Category Archives: Conferences

2021 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting – In-Person Cancelled, Virtual Being Planned

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Due to COVID-19, the 2021 ASA Annual Meeting in Chicago has been cancelled. ASA leadership believes it is now clear that the global health crisis will not be resolved by August, and a large gathering of people from around the world presents an untenable health risk. ASA will offer a virtual 2021 ASA Annual Meeting instead of the in-person event. Further information about the virtual meeting will be provided in the coming months.

The ASA online portal is currently open for submissions for the 2021 Annual Meeting. ASA will continue with the submission process uninterrupted. The deadline is February 3. Our Religion Section Program Committee also will continue to plan for our sessions, and we strongly encourage you, your colleagues, and your students to submit in anticipation of a virtual meeting.

SISR/ISSR Conference News: July 12-15 2021 will be online

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Dear all,

We hope you are doing well in these dramatic times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This email contains important information to all members about the upcoming 36th biannual SISR/ISSR conference in 2021.

As you know, the next ISSR conference was to be held in Taipei in 2021. For a long time, we hoped to stick to our plan. However, the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic shows a rise in infections in many countries, stricter travel restrictions and uncertainties about the time of the end of this global pandemic. In collaboration with the chair of the local committee in Taipei Associate Research Fellow/Professor Wei-hsian Chi, the Executive Committee has decided to postpone the conference in Taiwan until 2023. Instead, the ISSR conference July 12-15 2021 will be a fully digital conference.

In our meeting with Wei-Hsian Chi, we discussed the possibility for a hybrid conference in Taiwan. However, this solution posed a number of problematic issues:

  • • A hybrid conference implies that the physical conference must be covered financially, in addition to a digital solution with more extensive IT support. This solution became relatively costly.
  • • In the current situation, it is difficult to estimate the number of members who would actually be able to go to Taiwan. Even if many of desire to do so, hardly anyone are able to make travel plans today. The risk of many “no shows” is therefore high.
  • • The different time zones would make an international hybrid conference difficult to organize.

We are obviously disappointed to postpone the conference in Taiwan. Our priority is to ensure that a meeting in Taiwan is successful as a meeting place for many of us, even at a later date. Besides, having an online conference this summer will allow the majority of ISSR members to meet, share their research and discuss, regardless of the trajectory of the pandemic.

We are currently working on the organizational and technical details of the 2021 digital conference (any suggestion is most welcome, if you have participated in online conferences over the past few months!).

To enable as many of you as possible to participate, we now reopen the Call for Session until December 14th. This gives you the opportunity to:

The call for papers will be opened from January 8th to February 28th 2021.

These are the new deadlines:

  • Opening of new session proposals: November 10th 2020
  • Closing of session proposals:  December 14th 2020
  • Opening of paper submission: January 8th 2021
  • Closing of session proposals: February 28th 2021

In order to participate in the digital conference, you must be a member of the ISSR. There will be a conference fee, which will only cover the costs of the organization of the digital conference. Indeed, digital conferences require increased IT support to plan and arrange the conference, expenses for the use of conference platforms, translation of keynotes, and other technical and organizational expenses. However, we expect the conference fee to be substantially lower than usual.  The treasurer has to develop a new budget to determine the exact fee so please bear with us until we can provide you with an exact amount.

I hope this information will give more clarity for those of you who were concerned about the 2021 SISR/ISSR conference. The Executive Committee will continue to plan the conference in cooperation with the Council, and we will send out information about the conference as soon as possible.

I hope to see all of you at the digital conference in July 2021!

Best wishes,

Inger Furseth
President SISR/ISSR
Professor, University of Oslo
Email: inger.furseth@sosgeo.uio.no

Call for Papers: Critical Approaches to the Study of Religion Conference

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Call for Papers
(.pdf)

Critical Approaches to the Study of Religion Conference

co-sponsored by
The Center for Critical Research on Religion
and
The School of Social Sciences, Education, and Social Work
at Queen’s University Belfast

Queens University Belfast
Belfast, Northern Ireland
June 11, 2021 (welcome reception) – June 14, 2021

co-chairs: Veronique Altglas and Warren S. Goldstein

Theme: This conference aims to bring into conversation scholars of religion in the humanities and social sciences (including theology, religious studies, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, political science, and literature among others) who employ critical approaches to the study of religion. It is particularly interested in the development of critical theoretical frameworks in application to empirical research on religion. The conference will be organized around the following themes:

Session Topics:

1. The Critique of Religion
2. Critical Theology
3. Biblical Criticism
4. Marxism and Religion
5. Liberation Theology
6. Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Study of Religion
7. Critical Theory and Religion
8. Post-structural Approaches to the Study of Religion
9. Critical Religion
10. Critical Ethnographies
11. Post-colonialism, Race, and Religion
12. Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
13. Religion and the Environment
14. Religious and Political Conflict in Northern Ireland

Publications: Authors who deliver papers at the conference will be selectively invited to turn them into articles for special issues of the journal Critical Research on Religion (crr.sagepub.com) or book chapters in edited volumes in the book series “Studies in Critical Research on Religion” (brill.com/scrr).

Registration Fees: £175 full fees for those with regular positions; £85 for graduate students, independent scholars, and contingent faculty. Registration is required for organizing or convening a session, presenting a paper, serving as a panelist, or holding another role in the program. Fees go to pay for receptions and other expenses. Registration fees are nonrefundable.

Deadlines: Deadline for session and paper proposals: January 15, 2021. Abstract length: 150 words per paper. Decisions will be made by March 1, 2021. Registration fees due by March 15, 2021.

Conference registration: TBA

Hotel and Tourist Information: https://visitbelfast.com

Send proposals or questions to: Veronique Altglas v.altglas[at]qub.ac.uk and Warren S. Goldstein goldstein[at]criticaltheoryofreligion.org

Call for Papers: “The Ilkley Group at 50”

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Call for Papers

The Ilkley Group at 50 – A reunion conference weekend

Online via zoom..

Friday 16th – Sunday 18th April 2021

In 1971 a gathering of (then) young sociologists who were followers of Jesus Christ met together in the Yorkshire town of Ilkley. Their concern was to reconcile their Christian faith and values with the overwhelmingly (with one one or two notable exceptions) secular ethos of the social sciences, to discover how to pursue faithfully their calling as academics and researchers and to influence the future of their chosen discipline. The “Ilkley Group” continued to meet twice yearly at Mill Grove into the early 2000s.

Fifty years on the group intends to hold a virtual conference (free of charge) and invites paper proposals from academics and researchers in sociology or closely related social sciences which address their topics within a Christian perspective. Papers may be autobiographical, theoretical, interdisciplinary or empirically based.

The papers should aim to be no longer than 20 minutes in length and in view of the online format are probably best presented alongside a power-point or other multi-media presentation.

Depending on numbers offering papers and registering for the event it is not at this stage possible to say whether papers will be in plenary or parallel workshop session. We hope that the papers will come from across the generations including some from early career scholars with a personal faith commitment. Our intention is that there will be plenty of space for questions and discussion as well as for informal networking with like-minded colleagues.

The two major themes we want to address are:

Looking back and looking forward: The environment in the academy, the church and society, for Christian and other faith based sociological perspectives over between 1971 and 2021. What are / have been the opportunities and constraints for Christians in sociology, what changes are discernible over that period and how might trends progress into the future? These themes could be discussed in the context of participants’ experiences, through their careers, reflecting on your own intellectual and spiritual journey.

The New Normal in Church and Society : The Covid-19 global pandemic has been a major disruption to social and religious life. Other disruptions have been happening in the same period, for example the financial crash of 2008, the wave of populist and anti-globalist politics, the refugee crisis, and rapid technological, cultural and religious change. What is the impact on the societies and communities in which we live, and on the churches that worship and serve among us?

If you are interested in offering a paper for this conference please send an abstract of no more than 300 words, together with a two sentence biography to gregcity3@yahoo.co.uk before 31st December 2020.

A programme for the conference and registration forms will be available via Eventbrite early in 2021

Please circulate this announcement to relevant networks and colleagues.

Shalom

Greg Smith
Associate Research Fellow, William Temple Foundation

CONTACT ME  by email; gregcity3@yahoo.co.uk
Phone – Mobile 07726177044
http://williamtemplefoundation.org.uk/

Personal web page with list of publications etc.
http://gregsmith.synthasite.com/

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

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Dear colleagues!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conference working languages: Russian and English.

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

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

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8th December 2020     

A free MBRN online symposium

Last date for submission of abstracts: 30th October 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

To submit a proposal:

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

Registration

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

Conference Organisers

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

MBRN Executive Committee

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

Postponement of the IV ISA Forum of Sociology to February 2021

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As you have been informed recently, the Executive Committee of the ISA decided to postpone the IV ISA Forum of Sociology in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to February 23-27, 2021

We are aware that this postponement may be problematic for many of you. The size and speed of the Covid-19 outbreak gave us no other solution. We will redouble our energy and motivation to use these seven months delay to make this Forum a major and insightful meeting of the global sociological community in extraordinary times.

All the activities that have been prepared for the Forum will be maintained. This includes the regular session as much as the plenaries and the common sessions. We will however provide some flexibility to the RC that would like to adapt their program and, if they decide so, to allow their participants to update the title and abstracts of their contribution to the Forum. The abstract selected for the Forum in July 2020 remain thus valid for the Forum in February 2021.

Together with a new “early registration deadline”, we have set a new calendar that allows some flexibility to RCs that wish to update and re-open some of their panels to new participants to replace the colleagues who will not be able to join us in February and to take into account the questions and challenges raised by the Covid-19 outbreak, its social impact and the world that will come out of it.

15 September – 15 October 2020

  • The authors of abstracts selected for the ISA Forum will be invited to confirm their participation to the Forum before October 15th, 2020. They may update their abstract and title, in consultation with their session organizers or RC program coordinators.

15 October 2020 Final day to confirm participation by authors of the already accepted abstracts.

  • The abstracts that have not been not confirmed will be automatically removed from the program

16 – 25 October 2020 Publication of the calls for new abstracts proposals by the RC/WG/TG

26 October – 12 November 2020 Submission of new abstracts proposals via online platform

12 November 2020 Deadline for new abstract submissions

24 November 2020 Authors are notified about the acceptance or rejection of their abstracts
15 December2020 Presenters final registration deadline (early registration fees apply).

We are aware that postposing the Forum will require additional work for our RC program coordinators, presidents and boards, for the Local Organizing Committee and in particular for its president Hermilio Santos, and for the ISA Secretariat. We would like to thank each of them and ensure them we will be there to support them. On our side, have no doubt that we will use this delay to make this Forum an insightful space, to reinforce the existing panels and projects and to set up new ones, such as the “Sociological Movies section” for which a call will soon be published.

The CoVid outbreak is shaking our world in a way that no one expected and will have deep consequences on our world and the way we see it. The 2021 ISA Forum of Sociology will be a unique opportunity to learning from colleagues from all continents and sharing analyses of the crisis, its social impacts and the world that will emerge out of it with. We look very much forward to seeing all of you.

Sari Hanafi, President of the International Sociological Association

Geoffrey Pleyers, ISA Vice President for Research and President of the IV ISA Forum of Sociology

Association for the Sociology of Religion 2020 Conference Cancelled

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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ASR Annual Meeting in San Francisco has been cancelled. There remains great uncertainty around whether this global health crisis will be resolved by August. Some experts are predicting social distancing orders will last at least through the summer.  The American Sociological Association has cancelled its SF conference, and we do, too.

This news is very disappointing. Every year, we look forward to intellectually stimulating research and conversation, sharing teaching experiences, and navigating grant opportunities. I want to express my sincere gratitude to our current President, James Cavendish, and our Program Chair, Brian Starks, who have already put a lot of work into creating a conference theme, proposing joint sessions with the ASA, soliciting session proposals and abstract submissions, and fielding questions about the Annual Meeting. I also appreciate the time and effort that ASR’s Council has dedicated to helping us plan this conference.

If you already registered for this conference, we will be happy to refund your money in full. We would also be happy to accept your payment as a generous donation to the ASR. If you would like a refund for your registration fee, please email me.

Please stay safe and healthy, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.  

Sincerely,

Rachel Kraus, PhD, MPA
ASR Executive Officer
Professor of Sociology
Ball State University