Call for Papers: Migration & Muslim Population (SISR/ISSR conference)

Dear colleagues,

I am chairing this session for the 2021 SISR/ISSR Conference detailed in the following link:

Migration and Muslim Population: Muslims In The West And Religious Minorities In The Islamic Societies

https://conference-system.sisr-issr.org/conferences/conference-2021/#papers

https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/

ABSTRACT Submission Deadline: 28 February 2021

With best wishes,

Yaghoob.

The idea is to die young as late as possible” Ashley Montagu (1905 – 1999).

Call for Sessions & Papers: Association for the Sociology of Religion, August 2021

82nd Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion

Call for Sessions and Papers

Theme: “Communicating Religion’s Relevance”

Location: A specially designed virtual conference platform (see note 1 below)
Dates: 3 days between August 7 – August 10 (see note 2 below)
Program Chair: Brian Starks, Kennesaw State University (starksasr@gmail.com)

Although scholars of religion are keenly aware of the relevance of religion in today’s world, too many social elites and academics diminish religion’s importance. Even scholars who know better sometimes fail to explain how religion permeates nearly every aspect of contemporary life. As sociologists of religion, we understand religion’s relevance to individuals and its consequences in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres. This year’s conference invites scholars to reflect on religion’s continuing – and in some areas increasing – relevance to society.

We invite session and paper proposals on several key topics:

  • · What can sociologists of religion do to communicate religion’s relevance to their (our) fellow academics and to the broader public?
  • · Are there ways that various sectors of our society have misunderstood, or failed to fully understand, religion? How can sociologists of religion speak to this problem?
  • · How do social and political elites, as well as ordinary citizens, employ religion when communicating about, or working to address, issues of local, national, or international concern?
  • · How do social actors, including social movement leaders, draw upon religion and religious narratives to frame social problems and/or appeal to human cognition, emotion, and morality?
  • · What are religion’s unique features that distinguish it from other social phenomenon and help explain its distinct capacity to influence human and social life?
  • · How, and under what circumstances, does religion contribute to new forms of identity, community, meaning, expression, moral conviction, and social control? How do we, as sociologists of religion, communicate religion’s relevance in these facets of our lives, to others?

Paper and session proposals may speak to these themes, or they may engage with any topic relevant to the sociology of religion. We especially encourage proposals that pursue and stimulate new avenues of research and/or innovative theoretical and/or methodological approaches. Specialty sessions are also welcome, including book salons, teaching and professional development, and discussions that focus on a particular question of interest.

We are very excited about our upcoming conference and the opportunities it will provide for intellectual interchange. Indeed, if people are interested in developing and structuring sessions in an especially creative manner, we are open to different (but feasible) approaches. Please email Program Chair Brian Starks starksasr@gmail.com) to discuss any ideas you have and how we might accommodate them.

DEADLINES

  • Session proposals: March 31, 2021
  • Paper abstract submissions: April 30, 2021
  • All submissions should be made through the ASR website at www.sociologyofreligion.com

ASR Membership is required for organizing a session, presenting a paper, serving as a panelist, or holding another role in the program. All are expected to register for the meeting by July 1, 2021. For questions, contact Brian Starks (starksasr@gmail.com), James Cavendish (jcavendi@usf.edu), or Rachel Kraus (ASREO@bsu.edu).

Note 1: Because of the pandemic, our meeting this year will be a virtual conference. We have been working hard to design a stimulating experience that allows the intellectual interchange, the networking, and the chance to catch up with old and new friends that make our in-person conferences so enjoyable.

I am happy to report that we will be using a major platform with previous experience running other academic conferences. This platform organizes all sessions into a single attractive, easy-to-access online hall. The platform will also host our major plenary sessions and allow publishers to hold virtual book exhibits. To this, we are excited to be incorporating a virtual café that will remain open throughout the conference. This will allow private conversations and will let people meet and network easily with other participants during the conference at any time.

Our goal is to have each session include not only a traditional facilitator, but also a technological convener who could help individual participants with any technology related issues or questions. This will allow facilitators to focus on time-keeping and substantive conversation, as they usually do. Towards that end, if there are grad students or others interested in earning a little extra money by serving as technological conveners for several sessions, please email me at starksasr@gmail.com.

Note 2: We do not yet know our exact dates, as we are still waiting for the ASA to confirm the date of the Religion Section’s session. We want to avoid overlapping with them, so people can participate in both conferences. We simply ask you to keep August 7-10 open in your schedules. We will let you know exact dates as soon as we can.

Call for Project Applications: Mapping the Sociology of Religion in Britain

BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group

Mapping the Sociology of Religion in Britain via the history and development of SOCREL

A Call for Project Applications

The British Sociological Association supports the work of numerous ‘Study Groups’ which explore issues and research in specialist areas of the discipline. The BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group (SOCREL) is one such group. Over the last 45 years, it has flourished into a significant community of scholarship that welcomes researchers from a wide range of disciplines within and beyond Sociology. These include scholars in Theology and Religious Studies, Racial and Ethnic Studies, Gender Studies, and so on. It is likely that the events hosted by the Study Group have been an important catalyst for the discipline in Britain, not least by supporting the work of new scholars. Encouraging postgraduates has been integral to the ethos of the Study Group since its inception.

This SOCREL-funded project seeks to map the history and development of the Sociology of Religion in Britain using the events, networks, and leading scholars associated with the Study Group as a lens through which to explore key moments in the discipline. On a somewhat smaller scale, this project mirrors in some way the publication of Jennifer Platt’s book on the history of the BSA itself, published by Routledge in 2014 (A Sociological History of the British Sociological Association). This project will similarly attempt to map the history of SOCREL, evaluating its role in the history of the discipline; the way in which the Study Group has responded to internal and external dynamics and changing fields of interest; changes in the profile of members; and, its collaborations with other professional associations nationally and internationally within and outside the Sociology of Religion. 

The project will be overseen by the Study Group Committee. It is expected that the work will begin in September 2021 and will be concluded over an 18-month period. The outcomes of the project will include: a journal article for submission to Journal of Contemporary Religion, subject to peer review; content (including a short video film) for the SOCREL website; a blog piece for the SOCREL website; convening a panel at a BSA conference; and, delivery of a paper about the project at the Study Group conference in 2025 (the 50th anniversary). The Study Group Committee have allocated up to £5,000 for the work.

We invite proposals to work on this project by 12th April 2021. The proposal should include information under the following headings:

  • Aims and objectives (500 words)
  • Methodology and methods (1000 words)
  • Timetable (250 words)
  • Roles and responsibilities of those involved (250 words)
  • Institutional approval for those involved (if required) – e.g. letter/email from line-manager
  • Proposed budget (travel, subsistence, consumables, transcription, etc.)
  • Contact details for x 2 referees

Applicants should append to their proposal a 2-page CV outlining their career history, a list of publications, and their grant capture track record. We will be using RCUK criteria to evaluate proposals. Lead applicants should be members of the BSA and SOCREL (any co-investigator/s should also be BSA members), and should be affiliated with a University, or research centre / institute, or institution based in the UK. The successful applicant will be informed by 10th May 2021. Applications should be sent to the Study Group Convenor, Céline Benoit (c.benoit@aston.ac.uk).