Category Archives: Calls for Papers

Call for Papers: "Digitalization of society and the future of Christianity”

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Dear colleagues!

We invite you to participate in the VII International Conference of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Orthodox St. Tikhon’s University for the Humanities “Digitalization of society and the future of Christianity. On the issue of transformation of the value-normative system of the society”.

During the conference, it is proposed to address the following issues:

  1. problems of digitalization in the light of the Christian future world;
  2. philosophical and anthropological understanding of the place of Christianity in the digital future of society;
  3. value-normative system and technological development (technology);
  4. Christian culture in the era of digitalization;
  5. virtual worlds and the spiritual world of Christianity: the conflict of meanings;
  6. Christianity and the transformation of the value bases of power in a digital society;
  7. digital religions in the light of the Christian tradition;
  8. regional features of the Christian world in the digital age.

Articles of all speakers of the conference will be published in its final collection.

Applications for participation and abstracts (approximately 80 words) are accepted until November 1, 2020 at digitalization.pstgu2021@gmail.com

It is possible face-to-face or remote speech at the conference. The form of the speech should be written in the application.

Conference working languages: Russian and English.

Time and place of the conference:
On February 18-19, 2021, 10.00-17.00.
6 Likhov pereulok, Moscow

Call for Papers: British Muslims and Covid-19: Impacts, Experiences and Responses

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8th December 2020     

A free MBRN online symposium

Last date for submission of abstracts: 30th October 2020

http://www.mbrn.org.uk/call-for-papers-british-muslims-and-covid-19-impacts-experiences-and-responses/

Research on Covid-19 has highlighted its disproportionate impact on Black and Asian Minority Ethnic groups (BAME) communities (Public Health England, 2020). However, these studies only offer a limited understanding of the particularity of experiences within the umbrella category BAME. For instance, there is only limited discussion around faith in relation to Covid-19, its impacts and the socio-economic fall-outs of lockdown. This MBRN symposium will redress this gap by taking an intersectional perspective in mapping and analysing the impact of Covid-19 on British Muslim communities. By bringing together practitioners and academics, we will examine how diverse British Muslim communities have experienced the pandemic, how their lives have been impacted during and after lockdown and how they responded.

During the lockdown, we have witnessed unprecedented impacts on British Muslims including the closing of mosques and madrassas, cancellation of Friday congregational prayers, Ramadan in lock-down and a significantly limited Hajj. Muslim faith and community leader have played important roles in translating theological rulings into practical guidance, which have largely been adhered to within Muslim communities. Similarly, children and young Muslims, like all young people have experienced the impact of Covid-19 in relation to their education (Children’s Commissioner, 2020). High levels of socio-economic disadvantage amongst British Muslim households mean that we can expect a disproportionate effect of lockdown and Covid-19 on British Muslims. Home learning during school closure, for instance, brought to the surface as well as enhanced the disparities in access to education for disadvantaged pupils, especially those who are known to be at risk of falling behind such as British Muslim pupils.

By focusing on the experiences of British Muslims, this online symposium will enable us to examine the interplay of ethnicity, religion and deprivation, in negotiating the particular challenges of living through Covid-19. It will explore the diversity of ways in which British Muslims have experienced and responded to Covid-19, and seek to understand its ongoing impacts. Our aim is to suggest answers for the question, “How are diverse British Muslims living through, and responding to the challenges of, Covid-19?”.

We invite proposals for papers that explore any dimension of Muslim identity / lived experiences in relation to the pandemic, lockdown and subsequent socio-economic implications of Covid-19 in Britain. We hope that the symposium will attract academics and practitioners from a range of epistemological positions and disciplinary standpoints. Possible themes and topics include (but not limited to):

  • · the intersections of religion, ethnicity and gender in experiences of and responses to Covid-19
  • · inclusion and critical engagement of religion as part of the national response to Covid-19
  • · disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on British Muslim communities
  • · racism and prejudice (including Islamophobia) linked to Covid-19
  • · responses of British Muslim charitable and volunteering organisations
  • · responses of British Muslim faith leaders and scholars
  • · support for bereaved families
  • · Islamic theological perspectives on quarantine
  • · impact on lived experiences British Muslim families (home-schooling, multi-generational families)
  • · media representations of Muslims in relation to Covid-19
  • · counter-terrorism and surveillance during a pandemic
  • · the negotiation of cultural, religious and moral values while socially-distancing
  • · the role of young people in shaping the British Muslim responses to Covid-19
  • · methodological reflections on working with Muslims during the pandemic

To submit a proposal:

  • · Please submit a title and abstract of no more than 300 words together with names and short biographies (150 words) of the presenter/s, institutional affiliation/s (if relevant), and contact details.
  • · We also welcome proposals from postgraduate researchers, independent scholars and practitioners.
  • · Proposals should be sent to MuslimsinBritainRN@gmail.com
  • · Academic enquiries should be sent to Dr. Khadijah Elshayyal, khadijah@iga-cis.org
  • · Deadline: 5pm on Friday 30th October 2020
  • · Successful presenters will be notified by Friday 6th November 2020

Registration

· This is a free event, further details about the registration process will be circulated and posted on the MBRN website soon

Conference Organisers

Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Chair), Dr Khadijah Elshayyal (General Secretary), Dr Sufyan Dogra, Sadiya Ahmed, Dr Jawiria Naseem and Dr Asma Khan (Committee Members)

MBRN Executive Committee

https://www.mbrn.org.uk/committee/ Twitter: @MuslimsInBritRN; www.facebook.com/muslimsinbritainresearchnetwork/

CFP: Special Issue "Islamic and Muslim Studies in Australia"

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Special Issue Information: See online CFP at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Australia_muslim

Dear Colleagues,

The growth of Muslim populations globally, in the Asia–Pacific region, and in Australia means Islamic and Muslim studies in Australia are increasingly important. Over the past two decades, Islamic and Muslim studies in Australia have grown along with some notable contributions to the scholarly literature, including the Melbourne University Press Islamic Studies Series. However, research on Islam and Muslims in Australia tends to receive less attention than in other Western countries. This Special Issue will contribute to filling this gap.

The aim of this Special Issue of the open-access journal Religions is to showcase some of the most important research currently being undertaken in Islamic and Muslim studies in Australia. The papers will address the challenging and often unprecedented phenomena concerning Islam and Muslim Australians that have developed particularly since the turn of the century. Scholars in the fields of Islamic and Muslim studies are invited to submit papers on Islamic religious thought and practice; Islamic groupings and organisations; migration, settlement and integration; citizenship and belonging; social cohesion and intercommunity relations; Islamophobia, radicalisation and extremism; national and community security; and other issues concerning the historic and contemporary conditions, experiences and representations of Islam and Muslims in Australia.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Halim Rane
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Call for Paper Proposals: Religion and the Coronavirus Pandemic

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The Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture (JSRNC) is calling for paper proposals exploring the entanglements of religion, the Coronavirus, and socioecological (aka biocultural) systems.

We seek scholarly work that explores how the virus, and religious dimensions of the response to it are influencing, and may decisively reshape socioecological systems, including religious perceptions and practices.

Pandemics are nothing new in human and religious history, of course. Indeed, religion and disease have long been entwined as people struggled to understand the mysterious origins of diseases and why they sometimes cause mass deaths and concomitant social and ecological disasters. Unsurprisingly, invisible spiritual beings or forces, which influence if not control environmental conditions, have often been postulated to explain the invisible-to-the-naked eye organisms that precipitate diseases and disasters. Some theorists even contend that the roots of religion may lie in the existential crises precipitated by disease and death.

Although the history of religion is replete with examples in which disease has played an important role, there may be novelty in the current pandemic and fresh insights about the diversity of religion-related responses to it. Indeed, if apocalypse means the end of the world as we know it, the current pandemic may well precipitate profound, destructive changes.

Yet as with much apocalyptic expectation, perhaps after its tribulations new and positive ways of being in the world will emerge that were previously hidden from human imaginations – or only envisioned by previously marginalized individuals and groups.

We have provided examples of social phenomena and specific questions that we think would be fitting for analysis under the heading “Further Information for Interested Scholars” at our web-based CFP: https://issrnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Coronavirus-Special-CFP_JSRNC.pdf

By 15 June 2020 interested scholars should send prospective titles, a summary of the proposed paper (300-500 words), and ideally, relevant references, to JSRNC Managing Editor Amanda Nichols via amnv22@ufl.edu. Papers will be due 1 October 2020. All manuscripts will undergo the JSRNC’s full editorial review process, including double-blind peer review, before publication. Those requiring a later due date should discuss that with JSRNC Editor-in-Chief Bron Taylor via bron@ufl.edu.

Conference CFP: Religion and Migration: Culture and Policy

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“Harvest of Endurance: A History of the Chinese in Australia 1788-1988” (detail) by Mo Xiangyi and Wang Jingwen (1988), National Museum of Australia, used with permission.

Date & time: Tue 08 Dec 2020, 9am – Thu 10 Dec 2020, 9pm

Location: Sir Roland Wilson Building, Australian National University

3rd ANU Religion Conference – Religion and Migration: Culture and Policy

Forms of human movement including global immigration, asylum-seeking, climate migration, and the internal migration accompanying mass urbanisation, have radically altered religious cultures around the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The aim of this 3rd ANU Religion Conference is to explore the various phenomena related to religion and migration; the political and social transitions impacting upon the transnational religiosity of contemporary communities.

Key dates

  • Proposal deadline:  21 June 2020
  • Notification:  30 June 2020
  • Registrations open:  14 July 2020
  • Registrations close:  10 September 2020
  • Conference:  08-10 December 2020

3rd ANU Religion Conference Committee    

For more information, see: https://hrc.cass.anu.edu.au/events/religion-and-migration-culture-and-policy-0

CFP for the Bloomsbury Handbook in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

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Please find below the CFP for the Bloomsbury Handbook in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality. Due to the UK strikes and the current global health crisis, we have extended the deadline. I’d be grateful if you could pass around your networks and do get in touch if you have any questions!
Warmest wishes,
Dawn

CFP: Bloomsbury Handbook in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

We are seeking papers for a new peer-reviewed edited volume, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion, Gender, and Sexuality. The aim is to generate a globally diverse, interdisciplinary and intersectional collection that captures emerging and contemporary themes and questions for the study of religions, genders, and sexualities.
We are looking for in-depth, scholarly essays, from a range of theoretical, methodological and disciplinary perspectives (conceptual and empirical). The Handbook aims to be a reference point for scholars and students searching for innovative engagements with critical issues relating to religion, gender, and sexuality.
We are seeking…

  *   to raise future-forming questions and provocations for religions, genders, and sexualities;
  *   to represent themes and issues emerging from broad geographical contexts;
  *   to explore religion and spirituality within and beyond institutional and historical settings;
  *   to promote the intersectional analyses of religion, gender, and sexuality with different identities and social locations such as race, nationalism, embodiment, class, economic status, and disability/ableness;
  *   to advocate that religion is significant for gender, feminist and women’s studies, and is a crucial social and political force in everyday life.

Suggested topics: This is, genuinely, an open call for papers, and indicative topics can include but are not limited to:
  *   politics and activism
  *   migration, diaspora, and transnational networks
  *   material cultures and products
  *   texts (literatures, scriptures, digital media, archives, documents, popular culture, arts, visual cultures, for example)
  *   well-being and healthcare
  *   the body and embodiment
  *   intimacies and relationships
  *   individual, communal, and social identities
  *   practices, beliefs, and experiences
  *   violence, oppressions and emancipations
  *   technologies
  *   spaces

Proposals
Proposals for chapters between 8,000 – 10,000 words (depending on the topic)

Please send proposals to all three editors:

  1. d.llewellyn@chester.ac.ukmailto:d.llewellyn@chester.ac.uk 
  2. sh79@soas.ac.uk<mailto:sh79@soas.ac.uk>
  3. sonya.sharma@kingston.ac.uk<mailto:sonya.sharma@kingston.ac.uk>

Please including the following:
  *   name, affiliation (if relevant), and any other helpful information
  *   an abstract (max 200 words)
  *   a proposal (max 1000 words)
  *   anticipated word count for completed chapter

We welcome contributions from independent scholars, authors at all career stages and collaborative pieces. Please do feel free to contact the editors with any questions, at any stage.

Deadlines
Proposals Due: June 30th 2020
Acceptance Response: September 30th 2020
Contributors’ Chapters Due: April 30th 2021

Religion and Spirituality in a Frightening World – Call for Papers

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SSSR – Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

October 23-25, 2020 | Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh

We are living in frightening times. The World Health Organization reports that rates of anxiety and depression continue to rise as people around the globe are bombarded by a wide range of circumstances that may evoke fear. What roles might religion—variously defined—and spirituality play in causing and ameliorating anxieties in today’s world?

Social scientists across disciplines who study religion and spirituality are remarkably well situated to add essential layers to our understanding of frightening social forces. For example, we cannot fully understand the rise of authoritarian nationalism, or efforts to resist it, without interrogating religion’s power as a social identity. We also need to understand when and how religion might bolster resistance to change. Many of today’s deepest divisions between and among humans are essentially different reactions to change. How does religion fuel—and try to bridge—divisions in attitudes about changing social norms, migration, new means of communication, and climate change? And how might religion contribute to perpetuating and challenging social and economic inequalities?

Meanwhile, religion itself is changing in myriad ways. How do forces such as declining rates of religious participation, state suppression of religion, and the increasing relevance of the internet to religious and spiritual practice affect religion’s capacity to help people and societies to cope? How well do 21st-century religions and spiritualities work to support mental health, provide meaning in everyday life, build communities rooted in social trust, and promote prosocial behavior and civic engagement?

Submissions Open: February 1, 2020

Submissions Close: March 31, 2020

Decision Notification: April 30, 2020

Please submit proposals for individual papers, full panels, author-meets-critics sessions, and roundtables via the online portal at www.sssreligion.org, choosing the SSSR option on the submission form.

Please direct all inquiries to the SSSR 2019 Program Chairs Job Chen (Department of Psychology, Clemson University) and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme (Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo) at program@sssreligion.org.

CFP: Journal: Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion

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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Professor Ralph Hood and I, welcome your proposals for the Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR). The ‘Call for Papers’ is appended below. We both look forward to your responses
Many thanks
Sariya
*****     *****     ******    *****     *****     ******
Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion
Edited by Ralph Hood & Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor
For more information, please visit brill.com/rssr
ISSN 1046-8064
Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) is an interdisciplinary, international peer-viewed annual series, which publishes new and innovative research within the social scientific study of religion or belief. Contributions span a range of theoretical orientations, geographic contexts and research methods, though most articles are reports of original quantitative or qualitative research related mainly to the sociology and/or psychology of religion.
RSSR usually includes a guest-edited special section that allows networks of researchers to report studies in areas that are or current interest or which are innovative and expanding the discipline into new areas. For 2020, RSSR will include a special section on Feminist Approaches to the Sociology of Religion. This section will include chapter about research that utilises feminist epistemological frameworks to study lived experiences of religion or belief. For this issue we define feminist approaches broadly as those that
*         use a gendered lens
*         privilege lesser-heard voices including women
*         reflect on researcher positionality
*         seek societal transformation as an integral aspect of research.
Submitting Proposals: We invite proposals for the next edition of the RSSR. We welcome proposals from academics at all levels of their career, including early career researchers and final year PhD students. Please submit a title and abstract of no more than 300 words together with names and short biographies (150 words), institutional affiliation/s (if relevant), and contact details.
*         Deadline for abstracts: 5pm on Monday 13th January 2020
*         Notification of acceptance of paper: 30th January 2020
*         If accepted full papers will be due by 5pm Friday 31st April 2020
Manuscripts for both the main and special sections should be send to the editors, Ralph Hood (ralph-hood@utc.edu<mailto:ralph-hood@utc.edu>) & Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (ac0967@coventry.ac.uk<mailto:ac0967@coventry.ac.uk>). For more information and submission guidelines please visit the Instructions for Authors document on brill.com/rssr, or contact the editor.
*****     *****     ******    *****     *****     ******
Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor
Assistant Professor | Research Group Lead | Faith and Peaceful Relations
Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University

Call for Papers: 3rd Annual Meeting of East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (EASSSR)

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“Religion and Peace in East Asia: Reconsideration of Roles of Religion in the Post-Secular Age“

July 23-25, 2020
Jeju National University, Republic of Korea

Religion has always played an important role in promoting hope and vision for peace. Each religion present in both East and West emphasizes a religious importance of spiritual and ethical life based on justice, peace, brotherhood, and mercy. Religious beliefs and practices for the pursuit of a just and peaceful world should be considered more expansively at the political, social and national level as well as at the individual level, and further at the level of the entirety of humanity. The complex roles of religions in war and peace in modern times, especially in East Asian societies, should be examined more carefully and systematically.
With the global spread of political nationalism and economic protectionism, China, Japan, Korea, and other societies all face an internal conflict triggered by extreme oppositions and tensions within the established social order, while increasing the possibility of a clash between nations in the area. In this circumstance, both scholars of religion and peace need to pay more attention to social roles of religion through reflecting on a reconsideration of the revival of religion and, more specifically, the public roles of religion in the ‘Post-secular Age’ which needs a multi-layered dialogue beyond what “interreligious dialogue” has ever pursued.
Finding the spirit of religious tolerance and harmony inherent in East Asian religious traditions as well as religions introduced in modern times, papers based on various perspectives are welcome. In particular, priority will be given to papers that include the following topics and interests without any limitation to the geographical and cultural context and boundaries of East Asia.

  • Socio-historical studies on religion as an agent of peace or conflict
  • Relationship between religion and peace in the (post-) secular age.
  • Comparison of Eastern with Western religions in the quest for peace.
  • Case studies of peace building in East Asia.
  • Thoughts and practices of peace in traditional religions and/or newly-risen religions in East Asia.
  • Case studies of the transformations (or appropriation) of traditional religions.

However, any topic in the social scientific study of religion is welcome. In particular, any proposals of closed sessions organized by three or four papers are welcome, focusing on different perspectives within the same religious tradition. In the case of individual papers we will arrange them into each session in accordance with their topics.
Abstract Submission
Paper abstracts should be submitted from Dec 1, 2019 to Feb 15, 2020 by clicking below:

Submit Paper Abstracts for the 2020 EASSSR Annual Meeting

For more information about any fees of membership, registration, and accommodation, please visit the website http://www.easssr.org/ or send e-mail by easssr2020@gmail.com

[CfP] Religion and Cultural Change: Summer School in Åbo/Turku 8-10.6 2020

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Call for Papers

Welcome to an interdisciplinary summer school and conference to be held in Åbo/Turku 8–10 June, 2020.

Religion and Cultural Change

Conference website: www.abo.fi/rcc

Keynote speakers:

  • Prof. Catharina Raudvere, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Prof. Anders Runesson, University of Oslo, Norway
  • Prof. Rebecca Catto, Kent State University, Ohio, USA

The aim of this summer school and conference is to bring together doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers from various academic fields that engage with the study of religion, such as theology, religious studies, history, philosophy, the arts, social and political sciences and other. We invite papers that engage with the theme Religion and Cultural Change from both historical and contemporary perspectives, also looking to the future where possible. We understand cultural change both as dramatic breaking points in history and as slowly evolving transformations and will address past, present and emerging trends and trajectories within culture, society and the scholarly community. The societal relevance and impact of our research is also an important theme.

The summer school will consist of working groups, tutored by the keynote presenters and other academic teachers, where doctoral candidates are given the opportunity to present and discuss their ongoing PhD work in a cross-disciplinary, international setting. Postdoc researchers will present their papers in sessions running parallel to the summer school. Thematic groups and working groups dealing with particular theories or methodologies may also be held. 

To apply, please send an abstract of approximately 150 words to cscc@utu.fi no later than 15 January, 2020. Letters of acceptance will be posted no later than 15 February, 2020. Upon acceptance to the summer school, doctoral candidates will furthermore be asked to submit a 500-word synopsis of their research theme no later than 1 May, 2020.

The summer school is arranged as a joint venture between three different research bodies in Åbo/Turku: the Centre for the Study of Christian Cultures(CSCC) at the University of Turku, the Polin Institute for Theological Research at Åbo Akademi University and the Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture (DI).