Category Archives: Calls for Papers

Call for Papers: Second Interdisciplinary Conference on Religion in Everyday lives

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Centre for Research in Social sciences and Humanities

http://www.socialsciencesandhumanities.com

is inviting paper/panel proposals for

Second Interdisciplinary Conference on Religion in Everyday lives to be held in

Vienna, Austria, 21-22.03.2015.

Conference venue: ***** Hotel Le Meridien Wien, Opernring 13-15, A-1010, Vienna, Austria (Room Happy Green)

Religion is often discussed through the eyes of secularisation theory; however, there is no agreement on what secularisation is, or to what extent religion is present in our present lives even though religion is as influential as ever. Whether we understand secularisation as a decline of religious beliefs, privatization of religion, or as differentiation of the secular spheres and emancipation (Casanova 2006; Berger 2001), we still have to ask ourselves to what extent religion shapes our present lives. Many scholars believed religion will eventually loose importance and that societies will face decline of religious beliefs, but by the end of the 20th century many changed their views and acknowledged that secularisation theory does not work, and that religion is as important as ever (Berger, 1999). Nonetheless, we can agree with a view “religious communities have survived and even flourished to the degree that they have not tried to adapt themselves to the alleged requirements of a secularised world” (Berger, 1999: 4).

Recently, scholars also advocated that religion emerges in times of crisis such as, for example, events in the Middle East, breakup of former Yugoslavia, economic crisis, etc. It is questionable whether we can truly discuss secularisation as a phenomenon, or we should simply turn our attention to the notion of religion in all of its aspects, and try to increase understanding of this complex phenomenon.

We are inviting papers from social sciences and humanities that address religion and its influence on our present reality, and its growing importance.

Papers are invited (but not limited to) for the following panels:

  • Secularisation vs sacralisation
  • Methodology in researching religion
  • Spirituality
  • Pilgrimage
  • Religious practices
  • Religion and culture
  • Religion and the media
  • Religious subjectivity
  • Material religion
  • Religion and childhood
  • Religion and critical theory
  • Religion and discrimination
  • Religion and identity
  • Religion and education
  • Religion and belonging
  • Religious Anti-Semitism
  • Studies in Judaism
  • Religion and the Idea of Europe
  • Religion and ethnicity
  • Studies in Islam

Prospective participants are also welcome to submit proposals for their own panels.

Submissions of abstracts (up to 500 words) with an email contact should be sent to Dr Martina Topić

(martina@socialsciencesandhumanities.com) by 10 March 2015.

The post Call for Papers: Second Interdisciplinary Conference on Religion in Everyday lives appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for Session Proposals: 3rd Forum of Sociology in Vienna, July 2012. Research Committee on the Sociology of Religion

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RC 22: Research Committee for the Sociology of Religion Call for Sessions:
“Religion, Secularity and Post-Secularity: Crafting Meaningful Futures”

The Third ISA Forum of Sociology “The Futures we want: Global Sociology and the struggles for a better world’’ to be held in Vienna, 10-14 July, 2016. (International Sociological Association)

Programme Co-ordinator: Vineeta Sinha (socvs@nus.edu.sg)

PROGRAM  THEME:  The world’s current socio-economic and political turmoil has a profound impact on religious expressions, sensibilities and worldviews.  Religious expressions and worldviews also affect the surrounding socio-economic and political spheres.   Such dramatic changes produce disquiet, tumult and agitation but also open opportunities to question the status and create novel social possibilities.
Sociologists of religion face a number of challenges in understanding these interactions.  Among these is the need to develop new theoretical and empirical approaches to our subject.  Sociologists have long argued about the continuing place and value of religions in a secularizing and globalizing world .  Although the notion of ‘post-secularity’ is hardly new, it has recently emerged forcefully (and somewhat fashionably) in attempts to theorise the visibility and relevance of religiosity in the world today.  This raises serious questions that deserve sociological attention.   Among these:

  • Do recent developments signal to some extent the passing of a ‘secularist’ moment?
  • What is meant by ‘post-secularity’?
  • Are we living in a post-secular age?  Or are we merely looking forward to one?
  • If so, what would religion look like is such a context?
  • What effect religion could religion have in a rapidly changing world?

The objective of these thematic sessions is to theorise the complex religious landscapes in the present and to contemplate if, where, how and with what effect religions will manifest and organize themselves in a rapidly changing socio-political landscape.

CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS:  We invite RC 22 members to propose sessions that deal with these complex issues.  We especially welcome sessions that include cross-cultural and cross-national comparisons.   Besides the thematic topics above, we also seek sessions that contribute to other recent debates within the field.  Here are some ideas:

  • any of the thematic ideas listed above
  • religion in the public sphere
  • popular religion
  • religion, gender and feminism
  • urban forms of religiosity
  • material religion
  • religious commodification and consumption
  • religious revivalism and religious innovation in a global context
  • other topics of interest.

Both thematic proposals and non-thematic proposals should address the multiple, complex and sometimes opposing strands and arguments on their topics in the social-scientific study of religion.

HOW TO PROPOSE A SESSION:

  • If you wish to propose a session before February 2nd, please send an abstract (no more than 300 words), your full name, institutional affiliation, e-mail and a short bio to Vineeta Sinha (socvs@nus.edu.sg)
  • Starting 2 February, 2015, you can submit your proposals online at the International Sociological Association’s website.  A link will appear at http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/
  • Session proposals must be in English, French, or Spanish.

Please also note that you must become an RC22 member to have your session proposal accepted; you can join the Research Committee through the ISA website at http://www.isa-sociology.org/memb_i/index.htm 

In order to be included in the programme, all participants (presenters, chairs, discussants, etc.) must join the ISA and register for the Forum by the early registration deadline of 1 April, 2016. Without early registration and membership, presenters, chairs, etc. will not appear in the Programme Book or in the Abstracts Book.

The Research Committee on the Sociology of Religion (RC22) is the section of the International Sociological Association tasked with advancing theory and research in the sociology of religion, in the context of world sociology.  Please visit our website at www.ISA-RC22.org for information about us and about our programs.  Visit the ISA’s website at www.isa-sociology.org for information about our parent organization.  Information about the Third Forum of Sociology can be found at http://www.isa-sociology.org/vienna-2016/

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Workshop: “Religion and the Political Participation and Mobilization of Immigrant Groups: A Transatlantic Perspective”.

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The Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM) of the University of Liège is pleased to announce the third scientific thematic workshop organized by the working group Citizenship and Political Participation on “Religion and the Political Participation and Mobilization of Immigrant Groups: A Transatlantic Perspective”.  

11 May 2015
CEDEM, University of Liège, Belgium

The scientific thematic workshop will examine the political participation of immigrants in an original perspective. Instead of analyzing it through an exclusive ethnic and racial origin lens, we will focus on the role of religion in the political participation and mobilization of immigrant groups in a transatlantic perspective (Europe-North America). The leading question, of the workshop is: what role does religion play in the political participation and mobilization of immigrant groups in European and North American cities? We don’t want to focus on Muslims but consider Catholics, Protestants, and religions as well as non-religious faith such as secularism.

The papers should cover in priority one of the following topics possibly in a comparative perspective.  However, other topics proposed by the applicants will also be considered.  The topics:

• Electoral behavior of Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc. citizens with an immigrant background
• Political mobilization through churches, mosques and religious associations
• Immigrants and organized secularism
• Music, religion and political mobilization of second and third generations
• Immigrants and anti-religious discrimination
• Trans-religious alliances among immigrants

This workshop is open to professors, researchers, MA students, PhD students. The attendance is free but registration is requested before April 15th 2015. Please send an email to Sonia.Gsir@ulg.ac.be

The intention is to prepare a special issue of a journal including a selection of the papers presented at the workshop. Those interested are asked to send a one-page presentation of their paper to Marco Martiniello by February 8th 2015 : mail to: M.Martiniello@ulg.ac.be

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CFP: Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies, March 2015

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Invitation to the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies, 2015, at the Old Library in the Oxford University Church Of St Mary

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies to be held and 18, 19 and 20 March, 2015.  The meeting will be held at The Old Library.  Constructed in 1320, The Old Library is the first university (as opposed to college) building in Oxford and therefore uniquely important; this is where the nascent University began.

The session will be hosted by Canon Brian Mountford, Vicar of St Mary’s. Dr. Mountford is a Fellow and Chaplain of St Hilda’s College in the University of Oxford.

You are invited to present a paper on an aspect of religious studies, or you may wish to attend as an observer.

For more information visit our website Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies

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New Deadline: January 5th Sociology of Religion: Foundations and Futures

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Sociology of Religion: Foundations and Futures

Sociology of Religion Study Group (Socrel) Annual Conference

www.socrel.org.uk

Tuesday 7 – Thursday 9 July 2015 hosted by Kingston University London

High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK

http://www.cct.org.uk/high-leigh/introduction

Keynote Speakers:

  • Professor Nancy T. Ammerman (Boston University)
  • Professor James Beckford (University of Warwick)
  • Professor Grace Davie (University of Exeter)
  • Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray (Cardiff University)
  • Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University)

Since its foundation in 1975, the Sociology of Religion Study Group has become one of the largest in the British Sociological Association (BSA). Its membership includes educators and researchers from across the UK and internationally, and in 2015 the Sociology of Religion Study Group will be celebrating 40 years!

Given this occasion, it is an opportune moment to reflect on religion in society, and religion in sociology. From its foundation, Socrel has foregrounded research on secularisation, gender, spiritualities, embodied and lived accounts, materiality, generational innovations, atheism, social difference, migration, institutions, politicised expressions and methodologies in the study of religion. While this list does not account for all the many ways scholars have been investigating religion in social life – its various forms, intersections and spaces – it does speak to how religions continue to be important subjective and collective experiences that are stable and continuous, resistant and shifting. This conference will bring together scholars who have shaped and are shaping the discipline. It will be an opportunity to pay heed, not only to the Study Group’s and discipline’s accomplishments, but also an opportunity to address questions that are emerging to inform future agendas and areas of concern and study, such as:

  • - What are the key points of continuity and innovation in theorising religion?
  • - How are methodologies emerging and informing research on religion?
  • - How are new approaches adapting and transforming old practices?
  • - What are the key controversies that will occupy sociologists of religion?
  • - What are the pedagogical challenges and innovations in teaching the sociology of religion?

We invite you to celebrate with us by engaging in the conference questions from your particular area of research in the Sociology of Religion.

Abstracts for individual papers (250 words max.) and panels (500 words max.) are invited by 5 January 2015. Panels may take a standard format of 20-minute papers or take alternative modes such as pre-circulated papers/work in progress/or ‘points of view’ that are 10-minutes long. Submissions should be made in Word format and include in the following order: Name, institutional affiliation, email address and paper title.

**All presenters must be members of Socrel.

Abstracts will be subject to peer review. Please note, presenters will be limited to one paper per person at the conference, but you may also organise a panel.

  • -Abstract submissions open: 1 September 2014
  • -Early bird registration opens: 1 September 2014
  • -Abstract submissions close: 5 January 2015
  • -Decision notification: 15 January 2015
  • -Presenter registration closes: 16 March 2015
  • -Draft programme online: 16 April 2015
  • -Early bird registration closes:  11 May 2015
  • -Registration closes: 15 June 2015

Please send abstracts to the attention of the conference organisers:

  • Dr Sylvie Collins-Mayo (Kingston University London) and
  • Dr Sonya Sharma (Kingston University London) at:socrel2015@gmail.com

Should you have other questions about the conference please also contact the conference organisers at the above email address.

Online Registration:http://portal.britsoc.co.uk/public/event/eventBooking.aspx?id=EVT10391

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 www.socrel.org.uk for instructions, and to download an application form, and submit your bursary application along with your abstract by 5 January 2015.

Socrel is the British Sociological Association’s study group on Religion. For more details about the study group and conference please visit www.socrel.org.uk .

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Call for Papers: “Religion in Civil Society”

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The 10th Annual Patuxent Defense Forum will be held at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, Maryland on April 22, 2015. The Center for the Study of Democracy and The Patuxent Partnership jointly present this forum. The  forum  includes  a  mix  of  international representatives, policymakers, academics, government officials, and other interested parties, providing a unique environment for discussing critical issues related to international affairs.

We are soliciting paper proposals for our 2015 topic “Religion in Civil Society: Lessons from Policies Past and Present”

Recent developments around the world underscore the importance of addressing religious diversity and developing policies that support civil society. Whether it is discord between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East, Christians  and  Muslims  in  Africa,  Asia  and  the Middle  East,  or  Palestinian,  Jewish  and  other  religious extremists in more secular Western states, this forum will help us better understand the history of these tensions, the impact of U.S. foreign policy approaches to religious diversity and the ethics of taking action when these tensions flare.

Discussion of these issues is particularly fitting at St. Mary’s City, the site of Maryland’s first capital, settled by Catholics.  Considering this legacy, the forum will contemplate precedents and current policies.

Proposed  Conference  Topics:

  • How have past policies shaped religious tensions today in specific nations?
  • What is the role of religious plurality in modern democracy? 
  • How and when should Western nations (1) engage, (2) provide humanitarian assistance to religious groups?

Paper proposals should be emailed to Adrienne Dozier, Program Assistant, Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, at   amraines@smcm.edu, and should include a title, institutional affiliation, and short abstract of no more than 150 words. Proposals are due by February 9, 2015.

Accommodations will be provided for panelists.

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Call for Papers: “Cognitive Science of Religion”

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Open Theology – the online journal published by De Gruyter Open (http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth) invites submissions for the topical issue “Cognitive Science of Religion”, under the general editorship of Dr. Jason Marsh (St. Olaf College, USA).

In the last couple of decades, the cognitive science of religion (CSR) has established itself as a major area within the scientific study of religion. According to this general approach, if we want to understand religion – and specifically why human beings tend to be religious – then in addition to doing what traditional scholars of religion do, we also need to think about the nature of human cognition. For, goes the claim, various cognitive structures and habits naturally give rise to a belief in supernatural agents in diverse environments. This approach to the study of religion, though it does not pretend to answer every question about religion, nonetheless raises a number of important questions for science, philosophy, theology and their various relationships. We invite submissions that address one or more of these relationships. Some possible questions are as follows, though we welcome papers that address other topics related to CSR:

Philosophical and Theological Questions

  • · Much recent work in CSR suggests that people distrust atheists. What are the moral or political implications of such claims, if they are true? Can anything be done to change this pattern?
  • · Does CSR threaten to undermine or explain away religious belief or the reliability of religious testimony? Might it be supportive of religious claims?
  • · Can one think that CSR debunks religious beliefs without also thinking that CSM (cognitive science of morality) debunks moral beliefs?
  • · How might CSR shape the challenge of religious diversity? Does CSR support the idea that the divine, if such there be, isn’t too concerned about the specifics of people’s religious outlooks?
  • · What is the relationship between CSR and the problem of divine hiddenness? Is the so-called ‘problem of natural nonbelief’, according to which some nonbelief in God naturally occurs, answerable?
  • · Many theologians want to resist the idea that the divine is literally a person. Does CSR pose a cultural challenge to their claims? Does it show that abstract conceptions of the divine (i.e. that God is the ground of being or the Ultimate nonpersonal reality) will not likely enjoy cultural success? If so, does this matter?

Scientific Questions

  • · How far has CSR gone in explaining religion? And how far might it reasonably be expected to go?
  • · What is the cognitive and/or evolutionary relationship between religion and morality? Did one evolve first?
  • · Is the common selection versus by-product dichotomy in the scientific study of religion a false one?
  • · CSR has had a lot to say about religious belief, ritual, and morality. But has it paid insufficient attention to religious experience? If so, how might CSR fruitfully incorporate investigation into religious experience?
  • · Are we really natural born dualists, as Paul Bloom has claimed?
  • · What is the relationship between religious belief and autism?

Questions for Religious Studies

  • · Can CSR help to illuminate the vexing question of what religion is, or is the latter question entirely immune to scientific investigation?
  • · Some within CSR (e.g. Cohen, Lanman, and Whitehouse 2008) have suggested that standard criticisms of CSR (e.g. it is irrelevant, reductionist, ethnocentric, narrow-minded etc.,) voiced within religious studies are unjustified and unfair. Are they right?
  • · Does CSR have any interesting implications for recent discussions about religious pluralism or religious dialogue?

HOW TO SUBMIT

Submissions are due by August 30, 2015. To submit an article for the special issue of Open Theology, please use the on-line submission system http://www.editorialmanager.com/openth/choosing as article type: ‘Special Issue Article: Cognitive Science of Religion’.

All contributions will undergo a critical review before being accepted for publication.

Further questions about the thematic issue can be sent to Dr. Jason Marsh at marshj@stolaf.edu. In the case of technical questions or problems please contact Managing Editor of the journal Dr. Katarzyna Tempczyk atkatarzyna.tempczyk@degruyteropen.com.

Authors publishing in the special issue will benefit from:

· transparent, comprehensive and fast peer review

· efficient route to fast-track publication and full advantage of De Gruyter Open’s e-technology,

· no publication fees,

· free language assistance for authors from non-English speaking regions.

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CFP: “Changes in Contemporary Judaism”

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Call for papers for a session or sessions at the Biennial Conference of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (SISR/ISSR)
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, July 2-5, 2015

Special deadline extension until January 15th, 2015.

WG6: Changes in Contemporary Judaism:Judaism and Jews in Contemporary Societies

This working group has been created since 2011 and focuses on changes in contemporary Judaism and Jewish society. It is a reflection from within the community itself, our thoughts about change extends to the following questions:

  • Where do Jews live today?
  • What can we say about their recent migrations?
  • What about Israel?
  • What about women in judaism?  What are their real and their symbolic places in contemporary societies?
  • Questions on the permanence and rise of antisemitism in Europe? in Muslim countries?

This working group will allow for a reflection intersecting concepts from Sociology, Anthropology, History, Psycho-Sociology, etc.

Send paper proposals by January 15th to joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr

Joëlle Allouche-Benayoun
   page perso:  https://www.gsrl.cnrs.fr
CNRS, Groupe Sociétés,Religions,Laïcités
Site Pouchet, 59-61 rue Pouchet,75017 Paris
joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr

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Appel: “Mutations et évolutions du monde juif contemporain.”

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APPEL A COMMUNICATION
    Mutations et évolutions du monde juif contemporain.  Judaïsme et judaïcités dans les sociétés contemporaines, SISR 2015,  Louvain la neuve(Belgique)

Les propositions de communication sont attendues jusqu’au 15 janvier 2015 (prolongation exceptionnelle) aux: joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr,

    WGT 6
  Mutations et évolutions du monde juif contemporain.  Judaïsme et  judaïcités dans les sociétés contemporaines

Joëlle ALLOUCHE-BENAYOUN,
Groupe Sociologies, Religions, Laïcités (GSRL-CNRS)

    Dans la continuité de l’atelier mis en place depuis 2011, nous  nous interrogerons sur les évolutions du judaïsme et des  sociétés juives contemporaines. Tant d’un point de vue “interne” : comment être juif en diaspora après la Shoa ? Quels sont les effets de ce génocide sur l’être juif ?pluralité religieuse? place d’Israël? Place des femmes? question de la conversion?  que  d’un point de vue plus global et externe : où vivent les Juifs dans le monde au début du 21éme  siècle ? Qu’en est-il des migrations juives depuis la deuxième moitié du 20éme siècle ? Quelle  place le judaïsme et les Juifs occupent-ils dans l’imaginaire des sociétés contemporaines ? Quid  de la permanence et du renouveau de l’antisémitisme en Europe, dans les pays musulmans ?

    Cet atelier devrait permettre de réfléchir à ces questions en  s’appuyant de façon tant  unilatérale que croisée sur les concepts issus de la Sociologie, de l’Anthropologie, de l’Histoire, de la
Psycho-Sociologie, etc.

joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr

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CFP: Conference on “Islamism and Post-Islamism”

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On behalf of the School of Religion at Queen’s University, I would like to invite you to join our fabulous international conference, entitled “Islamism and Post-Islamism: Religious and Political Transformations in Muslim Societies” which is scheduled to take place on 13-14 March 2015 at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

This is with great pleasure that I would like to extend the invitation to participate in an international event which will include prominent scholars such as Prof. Asef Bayat, post-revolutionary Iranian
intellectual Abdulkarim Soroush, Prof. Will Kymlicka, Prof. Nader Hashemi, Prof. Forough Jahanbakhsh Prof. Khalid Medani, Prof. Farhang Rajaee, and Prof. Ariel Salzmann. National & international TV channels and journals will be invited to this international event which will produce wide media attention. Please see the link below for the call for papers.

Abstract Submission Deadline (300 words): 25 January 2015

Conference Webpage: http://www.queensu.ca/religion/events/islamismconference.html

Call for Papers: http://www.queensu.ca/religion/events/islamismconference/callforpapers.html

We are looking forward to receiving original paper proposals.

Best regards,
Mehmet Karabela
Assistant Professor
Queen’s University
School of Religion
Theological Hall 230
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
CANADA
Phone: 613-533-6000 ext.74313
Fax: 613-533-6879
E-mail: karabela@queensu.ca

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