a number of key themes that will guide and inform the Redeeming Power project over the next two years, leading to a number of events, projects and publications across Europe.

Call for Papers

Significant time has been set aside in the conference schedule for short papers (i.e., 20 mins) and discussion. Established and emerging scholars from a wide range of disciplines – including, but not limited to, theology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, social work, history, and law (canon and secular) – are strongly encouraged to consider submitting a proposal.

Abstracts (no more than 250 words) of proposed topics should be sent to Dr Stephen Bullivant at stephen.bullivant@smuc.ac.uk by Friday, 13 July.
Decisions will be communicated by Friday, 20 July.

Registration

Full conference information (e.g., full schedule), and details on how to register, will be made available on the project website:
http://www.smuc.ac.uk/inspire/redeeming-power.htm by the end of June. It is hoped that the conference fee (inc. meals, and accommodation on 4 Sept.) will be in the region of £140-150 (TBC). Small bursaries may also be available for postgraduate students giving short paper. Please address all queries to Stephen Bullivant.

Redeeming Power is a joint venture between the ESCT and scholars at  University College Dublin (Ireland), Durham University (UK), Heythrop College (UK), KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Opole (Poland), St Mary’s University College (UK), and University of Trnava (Slovakia)

The journal Religion and Gender solicits papers‏

Submissions Religion and Gender

This is a reminder that the recently launched peer-reviewed, open-access journal Religion and Gender accepts suitable submissions from any thematic area for its open/general section. This might be relevant for colleagues in the UK working on high quality output looking for a suitable venue of publication in time for the REF 2014. Accepted, peer-reviewed articles for the next three issues (3-5) will appear in time for the UK REF2014. As there is limited space, and as the review process – which often results in requests for revision – takes time, we encourage you to submit as soon as possible.

Articles received by 1 August 2012, if accepted after peer review and no revisions are required, will be published in the Autumn 2012 issue.

Articles received by 1 September 2012, if accepted after peer review, will be published in the Spring 2013 issue.

Articles received by 1 February 2013, if accepted after peer review, will be published in the Autumn 2013 issue.

If you make your submission through our online submission system, please mention that you are a UK-based scholar participating in the REF assessment, in order for us to make reviewing and editing your article a top priority.

For information about the journal, see www.religionandgender.org

For information about the review process, see http://www.religionandgender.org/index.php/rg/about/editorialPolicies#peerReviewProcess

For the author guidelines, see http://www.religionandgender.org/index.php/rg/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

The Religion and Gender editors, Anne-Marie Korte (Utrecht University, Netherlands), Chia Longman (Ghent University, Belgium), Burkhard Scherer (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK)

Dr Burkhard Scherer
Reader in Religious Studies
Canterbury Christ Church University, U.K.
Executive Editor “Religion and Gender”, www.religionandgender.org

Religion / Bourdieu

Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to communicate that from now on, we can offer free access to the following 2004 book of mine.

Praxis – Theology – Religion: A Study in Theory following Pierre Bourdieu.

Since the book is written in German, for your orientation we offer the table of contents in English. You find both here: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/%28en%29/theologie/forschung/religionsforschung/aktuelles/index.html

Thank you for your kind attention and best wishes,
Heinrich Schäfer
heinrich.schaefer@uni-bielefeld.de

New book: A Well-Worn Tallis for a New Ceremony by Nurit Stadler

A Well-Worn Tallis for a New Ceremony. Trends in Israeli Haredi Culture
By Nurit Stadler
ISBN 9781936235827 (cloth) $79.00 / £37.50
174 pp., June 2012

A Well-Worn Tallis for a New Ceremony by Nurit Stadler is a study of contemporary ultra-Orthodox religiosity in Israel. This book analyzes the on-going reconstruction of Haredi culture in Israel, a process which has been spurred on by the challenges of modernity, the worldwide resurgence of religion, and the strong sway of Israeliness. Over the course of her extended research on this community, Stadler has discerned changes in several key areas: religious life; the family structure; and the community’s interface with government authorities and the rest of the populace.

Series: Jewish Identity in Post-Modern Society
Topic Areas: Orthodox Judaism, Haredi, Israeli Studies, Sociology, Anthropology

Author: Nurit Stadler (PhD Hebrew University) is a senior lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her book Yeshiva Fundamentalism: Piety, Gender and Resistance in the Ultra-Orthodox World (2008) explored the changes in Haredi male piety within the Israeli ultra-Orthodox community. She lectures on sociological theory, the anthropology of religion, fundamentalism, charismatic groups, and modern forms of worship. Stadler has merited research grants from a number of organizations and is the editor of Eshkolot, a series of books on Israeli society published by Hebrew University.

Review for A Well-Worn Tallis for a New Ceremony:
“Stadler begins her book with a thorough review of the literature on religion and modernity. She then discuses her research findings on haredim. Stadler’s fascinating work illustrates the interaction between fundamentalist beliefs and way of life within the context of modernity.” —Roberta Rosenberg Farber, Yeshiva University