Category Archives: Calls for Papers

Bristol University Muslim Participation Conference – Call for Papers

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Dr Therese O’Toole, Prof Tariq Modood, and Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas are pleased to announce/invite:
CALL FOR PAPERS: MUSLIM PARTICIPATION IN CONTEMPORARY GOVERNANCE
Academic Workshop followed by Report Launch Event

Venue: Bishopsgate Institute, East London, UK

Date: 31 January 2013

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Professor Tariq Modood (Bristol University)
Humera Khan (An-Nisa Society)
Dilwar Hussain (Islamic Society of Britain)

This Workshop will bring together academic contributors from Britain and across Europe to discuss Muslim participation in forms of contemporary governance. Over the past decade, Muslims in many European states have emerged as participants in governance at different levels and across a range of policy domains. Important changes in this regard include the increased presence of Muslims in: structures of political representation; participatory initiatives concerned with social cohesion, faith-based social welfare programmes or countering violent extremism; a range of local democratic and consultative forums and bodies; lobbying and advocacy for equalities legislation both at the state-level and EU-level; and increasingly sophisticated political coalitions for the acknowledgement and diminution of Islamophobia.

The workshop will feature a day of research on and discussion of developments in the study of Muslim participation in forms of contemporary governance. This will be followed by a public Report Launch Event in the evening, featuring a research presentation from the AHRC/ESRC project Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance: a two and a half year study of developments in Muslim participation in governance at national level and in three local case-study areas of Birmingham, Leicester and Tower Hamlets. At this Report Launch Event policy makers and Muslim civil society actors will respond to the project’s Report, and debate the key issues relating to the participation of Muslims in governance and public life in Britain.

We are particularly pleased to invite research from other European countries as well as from the British context, that will complement the work being done in Britain by our AHRC/ESRC project on Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance in the UK. Authors of the papers selected for the day workshop will have an opportunity to be invited as contributors to an edited volume comparing developments in Muslim participation in governance in Britain and Europe.

Abstracts for papers on the following topics (and other cognate topics) are invited:
* Muslim representation through electoral politics, representative bodies, and other modes
* Community-based and partnership approaches to policing and counter-terrorism
* Muslim agency, governmentality, and the everyday state
* The development of Muslim civil society organisations
* Coordinated campaigns and lobbying on Islamophobia
* Muslim mobilisations in relation to multiculturalism, equalities, diversity, and cohesion
* The participation of Muslims and Muslim organisations in the ‘faith sector,’ in inter faith activities, and in faith-based service delivery
* Muslim mobilisations that link domestic, EU-level, and/or international governance
* Comparisons of Muslim participation in governance across states

Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words to Dr Therese O’Toole, Professor Tariq Modood, and Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas, (mpcg.uk@gmail.com).
Abstracts must be submitted by Noon on 15 December 2012 to be considered for inclusion.
For details on the Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance (MPCG) project, please visit: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/ethnicity/projects/muslimparticipation/
MPCG is a project of the Centre for Ethnicity and Citizenship, in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol. The project is led by Dr Therese O’Toole, and funded by the Religion & Society Programme of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council in the UK.===========================================
Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas
Centre for Ethnicity and Citizenship
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
University of Bristol 11 Priory RoadBristol BS8 1TUPhone: +44 (0)790 807 5719
Research Centre: http://bris.ac.uk/ethnicity
Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance Project:
http://bris.ac.uk/ethnicity/projects/muslimparticipation

Religion and Politics Symposium at Calvin College Honoring Corwin Smidt

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CFP Religion and Politics Symposium at Calvin College Honoring Corwin Smidt Seventh Biennial Symposium on Religion and Politics April 25-27, 2013 The Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Paul B. Henry Institute will hold its seventh biennial Symposium on Religion and Politics from April 25 – 27, 2013 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The purpose of this regular event is to provide opportunities to present current research, to foster personal and professional networks, to facilitate joint research endeavors, and to learn about research opportunities in the field. Symposium attendance is open to anyone interested in the intersection of religion and public life. The program will be held at the Prince Conference Center on the Calvin College campus.

An Invitation to Present Research and Writing

Participation in the Symposium is open to both scholars and graduate students across the disciplines. Those interested in presenting a paper on any aspect of the relationship between religion and public life (political theory, international relations, public policy, political history, comparative politics, electoral politics, public law, or the sociology of religion) should submit a one-page proposal by February 15, 2013. The proposal should include a tentative paper title, a brief description of the focus of the proposed paper (one to three paragraphs), your institutional affiliation, and your contact information, including an email address. Proposals received after February 15 will be considered on a space-available basis. Notification of accepted proposals will be no later than mid-March, 2013.

In honor of Dr. Corwin Smidt, who retired as the long-time Director of the Henry Institute in 2012, we issue a special invitation to present work in areas where Corwin has enriched our understanding of religion and politics, including religion and civil society, electoral politics, and clergy and politics.

We are also pleased to announce that two special opportunities will correspond with the Henry Symposium this year: the annual Kuyper Lecture, sponsored by the Center for Public Justice; and “Visualizing Public Life,” a show of student-generated visualizations of faith in the public sphere.

Correspondence
For additional information or to submit a proposal, please review the links below or contact:
Kevin R. den Dulk The Henry Institute 1810 E.
Beltline, SE Calvin College Grand Rapids, MI 49546-5951 616/526-6234
FAX: 616/526-8756
e-mail: kdendulk@calvin.edu
Website: www.calvin.edu/henry/conf

ISASR conference 2013

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*Second annual conference of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR), *

*At The Clinton Centre, University College Dublin, 10th-12^th May 2013*

Conference theme:
*Ireland, America and Transnationalism: studying religions in a globalised world*

We are pleased to invite scholars to take part in the second annual conference of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR). For information on the society, see: http://isasr.wordpress.com/. The Conference will take place *Fri-Sun May 10^th -12^th , 2013* at the *Clinton Institute for American Studies, University College Dublin (UCD)*, and is open to scholars of all disciplines that approach religions, both past and present, from a non-theological, critical, analytical and cross-cultural perspective.

Proposals for papers may relate to the conference theme ‘Ireland, America and Transnationalism’ or any other aspect of the Society’s work in the history, anthropology, folklore and sociology of religion in Ireland or the Irish diaspora, but also the work of Irish-based researchers on topics in the academic study of religions elsewhere in the world.

Although 19^th and 20^th century discourses often highlighted national, including Irish, religious uniqueness, this has always been at best a half truth. Megalithic architecture and pre-Christian myths are routinely studied in relation to other west European contexts. Christian conversion and medieval texts, early modern wars of religion and nineteenth-century ultramontanism also locate Ireland in a wider religious world. The conference theme encourages the study of religions in a global and comparative context, with particular reference to North America, the home of the largest Irish diaspora outside these islands. From Ireland’s ‘spiritual empire’ of Catholic institutions to American enthusiasm for all things Celtic to imported Pentecostalisms, the religious exchange between the two has been intense. Adopting a transnational perspective highlights the networks of wider global relationships within which religions both in Ireland and among the Irish diaspora are enacted.

Please send a 150-200 word abstract for papers to *Adrienne Hawley ( Adrienne.hawley [at] ucdconnect.ie )* by the closing date of *Friday 22^nd February, 2012*. Notification of abstract acceptance will be given by Friday March 15th, 2012.*_

Proposals for themed panels from ISASR members are welcomed and may be made directly to the conference organisers via Adrienne Hawley (email above).
The following panels have already been proposed:
* Folk Religion in Ireland: Meaning and Context
* Children’s Subjectivities and the Experience of Religious Educations
* Gender and Religion

If you wish to submit an abstract for these panels please indicate this in your abstract submission_*

Further information on the ISASR Conference 2013 will be posted at:
*http://isasr.wordpress.com/ **

The conference is hosted by ISASR in collaboration with The Clinton Institute, UCD.

International Conference on the Study of Islamophobia Call for Papers

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A Call for Papers

The Fourth Annual International Conference on the Study of Islamophobia
University of California, Berkeley Booth Auditorium, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Law)
April 19th and 20th, 2013

This international conference sponsored by the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project of the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California at Berkeley is a multi-disciplinary and academic gathering focused on the systematic study of the “Othering” of Islam, the racialization of Muslims, and its institutional effects domestically and worldwide. From its inception in 2008, the conference is a forum for scholars, researchers and community activists who are engaged in the study of, and the collective attempt to, deconstruct the ideological, discursive, political, economic, social, and religious forces of Islamophobia. While there is an abundance of scholarly works available across many academic fields, our goal is to provide a dedicated intellectual space for an increasingly interdisciplinary and multi-collaborative platform for a global network of individuals and institutions working on issues about Islamophobia.

Papers presented at the conference will have the possibility of being published in the bi-annual Islamophobia Studies Journal published through as a collaborative effort between the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project of the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California at Berkeley, the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative for the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University; the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia, and Zaytuna College.

This is an open call for papers for our fourth annual conference to be held on April 19th and 20th, 2013 at Boalt Law School at UC Berkeley. The deadline for paper abstracts is January 10th, 2013. Please email proposals or for more information contact: Professor Hatem Bazian at hatemb@berkeley.edu. Include name, paper topic, academic title, and institutional affiliation.

Nationalism, Identity and Belief Symposium

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Call for Papers
Nationalism, Identity and Belief Symposium
First joint symposium of Society, Religion and Belief and Identity, Culture and Representation Research Centres University of Derby 25 March 2013

Keynote speaker: Daniel Trilling author of Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain’s Far Right (London: Verso, 2012), assistant editor The New Statesman, columnist for The Guardian.

The complexities and contradictions of globalized modes of identity have caused a reassessment of what constitutes national identity and how it is experienced. In late modernity there is a tendency for nationalism to be characterised as a reactive and reactionary response to the increasing cultural diversity evident in many Western societies. The British National Party and, latterly, the English Defence League typify this tendency. In continental Europe there are comparable groupings but many continental equivalents have demonstrated a greater capacity for organisation and have enjoyed a modicum of success in terms of parliamentary elections at national and European level: in France, the Front National; the Belgian/Flemish Vlaams Balang; the Danish Danske Folkparti; Jobbik in Hungary, The Golden Dawn in Greece and so on. The fortunes of these parties wax and wane but their social and media presence is constant. This symposium is a call to academics and activists to consider the ongoing appeal of nationalism, its cultural role, its strategies, localities and nature. We seek to explore the lure and repulsion of nationalism to its friends and critics and the many and varied cultural contexts through which it is reproduced.

Papers are invited to be considered for presentation in one of two parallel panels.
Typical themes for the panels will include but are not limited to:

Panel One: Nationalism, Identity and Conflict
       
– The organisation and activities of nationalist groups
– The appeal of nationalism
– Nationalism in crisis
– Banal nationalism
– Rethinking national identity
– The cultures of nationalism

Panel Two: Nationalism, Religion and Belief

– Nationalist rhetoric and the world faiths
– ‘The chosen people’ and globalization
– Spiritual nationalisms
– Subcultures and nationalist discourse
– Considering nationalism as a faith

Please submit a 250 word proposal and a bio-note by 19 December, 2012 to Andrew
Wilson (a.f.wilson@derby.ac.uk); Jason Lee (j.lee@derby.ac.uk); and Frauke
Uhlenbruch (f.uhlenbruch@derby.ac.uk)

Contemporary religion in historical perspective

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Contemporary religion in historical perspective: engaging outside academia

The Open University, Milton Keynes – 15-16 May 2013

What is the relevance of research on historical and contemporary religion for today? How might such research inform current debates on religion, and the practice and self-understanding of religious groups and practitioners? What might historical perspective bring to research on contemporary religion? This conference will address such issues under the broad theme of ‘contemporary religion and historical perspective’. There will be two parallel streams. The first is ‘engaging with the past to inform the present’ and the relevance of religious history for the contemporary context. The second is ‘the public value of research on contemporary religion’; here papers on cross-cultural identities and new religions and popular spiritualities are particularly welcomed.

The backdrop for this conference is the growing acknowledgement that Religious Studies and other disciplines must engage with the wider society. Public ‘engagement’ takes many forms – from extensive projects to ad hoc engagement and involving diverse activities such as media work, lectures, workshops and online engagement. This conference will include practitioner perspectives on different themes, and reflect also on the ways in which academic research on religion might engage with communities of interest and place and private; interact with public and third sector institutions and organisations; and influence public discourse and the social, cultural and environmental well-being of society.

We invite paper and panel proposals for either stream. Papers could include case studies of previous or ongoing outreach, knowledge exchange or public engagement. Topics discussed might include (but are not limited to):
* integrating ‘religious history’ and contemporary religious practitioners;
* the relevance of historical research on religion for contemporary debates on religion; and for present-day religious groups, organisations and institutions;
* intersections between research on contemporary religion and present-day contemporary understanding and practice of religion;
* the idea of ‘applied’ or ‘public’ Religious Studies;
* methodological, theoretical and ethical issues relating to Religious Studies and knowledge exchange;
* relationships between academic and practitioner, or academic institution(s) and non-academic ‘partner’ and their implications and challenges.

Confirmed speakers include Ronald Hutton (Bristol), Steven Sutcliffe (Edinburgh), David Voas (Essex) and John Wolffe (Open University).

The conference is organised by the Open University’s Religious Studies Department.

Cost: £20 per day + £20 for conference dinner on the evening of 15 May. Lunch and refreshments (except conference dinner) are included in the day cost; but we ask attendees to book/fund their own accommodation (advice on local hotels and B&Bs available on request).

Please send proposals to Dr John Maiden (j.maiden@open.ac.uk<mailto:j.maiden@open.ac.uk>) by 25 January 2013. To book, please contact Taj Bilkhu (t.bilkhu@open.ac.uk<mailto:t.bilkhu@open.ac.uk>) by 23 March 2013.

Continuity & change in Islamic Societies

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CALL FOR PAPERS

“Continuity & change in Islamic Societies”

American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies Seton Hall University South Orange, New Jersey April 5-6, 2013

The topic of the 30th Annual Meeting of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS), to be held on April 5-6, 2013 in The Chancellor’s Suite, Student Center, Seton Hall University is “Continuity and Change in Islamic Societies.”

Islamic societies refer to regions and communities that identify with the religion and culture of Islam, but may approach politics, economics and certain social issues in different ways. Unlike what the late Professor Samuel Huntington may have thought, Islamic societies are far from being monolithic or even universally engaged in an ongoing cultural clash with the West. While Muslims worldwide embrace the concept of ummah, they also possess and express characteristics of diversity. Muslims live under monarchies and republics and come from a number of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.
Scholars from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences are encouraged to submit proposals. Please include full name, title, and institutional affiliation with your proposal (max. 250 words). We invite proposals dealing with the following topics as well as others not specified:
1. Political, economic and social relations within and between Muslims and other communities.
2. Political, economic, social and philosophical movements within Islamic societies/communities.
3. The impact of globalization on specific Muslim societies/communities.
4. The interplay of Islam with commerce, finance, technology, and education.
5. Religious minorities in Islamic societies and Muslims as minority groups.
6. The press, social networks, and communication within Islamic societies/communities.
7. Islam in America or American Islam? Defining a religion in the American context

Please send abstracts by e-mail attachment to:
Robert Hazan, Ph.D.
Chair and Professor of Political Science
Metropolitan State University of Denver                               
hazanr@msudenver.edu

Deadline for submission of proposals: January 15, 2013.
Further details of the conference and accommodations will be posted on the website.
For other inquires contact Robert Hazan hazanr@msudenver.edu;
Vivienne Angeles angeles@lasalle.edu 
or Gisela Webb Gisela.webb@shu.edu

Notice of acceptance by January 25. 2013
_______________________________________________

Call for papers

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The Impact of Religion
Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy

An interdisciplinary conference at Uppsala University
Uppsala, Sweden, 20-22 May 2013

This conference offers a forum for sharing recent research on the role of religion in both the public and the private sphere – locally, nationally and internationally. Its design reflects the work of its host: a multi-disciplinary research programme at Uppsala University known as the Impact of Religion: Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy. This programme pays particular attention to the links between religion, law and wider social developments. For example, extensive migration has brought new forms of religion to European societies (including the Nordic countries) for many different reasons; their presence raises new issues for lawyers, healthcare workers and other service providers. At the same time, European populations live longer; their families reconstitute themselves in new ways; the workplace changes in nature; and the explorations of science render commonplace what was unthinkable one or two generations earlier. All these shifts interact with the changing nature of religion to make new demands on our understandings of democracy, law, family life, healthcare, well-being, welfare and science itself. Why, for instance, does legal pluralism appear to challenge the democratic order considerably more than its cultural equivalents? And how can we understand better the role of religious agents in a modern liberal democracy?

Religion, it is clear, has become a crucial research area in a wide variety of academic disciplines. The Uppsala conference provides an opportunity to disseminate, share and obtain results within this expanding field. We expect contributions from lawyers, human rights experts, social scientists, specialists in social policy, health and welfare, philosophers and scientists as well as those engaged directly in theology and religious studies. We are particularly interested in how religion (in all its diversity) influences different sectors of society and how they in turn influence religion.

Among the plenary speakers are:
Katarina Boele Woelki, Netherlands
Effie Fokas, Greece
Grace Davie, UK
Ayelet Shachar, Canada
Yilmaz Esmer, Turkey
Linda Woodhead, UK

Call for papers
Submissions are invited on the following themes, which – broadly speaking – mirror the Impact programme. Further sub-themes will be developed as the submitted papers arrive; these will be displayed on the conference website. Papers on comparative research are particularly welcome. Theoretical, methodological and substantive issues will be given equal weight. The conference language is English.

A variety of formats are envisaged: plenary sessions, paper sessions, roundtables, academic exchanges and policy debates. Please indicate your preference when you submit your abstract. Pre-organised sessions are welcome.

* Religious and social change – including the role of the media in these shifts
* Integration, democracy and political culture
* Families, law and society
* Well-being and health
* Welfare models – their organization and values
* Science and religion

Deadline for the submission of abstracts (max 200 words): 30th November 2012
The conference is hosted by The Impact of Religion programme and Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre at Uppsala University.
Up to date information on the programme, registration, abstract format, venue etc. is available at: www.impactofreligion.uu.se, where you also find more details about The Impact of Religion programme itself.

Religion, Law and Policy Making: European Norms and National Practices, in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation

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INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

Religion, Law and Policy Making: European Norms and National Practices in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation

Date: 13-14 June 2013
Site: Tartu, Estonia
Organizer: Center for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS), University of Tartu, Estonia

Topics: The goal of the Workshop is to advance the multidisciplinary study of the processes-cultural, economic, political, and legal-of European integration related to the patterns of interaction among ‘religion, policies and law’ in post-communist countries of Eastern Europe.
The complex interplay among European and national law, and law, policy and religion at the levels of nation and European Union is approached from jurisprudential, religious, sociological, cultural, historical, and political (comparative politics, political theory, IR) perspectives.
Language: English
Deadline: 11 February 2013. Abstracts of 300-600 words as well as a short bio (100 words) should be sent to:
<alar.kilp@ut.ee>.
Contact:
Dr. Alar Kilp (University of Tartu);
Prof. Jerry G. Pankhurst (Wittenberg University, USA);
Prof. William B. Simons (University of Tartu).
E-mail:
<alar.kilp@ut.ee>;
<jpankhurst@wittenberg.edu>;
<william.simons@ut.ee>.
Internet:
<http://ceurus.ut.ee/conferences/call-for-papers-religion-and-politics-workshop/> _______________________________________________

International interdisciplinary conference to honour the work of Professor Lauri Honko (1932-2002)

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Call for Papers – 2nd Announcement

The Departments of Folkloristics and Comparative Religion at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, together with the Donner Institute, are organizing an international interdisciplinary conference to honour the work of Professor Lauri Honko (1932-2002)

THE ROLE OF THEORY IN FOLKLORISTICS AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION
21-23 August 2013
University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

The language of the conference is English.

Timetable:
Call for papers, deadline 31 March 2013
Registration, deadline 31 May 2013

For more detailed information concerning the conference see the attached documents or visit our website: http://honkoconference.utu.fi/ Also now on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/416180771776969/
On behalf of the Organizing Committee,Björn DahlaThe Donner Institute