Author Archives: Janaki

CFP: Human Dignity in Islam Symposium, Sydney – July 16-17 2016

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CALL FOR PAPERS

What would Prophet Muhammad do?

 

Exploring the Meaning & Application of

Human Dignity in Islam

International Roundtable Symposium, July 16th – 17th 2016

Imam Hasan Centre, Sydney, Australia

Synopsis

A great deal of scholarship in the West has emerged on the concept of human dignity in the fields of law, ethics and philosophy. The commonly cited influences of Immanuel Kant, human rights instruments after World War II and role of religious scripture have contributed to the modern understanding of human dignity – the innate self-worth, humanity and moral and rational agency of a human being. Others such as Macklin deem human dignity to be a “useless concept” meaning nothing more than personal autonomy (Macklin, R., “Dignity as a Useless Concept.” British Medical Journal 327. 2003, p.1419-1420).

Comparatively, modern Muslim scholarship on the meaning and application of human dignity is still sparse and many argue that “religious voices no longer carry much weight” in this discussion (Rae, S. B., and Cox, P. M., Bioethics: A Christian Approach in a Pluralistic Age. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. 1999, p.2). Most Muslim scholars trace the concept of human dignity to various verses in the Qur’an and Prophetic narrations but is this methodological approach anachronistic? Are current attempts to construct a notion of human dignity from the Islamic tradition a Eurocentric reflection of the philosophical justifications used in Western scholarship? Apart from discussions of autonomy and constraint, is there anything original that the Islamic tradition can offer in formulating an understanding of human dignity? Ultimately, should human dignity be a bedrock principle in Muslim jurisprudential (fiqhi) and ethical (akhlaqi) discourses?

Whilst we cannot find all answers in history, we can certainly tap into some enduring visions and principles left by courageous figures such as Prophet Muhammad who the Qur’an describes as possessing a “great character” (68:4). He tirelessly worked to bring dignity to those who were treated as less than human such as slaves, women and the impoverished. With the negative political and media attention that paints Islam as a terrorist and inhumane religion, the symposium aims to frame the aforementioned questions within the transformative, merciful and daring spirit of Prophet Muhammad.

The symposium does not restrict discourses and models to be exclusively associated with Prophet Muhammad – it welcomes all types of knowledge-bases in a multi-disciplinary setting; rather it aims to set a viable historical context in which experts can discuss the issue of human dignity. The date of the symposium coincides with the month of Shawwal. This is the month in which the marriage between the Prophet and Lady Khadijah took place – a union based on showing deep compassion and humanity to the less fortunate in society.

Abstracts

Contributors are expected not just to provide a theoretical analysis of human dignity from the Islamic tradition but possible frameworks to solve current jurisprudential, ethical and philosophical problems. Combining seminary and university intellectual approaches in one’s presentation are encouraged.

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words coupled with a short biography. Those whose abstracts are accepted will be required to submit a paper of approximately 8,000 words before the symposium for a projected edited compilation. Contributors are free to select from the themes below or suggest their own ideas:

·         Human dignity in scriptural and spiritual discourses – lexicology, usage, Divine and Prophetic intent

·   Human dignity in philosophical and metaphysical discourses – origins, conceptions, the meaning of humanity, empowerment, constraint and existentialism

·         Human dignity in legal and jurisprudential discourses – the treatment of religious denominations, non-Muslims, women, slaves and others; its relationship with human rights and contributions of current Muslim scholars

·         Human dignity in ethical discourses – its place in Muslim ethical literature and the need (or lack of) to create a discipline of usul al-akhlaq (principles of ethics)

·         Human dignity in bioethical discourses – application to bioethical issues – consent, autonomy, beginning of life & end-of-life care, genetic engineering, animal-human experimentations

·         Human dignity in historical and socio-political discourses – its role in early and later Muslim battles, modern terrorism and advancement of the state

·         Human dignity in comparative discourses – comparisons and critiques between Islamic, Western/Eastern or interreligious conceptions of dignity and Eurocentrism

Venue, Travel & Accommodation

The symposium will be held at the Imam Hasan Centre, located in Annangrove, Sydney which since its establishment in 2004 has been a place of religious worship, interfaith dialogue, community-building, academic workshops and lectures. More information about the centre can be found here: https://www.imamhasancentre.com.au/ A few places are reserved for early career researchers so graduate researchers in Australia are encouraged to submit abstracts. Monetary assistance for travel and accommodation may be requested and granted if available (particularly for those living in Australia). Information about call for papers can also be found here: https://www.imamhasancentre.com.au/conferences/

Submissions and Queries

·         Abstract submission date: March 20th 2016

·         Paper submission date: July 1st 2016

Abstracts and queries can be sent to Dr. Imranali Panjwani, Lecturer & Researcher at the Imam Hasan Centre, at: ipanjwani@hotmail.com. For further enquiries, please ring the Centre’s main number on: +61 2 9679 0855.

Book announcement : (Un)Believing in modern society

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Out now:
Stolz, J., Könemann, J., Schneuwly Purdie, M., Englberger, T., & Krüggeler, M. (2015).
(Un)Believing in modern society. Religion, spirituality, and religious-secular competition.
Farnham: Ashgate.ISBN: 978-1-4724-6128-5

This study sheds new light on the ques-tion of what has happened to religion and spirituality since the 1960s. It presents a theory of religious-secular competition and distinguishes four ways of being religious/ secular: ‘institu-tional’, ‘alternative’, ‘distanced’ and ‘secular’. The authors show how and why these forms have emerged as a result of religious-secular competition and describe in what ways all four forms are adapted to the current, individua-lized society.

CFP for New Editors of Politics & Religion

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Politics and Religion
Call for Proposals for New Editor(s)

The Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science Association invites applications from individuals, pairs, or teams for the editorship of Politics and Religion (P&R) from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2021. Nominations and self-nominations are encouraged. The section particularly encourages nomination of pairs or teams of editors where each editor represents a different country and a variety of substantive expertise.
Interested applicants for editor should be senior scholars and members in good standing of the Religion and Politics section. Applicants are expected to have records of significant research accomplishment in the subfield of Religion and Politics, intellectual breadth and depth, an entrepreneurial approach to attracting and soliciting quality manuscripts, authors, and reviewers, and excellent administrative, organizational, and interpersonal skills.

information for candidates
Politics and Religion is the flagship journal for the subfield of Religion and Politics, published by Cambridge University Press. P&R receives close to 100 submissions per year and continues to grow. As a result, serving as editor requires substantial commitments of time, intellectual effort, and management skill. It also offers an opportunity to shape the intellectual direction of the journal and the field.
The P&R editor reports to the Executive Committee of the Religion and Politics Section of APSA and to the Publishing Editor at Cambridge University Press. The editor will appoint book review editors and journal editorial board members in consultation with the section’s executive committee. The editor is required to provide at least one written report per year on the state of the journal, in addition to frequent informal consultation with the section and CUP. Cambridge University Press provides a stipend to the editor each year to defray some of the administration costs of the journal.

to Apply
Candidates should e-mail a single PDF that includes a full curriculum vita, a letter of intent or proposal that discusses vision and goals for the journal, particularly addressing the challenge of balancing international politics, American politics, comparative politics, and political philosophy in an outlet for Religion and Politics research; experiences directly relevant to the position of editor; plans for management, and organization of the journal’s workflow; and statements of financial support commitments from the host university(ies).
Applications should be sent to Elizabeth Shakman Hurd (eshurd@northwestern.edu), Religion and Politics section chair, and must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.
All applicants will receive e-mail confirmation.
Nominations and Questions: If you wish to nominate a person to serve as editor, you may contact Elizabeth Shakman Hurd who, in turn, will contact the nominee. If you have questions about the responsibilities of serving as editor of Politics and Religion you are encouraged to contact the chair of the Religion and Politics section committee.

CFP: AAR Sociology of Religion Group

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Call for Papers
Sociology of Religion Group
American Academy of Religion
San Antonio, Texas
November 19-22, 2016
Statement of Purpose:
The Sociology of Religion Group of the American Academy of Religion serves as a bridge between religious studies and the subdiscipline of sociology of religion. It functions as a two-way conduit not only to import sociological research into religious studies but also to export the research of religious studies into both the subdiscipline and the broader field of sociology. Only through a cross-fertilization transgressing departmental boundaries can there be breakthroughs in research in both fields. The group has a wide conception of sociology of religion. It is open to a multiplicity of paradigms and methodologies utilized in the subfield and sociology more broadly: theoretical as well as empirical, quantitative, qualitative, and comparative-historical. By liaising with other Program Units, the Sociology of Religion Group is able to bring the rich diversity of critical and analytical perspectives that are housed in the American Academy of Religion into mainstream sociology of religion. Conversely, it aims to provide scholars of the study of religion with a deeper understanding of the landscape of sociology of religion.
Theory, Method, and their Application:
Sociology of Religion as part of a larger discipline is marked by a canonization of its theory and its division by paradigms and methodologies–whether these be the classics (Weber and Durkheim), the old paradigm (functionalism and social constructionism), or the new paradigm (rational choice) on the one hand or quantitative, qualitative, or historical-comparative sociology on the other. As it intersects with sociology of religion, the study of religion has drawn from theories and methodologies in conversation with sociology, anthropology, critical theory, psychology, history, and other related disciplines. We are interested both in papers that utilize the methods and theories in the study of religion and bring them into the sociological canon as well as those that help religious studies gain a better grasp of the sociological theory of religion. We encourage papers that exploit both the theory and methodology of sociology of religion and religious studies and use them as frames for analysis of concrete cases. In particular, we request papers that touch upon social divisions examining race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, region, age, etc.
Internationalism and Diversity:
Critics of sociology of religion have pointed out that the field is dominated by North Americans scholars primarily interested in Protestantism. The discipline of religious studies provides a clear antidote to these perceived limitations. Therefore, we encourage contributions from academics who study the various religious traditions around the world as well as those studying North American religious communities. In particular, we would like submissions from scholars from all academic ranks across the lines of nationality, region, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
Call for Papers:
The Sociology of Religion Group (SOR) invites both panel and paper proposals across a wide range of topics of interest to both the sociology of religion and religious studies and are particularly interested in papers, which speak to both thereby encouraging increased dialogue between them. In particular, this year’s CFP expresses interest in the following topics:
• Following the theme of AAR’s 2016 annual meetings, the Sociology of Religion Group invites papers that address the multi-dimensions of “Revolutionary Love.” This includes but is not limited to love communism (or the communism of love), brotherly/sisterly love, or love as an impulse for social change. Conversely, it could include the inverse hypothesis – where love is not revolutionary at all but is egoistic or narcissistic (self-love), where revolutions are not based on love but on hate, where love is harmful and tears down dreams rather than build them up. Finally, papers could contain a synthesis addressing the contradictory impulses of revolutionary love – e.g. paradoxical reflections of the religious adage to love thy enemy.
• Social and Religious Movements and/or Social Movements Theory and Religious Movements Theory
• Competing Canons within the Sociology of Religion and Religious Studies
• Theory and Methodology including issues of reproducibility, validity, and empiricism
• Religion and the Public Sphere
• Religion and Education including but not limited to “Religion and Education in Pluralistic Societies” or “Religion and Education in the Postsecular Age.”
• In a co-sponsored paper session, the Quaker Studies Group and Sociology of Religion Group invite proposals on normative religious identity and notions of the ‘true Church.’ We are interested in papers that utilize sociological theories and methods in the analysis of this topic. We are particularly interested in the following questions: What mechanisms do religious groups use to establish normative identities, particularly against deviants or schismatics within their own group? How is ‘membership’ and ‘authenticity’ counted and measured? What types of authority are used to sustain particular identities and how are these operationalized within the group? How are notions of ‘the world’ constructed and sustained, and how are these notions adapted when they no longer serve their original purpose (for example during the processes of denominationalization or internal secularization)?
• The topics mentioned above are meant merely as suggestions. We encourage submissions of all papers that utilize sociological theories, methods, and questions in their analysis of religion. We are particularly interested in papers that address issues of inequalities of race, class, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or those that utilize critical paradigms including but not limited to critical theory, Marxism, feminism, queer theory, post-colonialism, post-structuralism, and environmentalism.
Publication:
The Sociology of Religion Group of AAR regularly co-sponsors panels with the peer-reviewed print and online journal Critical Research on Religion (CRR) (http://crr.sagepub.com). Published by SAGE Publications, over 2600 libraries worldwide have subscriptions to the journal. Presenters of promising papers in SOR panels will be invited to turn their papers into articles and submit them for peer review to CRR.
Leadership:

Co-Chairs:
Rebekka King (Middle Tennessee State University) rebekka.king@mtsu.edu
Warren S. Goldstein (Harvard University) goldstein@criticaltheoryofreligion.org
Steering Committee:
Afe Adogame (Princeton University)
Courtney Bender (Columbia University)
David Feltmate (Auburn University)
Volkhard Krech (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
Katja Rakow (Universiteit Utrecht)
Randy Reed (Appalachian State University)

 

Invitation to seminar on ‘Governing religion: Interfaith dialogue and organized cultural encounters’

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You are invited to the research seminar ‘Governing religion: Interfaith dialogue and organized cultural encounters’ held at University of Agder (UiA) in Kristiansand, Norway, on March 30 2016.

The seminar critically engages with the ways in which interfaith dialogue constitutes a means to govern religion and the religious, and it explores which forms of religion that are produced from these organized cultural encounters and raises questions as to which roles local government, migration and media play.

 

Two keynote lectures by international experts on interfaith dialogue, Mar Griera from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Lise Paulsen Galal from Roskilde University, will take place during the morning session. The rest of the seminar will take the form of a workshop and provide an opportunity for Ph.D.-students to present on-going Ph.D.-projects (app. 30-45 min. each) and receive comments from the lectures, commentators and fellow Ph.D.-students.

 

The seminar is free of charge. Lunch, coffee and tea will be provided as well as mandatory reading for the seminar (app. 3 texts). The seminar is open for all, but preregistration is necessary.

 

Deadline for registration: March 7 2016 to Louise Lund Liebmann (louise.l.liebmann@uia.no).

For those PhD-students who want to present a paper: please add an abstract of 200 words.

Notification of paper acceptance will be given shortly after the deadline.

 

The seminar is organized by the research project ‘Conflicts in Mediatized Religious Environments’ (CoMRel) and University of Agder.

 

CFP: Historical Re-Enactment, Contemporary Paganism and Fantasy-Based Movement

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Vytautas Magnus University / Faculty of Humanities / Center for Cultural Studies

International Scientific Conference
on Cultural Group Behaviour

Historical Re-Enactment, Contemporary Paganism
and Fantasy-Based Movements
20–21 May, 2016. Kaunas, Lithuania

Call for Papers

Modern times are marked by rapid advances in technology, urbanization and globalization. The second half of the 20th century witnessed fragmentation of culture, ethnicity and religion as a reaction to disappointment in the progress of civilization. This promoted interest in natural, ethnic and indigenous aspects of localities. Orientation toward localities, as revealed in various worldviews and socio-cultural movements, has been related to the revival of traditional and nationalist ideas, orientation to nature-based spiritualities, (re)construction of local ethnicities and the need to return to ethnic and pre-Christian identities. A related trend manifests itself as return to old customs, indigenous values and attempts to reconstruct traditional pre-Christian religions. The existence of historical re-enactment groups and contemporary pagan movements, grounded in native faith, as well as fantasy-based movements raises the following questions: what drives them to look back to their roots? How and why do these groups emerge, exist and disappear? What is their social and cultural impact on society and members of historical re-enactment groups?

The conference welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions from various disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary studies of historical re-enactment, contemporary pagan movements and fantasy-based movements. Early career researchers and students are also encouraged to participate.

We invite papers and panels including but not limited to the following topics:
Theoretical and methodological approaches to re-enactment
• Theoretical approaches to re-enactment and/or contemporary paganism;
• Fieldwork within re-enactment groups;
• Methodological implications and challenges.
Diversity of re-enactment movements
• Diversity of historical re-enactments and contemporary pagan movements;
• Past and present of the living history movement;
• Fantasy and live action role-playing (LARP) groups as a form of re-enactment;
• Historical cosplay in Western and other cultures;
• Aspects of the local and the global in re-enactment;
• Periodization and typology of re-enactment;
Worldviews and activities of re-enactors
• Identity of historical re-enactors and/or contemporary pagans;
• Authenticity and (re)construction in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Traditionalism, nationalism and politics in re-enactment;
• Gender in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Spirituality, religion and re-enactment;
• Culturally relevant or historically significant places within the context of historical re-enactments;
• Cultural heritage in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Festivals, rituals and performance in historical re-enactment;
Re-enactment and society
• Influence of consumerism, globalization and the mass and social media for historical re-enactors and/or contemporary pagans;
• Historical re-enactment and/or the influence of contemporary pagan movements on the on mainstream society;
• Historical re-enactment in popular culture.

We expect individual paper proposals and panel submissions, including 3-4 presenters.

After the conference, participants are invited to observe historical re-enactment of Lithuanian history in the Hanse Day festival 2016, held on May 21–22.

Participants should complete the form at https://tgt.wufoo.com/forms/conference-entry-form/. Abstracts will be published on the Conference website. Each paper is allotted a time of 15 minutes, followed by up to 10 minutes for questions and discussion.
Participation fee: 40€ (for students 20€)
Travel and accommodation to attend the Conference will be at the attendee’s expense.
Abstract submission deadline: March 21, 2016.
Notification of acceptance: April 4, 2016.

Working languages: Lithuanian, English
Conference website: http://reenactment.vdu.lt/

Organizing Committee: Agnė Kalėdienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Rasa Pranskevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Gintarė Dusevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Aušra Kairaitytė-Užupė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Gintaras Jaronis (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania).

The Scientific Committee will be announced later.
Conference participants are welcome to prepare papers to the Group and the Environments journal http://ejournals.vdu.lt/index.php/grupes/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Organizers: Center for Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University.
K. Donelaičio St 52-410 LT-44248 Kaunas Lithuania. http://ktc.vdu.lt/
 Contact person: Agnė Kalėdienė
 Phone number: +370 662 32 470
 E-mail: reenactment.conference@gmail.com

Please feel free to spread this message.

CFP – Blasphemy: Discourses and Practices

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BLASPHEMY: DISCOURSES AND PRACTICES

 

Call for Journal Papers

 

Special issue of State, Religious and Church, a Russian peer-reviewed academic quarterly

 

Blasphemy seems to be universal and unchanging term, and yet its meaning varies tremendously across times and cultures. Medieval inquisition guides discussed the boundary between blasphemy and heresy, while current virulent debates about the feelings of believers, radical reactions against contemporary art or caricatures are construed in terms of opposition of blasphemy and basic freedoms. 

Controversies around blasphemy have always been those of boundaries and limits: limits  of what is permissible in the statements about the sacred; boundaries of various physical and social spaces where these statements can be acceptable or not; finally, the boundaries of what is conceived as “sacred” in each particular historical and cultural context.

Blasphemy controversies have always reflected the fight for power. What communities, institutions, and individuals have the right to define the boundaries of the sacred, the norms of describing or speaking about the sacred, as well as the right to punish for the violation of these norms? Thus, blasphemy is, potentially, a hidden script bearing the agency of resistance and protest.

In this special issue, we propose to explore how theories and practices of blasphemy have been evolving in Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities from the Middle Age until now. We will see how blasphemy and its persecutions worked behind various religious, social and political conflicts. We will study how the norms disciplining blasphemy were imposed and implemented by religious and secular institutions, and how efficient such implementations were. Finally, we will study what happens with these discourses and practices in the modern secular society.

Although the phenomenon of blasphemy cannot be understood without exploring the macro-level of theological and legal interpretations, we will mostly focus our studies upon the micro-level – that is, the level of everyday situations where, in various societies, some pieces of speech or imagery are felt and labeled as “blasphemous;” and also upon those conflicting interpretations that occur at the intersection of various speech practices and behavioral patterns.

We welcome studies of blasphemy cases generated at the breaches and borders – religious, social, ethno-national, and political.

 

Major themes:

 

Ø      Theories of blasphemy: the construction of the category in theological, polemical and legal traditions;

Ø      The borders of the category: blasphemy v. heresy; blasphemy vs. reform; blasphemy vs. free thinking; blasphemy vs. risus sacer; blasphemy vs. carnival;

Ø      The practices of blasphemy: situations when they occur; people who say them; typical reactions; 

Ø      The poetics of blasphemy: what are the words that the sacred do not tolerate? The typical objects of blasphemous transgression; 

Ø      Blasphemy as an external challenge to tradition/religion/church vs. blasphemy as an internal, permissible transgression;

Ø      Blasphemy as sin and crime: criminalization and decriminalization of blasphemy; 

Ø      Blasphemy and the Other: offences of blasphemy in ethno-confessional and political conflicts;  

Ø      Blasphemy and religious skepticism: the problem of unbelief in the eras of supposedly “universal faint;”  

Ø      Debates about blasphemy in secular societies;  

Ø      The political “sacred and the political “blasphemy:” how religious rhetoric is transposed into a non-religious space.   

 

Please send your papers (in Russian, English or other languages) at two addresses: the email of the journal (religion@rane.ru), copied to the email of the guest editor Mikhail Maizuls (maizuls@gmail.com). The length of the papers is around 6000-7000 words. We accept high resolution pictures added to the text. The bibliographic rules can be found at the journal website here: http://religion.rane.ru/?q=ru/for-authors.

 

The deadline for submitting papers is 31 December, 2016.

 

You are also welcome to get in touch with us (emails same as above) for a preliminary proposal of a topic; in this case please send us a title and 150-200 word abstract until April 15, 2016.

 

The journal Gosudarstvo, religia i tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom (State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide) is a peer-reviewed, SCOPUS-indexed academic quarterly. It is published in the Russian language; however, manuscripts in other languages are also accepted. The website is: www.religion.rane.ru  

Intensive Training Programme: Research Methods in the Study of Religion

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Research Methods in the Study of Religion

Intensive Training Programme, 8th-11th March 2016

Canterbury, Kent

We are pleased to announce that the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent is again offering its annual intensive methods training programme which is open to doctoral researchers based at any university within the EU. The sessions will run at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge conference centre, in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, and will cover:

  • Key elements of research design

  • The politics and ethics of research

  • The role of social theory in social research

  • Rigour and validity in research

  • Public engagement with research on religion

  • Conceptualising religion for research

  • Conducting research interviews

* Ethnographic research

  • Using visual methods

  • Researching religion and media

  • Researching objects and spaces

  • Reflexivity and the role of the researcher’s ‘self’

  • The process of research supervision

    • Sessions will be delivered by researchers who have engaged with these issues specifically in the context of research on religion. Confirmed speakers are: Prof Gordon Lynch, Dr Abby Day and Dr Anna Strhan (University of Kent), Dr Jasjit Singh (University of Leeds), Dr Steph Berns (University of Lancaster), Dr Ruth Sheldon (Birkbeck College) and Dr Katherine Robinson (Goldsmiths)

    This is the fifth year that this programme has been run with more than 70 doctoral and early-career researchers having previously undertaken this training from across the UK and continental Europe.
    To apply for this programme, please email Gordon Lynch (g.lynch@kent.ac.uk) stating where you are currently studying, giving a brief description(no more than 150 words) of your current research project and a short explanation of how this training would be relevant to it by Friday 5th February​.
    The registration fee for this programme is £100. Meals and accommodation are not included in this. The Cathedral Lodge is in the centre of Canterbury and there are a number of good hotels and guest-houses within a short walking distance. Canterbury is less than an hour from London by train and so daily commuting to the programme from London would also be possible.
    If you have any further questions on this, please email Professor Gordon Lynch.

    Conference: Oral Histories and Contributions of Intellectual and Religious Movements in Philippines

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    Oral Histories and Contributions of Intellectual and Religious Movements in Philippines

    2nd PASCHR International  Conference

    Philippine Association for the Study of Culture, History and Religion

    A National Association of IAHR(International Association of History of Religions) under the auspices of the CIPSH , affiliated to the UNESCO

    Hosted by

    ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY (ISAT-U)

    Lapaz, Iloilo City

    &

    GUIMARAS STATE COLLEGE

    Buenavista, Guimaras

     

    First Announcement

    The nation-states’ narratives and social histories have always been monopolized by the epical tales of great men and heroes usually in records of combats among the powerful and in accounts of conquests of the weak by the strong. Meanwhile nation building and state formations are recounted as stories of industrial movements and of civilizations progressing towards modernity such that the national narratives and social histories are silent on alternatives streams of histories. Societies in the margins, the conquered peoples and communities who have remained traditional have no accounts of these histories, where memories of their own histories remain undocumented narratives.  To reconstruct their histories, one has to excavate them from the side assays of colonial journals and travelogues and exhume from footnotes of world almanacs and atlases. The oral accounts and peoples’ anecdotal testimonies are however rich resources that are little explored. Oral traditions and histories from the ground are important resources complementing that of accounts of oft-sidelined accounts byintellectual movements and religious and cultural reformisms thatare off-stream processes in societal progress through time.

     

    OBJECTIVES:

    There is need to capture the multiple-narratives and reconstruct myriad diversities of experiences in political and state formations by reclaiming the voices of the margins. This conference will highlight the following:

    1.     Accounts of inter-religious and cultural processes in social change by accessing historical resources from the alternative vantage of intellectual and religious movements;

    2.     Intellectual dialogue and active adherence to cross-cultural linking-back and in opening new modalities of cultural exchanges

    SUBTHEMES:

    –          Political Reformism and Counter-Hegemony in Philippines

    –          Local Histories and/of  the Indigenous People

    –          Religion, Histories of Religions and Religious Movements

    –          Rituals, Symbolism and Indigenous Material Culture

    –          Cross-borders, cross-cultural exchanges and Globalization

    Other papers are also welcomed covering the study of culture and religion in the region.

    Submission and review    

    All Proposal should be submitted to Dr. Lilian Diana B. Parreno, VP for Research and Extension, Guimaras State College

    MclainBuenavista, Guimaras

    Email add: 2ndpasharintercon@gmail.com

     

    Copy to:

    Dr. Richard De Leon

    Research Director

    ISAT- U

    Lapaz, Iloilo, City

    email add: richardcdeleon@gmail.com

     

    Dr.Emeralda Sanchez

    President, PASCHR

    UST, Manila

    email add: esmeraldasanchez297@gmail.com
    Registration fee can be made either on-site at the start of the conference ,or through the PASCHR account with the BDO Dapitan,Cor. Lacson. account No. PASCHR 007280035776 Deposit receipt / proof of payment should be presented upon registration at the conference


     

    Dates                                                                          Other Details

    Conference Date:
     

    Registration and other pertinent details—to include information regarding lodging facilities and travel to and from the conference venue — will be available online which will be announced later thru the Conference email address at email add: 2ndpasharintercon@gmail.com

    March 2-4, 2016
    Early Registration Feb. 4 2016
    Late Registration February 23 ,2016 or On-site Registration
    Last Submission of Abstract Feb. 25, 2016
    Submission of Full Paper Feb. 26 , 2016

     

    Registration Fees

    Foreign (Professionals)     400 USD Coverage:

    –        2 lunch, 5 snacks, kit and souvenir, for 3 days

    –        with single-room hotel accommodation.

    –        hotel to airport service.

    –        Kit and souvenirs

     

    1.     Local (Professional) – 4,000.00

    Coverage:

    –        2 lunch, 5 snacks, kit and souvenir, for 3 days

    –        (without accommodation)

    2.     Local (Students) – [TBA]

     

     

    Prof . Esmeralda Sanchez   Dr. Raul F. Muyong            Dr. Rogelio T. Artajo

    Conference Chair                   Co-Chairperson                 Co-Chairperson

    Call for Abstracts: Nordic Conference for the Sociology of Religion – deadline March 15th

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    NCSR Abstract submission opened!

    We invite you to submit your paper abstract to the 23rd Nordic Conference for the Sociology of Religion. The conference will be held on the 17th–19th of August in 2016 at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

    You can access the abstract submission form directly via this link
    or at the conference web page: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/ncsr-2016/

    Before submitting, please view the call for papers, and the list of available sessions!

    The deadline for submitting an abstract is March 15th!
    More information about the conference program, the venue and travel is continuously being updated to our web page.

    Stay on top of the latest news by subscribing to our mailing list!
    Looking forward to the summer and meeting you in Helsinki!
    Kati Tervo-Niemelä
    Jenni Spännäri and the whole conference team