Author Archives: Janaki

CFP: Polish Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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Dear Colleagues,

We cordially invite you, researchers, PhD candidates, and students to
participate in the “Third International Conference of the Polish Society
for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. Psychology, Culture,
Biology”, which will take place in *Krakow, Poland on 20 – 22 June, 2016.
*
The conference will build a network for the third international symposium
of psychologists of religion and spirituality in Poland. The two previous
conferences held in Lublin (2014) and Gdańsk (2012), had researchers from
various disciplines come together towards the common idea of studying
psychological aspects of religious and spiritual life. We want the third
conference of the society to share the same idea of incorporating an
interdisciplinary approach, so we address our call for papers to
representatives of various academic fields. We therefore invite not only
psychologists and religious studies scholars, but also sociologists,
cultural theorists, philologists, historians, pedagogists, biologists,
cognitive scientists, philosophers and theologians of various
denominations
who are interested in the study of mutual relationships between religion,
spirituality, psychology, culture and biology.

Conference website: https://ptprid3.wordpress.com/
<https://ptprid3.wordpress.com/>

Important dates related to the 20-22 June 2016 conference:

  • Abstract submission by: 31 January 2016
  • Abstract notification by: 1 March 2016
  • Conference fee payment by: 15 March 2016
  • Last-call fee payment (rates are 10 EU higher) by: 15 April 2016

Sincerely,

The Organizing Committee

CFP: 2016 Social Science History Association Religion Network

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Call for Papers: Social Science History Association Religion Network

Social Science History Association 2016 Annual Conference

Chicago, Illinois, November 17-20, 2016

Conference Theme: “Beyond Social Science History: Knowledge in an Interdisciplinary World”

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 20, 2016

The Religion Network of the Social Science History Association invites proposals for papers, panels, and book sessions for the 41st annual meeting of the Social Science History Association in Chicago, Illinois, November 17-20, 2016.  We also are looking for volunteers to serve as panel chairs and discussants.

The SSHA is the leading interdisciplinary association for historical research in the US, providing a stimulating venue for explorations of how social processes unfold over time. The Religion Network serves as the home within the organization for scholars interested in religious history, religious mobilization, religious change, and religion’s effect on social and political processes. Our network is interdisciplinary and cross-national in scope, and embraces all scholarship that examines how religion intersects with other social processes in historical perspective.

We encourage the participation of graduate students and recent PhDs as well as more established scholars from a wide range of disciplines and departments. Graduate students are eligible to apply for financial support to attend the annual meeting (see http://www.ssha.org/grants). Further details about the association, the 2016 annual meeting, and the call for proposals are available on the SSHA website: www.ssha.org.

The deadline for paper and/or panel submissions is February 20th, 2016.

We welcome and encourage papers and panel proposals on a wide array of issues related to the historical study of religion and society. While complete panel proposals (consisting of 4-5 individual papers, a chair, and a discussant) are preferred, we also seek out high-quality individual paper submissions. Panels and papers may address the topics below, or any other relevant and related topic examining religion in a historical context:

  • Religion across Boundaries
  • Religion, Medicine, and Ethics
  • Evolution and Religion
  • Religious Professionals
  • Religion and Gender
  • Religion and Contemporary Geopolitics
  • Religion and State Formation
  • Secularities
  • Religion and Law
  • Religion as a Category of Analysis
  • Abolition and Religion
  • Religion and the World System

Please use the SSHA’s web conference management system to submit your papers and panel proposals. Paper title, brief abstract, and contact information should be submitted at http://prod.sshaconference.org/people/login. Please do not hesitate to contact the Religion Network representatives with any questions, comments, or for help with submissions.

Thank you, and we look forward to a stimulating set of panels at this year’s SSHA meeting.

Ates Altinordu (atesaltinordu@sabanciuniv.edu)

Damon Mayrl (dmayrl@clio.uc3m.es)

Sam Nelson (scnelson0@gmail.com)

Philip Gorski (philip.gorski@yale.edu)

SSHA Religion Network Representatives

Book Announcement: Exploring New Monastic Communities

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Exploring New Monastic Communities

The (Re)invention of Tradition

Stefania Palmisano, University of Turin, Italy
Series: Ashgate AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Series
Examining the recent radical re-invention of monastic tradition in the everyday life of New Monastic Communities, Exploring New Monastic Communities considers how, growing up in the wake of Vatican II, new Catholic communities are renewing monastic life by emphasizing the most innovative and disruptive theological aspects which they identify in the Council. Despite freely adopting and adapting their Rule of Life, the new communities do not belong to pre-existing orders or congregations: they are gender-mixed with monks and nuns living under the same roof; they accept lay members whether single, married or as families; they reject enclosure; they often limit collective prayer time in order to increase time for labour, evangelization and voluntary social work; and are actively involved in oecumenical and interreligious dialogue, harbouring thinly-veiled sympathy with oriental religions, from which they sometimes adopt beliefs and practices. Offering unique sociological insights into New Monastic Communities, and shedding light on questions surrounding New Religious Movements more generally, the book asks what ‘monastic’ means today and whether these communities can still be described as ‘monastic’.
Contents: Introduction: Italian new monasticism; Packing our bags: a conceptual model for studying NMCs; Journeying among new Piedmontese monastic communities; Success in the monastery: origins and consequences; Between ‘pretenders’ and ‘heirs’: the (re)invention of tradition in new monasticism; Ambiguous legitimacy: the episcopal test for NMCs; Key insights and future challenges; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.
About the Author: Stefania Palmisano is Associate Professor; Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Italy
Reviews: 
  • ‘Exploring with subtlety the nebula of the new Catholic monastic communities, Stefania Palmisano offers a very penetrating insight into the innovative richness of present attempts to reinvent monasticism as an integral Christian style of life, made compatible with the contemporary culture of the individual.’ Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, France
  • ‘Richly descriptive and theoretically astute, this study shines light on a fascinating set of religious experiments. Far from disappearing into the mists of history, monastic communities are being reinvented, and Palmisano rightly challenges us to pay attention.’ Nancy T. Ammerman, Boston University, USA

Job Opening: University of Innsbruck 2 Phd Positions in Sociology Project “Postsecular Conflicts”

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University of Innsbruck 2 Phd Positions in Sociology Project “Postsecular Conflicts”

Successful candidates will conduct qualitative sociological research in the context of an interdisciplinary research project and will write their dissertations in sociology.

Description

Controversies over questions such as gender equality, bioethics, and the role of religion in society have shown a disruptive potential across many societies. They have also become the subject of transnational political contestation. The “Postsecular Conflicts” project will study such debates between liberal and conservative political and religious actors over moral and religious issues in international institutions such as the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, and forums of inter-religious dialogue.
The doctoral students in this project will do qualitative sociological research in the field under the supervision of the principal investigator and will write a dissertation congruent with the project’s aims.

Nr of positions available : 2

Research Fields

Sociology – Sociology of religion
Anthropology – Social anthropology
Political sciences – Governance

Career Stage

Early stage researcher or 0-4 yrs (Post graduate)

Research Profiles

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Benefits

http://www.uibk.ac.at/universitaet/zusatzleistungen/index.html.en

Benefits

Earliest start date: 01.05.2016
Latest start date: 01.09.2016
Duration: 4 years (not renewable).
Salary: ca. 28.300,00 € per year

Comment/web site for additional job details

Please submit:

  • CV with list of publications
  • Motivation letter
  • 1 letter of recommendation by university professor (in English or Russian)
  • 1 writing sample not exceeding 15 pages (in English)
Requirements

Master Degree or equivalent  in Sociology, Political sciences, Religious Studies, Anthropology
Required Languages ENGLISH, RUSSIAN

Book Announcement: Migration and Religion (2 volumes)

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Book announcement:  Migration and Religion (2 volumes)

Edited by James A. Beckford

Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015, 1,424 pp.

ISBN: 978 1 78347 257 4 (hardback)

The complex and changing relationship between religion and migration is central to many urgent questions about diversity, inequality and pluralism. This wide-ranging collection of 66 articles explores these questions in different periods of history, regions of the world and traditions of faith. There is a particular emphasis on how religions inspire, manage and benefit from migration as well as how the experience of migration affects religious beliefs, identities and practices. These volumes examine the interface between religion and migration at levels of analysis ranging from the local to the global, and from the individual to the faith community.

With an original introduction by the editor, this collection of papers will serve as an excellent reference source for scholars, practitioners and academics working in the field of migration and religion. 

The post Book Announcement: Migration and Religion (2 volumes) appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Conférence: Comment nommer les transformations religieuses du Québec depuis 50 ans ? Sécularisation, laïcisation, décléricalisation, déchristianisation

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En collaboration avec la Chaire de recherche Droit, religion et laïcité, le SoDRUS propose à la communauté universitaire de Sherbrooke une conférence publique présentée par Jean-Philippe Warren, professeur au département de Sociologie et d’Anthropologie de la Faculté des Arts et Sciences de l’Université Concordia.

Titre de la conférence : Comment nommer les transformations religieuses du Québec depuis 50 ans ? Sécularisation, laïcisation, décléricalisation, déchristianisation

Date : le mercredi 20 janvier 2016

Heure : De 12 h 00 à 13 h 35

Lieu : Campus principal de Sherbrooke, local A9-162

The post Conférence: Comment nommer les transformations religieuses du Québec depuis 50 ans ? Sécularisation, laïcisation, décléricalisation, déchristianisation appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for Abstracts: 8th International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conference

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The International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage (IRTP) Group in conjunction with the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage (IJRTP) and Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey invites abstracts for their 8th international conference to be held from 1-4 June 2016 at Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey. The aim of the conference is to provide both empirical and personal insights into the changing nature of religion in society and to further the debate for both policy-makers and academics to consider these evolving challenges within the future development of faith tourism and pilgrimage. The main emphasis for acceptance at this event is based on participants presenting original papers which apply to the main themes of the conference.

 The event will be structured to embrace these thematic sessions including:

  • ·         Terrorism and Religious Sites
  • ·         Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage – Conflicts and Challenges
  • ·         Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage – Experiences and Impacts
  • ·         Scared Sites
  • ·         Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage – Theology and Theory
  • ·         Motivations for Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage
  • ·         Routes and Trails – Modern and Ancient
  • ·         Media and Technological Advancement for Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage
  • ·         Pilgrimage in Non-Religious Traditions
  • ·         Religious Tourism, Pilgrimage and Identity
  • ·         Religious Tourism, Pilgrimage, Culture and Heritage
  • ·         Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage – and Well-Being
  • ·         Revivalism of Religious Encounters in the Modern World

We also welcome suggestions for themes / themed paper sessions etc.

 

Deadlines:

Because attendance is generously supported by the local sponsors and Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted electronically to www.irtp.co.uk by 31 January 2016. If you are interested in being invited to attend, or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact the organising committee:

·         Dr. Kevin Griffin                        kevin.griffin@dit.ie

·         Dr. Razaq Raj                              R.Raj@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

·         Dr. Yasin Bilim                            ybilim@yahoo.com

·         Dr. Özgür Özer                          oozer@konya.edu.tr

 

Please check the conference website for further information, www.IRTP.CO.UK

 

Important Dates:

31.01.16

Abstract Submission Deadline

28.02.16

Notification of Acceptance to Authors

15.04.16

Conference Registration Deadline

05.07.16

Submit full paper

 

Scientific Committee:

  • Vitor Ambrósio, Estoril Higher Institute for Hotel and Tourism Studies, Portugal
  • Silvia Aulet, University of Girona, Spain
  • Yasin Bilim, Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey
  • Alan Clarke, University of Pannonia, Hungary
  • Jonathan Edwards, Bournemouth University, UK
  • Carlos Fernandes, Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão de Viana do Castelo, Portugal
  • Kevin Griffin, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland
  • Maureen Griffiths, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

·         Frances McGettigan, Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland

·         Özgür Özer, Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey

  • Lluís Prats, University of Girona, Spain
  • Razaq Raj, Leeds Beckett University, UK

·         Vincent Zammit, Institute of Tourism Studies , Malta

 

Cost:

There is no presentation fee for those who are selected to deliver papers. Costs will be kept to a minimum and will be approximately €150.00 (including tea and coffee, lunches, Gala Dinner and Field Trip). Accommodation recommendations will be provided, with preferential rates organised in a number of hotels.

 

Publications:

The conference organisers have a track record of successfully publishing papers from their events. Suitable papers that are submitted according to the deadline, will be published in the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage (IJRTP) and/or selected for inclusion as chapters in forthcoming books in the organisers’ Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Book Series with CABI publishers.

 

Background to Konya / location of Conference:

Konya is an ancient city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey, a permanent settlement cradle for many civilizations since people started to run a settled life in 7000 B.C.Konya is south of Ankara, and is associated with Turkey’s Whirling Dervishes for 800 years.The region boasts striking scenery, fine museums, hundreds of Roman archaeological and religious sites.

Visitors travels from around the world to Konya is to see the Mevlana Museum  which shelters the tomb of Jelaleddin Rumi (1207-1273), known to his followers as Mevlana (or Rumi), a Muslim poet and mystic and one of the great spiritual thinkers and teachers of all time. Mevlana Museum is one of the most visited museums in Turkey, with nearly 2.5 million visitors in a year. And in December the city hosts Mevlana Week, which is a very attractive event for both domestic and foreign tourists.

Konya is like an ocean that many scholars have sailed individually such as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, Shams Tabrizi, and Nasreddin and many others whose work is considered as a river that unifies people from within. Konya is a city full of peace that embeds seeds of tolerance into the hearts of people. It is for centuries like an illustrious capital where every year people visit to melt their spirits with divine harmony, where their spirits become peaceful.

The venue of the conference will be Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Campus – a modern vacility, located in the city centre that caters for nearly 8000 students providing educational and social facilities.

Konya offers various different types of accommodation. Hotels and guest houses are available around the city centre. For the conference participants, special hotel prices will be negotiated.

Abstract Submission Guidelines:

Formatting of Abstracts

  • ·   Abstracts must not exceed 1 page of A4 (including title, data, figures and references), and should be formatted in the following way. Please use 10 point Arial (Unicode) font, single- spaced and set margins to 1 inch (2.54cm) all around.
  • ·         Abstracts will be subjected to blind review by a minimum of two members of the Scientific Committee.
  • ·         Please include a list of five keywords that describe the research at the top of the abstract to assist the reviewing process and 3 bibliographic references cited in the abstract.

Submission Process

Authors must include the following information with the online abstract:

  • ·         name(s) of author(s);
  • ·         affiliation(s); and
  • ·         email address.

The post Call for Abstracts: 8th International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conference appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Travel Funding for Prospective Theology & Religious Studies Research Postgraduates at Leeds

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The School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds invites applications from prospective research postgraduate students who wish to visit the school (a) to attend relevant conferences, seminars or lectures, (b) to develop their applications to external scholarship funders, or (c) to meet with potential supervisors.  The three schemes are as follows:

(a) POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH @ LEEDS MOBILITY GRANTS (up to £200)

The Postgraduate Research Mobility Grants are for prospective postgraduate research students who are contemplating the University of Leeds as a possible location to undertake their studies. The grants are designed to provide these students with the financial assistance required to attend a conference, seminar or lecture related to their area of study. For further details and an application form contact PRHS_PGenquiries@leeds.ac.uk. 

(b) PRE-DOCTORAL BURSARIES SCHEME (up to £500)

This scheme provides financial assistance to prospective postgraduate research students who are intending developing an application to an externally funded doctoral studentship scheme where the student and potential supervisor need to work together over a period of time to develop a project that meets the funder's criteria. Examples of such studentships include the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Studentships and the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Project Awards. For further details and an application form contact PRHS_PGenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

(c) TRAVEL BURSARIES SCHEME (up to £50)

These bursaries provide financial assistance to prospective postgraduate research students who wish to travel to Leeds to meet with potential supervisors. For further details and an application form contact PRHS_PGenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

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Within the School of PRHS *Theology and Religious Studies* (TRS) represents an internationally excellent and world-leading environment for postgraduate research. The latest UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014 placed Leeds TRS joint 3rd overall nationally and 1st for research outputs (publications).

Those interested in applying to study TRS at Leeds are advised to contact potential supervisors at an early stage. Areas of supervision offered by TRS academic staff at Leeds are summarised below; for the full range of staff interests and expertise see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/people/20049/theology_and_religious_studies/ 
 
- Religion and Social Theory; Fieldwork and Ethnography
- South & South-East Asian Religions, African Religions, Islam and Muslim societies, Interfaith Relations
- Gender, Development, Environment, Migration/Diasporas
- Philosophy of Religion, theological anthropology, modern Christian thought, Ethics, Political Theology, Hebrew Bible

You should contact supervisors by email, either directly or through the postgraduate research tutor for TRS - Dr Sean McLoughlin (s.mcloughlin@leeds.ac.uk)

You are also strongly encouraged to attend (in most cases following application) the university's Postgraduate Open Day on Friday 5 February 2016 (https://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/101060/), when you will have opportunity to meet potential supervisors, current postgraduates, and the postgraduate team.

For more information about postgraduate study in Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science at Leeds see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125022/postgraduate. 

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N.B. The school is offering up to 18 fully-funded PhD scholarships for UK/EU students available for 2016-17 entry, with deadlines starting from 15 January 2016.

For full, regularly updated information on upcoming scholarship deadlines, including application procedures, see the University of Leeds Postgraduate Scholarships site http://scholarships.leeds.ac.uk/.

Funding opportunities for full-time or part-time PhD study include the following:

UK/EU STUDENTS

* Up to two School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science Scholarships - Fees + £14,250 Maintenance (Awards may be made on a rolling basis after 15 JANUARY 2016)
* Up to six White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities AHRC Studentships (Deadline 2 FEBRUARY 2016)
* Up to three Leeds Anniversary Research Scholarships (Deadline: 15 JANUARY 2016)
* Up to two University of Leeds Research Scholarships (Deadline: 11 MARCH 2016)
* University of Leeds Endowed Research Scholarships (Deadline: 1 JUNE 2016) 
* Around four White Rose Research Studentships (Deadline: to be determined)

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

* Up to three Leeds Anniversary Research Scholarships (Deadline: 15 JANUARY 2016)
* China Scholarship Council-University of Leeds Awards - around 13 in total (Deadline: 8 JANUARY 2016)
* Up to two School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science Scholarships - £14,250 Maintenance + a contribution to fees equivalent to UK/EU Fees (Awards may be made from 15 JANUARY 2016).  N.B. This is a partial scholarship; to be eligible for consideration, applicants will be expected to demonstrate their ability to pay the remainder of their international fees (i.e. approx. £9000 p.a.). 

Correspondence regarding the application procedure may be directed to prhs_pgenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

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Dr Seán McLoughlin
Senior Lecturer in  Contemporary Muslim Cultures, Politics & Societies
School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science
University of Leeds, LS2 9JT 
Email s.mcloughlin@leeds.ac.uk
Web http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/profile/20049/416/sean_mcloughlin 

The Hajj & British Muslims 
- British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship - http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/   
- AHRC 10th Anniversary Image Gallery - http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/research/readwatchlisten/imagegallery/hajjethnographybritish/   
- Twitter @LeedsUniHajjRes
    
Diasporas, Migration & Identities
- AHRC Network - http://www.leeds.ac.uk/writingbritishasiancities  
- Writing the City in British Asian Diasporas (Routledge 2014), https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415590242 
- Diasporas: Concepts, Intersections, Identities (Zed Books 2010), http://zedbooks.co.uk/node/21526  

The post Travel Funding for Prospective Theology & Religious Studies Research Postgraduates at Leeds appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

CFP: Religions and Human Rights

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CALL FOR PAPERS

**

International conference

**

RELIGIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

**

Padua (Italy), April 14-15, 2016

The relationship between religion and human rights is controversial and
debated. The aim of the international conference is to take stock of the
complex connections between religion and human rights, emphasizing that
both the definition and the application of these two concepts are
influenced by the different social and cultural contexts within which
they are placed.

Starting from the geopolitical changes which have involved contemporary
society on a global scale, the conference intends to critically evaluate
the two main narratives on this topic: on the one hand religions
understood as an element opposing the affirmation of human rights, and
on the other religions considered as agencies facilitating the
implementation of human rights. Religious rights, understood as
individual and/or collective rights, are disputed as well.

How do religious traditions and new religious communities approach human
rights issues? How do states manage religious traditions and religious
diversification? How are human rights discourses and practices affected
by the social context?

*Participants are invited to explore from different disciplinary
perspectives the following topics: *

Freedom of expression, speech, choice, association; non-discrimination;
gender issues; religion-state relations; violence; conflict; peace.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Eileen Barker, London School of Economics
Lori Beaman, University of Ottawa
Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International
Silvio Ferrari, University of Milan
Enzo Pace, University of Padua
James Richardson, University of Nevada
Hans-Georg Ziebertz, University of Wuerzburg

The international conference is organized by the Joint PhD Programme on
“Human Rights, Society, and Multi-level Governance” (Universities of
Athens-Panteion, Padua, Western Sydney, Zagreb).

Scientific Committee:

Giuseppe Giordan, University of Padua
Adam Possamai, Western Sydney University
Constantin Preda, University of Bucharest
Siniša Zrinščak, University of Zagreb

Abstracts (300 words) should be sent to Giuseppe Giordan
(giuseppe.giordan@unipd.it) no later than January 15^th , 2016.

Acceptance notification will be sent by January 25^th , 2016.

There are no fees for attendance.

The post CFP: Religions and Human Rights appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for articles: Iranian Cosmopolitanism

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Call for Paper: Iranian Cosmopolitanism
Special Issue, Journal of Comparative Islamic Studies
https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/CIS
Journal Editor: Ulrika Mårtensson, The Norwegian University of Science
and Technology
Special Issue Editors: Milad Odabaei, University of California,
Berkeley, and Christopher Cochran, University of California, Santa Cruz

This call for papers invites contributions that will provide theoretical
advancements in understanding textual, conceptual, historical and
sociological contours of “Iranian Cosmopolitanism.” The need for
theoretical advancement is propelled by the dilemma intrinsic to
theorization of non-European cosmopolitanisms. Conceptions of
“cosmopolitanism” destabilize the demarcations of terrestrial fixities
and invite us to consider the political and ethical significance of the
movement of peoples, things and ideas that exceed the constitution of
territorial identities. At the same time, however, cosmopolitanism’s
political and ethical registers are indebted to the vicissitudes of
philosophical and religious traditions that underlie the identity of
Europe. Inevitably, the analysis of the “cosmopolitanism” of
non-Europeans, as in Iran, put forward sociological determinations with
a European genealogy. When European sociological determinations are
reflected back into the object of study, in this case Iran, the
conclusion too easily appears that the cosmopolitanism of Iran, if it
exists, comes to Iran from Europe. Hence, many scholars have resigned to
always tracing cosmopolitanism back to Europe, where it is conceptually
at home, while others ignore this dilemma, risking disavowal so they may
better express the actuality of non-European expression of cosmopolitanism.

Highlighting this dilemma, we seek both case studies and theoretical
considerations that bear on the conceptualization of “Iranian
cosmopolitanism.” Particularly, we invite studies of religious
traditions, and the place of religion in Iranian statecraft that inform
Iranian cosmopolitanism and its ethical and political registers. We
wonder what political and religious traditions, textual flows, concepts
and exchanges can make possible dialogue with the European concept of
cosmopolitanism, perhaps bending or even breaking its meaning as a
result, and bringing forth singularities that may be otherwise hidden.
If instead such a dialogue is found to be unattainable, we ask scholars
to theorize its impossibility. What are the unique ways in which
religious traditions relate to Iranian politics, statecraft and empire
at different moments of Iranian development and decline? What is the
relation between political and religious belonging in Iran? Do they
coincide? Does one trump or engender the other? Or is political
belonging defined independently of religious affiliation? Contributors’
case studies may elaborate religious pasts and occulted presences that
express belonging to both Iran and to a world that extends beyond Iran.
They may put forth concepts and theories that have garnered to shape a
political authority that can be properly identified as Iranian, and
thereby at the same time provide contours of an Iran that belongs within
a world that exceeds its own identity.

We invite papers that explore classical Iranian political and religious
traditions; the Iranian satrapy model, its regulation of religious
difference and its expansion throughout the Islamic world; the
significance of Zoroastrianism in pre-Islamic Iran, its lives as a minor
religion in Iran and in the Indian subcontinent, and its afterlives
within the Islamic tradition and Iranian politics; the development of
Islamic tradition and Greek philosophy in Iran and Iranian milieus in
the medieval period; the genres of ethical and political treaties; the
“mirror of the prince” advice literature; Shi’a tradition as it develops
in Iranian milieus and at the same time, extends beyond Iranian
political borders. In the course of their elaborations, contributors
might also address Iran’s particular geographical location on the
Eurasian continent; its religious and political reformulations and
reinvention by moments of conquest, destruction and/or decline; its
centrality in medieval trade; its religious and political developments
amidst Iranian tajadod, “renewal,” or “modernity” in the nineteenth
century; Iran’s peculiar relation to colonization and imperial
domination of the Middle East and North Africa; its articulation of
reformist and revolutionary Islam in the late nineteenth and twentieth
century and around the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and the Islamic
Revolution of 1979. Contributors may investigate the vocabularies and
grammar of difference, which correspond to the various and intersecting
registers of plurality, and condition the possibilities and limits of
belonging to Iran. They might do so, for example, by considering the
historical Persian Jewish community; the rise and persecution of Babism
and the Bahai faith in nineteenth century; the Kurdish and Azari
Yarsanis or Sunni Turkmans in the present. Lastly, contributors may
investigate the sources of continuity and discreteness of Iranian
historical consciousness across time.

Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted to Milad Odabaei and
Christopher Cochran at milado@berkeley.edu by March 1, 2016.

The contributors will hear from the editors by March 15, 2016. The
deadline for article submission is September 15, 2016. The articles,
including all notes, are expected to be between 6000-8000 words in
length and follow the journal’s style guide.

The post Call for articles: Iranian Cosmopolitanism appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.