Author Archives: SISR/ISSR General Secretary

International Studies in Religion and Society

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International Studies in Religion and Society Edited by Lori G. Beaman and Peter Beyer, University of Ottawa
The Brill series, International Studies in Religion and Society (ISRS), publishes social scientific volumes that focus critically on research, debates, and theories in the forms, role, and relations of religion in contemporary society. Volumes have a transnational, multi-disciplinary, and often multi-sectional emphasis, bringing together insights from diverse fields such as history, legal studies, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, international relations, cultural studies, globalization, urban and gender studies. The series welcomes volumes that explore both neglected and much studied themes, seeking in each case to make a meaningful impact by breaking new ground, advancing current questions, and exploring new issues.

Book proposals are invited for volumes directed at a broad audience, research monographs and edited collections. Please send your book proposals to either the series editors Peter Beyer (pbeyer@uottawa.ca) and Lori Beaman (lbeaman@uottawa.ca) or Maarten Frieswijk at Brill (Frieswijk@brill.nl).

Titles in print include:

Exploring the Postsecular Edited by Arie L. Molendijk, Justin Beaumont and Christoph Jedan, University of Groningen. http://www.brill.nl/exploring-postsecular

Religions of Modernity Edited by Stef Aupers and Dick Houtman http://www.brill.nl/religions-modernity Medicine, Religion, and the Body Edited by Elizabeth Burns Coleman, Monash University and Kevin White, Australian National University http://www.brill.nl/medicine-religion-and-body

Holy Nations and Global Identities Edited by Annika Hvithamar, University of Southern Denmark, Margit Warburg, University of Copenhagen, and Brian Arly Jacobsen, University of Copenhagen http://www.brill.nl/holy-nations-and-global-identities

Pieties and Gender Edited by Lene Sjørup and Hilda Rømer Christensen http://www.brill.nl/pieties-and-gender

Christianity and Resistance in the 20th Century Edited by Søren Dosenrode
http://www.brill.nl/christianity-and-resistance-20th-century

Religion and Class in America: Culture, History, and Politics Edited by Sean McCloud and William A. Mirola http://www.brill.nl/religion-and-class-america-culture-history-and-politics

Religion, Globalization, and Culture Edited by Peter Beyer and Lori Beaman http://www.brill.nl/religion-globalization-and-culture

Religion and Society Edited by Gerrie ter Haar and Yoshio Tsuruoka http://www.brill.nl/religion-and-society

Religious Pluralism in the Diaspora Edited by P. Pratap Kumar http://www.brill.nl/religious-pluralism-diaspora

Religion and Politics Edited by Bernhard Giesen and Daniel Ṧuber http://www.brill.nl/religion-and-politics

Is there a God of Human Rights? Johannes van der Ven, Jaco S. Dreyer and Hendrik J.C. Pieterse
http://www.brill.nl/there-god-human-rights

Bridge or Barrier Edited by Gerrie ter Haar and James J. Busuttil http://www.brill.nl/bridge-or-barrier

Call for graduate papers on regulating religion

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The Religion and Diversity Project (www.religionanddiversity.ca) is launching an exciting new initiative – a graduate student E-Journal entitled: Regulating Religion! Papers for the first issue of Regulating Religion are now being accepted! Please consult the document below to learn more about this initiative and the submission process. For questions, please feel free to contact Amélie Barras (amelie.barras@umontreal.ca).

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Le projet Religion et diversité (www.religionanddiversity.ca) est fier d’annoncer le lancement d’une revue électronique pour les étudiants gradués intitulée : Réguler le religieux! Nous acceptons dès maintenant des articles! Veuillez consulter le document ci-joint afin d’en apprendre davantage sur cette revue et les procédures de soumission. Pour toutes questions, veuillez communiquer avec Amélie Barras (amelie.barras@umontreal.ca).

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New Call for Chapters – Handbook on African American Islam

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Call for submissions to Handbook on African American Islam – Aminah Beverly McCloud

According to the Gallup Poll (2009), African American Muslims comprise the largest ethnic group of Muslims in the United States at 35%, as well as the oldest. There are communities of African American Muslims across the United States, from large metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, to small town communities in Kentucky and Tennessee. There is a wide range of economic diversity as there is a wide range of social class represented. Many families have produced three generations of Muslims who cling to the religion while living in an increasingly secular America. They too, are weathering the onslaught of Islamophobia and the pervasive fear and sometimes hate filled rhetoric of newscasters and other media pundits. There will be several contributors writing chapters devoted to their maturity as Muslims living in America, their contributions to their homeland’s religious landscape and their interactions with other Muslim and non-Muslim American communities. The goal of this effort is to publish an accessible and authoritative source for students of religious studies, American religions, African American religions, anthropology, Muslim cultures, and Islam in America. It will investigate the ongoing phenomenon of African American Islam as a religious culture in the American landscape. It will also provide case studies for those interested in Muslim cultural history. This handbook will be a compilation of various disciplinary approaches to the study of religion and religious communities.
The handbook will be handy history text in its characterization of African American Islam as a long-term presence in the United States that had its beginnings in American chattel slavery. With this in mind, I am soliciting chapters on:

1. The various communities that claim Islam – Particular communities such as the NOI, Moorish Science Temple, Nation of Islam, Sufi Communities, Darul Islam, communities of Warithudeen Muhammad, Shia communities, etc. Articles can be historical but must include current research.

2. Identity. Almost all members of the African American Muslim community speak of themselves in ways most commonly referred to as ‘disapora.’ Whether seeing themselves as ‘Muslims who live in America’ or Asiatics or Ethiopians; the notion of diaspora is prevalent. How do African American Muslims imagine themselves? Are there competing definitions of diaspora? What are the meanings of African and American in current Islamic thinking? How do African American women negotiate their Muslimness?

3. How have African American Muslim communities developed as Islamic communities? What are the varieties of the Islamic experience? Who is Muslim and what defines an Islamic experience? Is there an American Islam? Who represents Islam in America? What are media representations of African American Muslim Communities?

4. What are the relationships with other Muslim and non-Muslim religious communities? What are the bases for these relationships? Are African American Muslims involved in inter-faith dialogues and if so, on what terms? What is the status of engagement with the immigrant Muslim community?

5. Is there a “gender jihad” as expressed by Amina Wadud? Where does knowledge lay among the women? Are there issues of knowledge and power in marriage and family construction? What are women contributing to art, music, scholarship? Is there meaningful participation in the masajid? How are women shaping the activities of the masjid or other distinctly Muslim spaces?

6. What is the African American Muslim agenda for the 21st century? Do they have the same issues of Islamophobia, curtailment of civil liberties? How is American Islam going to be reflective of African American Islamic perspectives?

This Handbook will be published by Oxford in 2014. Those agreeing to submit a chapter will receive a contract with Oxford and a cash or book honorarium. Please send to Aminah Beverly McCloud your inquiries and hopefully willingness to submit by March 15, 2012 at amccloud@depaul.edu<mailto:amccloud@depaul.edu> .

Workshop on Negotiating Religion

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UCL’s Dr Myriam Hunter-Henin is pleased to announce a workshop to be held at UCL on 12th June 2012 on Negotiating Religion
Workshop: Legal Framework – Schools and Religious Freedom

This one day workshop, which is part of the Negotiating Religion Workshop Series, will look at how and to what extent do legal frameworks – judicial reasoning and legal processes – allow space for negotiating religious issues. The workshop will look at questions such as: * Does this negotiation take place with religious communities or directly with the individuals who claim that their religious freedoms have been infringed? * What are the main actors of the negotiating process? * Who benefits from it? * What are the risks of ‘negotiating’? * Is ‘negotiation’ the best way to reach a fair compromise between conflicting rights and claims? * Is negotiating with religious freedoms any different to negotiation in respect of other human rights? * What special features/dangers derive from the school context in which this negotiation takes place? * What does teaching in a secular institution imply?
These crucial questions will be addressed through analysis of topical case law and legal scholarship under four headings:
1. Religious symbols
2. Religious education and teaching content
3. Religion and staff
4. Faith Schools

You can book online for this conference at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/religion
The cost to attend is:
£60 – standard ticket
£30 – academic ticket
£10 – student ticket

2nd Call ESA Mid-term Conference

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ESA cordially invite to participate in the Call for Papers!
The submission of abstracts and online registration has started!

Transformations of the Sacred in Europe and Beyond
ESA Mid-term Conference: Research Network 34 – Sociology of Religion University of Potsdam, Germany, 3-5 September 2012 in cooperation with the German Section for the Sociology of Religion in the DGS

You will find the registration form on:
http://www.uni-potsdam.de/esa-religion/abstractsandregistration.html

Plenary Speakers:
Schirin Amir-Moazami, Institute for Islamic Studies, Free University of Berlin
Hubert Knoblauch, Institute for Sociology, Technical University of Berlin
Gordon Lynch, Religious Studies School of European Culture and Languages, University of Kent
Eva-Maria Schrage, Graduate School “Religion and Politics in the Cultures of Pre-modernity and Modernity”, University of Münster

Panel: Religions on the Move/Changes in Religious Cultures
Inger Furseth, Director of the Nordic Research Program NOREL, Oslo
Dorota Hall, Ass. Professor at the Dep. of Religious Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Volkhard Krech, Director of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg Dynamics in the History of Religions and speaker of the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) at the University of Bochum
Siniša Zrinščak, Department of Social Work, University of Zagreb

The thesis of secularization, once sheer uncontested in the social sciences, is increasingly under fire. Secularization is nowadays often deconstructed as an ideology or mere wish dream that is intimately connected to the rationalist ambitions of modern Enlightenment. Such alleged blurring of morality and science, of what ‘is’ and what ‘ought’, informing sociological analysis obviously
obscures clear sight on recent developments in the Western world. Countless empirical and theoretical studies convincingly demonstrate that religion is alive and well in Europe and beyond. Particularly after the attacks of 9/11 in 2001, religious identities
have become salient in a situation of cultural polarization and religious pluralization. Moreover, we are witnessing a trend towards ‘believing without belonging’ (Davie, 1994) and – particularly in those European countries that are most secular – a shift from organized religion to ‘spiritualities of life’ (e.g., Heelas and Woodhead, 2005), paganism and ‘popular religion’ (Knoblauch, 2009). And although the thesis of secularization has always been highly problematic from a non-European or global perspective, the rapid globalization of Islam and the Evangelical upsurge – especially in Africa, Latin America and East Asia – fly in the face of the long-held expectation that religion is doomed to be a marginal or socially insignificant phenomenon. Evidently, then, the focus of sociological analysis has shifted over the last decades from religious decline to religious change. More than that: it is theorized that we are living in a “postsecular society” (Habermas, 2005) where religion is re-vitalized, de-privatized and increasingly influences politics, voting behavior, matters of the state and ethical debates in the public domain (e.g., Casanova, 1994). Motivated by such observations, the mid-term conference calls for papers addressing changes in the field of religion and, more in particular, transformations of the sacred in Europe and beyond.

Particularly we welcome studies covering the following topics:
• Studies on how and why conceptions of the sacred, religious beliefs, doctrines, rituals and organizations of long-standing religious traditions – such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism – transform under the influence of processes of globalization, individualization, mediatization as well as changing gender relations.
• Studies dealing with trends of believing without belonging, i.e. non-institutionalized beliefs, personal ‘bricolage’ and privatized conceptions of the sacred outside the Churches, Chapels and Mosques. Encouraged are also studies addressing new, more informal ways of ‘belonging’, religious communication and collective effervescence, i.e. in loose social networks, discussion groups or virtual communities on the internet.
• Studies covering popular religion and post-traditional spirituality, i.e., New Age, esotericism, paganism, occultism, discussing for instance an epistemological turn from belief to experience and emotion; a shifting emphasis from transcendence to immanence; from seriousness to playfulness; or a transition from dualism to monism.
• Studies dealing with implicit religion, i.e. addressing a re-location of the sacred to seemingly secular domains in society such as self-identity, sports, modern science and technology. This avenue of research may also include the place and meaning of the sacred
(i.e., religious narratives, symbols and images) in popular media texts – in novels, films, series on television or computer games.

These topics are rough guidelines; papers dealing with religious change and the transformation of the sacred in Europe and beyond other than these outlined above are also very welcome.
Furthermore we invite PhD and post-doc candidates to contribute to a poster session, including work in progress; the best poster will get a – small, but nice – prize.
For further information, dates & deadlines, please see:
http://www.uni-potsdam.de/esa-religion/index.html

Two vacancies for lecturer posts, University of Kent

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The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent has two vacancies for lecturer posts; one an on-going contract, and the other a fixed-term lectureship until the end of August 2014. Candidates would ideally be able to take up their posts in September 2012.

The posts are open to applicants in any area of Religious Studies, but priority would be given to candidates able to complement the existing teaching and research profile of the Department which has particular strengths in theory and method in the study of religion and the study of religion and contemporary society. Applicants will be expected to show a strong research profile for the Research Excellence Framework exercise in 2014 and a monograph published by the REF deadline in autumn 2013 would be a distinct advantage. Applicants will also be expected to show how they would extend teaching and research work in the department.

The successful candidates will have a PhD or equivalent in Religious Studies or related area, with knowledge of the historical and critical practice of Religious Studies and a developing profile of international excellence in research and publication. The successful candidates will have experience in the development of taught programmes of study and be able to deliver effective teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Religious Studies.

Religious Studies at Kent is a growing academic department with a strong track record of securing external research funding, good links with a range of national organizations through which it undertakes significant public engagement and impact activities, and a strong ethos of cross-disciplinary and theoretically-informed work in the study of religion.

For more details on these vacancies, please go to
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AEB437/lecturer-in-religious-studies/

PhD and MA Jameel Scholarships

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PhD and MA Jameel Scholarships, Islam-UK Centre, Cardiff University

With the help of a very generous gift to the University, the PhD and MA Jameel Scholarships have been established to enable the very best students to come to Cardiff – those who have the intellect and determination to apply their knowledge for the benefit of Muslim communities in the UK, and to promote better understanding of Islam in wider society.

Applications are invited for 3 fully-funded PhD Jameel Scholarships, and 4 fully-funded MA Jameel Scholarships (available for the forthcoming academic year on the MA in Islam in Contemporary Britain).

For eligibility criteria, and details about the Scholarship packages, please go to: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/research/centres/csi/scholarships/index.html

Dr Sophie Gilliat-Ray
Reader in Religious & Theological Studies
Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK (Director)
School of Archaeology, History and Religion
Cardiff University
CARDIFF
CF10 3EU
United Kingdom
Mobile: 07702 345342
e-mail: Gilliat-RayS@cardiff.ac.uk

Muslims in Britain: an Introduction (Cambridge University Press, June 2010)http://www3.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521536882

Islam-UK Centre, Cardiff University
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/relig/research/researchcentres/csi/centre-for-the-study-of-islam-in-the-uk.html

Call for Papers Religion on the Move

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Call for Papers
Religion on the Move
How Motion and Migration influence Religion

10th Conference of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion
Szeged, Hungary 12-14 September, 2012

In many ways movement is an important aspect of religion and spirituality. Not only has the significance of motion within the practice of religion and rituality increased (Coleman & Eade 2004), but also, through the movement and migration of people all over the world, religions and religious practices are relocating and changing (Jenkins 2007).
Movement is significant for the practice of many religions. It seems that motion has been gaining in importance and that the performative expression and execution of religious practice play a stronger part than they used to do. There might be related to the more participative role of believers in religion and rituality and the enhanced relevance of individuals ‘doing’ religion. The popularity of walking the many pilgrim ways through Europe is an example of that trend, while other expressions of movement like dancing, meditations, processions and other rituals also seem to be more in focus.
A second strand of movement is connected to migration for, by moving, people bring faiths and religious practices to other places in the world where they were not previously known or practised. Nowadays, through mass migrations, refugees, displacements because of war and other translocations, religions and beliefs can expand both spatially and quantitatively. These are processes in which the faiths which are moving are being transformed, and the religion(s) of the areas in which people and their religion are newly settled are likewise affected (examples include Islam in Europe and the new Christians from Africa in Europe). Sometimes beliefs are appropriated through tourism or by ‘spiritual seekers’; aspects of Eastern religion and esoterism have been imported to Western society. In that regard the Internet has become a migratative instrument, in its capacity of ‘posting’ religion all over the globe and into people’s homes, regardless of what religion is practised there. The extension of religion through (digital) migration has an impact on social, cultural and political contexts (Woodhead et al. 2002). The movement of religion might lead to an adaptation to new circumstances, to inculturation, but also potentially to a transformation in the religious constituents of the local culture as well. Sometimes there is openness and religion finds new host communities. Evangelical, Pentecostal, neo-Pentecostal churches have spread across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe (Coleman 2007) and so have Afro-American religions, as Candomblé, Umbanda, or Santeria cubana (Capone 2004; Saraiva 2010). Sometimes the members of the host country become involved in such new practices, but movement may also lead to segregation within host communities and contested situations.

Papers connected to these two research strands on movement and religion are welcomed; one could for example think of the following topics:
•       The influence of migration on religion
•       Movement as constituative element in religion and rituality
•       Effects of globalisation and transnationalism on religion
•       Changes in religion through digital movement, via the Internet.
•       Movement and spatiality related to the practice of religion

Format: the conference takes place over two days, followed by an excursion on the third day. Paper presentations are limited to 20 minutes each, followed by ten minutes of discussion. In total 20 paper presenters will be selected. Colleagues who do not present a paper are welcome to participate in the conference and its discussions. A business meeting of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion will be held during the conference.

Organizers: the conference is organized by the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Szeged together with the Bálint Sándor Institute for Research on Religion and the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF).

Venue: University of Szeged and Gál Ferenc Theological College of Szeged

Fee: the conference fee is 60 €, including conference materials, reception, coffee, brunch, excursion.
Participants are responsible for travel and accommodation; there is no funding for expenses available.

Application: submit an abstract of your paper of maximum 300 words, together with your name, position, and institutional affiliation to Dr. István Povedák povedak@yahoo.com by March 15, 2012. The selection of the papers will be done in collaboration with the Board of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion. The final selection will be communicated by April 1, 2012.

Contacts: povedak@yahoo.com; peter.jan.margry@meertens.knaw.nl

Call for Papers Alternative Salvations

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CALL FOR PAPERS
ALTERNATIVE SALVATIONS
One Day Conference, Sept 18th 2012, University of Chester

The conference will explore how ‘unorthodox’ readings of sacred texts inform salvation experience; how life transformations outside of religious contexts might be considered spiritual; how ideas of this-worldly salvation are politicised; how ideas of salvation are simultaneously secularised and infused with new power; what alternative salvations can be discovered within Christianity and how might they be practised? In particular, we are seeking to explore the ways that alternative religious, spiritual and secular understandings of the notion of salvation already shape, and have the potential to shape, how people live and act in Christian and post-Christian contexts . This exciting conference breaks new ground in exploring alternative approaches to salvation.
Proposals for short papers are invited on any aspect of the theme of ‘alternative salvations’ as outlined here.
Papers will normally be 20 minutes in length with an additional 10 minutes for discussion.

Applications to submit a short paper should include:
-Proposer’s name and affiliation;
– a title for the paper;
– a 200 word abstract;
– details of any audio-visual equipment you will need to deliver your paper.

Short paper proposals should be submitted to alternativesalvations@chester.ac.uk by no later than 4:00pm on 16th April 2012. Applicants should know the outcome of their proposal by 18th May 2012.
Conference costs: £28 (£18 for unwaged and students) inclusive of lunch and refreshments.
If you would like any further information, please contact: alternativesalvations@chester.ac.uk

Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Social Sciences

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The Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) in the Social Sciences Research Institute at Rice University is offering one two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the social sciences to begin on July 1, 2012 at a rate of $52,000 per year. The fellow will be housed in the Department of Sociology and work primarily with Associate Professor of Sociology and RPLP Director Elaine Howard Ecklund (www.ehecklund.rice.edu <http://www.ehecklund.rice.edu/><http://www.ehecklund.rice.edu/%3e>) on the Religion among Scientists in International Context study, a six-nation study of how scientists understand religion and science ethics. The fellow will also work with Kirstin Matthews, Science and Technology Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy and Steve Lewis, C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy, who are participating with Dr. Ecklund on the RASIC study. There are no teaching responsibilities associated with the fellowship. Because of the needs of the study, preference will be given to applicants who speak one or more of the following languages fluently: French, Italian, Turkish, or Mandarin, in addition to fluent English. Ability to do high-level statistical analysis or experience conducting qualitative interviews is also an asset to the application. An online application is required, and additional required application materials include a curriculum vitae, a copy of at least one recent social science publication, and a transcript for language courses taken or other evidence of fluency (article published in language, for example).
Please apply online at jobs.rice.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=53111. In addition to the online application materials, three letters of recommendation sent by writers under separate cover will be required. Letters should be sent to Samuel Kye, RASIC Postdoctoral Selection Committee, Department of Sociology MS-28, Rice University, 6100 Main St, Houston TX 77005-1892.  Application review will begin on April 1, 2012. Rice University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.