Media, Gender & Religion
The Sixth International Conference hosted by The Center for Media, Religion, and Culture
January 7-10, 2016, University of Colorado Boulder

http://cmrc.colorado.edu/calendar/upcoming-conferences/

Confirmed Speakers: Sarah Banet-Weiser, USC Annenberg School for Communication Kathryn Lofton, Yale University | Mia Lövheim, Uppsala University Carla Jones, University of Colorado Boulder | Monica Miller, Lehigh University

This conference seeks to bring current research in religion and media studies into conversation with current scholarship on gender and sexuality in order to explore a rich and understudied range of issues relating to the intersection of religion, media and gender studies, broadly considered. During the past three decades, the fields of feminist and gender studies, queer theory, ethnic studies and sexuality studies have generated a tremendous amount of critical, historical and theoretical analysis of the categories of ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality,’ broadening our understanding of these categories well beyond binary models. Scholars working in these areas have explored the myriad ways that cultural, religious, historical, political, legal, psychological, linguistic, and literary contexts shape gender and sexual expressions, identities, norms, and practices. This conference will provide opportunities for careful and focused discussion of these and many more related issues. Papers and panels may address, but should not be limited to, questions such as:

• Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of media, gender, religion and culture: gender as a category of analysis, feminist theory, queer theory, intersectionality, LGBTQIA analyses, postcolonial feminist perspectives, etc.
• Comparative analyses of religion, gender and sexuality in the media
• Historical approaches to media, gender, and religion
• Global and transnational discourses of religion, gender, and media
• Gender, secularism, and media
• Discourses of sexuality, power, gender and desire
• Religion, gender violence, and media
• Gender, sexuality and the senses, material and visual culture, aesthetics, affect and embodiment
• Neoliberalism, labor, consumption, branding, and marketing gender and religion
• Representations of gender and sexuality in journalism and news media
• Gender, religion and media stereotypes
• Gender, media and religious authority
• Religion and gendered media spaces
• Gender, religion and mediatization
• Gender, religion, and race/ethnicity
• Gender, sexuality, and politics
• Role and impact of new technologies on gender and sexuality
• Popular culture, entertainment media and portrayals of gender and sexuality
• Interactions and shifting boundaries of religion and gender in social media
• Religion, gender, and gaming
• Social movements, social and religious activism, and issues of gender and sexuality
• Religion and gender bullying and harassment in media spaces

The post CFP: Media, Gender, & Religion appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Please consider submitting a paper or a pre-organized panel to the Fourth Annual Graduate Conference in Religion at HDS, October 22-24, 2015, or encouraging your students to do so. Our call for papers is open to all work in the study of religion, broadly conceived. In addition, we are featuring four special topic modules with targeted calls:

1. Religion and Crisis,
2. The Promise and Peril of Textual Religion,
3. Magic/Science/Religion, and
4. Food Practices Across Religious Traditions.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 17. Check our website for updated information and for the submission form, which will be live soon. http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gradreligionconference

For more details, please see the attached call, or email me with any questions.

Kirsten Wesselhoeft
Conference Coordinator, Graduate Conference on Religion at Harvard Divinity School
PhD Candidate: Islam & Ethics
Committee on the Study of Religion
Harvard University

The post CFP: 4th Graduate Conference in Religion appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

3rd International Scientific Conference of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions

LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER: BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Vilnius, Lithuania

23-24 October, 2015

Vilnius University and Vytautas Magnus University

Call for Papers

Life here and hereafter is considered to be one of the core concerns of an individual throughout the history of humanity. Quest for the meaning of life, role ofdeath, possibilities of life after death are challenged with a broad scope of perceptions, reflections and expressions among various spiritual and religious traditions, emerging spiritualities, groups and individuals.

This conference addresses the topic of life here and hereafter and focuses on beliefs and practices of diverse origins, their formation, spread and expressions. It also focuses on the past and current representations of the phenomenon in specificregions and worldwide, discussing its diverse manifestations and changes concerning institutional and individual religiosities on (trans)national and (trans)regional levels.

The conference welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions from various disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary approaches towards beliefs and practices within the domain of life here and hereafter. Of particular interest are those that combine perspectives and methods drawn from all social sciences and humanities on historical, present, and newly emerging approaches towards conceptions, manifestations and representations, as well as research methods, issues and problems, and new directions in studies of this phenomenon.

The 3rd Conference of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions Life Here and Hereafter: Beliefs and Practices will be held on October 23-24, 2015 at VilniusUniversity, Vilnius. We welcome scholars from religious studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, political science, and other disciplines to contribute to historical and contemporary studies of the role and manifestations of the phenomenon of life here and hereafter, in this way enriching its academic understandings. We expect individual paper proposals as well as panel proposals with three to four presentations.

We invite papers and panels including, but not limited to the following topics:

• – Methodological implications, challenges and issues
• – Life here and hereafter and their socio-cultural representations
  – Death and dying related beliefs and practices
• – Divinations, predictions and prophecies
  – The role of individuals and institutions in practices related to beliefs in lifehere and hereafter
• – Life here, hereafter and cultural memory
• – Life here and hereafter: religious and secular approaches
  – Life, dying and afterlife in traditional religious groups and churches in the past and in the 21st century
• – Life here and hereafter within contemporary spirituality, individual religiosity, combined forms of organized and individual religions
• – Institutional arrangements, development and changes of beliefs and practices within the domain of life here and hereafter
• – Afterlife and social imagination
• – Life here and hereafter in the public sphere
• – Life here and hereafter in the popular culture

Please submit a 250-300 words abstract of your presentation accompanied by a short CV by e-mail to: religiousstudieslt@gmail.com by June 15, 2015. If you are interested in another topic related to the study of life here and hereafter, we encourage you to organize a session/panel. In this case, please submit a 200-300 words proposal by July 15, 2013 to the same email address.

The authors of accepted proposals will be notified by July 15, 2015.

Key dates
Submission of paper and session/panel proposals – June 15, 2015
Notification of acceptance and opening of the registration – July 15, 2015
The final date of the registration for the conference – September 15, 2015
Final program – September 20, 2015

Fees

Conference fee (50 Euro) may be paid by bank transfer or in cash (not by card) at the registration desk.

The costs of travel and lodging should be covered by the participants.

Special events
Participants of the conference will be offered excursion in Vilnius city.

Organisers: dr. Eglė Aleknaitė (Vytautas Magnus University), assoc. prof. Milda Ališauskienė (Vytautas Magnus University), prof. Audrius Beinorius (Vilnius University), assoc. prof. Aušra Pažėraitė (Vilnius University), dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University), prof. Edgūnas Račius (Vytautas Magnus University), assoc. prof. Annika Hvithamar (Copenhagen University).

Any conference related queries are to be sent to the conference email address.More information is available at http://en.religijotyra.lt/

The post Conference: “Life Here and Hereafter” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Waikato Islamic Studies Conference
The University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand
November 11-12, 2015
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/UWISG/index.shtml

Abstract Submission Deadline: 31 July 2015
Inquiries to: islamic-studies-group@waikato.ac.nz.

The University of Waikato Islamic Studies Group (UWISG) is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the first conference on Islamic Studies to be held November 11-12, 2015 at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. We welcome submissions from a variety of disciplines and perspectives and encourage both established academics and research students to submit proposals on any topic with particular reference to one of the following themes:

1. Islam; History, Religion and Theology
2. Islam; Arts, Sciences and Culture
3. Islam; Law, Economics and Politics
4. Islam and Gender Relations
5. Theory and Method in Islamic Studies
6. Contemporary Islam: Challenges and Prosperities

Among the above themes the 2015 meeting will feature a special focus on “Muslim/non-Muslim relations”. In addition to the above, other topics are also welcome.

Proposals for in-person presentations should be submitted (title and short abstract of 150-250 words) by 31 July 2015 to: islamic-studies-group@waikato.ac.nz.
The conference language is English.

Publication Option
Presenters may also choose to submit written papers to be uploaded onto  the refereed “Waikato Islamic Studies Review” online presentation. If you are unable to attend the conference in person you may still submit your article for peer review and possible upload on the Review’s online presentation.

Registration
The conference standard fee is $150. For doctoral candidates and early career researchers with no full-time position the fee is $90. Respective early bird fees are $130 and researchers and $70 provided this is paid in full by 30 August 2015. Lunch, morning tea and afternoon tea for both days are included.

For those who need visa to enter New Zealand we recommend submitting their proposals as soon as possible as confirmation of acceptance will assist the visa application process. Please register through the following website:
www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/UWISG/conference.

The post Waikato Islamic Studies Conference appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

3rd International Scientific Conference of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions

LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER: BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Vilnius, Lithuania

23-24 October, 2015

Vilnius University and Vytautas Magnus University

Call for Papers

Life here and hereafter is considered to be one of the core concerns of an individual throughout the history of humanity. Quest for the meaning of life, role of death, possibilities of life after death are challenged with a broad scope of perceptions, reflections and expressions among various spiritual and religious traditions, emerging spiritualities, groups and individuals.

This conference addresses the topic of life here and hereafter and focuses on beliefs and practices of diverse origins, their formation, spread and expressions. It also focuses on the past and current representations of the phenomenon in specific regions and worldwide, discussing its diverse manifestations and changes concerning institutional and individual religiosities on (trans)national and (trans)regional levels.

The conference welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions from various disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary approaches towards beliefs and practices within the domain of life here and hereafter. Of particular interest are those that combine perspectives and methods drawn from all social sciences and humanities on historical, present, and newly emerging approaches towards conceptions, manifestations and representations, as well as research methods, issues and problems, and new directions in studies of this phenomenon.

The 3rd Conference of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions Life Here and Hereafter: Beliefs and Practices will be held on October 23-24, 2015 at Vilnius University,Vilnius. We welcome scholars from religious studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, political science, and other disciplines to contribute to historical and contemporary studies of the role and manifestations of the phenomenon of life here and hereafter, in this way enriching its academic understandings. We expect individual paper proposals as well as panel proposals with three to four presentations.

We invite papers and panels including, but not limited to the following topics:

• – Methodological implications, challenges and issues
• – Life here and hereafter and their socio-cultural representations
  – Death and dying related beliefs and practices
• – Divinations, predictions and prophecies
  – The role of individuals and institutions in practices related to beliefs in life here and hereafter
• – Life here, hereafter and cultural memory
• – Life here and hereafter: religious and secular approaches
  – Life, dying and afterlife in traditional religious groups and churches in the past and in the 21st century
• – Life here and hereafter within contemporary spirituality, individual religiosity, combined forms of organized and individual religions
• – Institutional arrangements, development and changes of beliefs and practices within the domain of life here and hereafter
• – Afterlife and social imagination
• – Life here and hereafter in the public sphere
• – Life here and hereafter in the popular culture

Please submit a 250-300 words abstract of your presentation accompanied by a short CV by e-mail to: religiousstudieslt@gmail.com by June 15, 2015. If you are interested in another topic related to the study of life here and hereafter, we encourage you to organize a session/panel. In this case, please submit a 200-300 words proposal by July 15, 2013 to the same email address.

The authors of accepted proposals will be notified by July 15, 2015.

Key dates
Submission of paper and session/panel proposals – June 15, 2015
Notification of acceptance and opening of the registration – July 15, 2015
The final date of the registration for the conference – September 15, 2015
Final program – September 20, 2015

Fees

Conference fee (50 Euro) may be paid by bank transfer or in cash (not by card) at the registration desk.

The costs of travel and lodging should be covered by the participants.

Special events
Participants of the conference will be offered excursion in Vilnius city.

Organisers: dr. Eglė Aleknaitė (Vytautas Magnus University), assoc. prof. Milda Ališauskienė (Vytautas Magnus University), prof. Audrius Beinorius (Vilnius University), assoc. prof. Aušra Pažėraitė (Vilnius University), dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University), prof. Edgūnas Račius (Vytautas Magnus University), assoc. prof. Annika Hvithamar (Copenhagen University).

Any conference related queries are to be sent to the conference email address. More information is available at http://en.religijotyra.lt/

Please feel free to spread this message.

The post CFP: “Life and Hereafter: Beliefs and Practices” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for papers for panel at the BASR Annual Conference, Religion in the Global and Local: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Challenges, 7-9  September 2015, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

Panel: Religion, Ethics, and Economic Life

Organizers: David Henig and Anna Strhan (University of Kent)

The interrelations between religion, values, and the economy were central preoccupations in the work of the founding thinkers of anthropology and sociology. With both the growing marketization of different spheres of human activity and the questioning of current economic orders following the financial crisis of 2008, with religion often perceived as providing resources to (re)moralize the markets and challenge the idea that ‘the market has become God’ (Frank 2001), these questions are once again returning to prominence. Religions have responded to the global extension of market ideologies in the post cold-war era across different spheres of social life in complex ways.

Some have provided moral motivations and resources to foster work ethics and practices that closely align with broader logics of economic ‘growth’ and ‘productivity’. Others have offered challenges to the pervasiveness of the idea of human life as shaped by logics of commodification and the socio-economic inequalities associated with the expansion of global capitalism. Others have offered a critique of contemporary economic values while also drawing on market logics and practices to their own ends.

A growing body of recent scholarship has focused on such questions as the commodification of religion and spirituality, how religion is influenced by consumer culture, how faith-based organizations are involved in forms of welfare provision in neoliberal political economies, and how religious groups have responded to experiences of increasing economic scarcity. This panel seeks to open up analysis of the lived interrelations between religion, economics, and ethics. How are the ethical practices, values, and understandings of religious groups shaped by and responding to particular aspects of economic life? How do religious groups seek to engage with the question of what, or where, is the Good in economic and market practices? What does the increasing public prominence of some religious leaders’ comments on the economy tell us about the place of religion in wider social life, and
how does this relate to everyday religious interrelations with economic structures?

Please send a 200 word abstract to D.Henig@kent.ac.uk and A.H.B.Strhan@kent.ac.uk by 10 June 2015

The post CFP: “Religion, Ethics, and Economic Life” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for papers for panel at the BASR Annual Conference, Religion in the Global and Local: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Challenges, 7-9  September 2015, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

Panel: Religion, Ethics, and Economic Life

Organizers: David Henig and Anna Strhan (University of Kent)

The interrelations between religion, values, and the economy were central preoccupations in the work of the founding thinkers of anthropology and sociology. With both the growing marketization of different spheres of human activity and the questioning of current economic orders following the financial crisis of 2008, with religion often perceived as providing resources to (re)moralize the markets and challenge the idea that ‘the market has become God’ (Frank 2001), these questions are once again returning to prominence. Religions have responded to the global extension of market ideologies in the post cold-war era across different spheres of social life in complex ways.

Some have provided moral motivations and resources to foster work ethics and practices that closely align with broader logics of economic ‘growth’ and ‘productivity’. Others have offered challenges to the pervasiveness of the idea of human life as shaped by logics of commodification and the socio-economic inequalities associated with the expansion of global capitalism. Others have offered a critique of contemporary economic values while also drawing on market logics and practices to their own ends.

A growing body of recent scholarship has focused on such questions as the commodification of religion and spirituality, how religion is influenced by consumer culture, how faith-based organizations are involved in forms of welfare provision in neoliberal political economies, and how religious groups have responded to experiences of increasing economic scarcity. This panel seeks to open up analysis of the lived interrelations between religion, economics, and ethics. How are the ethical practices, values, and understandings of religious groups shaped by and responding to particular aspects of economic life? How do religious groups seek to engage with the question of what, or where, is the Good in economic and market practices? What does the increasing public prominence of some religious leaders’ comments on the economy tell us about the place of religion in wider social life, and
how does this relate to everyday religious interrelations with economic structures?

Please send a 200 word abstract to D.Henig@kent.ac.uk and A.H.B.Strhan@kent.ac.uk by 10 June 2015

The post CFP: “Religion, Ethics, and Economic Life” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

CALL FOR PAPERS: 44th Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS)
“Sectarianism in Islam and Muslim Communities”

Brown University, Providence, RI Saturday, September 19, 2015
Deadlines: Abstracts: May 15, 2015 Final Papers: August 31, 2015

Sectarian difference and conflict has been part of Islamic history from early times, beginning in a tangible, if not fully established, way during the First Civil War in the mid-1st/7th century. By the late 3rd/9th century, Islamic heresiographers began to document a wide variety of real or reified sectarian identities within the Islamic community. This sectarian history has always been tempered, however, by a well-established Islamic principle that allowed for a certain degree of theological and legal pluralism within the Muslim community, and the fairly widespread acceptance of the idea that the unity of the Muslim ummah was best achieved through the tolerance of a certain degree of diversity. Indeed, some might argue that “sects” and “sectarianism,” as they are understood in a Christian context, do not actually exist in the Islamic world, given that the unifying fundamentals of Islam – its scripture, its central beliefs and practices – are essentially the same across all interpretations of Islam, and communal boundaries have historically been more porous and informal between, for example, Sunnis and Shi`is than between certain Christian sects and denominations.

Nonetheless, conflict has waxed and waned between Sunnis and Shi`is, and among Shi`i groups, and there have been varying degrees of intolerance for smaller sectarian groups in the Islamic world. Today, sectarian intolerance and violence, particularly between Sunnis and Twelver Shi`is seems to be growing increasingly acute, not only in the Middle East, but also in South and Southeast Asia as well. This conference aims to explore the conceptual and religious significance of such sectarian divisions in Islam, as well as the practical and material manifestations of those divisions in Muslim communities both historically and in the contemporary world. The conference aims to examine the issue both in the context of Muslim majority countries, and among minority Muslim communities in North American and Europe. It seeks to investigate not only the religious and historical origins and bases for sectarian
differences in the Islamic world, but also the social, political, and economic conditions that generate, exacerbate, or ameliorate sectarian tensions.

We invite a diverse range of papers from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences.

Abstracts (250 words) are due by May 15, 2015:

Abstracts ONLY from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates will be considered. Abstracts will be evaluated according to the following categories: originality of theme, clear data and methodology, clarity and relevance of the proposal to the conference theme, and contribution to the conference theme. Final papers must be submitted by August 31, 2015.

Program panelists are required to preregister and pay non-refundable conference fees by June 29, 2015.

Program Chair: Professor Beshara Doumani, Brown University, Providence, RI
Send abstracts and final papers to Layla Sein, Director of Academic
Affairs, at conferences@naaims.org

The post CFP: “Sectarianism in Islam and Muslim Communities” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.