Category Archives: Calls for Papers

Call for Papers: First International Congress of the Chilean Society for the Sciences of Religions Dialog, education and religious tolerance

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Call for Papers
December 1, 2016

With a total of 22 symposia approved, we invite both Chilean and foreign researchers to present their papers in the diverse thematic lines available. Here you can see the list of symposia: http://www.schcr.cl/simposiosaceptados.html

In order to send a proposal, you must contact the symposium coordinators directly. In case your paper proposal does not fit any of the symposia, it must be sent as a free paper, which will be assessed by the Scientific Committee of the Congress, and included in special symposia (1, 2 and 3) coordinated by the Organizing Committee. The e-mail for sending free papers is: schcr2017@gmail.com

Thematic lines for the symposium papers

  • Theory and methodology in the study of religions
  • Phenomenology of religions
  • Symbology and Art in religion
  • Islam and Islamophobia
  • Modern religious movements
  • Anthropology and sociology of religions
  • History of religious institutions
  • Literature and religion: Sacred texts
  • Religion, politics and gender studies
  • Psychology of religions
  • Education and religion
  • Ecclesiastical law
  • Religions in classical antiquity
  • Church-state relationships in Latin America
  • Archeology and religiosity in prehistoric times
  • Iconography and religious cultural heritage
  • Religions and human rights
  • Far East Religions
  • Philosophy of religions
  • Popular and ethnic religiosity in Latin America

The specific contact information for the symposium organizers is in the attached PDF file.

Call for Papers: SISR/ISSR Conference “Religion, Cooperation, and Conflict in Diverse Societies” (Lausanne, Switzerland, 4-7 July 2017)

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The online facility for submitting paper proposals for the ISSR Conference “Religion, Cooperation, and Conflict in Diverse Societies” (Lausanne, Switzerland, 4-7 July 2017) is now open and available at this link: https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conference/the-call-for-papers-for-the-issr-conference-religion-cooperation-and-conflict-in-diverse-societies-lausanne-switzerland-4-7-july-2017-is-now-open-the-deadline-for-submitting-paper-proposals

There, you can find a document describing the sessions (list of titles below).   Please have a look and decide to which session you would like to submit your paper. When submitting the paper, please use the same link and the online form. The proposal (title and abstract up to 250 words) should be only in one language – English or French – in which you would like to present your paper.  Please note that you can submit only one paper proposal!

The deadline for submitting paper proposals is 10 January 2017.

For more information on the conference: https://wp.unil.ch/issr2017conference

List of Session Titles:


STS #1
Convener(s) Jörg Stolz, David Voas, Pierre Bréchon
Title Religiosity : Analysis of international and national quantitative surveys

STS #2
Convener(s) Irene Becci, Marian Burchardt, Mariachiara Giorda
Title Reshaping the secular in religious superdiverse societies

STS #3
Convener(s) Géraldine Mossière, Christophe Monnot
Title Conversion and socio-political commitment

STS #4
Convener(s) Pascal Tanner
Title Diversity within Non-Religion

STS #5
Convener(s) Jens Koehrsen, Alexandre Grandjean
Title Turning «green»: When religious actors get involved in sustainability agendas

STS #6
Convener(s) Roberto Cipriani
Title Homosexuality and religion

STS #7
Convener(s) Sarah-Jane Page, Anna Halafoff
Title Global Flows of Contemporary Buddhism

STS #8
Convener(s) Stéphanie Tremblay, Marie-Andrée Roy
Title Religious Diversity: Between the Majority Perceptions and Strategies of Religious Groups

STS #9
Convener(s) Kati Tervo-Niemelä
Title Religion and non-religion across generations

STS #10
Convener(s) Roberto M.C. Motta, Claude Ravelet, Léa Freitas Perez
Title Religious and Cultural Syncretism, Interpenetration, Fundamentalism, Intolerance, and Conflict in Brazil, France and Elsewhere: Comparative Views

STS #11
Convener(s) Sylvie Poirier, Françoise Dussart
Title Indigenous Contemporary Religiosities. Between Solidarity, Contestation, Convergence and Renewal

STS #12
Convener(s) Audrey Lim
Title Religion’s use of social media in society

STS #13
Convener(s) Yaghoob Foroutan
Title Muslims in the West: Patterns and Differentials

STS #14
Convener(s) Mina Shojaee, Yaghoob Foroutan
Title Gender and Religion: Correlates and Causes

STS #15
Convener(s) David Lehmann
Title Religion of the others : mimicry and ritual reworking

STS #16 Abstract
Convener(s) Mark R. Mullins
Title Neo-nationalism, Politics, and Religion in the Public Sphere in Japan and East Asia

STS #17
Convener(s) Gang-Hua Fan
Title Religiosity and Subjective Well-Being

STS #18
Convener(s) Wei-hsian Chi, Yoshihide Sakurai
Title Media and Religion in East Asia

STS #19
Convener(s) Julia Martínez-Ariño
Title Governing religious diversity and conflict in the city

STS #20
Convener(s) Cristina Rocha, Paul Freston, Kathleen Openshaw
Title Global Pentecostal Charismatic Christianities

STS #21
Convener(s) Norihito Takahashi, Tatsuya Shirahase
Title The Multicultural Engagement of Religious Organisations in the East Asian Context

STS #22
Convener(s) Elisabeth Arweck
Title Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity

STS #23
Convener(s) Philip Hughes
Title Pentecostalism, cooperation and conflict in diverse societies

STS #24
Convener(s) Tadaatsu Tajima, Yu-shuang Yao
Title New Religious Movements and Established Religions vs. Globalisation/Glocalisation in the Asia Context

STS #25
Convener(s) Magdalena Nordin, Lene Kühle
Title Religion in public institutions

STS #26
Convener(s) Nonka Bogomilova Todorova
Title “God’s Chosen Nation”: A Mythological Construct and Conflict-generating Potential

STS #27
Convener(s) Mia Lövheim
Title Media and Religious Diversity; conflict and cooperation

STS #28
Convener(s) Elisabeth Arweck
Title Religious Socialisation and Education: Ways to Promote Co-operation and Reduce Conflict in Diverse Societies?

STS #29
Convener(s) Zoran Matevski
Title Faith Communities and Religious Groups and the Principle of Religious Tolerance within South-Eastern Europe

STS #30
Convener(s) Elena Lisovskaya
Title Towards a sociology of the icon and iconography

STS #31
Convener(s) Conrad Hackett
Title Religion and educational attainment around the world

STS #32
Convener(s) Conrad Hackett
Title Opportunities and Challenges in Studying Asian Religions

STS #33
Convener(s) Kees de Groot
Title Religion in Prison

STS #34
Convener(s) Michele Dillon
Title Post-secular Catholicism

STS #35
Convener(s) Vyacheslav Karpov
Title Secularizations and Counter-secularizations: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives.

STS #36
Convener(s) Giuseppe Giordan, Siniša Zrinščak
Title Religions and Human Rights

STS #37
Convener(s) Yoshihide Sakurai, Kikuko Hirahuji
Title Religious Research and Religious Education in Contemporary Asia-Pacific Regions

STS #38
Convener(s) Heiner Meulemann
Title Celebration of life course transitions: A cultural residuum of religion after secularization

STS #39
Convener(s) Roberto Cipriani
Title Diffused Religion. Beyond secularization

STS #40
Convener(s) Torkel Brekke
Title Love thy neighbour? The roles of Christianity in shaping attitudes and policies to Muslim immigrants in Europe

STS #41
Convener(s) Victor Roudometof
Title The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Churches

STS #42
Convener(s) Joëlle Allouche-Benayoun
Title Judaism, judaicities. Mutations and evolutions of the contemporary jewish world

STS #43
Convener(s) Suzana Ramos Coutinho
Title Migration, Religion and Identity

STS #44
Convener(s) Dorota Hall, Dinka Marinović Jerolimov
Title “Refugee crisis” in Central and Eastern Europe

STS #45
Convener(s) Juliette Galonnier
Title Muslims and Race in Europe

STS #46
Convener(s) Vivarelli Clementine, Massignon Bérengère
Title Atheisms and religions in conflict ? Beliefs, paths, organisations

STS #47
Convener(s) Robert Dixon
Title Current Concerns in Parish and Congregational Research

STS #48
Convener(s) Pål Ketil Botvar, Ann Kristin Gresaker
Title Religion and humor – negotiation and conflict

STS #49
Convener(s) Irena Borowik, Katarzyna Zielinska
Title Religion in the public sphere: social discourses on biopolitics

STS #50
Convener(s) Frank Usarski, Edin Sued Abumanssur
Title Cooperation and conflicts among Latin American Religions

STS #51
Convener(s) Yannick Fer, Véronique Altglas, Hicham Benaissa, Juliette Galonnier, Gwendoline Malogne-Fer
Title Agenda for a Critical Sociology of Religion: subjective experience and social determinants

STS #52
Convener(s) Antonius Liedhegener, Anastas Odermatt, Conrad Hackett
Title Contested Religious Belonging in Europe. Measuring Old Traditions and New Identities in Comparative Perspective

STS #53
Convener(s) Anna Halafoff, Gary Bouma, Elisabeth Arweck
Title Worldviews of Millennials: Education, Social Inclusion and Countering Violent Extremism

STS #54
Convener(s) Louis Audet Gosselin
Title Media and Religious Radicalization: Gatekeeping and the Construction of Extremism

STS #55
Convener(s) Olaf Glöckner, Karine Michel
Title Conflicts, cooperation and completion among Jewish religious groups worldwide

STS #56
Convener(s) Andrea Rota, Rafael Walthert
Title Religious communities: Between public participation and internal tension

STS #57
Convener(s) Effie Fokas, Alexia Mitsikostas
Title The European Court of Human Rights at the Grassroots Level: exploring the Court’s role in governing religion-related tensions on the ground

STS #58
Convener(s) Heinrich W. Schäfer, Jens Koehrsen, Cecilia A Delgado-Molina
Title Religion and Social Inequality: Empirical Insights and Theoretical Reflections

STS #59
Convener(s) Rodrigo Toniol, Brenda Poveda Carranza, Mari Sol Garcia Somoza
Title Body, Politics and Religion. Theoretical approach, methodological articulations and ethnographic studies in Latin America

STS #60
Convener(s) Ludovic Bertina, Anahita Grisoni, Jean Chamel, Mathieu Gervais, Luis Martinez Andrade
Title Ecology, religions and spiritualities: from socio-environmental conflicts to cosmopolitcs

STS #61
Convener(s) Leni Franken, Sivane Hirsch
Title Religion and education in contemporary plural societies: a matter of neutrality?

STS #62
Convener(s) Titus Hjelm, James V. Spickard
Title Social Theory and Religion

STS #63
Convener(s) Inger Furseth
Title Religious Radicalism and Extremism

STS #64
Convener(s) Thea D. Boldt, Hubert Knoblauch
Title Religion as Communication: Materiality, Mediatization and Objectivation

STS #65
Convener(s) Uta Karstein, Thomas Schmidt-Lux
Title Architecture as a Medium of Religious Conflicts

STS #66
Convener(s) Carlo Nardella
Title Pope Francis and the Crisis

STS #67
Convener(s) Sara Teinturier
Title Schools and religions : methodological challenges

STS #68
Convener(s) Anne Lancien
Title “Laicity”: an answer to conflicts in diverse societies?

STS #69
Convener(s) Igor Bahovec
Title Thomas Luckmann, Religion and Society: 50 Years of The Invisible Religion

NRF #1
Convener(s) Mari Sol Garcia Somoza
Title Body, Politics and Religion. Theoretical approach, methodological articulations and ethnographic studies in Latin America

Conference: The Life and Legacy of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Movements in Scholarly Perspective

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Call for Papers


The Life and Legacy of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Movements in Scholarly Perspective


29-30 May 2017

Antwerp, Belgium 


Organized By

The European Observatory of Religion and Secularism (Laïcité) in partnership with Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG), CESNUR and CLIMAS (Bordeaux) 


Venue

Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG) 

Bist 164 – B-2610 Wilrijk-Antwerpen. Belgium. Tel.: +32 (0)3 830 51 58. 

E-mail: info@antwerpfvg.org

www.antwerpfvg.org

2016 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Exposition of the Divine Principle, written by Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012), founder of the Unification Church that has its roots in South Korea (1954). Since that time, the Unification Church—or Unificationism/Unification Movement(s), among other names and affiliated organizational entities—has spread worldwide and expressed itself in a variety of international contexts. The original Unification Church is a case study of a new religious movement that claims Christian roots but contains a unique and evolving theology, set of practices, and community life that set is apart from the majority Christendom (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions). In this way it may be comparable to say Mormonism or Christian Science, though of course the Unification Movement has its origins outside the United States, and not surprisingly most of its members reside in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and throughout East Asia. With the death of Rev. Moon in 2012, the Unification Church has fractured and a number of rival groups—in addition to dozens of smaller schismatic groups—now claim to be the rightful heirs of the founder’s theological mission and institutional legacies. 

Thirty-three years after the publication of Eileen Barker’s groundbreaking book The Making of a Moonie (Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1984), we invite religious studies scholars to join us in Antwerp to focus on the Unification Church and Movement(s)—their evolution and possible transformations— over the course of 60+ years of existence. 

The list of topics below is not exhaustive: 

• – Evolution of the governance of the Unification Church/Movement(s), 

• – Organization and associated groups, 

• – Membership: numbers, growth, sociological profile. International expansion, 

• – History, theology, and practices, iconography, 

• – Perception in the world as a South Korean-born new religion, 

• – Judicial issues addressing its status; prosecution in certain countries, 

• – Impact on humanitarianism, art and culture in general, 

• – Media relations and media coverage, 

• – Influences in popular culture, 

• – Relationship with the broader society. 

Practical Information

Language of the conference: English. 

Send a 10 line abstract, with a 5 line résumé of your previous work to: 

Régis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism) redericq@netcourrier.com

and/or to Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Vice-President of the Observatory. 

bcellard@numericable.fr

and /or Massimo Introvigne : maxintrovigne@gmail.com

and/or Donald Westbrook : westbrook@humnet.ucla.edu

and/or Chris Vonck : fvg.faculteit@skynet.b 

Papers will be considered for publication, with editorial details given during the conference. It is understood that each presenter must submit his or her paper first to the organizers for possible inclusion in the conference proceedings. When submitting the abstract, please inform the committee whether the paper has been submitted for review or publication in another venue.

Call for Papers: FAITH COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM

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Please find below a link to the CALL FOR PAPERS for the conference to be held at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 18-20 May 2017, and co-sponsored by the European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment entitled:

FAITH COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM

18 – 20 May 2017, University of Edinburgh

https://goo.gl/forms/7xkId1o6Ojrqw4Y72

Please submit your proposal to the form at the above link.

For further information please contact:m.northcott@ed.ac.uk

CALL FOR PAPERS The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

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CALL FOR PAPERS

The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

12-13 June 2017, Åbo Akademi University, Turku/Åbo, Finland

Conference website: http://www.abo.fi/refe/

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1684659638516383/

Europe is undergoing significant demographic changes due to an aging population and increased immigration. This expert symposium will gather internationally leading experts to discuss the cultural, ethnic and religious aspects of this ongoing demographic shift.

The demographics of religion is a new field that has developed alongside growing xenophobia and Islamophobia worldwide. Fear of the demographic change in Europe is one of the ideological motors behind several xenophobic and populist social and political movements. Academic research has lagged behind, but now there is a growing body of serious scholarship on this controversial topic. The conference will bring together people to present the latest research findings as well as methodological and theoretical questions concerning the cultural and societal implications of demographic trajectories. Groundbreaking research has been conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Religious Futures Project that has provided elementary data on global demographic trajectories in the 2010s. Also the Vienna Institute of Demography has given major contributions in projecting the future development of religious adherence in the City of Vienna and developing methodologies for the visualization of demographic change.

Keynote lectures:

  • .”What we know and do not know about future religious developments: The contribution of demography” by Dr Anne Goujon, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austria
  • .”New estimates and projections of Europe’s Muslim population” by Dr Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center, USA
  • .”Religion and demographic change around the world ” by Prof. Vegard Skirbekk, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • .”Estimating Future Religious Diversity in Finland” by Dr Tuomas Martikainen, Migration Institute of Finland

We invite people from different academic backgrounds to discuss religion and demographic developments including but not limited to the following topics:

  • – Demographic projections on religion and ethnicity
  • – Statistics on religion and ethnicity
  • – The use and misuse of demographic and statistics of religion and ethnicity
  • The larger implications of demographic changes for the research on multicultural societies, interreligious encounters and diversity.

To apply, please send an abstract of approximately 150 words to the Donner Institute, donner.institute(at)abo.fi, no later than 31 December, 2016. Letters of acceptance will be posted no later than 31 January, 2017.

Selected papers from the conference will be published in volume 28 of the Donner Institute series Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis as a co-publication of the Donner Institute and the Migration Institute of Finland.

The expert symposium is arranged jointly by the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, the Migration Institute of Finland and the “Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective” Åbo Akademi University Centre of Excellence in Research.

CALL FOR PAPERS The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

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CALL FOR PAPERS

The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

12-13 June 2017, Åbo Akademi University, Turku/Åbo, Finland

Conference website: http://www.abo.fi/refe/

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1684659638516383/

Europe is undergoing significant demographic changes due to an aging population and increased immigration. This expert symposium will gather internationally leading experts to discuss the cultural, ethnic and religious aspects of this ongoing demographic shift.

The demographics of religion is a new field that has developed alongside growing xenophobia and Islamophobia worldwide. Fear of the demographic change in Europe is one of the ideological motors behind several xenophobic and populist social and political movements. Academic research has lagged behind, but now there is a growing body of serious scholarship on this controversial topic. The conference will bring together people to present the latest research findings as well as methodological and theoretical questions concerning the cultural and societal implications of demographic trajectories. Groundbreaking research has been conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Religious Futures Project that has provided elementary data on global demographic trajectories in the 2010s. Also the Vienna Institute of Demography has given major contributions in projecting the future development of religious adherence in the City of Vienna and developing methodologies for the visualization of demographic change.

Keynote lectures:

  • .”What we know and do not know about future religious developments: The contribution of demography” by Dr Anne Goujon, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austria
  • .”New estimates and projections of Europe’s Muslim population” by Dr Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center, USA
  • .”Religion and demographic change around the world ” by Prof. Vegard Skirbekk, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • .”Estimating Future Religious Diversity in Finland” by Dr Tuomas Martikainen, Migration Institute of Finland

We invite people from different academic backgrounds to discuss religion and demographic developments including but not limited to the following topics:

  • – Demographic projections on religion and ethnicity
  • – Statistics on religion and ethnicity
  • – The use and misuse of demographic and statistics of religion and ethnicity
  • The larger implications of demographic changes for the research on multicultural societies, interreligious encounters and diversity.

To apply, please send an abstract of approximately 150 words to the Donner Institute, donner.institute(at)abo.fi, no later than 31 December, 2016. Letters of acceptance will be posted no later than 31 January, 2017.

Selected papers from the conference will be published in volume 28 of the Donner Institute series Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis as a co-publication of the Donner Institute and the Migration Institute of Finland.

The expert symposium is arranged jointly by the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, the Migration Institute of Finland and the “Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective” Åbo Akademi University Centre of Excellence in Research.

Call for Scholars: Interreligious Explorations of Homelessness

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Deadline: December 12, 2016)

Seattle University’s new Center for Religious Wisdom & World Affairs is seeking to bring together theologians and scholars of religion from a variety of faith traditions and disciplines to explore the ways in which religious wisdom and the resources of faith communities can lend assistance in the analysis, diagnosis, and community responses needed to address the problem of homelessness.

Scholars will:

  • Participate in two academic symposia (April 2017 and April 2018)
  • Contribute to a publication
  • Receive an honorarium and have travel expenses covered

For more details:

https://seattleu.edu/stm/grants–initiatives/center/call-for-scholars-interreligious-explorations-of-homelessness

Sociology of Religion Study Group (SocRel), Annual Conference 2017: On the Edge? Centres and Margins in the Sociology of Religion. Wednesday 12th July – Friday 14th July 2017, University of Leeds.

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Keynote Speakers:

Professor Bryan Turner (City University of New York)

Professor Kim Knott (University of Lancaster)

Professor Philip Mellor (University of Leeds)

(Two further keynotes, TBC)

 

The Sociology of Religion, as a distinct sub-discipline, has had a complex relationship with ‘mainstream’ sociology including experiencing periods of centrality and marginalisation. Beginning as a chief concern of the founding fathers of the discipline, but later relegated to almost insignificance until the so-called ‘resurgence of religion’, these changing fortunes have contributed directly to scholarship that can be dynamic, multi-faceted and responsive. In our search to understand the roles for religion in contemporary society, as scholars we frequently draw on multi-disciplinary methodologies and share a disciplinary platform with geography, politics, social policy, theology, anthropology, history and literature, to name but a few.  But where does this leave the sociology of religion as a distinct discipline?

The purpose of this conference is to investigate the boundaries and borders of sociologies of religion in an expansive and inclusive way. We want to ask, what do the centres of the sociology of religion look like in the 21st Century, and where are the margins and borders? Where are the new, and innovative subjects, methodologies and collaborations in our subject and how are they shaping the discipline?  How well do Sociologies of Religion intersect with other sociologies, such as of class, migration, ethnicity, sexuality and gender, and what are the effects? What about the geographical centres and margins of this historically Western-orientated sub-discipline, in our ever-changing world characterised by postcoloniality, globalisation and transnationalism? To what extent have any alternative Sociologies of Religion from the “edge”, to use a term proposed by Bender et al (2013), re-interpreted or re-configured the concerns of the centre? Importantly, what light does the Sociology of Religion shed on the more general study of centres and margins in religious and social settings/institutions and identities/subjectivities? Ultimately we want to question where these expansive and multi-directional boundaries leave us as ‘sociologists of religion’ and as a distinct study group and highlight the challenges and the opportunities.

We invite you to engage in these conference questions from your particular area of research.

To deliver a paper, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, alongside a biographical note of no more than 50 words. We will also be accepting a limited number of panel proposals. To deliver a panel, please send an abstract of no more than 500 words alongside a biographical note of no more than 50 words for each contributor.

Please send abstracts to the attention of the conference organizers: Dr Caroline Starkey (University of Leeds) and Dr Jasjit Singh (University of Leeds) at socrel2017@gmail.com

 

Abstracts must be submitted by 9th December 2016.

 

Conference Bursaries:

A limited number of bursaries are available to support postgraduate, early career, low income or unwaged SocRel members to present at the conference. Please visit http://socrel.org.uk/socrel-annual-bursary-scheme/ for instructions, and to download an application form, and submit your bursary application along with your abstract by 9th December 2016.

All presenters must be members of SocRel.

Selected authors will be asked to contribute to an edited volume.

 

Key Dates:

Abstract submission: Open now

Early bird registration opens: 3rd October 2016

Abstract submission closes: 9th December 2016

Decision notification: 20th January 2017

Presenter registration closes: 10th March 2017

Early bird registration closes:  2nd June 2017

Registration closes: 23rd June 2017

Please note that after Friday, 23rd June 2017, a £50 late registration fee will apply to all bookings.

 

Should you have other questions about the conference please also contact the conference organisers, Dr Caroline Starkey (University of Leeds) and Dr Jasjit Singh (University of Leeds) at socrel2017@gmail.com.

For further details, visit the SocRel website: www.socrel.org.uk. For further details about the BSA visit www.britsoc.co.uk.

Link to online CfP: http://socrel.org.uk/sociology-of-religion-study-group-socrel-annual-conference-2017/

CFP: Workshop on ‘Religion, Hate and Offence in a Changing World’

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CALL FOR PAPERS

Workshop on ‘Religion, Hate and Offence in a Changing World’

Cardiff University, School of Law and Politics, 14-15 December 2016

Keynote speaker: Professor Jocelyn Maclure (Université Laval)

This workshop aims to bring together scholars working on the relationship between religion and free speech. This relationship is complex. On the one hand, it has been central to recent discussions of hate speech and offensive speech targeting religious believers, and especially members of religious minorities. For example, the current wave of Islamophobia across Europe, prompted by migratory pressure, an unstable Middle East, and the backlash from the recent terrorist attacks in France and Belgium, has brought the issue of hate speech directed at religious minorities back to the forefront of public debate in western liberal democracies. Furthermore, the tension between freedom of speech and blasphemy continues to elicit public and academic debate, as shown by the 2006 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and, more recently, by the Charlie Hebdo controversies and attack. On the other hand, religious believers sometimes defend their use of derogatory and extreme speech against members of other religious faiths, or people with a certain sexual orientation, as part of their religious freedom. Recent examples include Swedish Pastor Ake Green’s likening of homosexuals with ‘cancer’; Tunisian preacher Muhammad Hammami’s anti-semitic remarks; Belfast Pastor James McConnell’s description of Islam as ‘heathen’ and ‘satanic’; and American conservative Evangelical Christian TV evangelist Andrew Wommack’s claim that gay people are ‘not normal’. Religious believers, therefore, can be both victims and instigators of hate speech and offensive speech, and this renders an examination of the relationship between these kinds of speech and religion especially important.

Contributions addressing the following questions are particularly welcome:

  • Should hate speech and/or offensive speech be regulated and, if so, why?

  • Is there a clear distinction between hate speech and offensive speech?

  • What is the relationship between freedom of religion and freedom of speech?

  • Is religion unique in often being both the target and the source of hate speech and offensive speech?

  • Should hate speech and offensive speech be legally regulated, or should speakers only have a moral duty to refrain from using them?

If you would like to present a paper, please send a paper abstract (300-400 words) to Matteo Bonotti (BonottiM@cardiff.ac.uk). The deadline for submission of paper abstracts is 15 October 2016. Acceptance will be notified by 20 October 2016. Each accepted paper will be presented in a plenary session, and it will be allocated 60 minutes (30 minutes for presentation and 30 minutes for in-depth discussion).

There will be a registration fee of £50, including registration, tea/coffee breaks and lunches for both days.

Call for papers: Workshop on the representation of religion(s) and the “World Religions Paradigm”

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Organised by the EASR Working Group on Religion in Public Education

13. and 14. December 2016, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway

In contrast to other existing networks and organizations dealing with religious education (RE) in Europe at various levels and in various ways, the EASR Working Group on Religion in Public Education intends to establish a firm basis for and further develop study-of-religions research on RE as well as a basis for specific “RS-based RE didactics and school subjects”. That means a form of RE based on the academic study of religions, independent from any kind of promotion of religion, interreligious dialogue, or support of religious institutions or communities.

The EASR working group invites to a workshop on the representation on religion(s) and the “World Religions Paradigm”. We invite researchers to present papers on the complexities involved in dealing with representation of religion(s) in teaching contexts. Papers are invited to discuss how recent criticisms of “The World Religions Paradigm” is relevant for teaching about religion(s) in RE. In addition to theoretical reflections, presentations that focus on ‘dead religions’, new religious movements, popular culture or indigenous religions in RE are particularly welcome.

The workshop will take place in Tromsø (Norway) and be organized in cooperation with the Research group for Religion Education in Public Education at the UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. The first day (13. December) of the workshop will take place at Tromsø Villmarkssenter (Tromsø Wild Life center, http://www.villmarkssenter.no), a 25 minute drive outside Tromsø city center.

Transportation from the hotels to the Wild Life center will be organized (free of charge) for all participants.

UiT will also cover coffee, lunch and dinner at the Wild Life Center. On December 14 the workshop will take place at the university campus. Participants will have to find their own funding for travel and accommodation.

Deadline for abstracts: October 15 Notification about the acceptance of papers: November 1 The abstracts will be read and evaluated by several referees. Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words (and possible queries about this workshop) to Bengt-Ove Andreassen (email: bengt.ove.andreassen@uit.no)