Religion in Urban Spaces
April 10/11 2014 in Göttingen

Urban spaces have always functioned as innovative laboratories for new religious movements and spiritualities. Studies on the interdependence <http://www.dict.cc/englisch-deutsch/interdependency.html> e between religion and urban culture, (socio-cultural) space and place and practitioners were published recently (Orsi 1999, Livezey 2000; metroZones 2011, Pinxten/Dikomitis 2012). Still, religious developments in cities remain a marginal field within qualitative social and cultural research. The relationship between urban settings and religious practices hardly come into analytical focus.

The conference will bring the city to the fore in religious research and foster studies that take the meanings of religiosity within the urban context as a central focus. To that end, we take the interdependent terms of religion and religiosity as broad and deliberately blurred analytical concepts, beyond the boundaries of the traditional institutional religions. ‘Religion’ refers here to new or alternative forms of religion and spirituality. One might consider movements such as Neopaganism, Spiritualism, any forms of Esotericism, as well of new practices within dominant belief systems such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism (e.g. New Age Judaism, Salafism, Pentecostalism, Western Buddhism, etc.). The conference aims for a comparative perspective, drawing attention to the contemporary interplay between diverse practices in appropriating and transforming the urban, and considering the reciprocal influence of the cityscape and pluralist culture on religion.

We welcome researchers from various disciplines, including urban/cultural/social anthropology, European ethnology, migration studies, history, philosophy, architecture, sociology, cultural studies, religious studies, and urban studies.

We are particularly interested in research that explores questions such as:
– How does the specificity of urban culture inscribe itself into new religious and spiritual views and performances?
– How are new forms of religiosity inscribed in urban culture?
-How does religious practice recast the meaning of the urban space?
– What role is played by do urban structure and landscape and architecture?
– How do shared and contested memories of urban pasts figure in the creation of new religious expressions?
– What is the significance of the body as an agent of creation of (sacred) places and spaces within urban settings (i.e. ritual movements, dress codes, singing, visualizing emotions)?
– How do migration, religious self understanding/collective identifications and the city context interrelate?
– Are there any general characteristics of urbanity related to the construction of (sacred) places or religious practices in the city?

The conference will be the basis for an edited volume which will emphasize the need to link studies on present-day cultural religious processes with the study of urbanism to foster a better understanding of contemporary religious and spiritual cosmologies and practices within the urban realm.

The conference will be held on April 10/11, 2014 in Göttingen. Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted via email to Victoria Hegner and Peter Jan Margry by May 30, 2013. All applicants will be informed regarding the acceptance of their proposals by the end of June 2013. We will apply for funding to cover the travel expenses of the participants. Notification of funding should be due by October 2013. The paper`s outline (1-2 pages) should be submitted by March 15, 2014, so that they can be pre-circulated.

Victoria Hegner, Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology, University of Göttingen
victoria.hegner@phil.uni-goettingen.de

Peter Jan Margry, Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam
peterjan.margry@meertens.knaw.nl

A few titles to frame our endeavor:
Livezey, Lowell (ed.), Public religion and urban transformation. Faith in the city. New York: New York University Press 2000. metroZones e.V. (eds.), Urban Prayers. Neue religiöse Bewegungen in der globalen Stadt. Berlin & Hamburg: Assoziation A 2011. Orsi, Robert A. (ed.), Gods of the City. Religion and the American Urban Landscape. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press 1999. Pinxten, Rik & Lisa Dikomitis, When God comes to town. Religious traditions in urban contexts. New York: Berghahn Books 2012.

Exploring the Extraordinary 5th Conference

20th-22nd September, 2013York, UK

CALL FOR PAPERS

Since its inception in 2007, members of Exploring the Extraordinary have organised four successful academic conferences that have brought together researchers from a variety of different disciplines and backgrounds. The purpose of these events has been to encourage a wider dissemination of knowledge and research, and an interdisciplinary discussion of extraordinary phenomena and experience. By ‘extraordinary’ we refer to phenomena and experiences that are considered to be beyond the mundane, referring to those that have been called supernatural, paranormal, mystical, transcendent, exceptional, spiritual, magical and/or religious, as well as the relevance of such for human culture.

We are looking for submissions for our fifth conference, and would like to invite presentation proposals on topics related to the above. Please submit a 300-500 word paper abstract to Dr Madeleine Castro and Dr Hannah Gilbert (ete.network@gmail.com) by the 1st April 2013. Accepted papers should be on powerpoint, no longer than 20 minutes in length, and intended for an interdisciplinary audience. Please include contact information and a brief biographical note.

For more information, and to see past schedules and abstracts, visit http://etenetwork.weebly.com or email ete.network@gmail.com

CPF for the annual meeting of the Dutch Association for the Study of Religion which will take place at the University of Leiden 24-25 October 2013 and have as theme Lived Religion: Studying Religious Practice

Outline of theme
The 2013 Annual Meeting of the NGG focuses on lived religion, that is religious practice such as it is actually enacted and religious identities and beliefs such as they are actually held. The opposite of lived religion is thus not ‘dead religion’, but ‘prescribed religion’, the religion of catechisms, canons, and creeds. We invite papers that explore the lived religion of groups and individuals, including the unofficial and everyday dimensions of the great religious traditions, non-institutional and post-Christian religion (e.g., ‘new age’, neo-paganism), and tensions between lived and prescribed religion. The conference welcomes anthropological, sociological, cognitive, and historical perspectives, and we especially encourage papers of a methodological or theoretical nature. The conference aims to advance the study of lived religion by critically and systematically reflecting on the core question ‘how do we approach and theorise lived religion’?

We invite proposals for papers, panels, and posters on lived religion from all theoretical perspectives within the study of religion. In addition, PhD and MA students are given the possibility to present their ongoing research either with a poster or in a paper session that is not related to the conference theme. Deadline for all proposals is 1 June 2013. See detailed calls for papers, panels, and posters below.

We are honoured to present two distinguished keynote speakers:
* Prof.Dr. Ronald Hutton, “Lived Religion in History, History in Lived Religion: The Case of Contemporary Paganism” (speaker confirmed; title provisional)
* Dr. Nathal Dessing, “How to Study Everyday Lived Religion”

A. Call for individual papers
Each individual paper will be given a total of 30 minutes, i.e. 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion. We invite proposals from various disciplinary perspectives (the academic study of religion, sociology, anthropology, history, etc.) on lived religion. Topics can include (but are not restricted to):
– Unofficial and everyday religious practices within great religious traditions
– Practices, beliefs, and identities in contemporary, non-institutional religion (e.g., ‘new age’, neo-paganism)
– Tensions between lived and prescribed religion, between specialists and laity, and between theological correctness and theological incorrectness
– Theories of religion focusing on action, activity, or practice (e.g., Weber, Geertz, Bourdieu, Riesebrodt, and Whitehouse)
– Processual approaches to religion: Practicing, experiencing, cognising, and feeling as the core of religion
– Discursive practices as lived religion
– Rituals and religious acts: ritual theory and ritual dynamics
– Religion and material culture
– Lived religion as a theoretical concept
– Lived religion in the past and the historical context of contemporary lived religion
– The interlace of lived religion with media, leisure, entertainment, fiction, and play
– The internet as a new site of religious practice and the methodological challenges it poses
– The study of social organisation beyond the religious group: network analysis, field work, and more
– The methodology of studying religious experience (including altered states of consciousness): seeking a third way between going native and scanning brains

Candidates should submit both an abstract (of max. 150 words) for the programme book and a more detailed proposal (of max. 400 words). Deadline for submitting abstract and proposal for an individual paper is 1 June 2013. Abstracts and proposals should be emailed to NGG secretary Markus Altena Davidsen (m.davidsen@religion.leidenuniv.nl).

B. Call for PANELS
Groups of scholars are invited to submit 3 to 5 papers on similar topics as one coherent panel (1.5-2 hours length, depending on the schedule). Panels should fit into the perspectives outlined above.
Deadline for submitting a panel is 1 June 2013. When submitting a panel, please include in one document both individual abstracts and proposals for the papers (respectively max. 150 and 400 words), as well as a panel abstract (max. 150 words) for the programme book and a more detailed panel proposal (of max. 400 words). Abstracts and proposals should be emailed to NGG secretary Markus Altena Davidsen (m.davidsen@religion.leidenuniv.nl).

C. Call for papers and posterS for off-theme PhD and MA student session(s)
PhD students are invited to propose papers for the perspectives outlined above. Additionally, both PhD students and MA students are cordially invited to submit a poster or a paper for a separate off-theme session. This can be a great opportunity for MA students to report on the results of their MA thesis and for PhD students to present some of their preliminary conclusions. Each individual paper will be given a total of 30 minutes, i.e. 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion. Posters should be A1 size and should not include too much text. Make sure to include pictures, graphs etc. to enhance readability. We suggest that posters are accompanied with a number of handouts for people to take. Unfortunately, we cannot help with the printing of the poster. Most universities, however, do offer templates and/or facilities for making conference posters. Abstracts for posters and papers for the off-theme session(s) (max. 150 words) together with a more detailed proposal (of max. 400 words) should be sent no later than 1 June 2013 to NGG secretary Markus Altena Davidsen (m.davidsen@religion.leidenuniv.nl).

Practical Details Organisers.
The Dutch Association for the Study of Religion (Nederlands Genootschap voor Godsdienstwetenschap) in cooperation with Leiden Institute for Religious Studies, University of Leiden.

Organising committee.
Prof.Dr. Kocku von Stuckrad (chair, NGG), Markus Altena Davidsen (secretary, NGG), William Arfman, (PhD representative, NGG), Dr. Wim Hofstee (Leiden Institute for Religious Studies).

Venue. Leiden Institute for Religious Studies, University of Leiden.

Time. 24-25 October 2013. The conference will begin around 14.00 on Thursday the 24th and end around 16.00 on Friday the 25th.

Deadline. Deadline for all proposals is 1 June 2013. Proposals should be sent to the secretary of the Dutch Association for the Study of Religion, Markus Altena Davidsen (m.davidsen [at] religion.leidenuniv.nl).

Registration. Registration costs will be kept as low as possible (and depend on further funding that the organisers applied for). Discounts will be available for members of the NGG and for students. Registration includes coffee/tea breaks, the conference dinner on Thursday evening, and a lunch on Friday. The organisers will help with finding accommodation in various categories. Please check the website for updates and further information.

Homepage. For updates and information, please see the website of the NGG at www.godsdienstwetenschap.org or follow us on Twitter at @NGG_nl.

Call for RC22 Sessions at the ISA World Congress 2014

The Sociology of Religion
The RC22 Program Coordinators (Esmeralda Sanchez and Jim Spickard) invite session proposals for the 2014 ISA World Congress. We will be allowed 22 sessions, so we need your help. Please send us session proposals by March 7th, 2013. Send your proposals to both of us at:
· Esmeralda Sanchez: emysanchez2001@yahoo.com
· Jim Spickard: jim_spickard@redlands.edu

Your proposals should include:

· A proposed session title.

· The type of session you are proposing.
E.g.:
o An open session for which you are seeking papers
o A completely organized session, for which you invite specific participants.
o An author-meets-critics session.
o A round-table session.
o Etc. (See the list below).

· A 100-200 word abstract describing your session.

· A short biography of the proposed session organisers.

Session Organisers and Chairs are expected to be RC22 members.
Please do not send us paper abstracts now. Once we have formed sessions, we will send out a general call for papers to fill those sessions. First, however, we have to have sessions to fill.

Conference Theme
The overall ISA theme is “Facing an unequal world: Challenges for global sociology.”
The RC22 theme is “Religion and Social Inequality”.
We especially welcome session proposals that speak to these themes creatively. In addition, we are open to other topics that our RC typically addresses: religion and youth, religious identity, current religious trends, religion and ethnicity, religion and international development identity, new and old theory in the sociology of religion, and so on. We also welcome proposals on topics of current interest, especially those that speak to recent world events.

Types of Sessions
We welcome proposals for various types of sessions. Here are some possibilities:
1. Sessions that specify a topic area: these are open for individual paper presenters who will be sought with a later open Call for Papers.
2. Complete sessions with a fixed collection of papers dealing with a given topic. Those suggesting these sessions will submit a list of presenters, including a discussant if possible, who have agreed to participate.
3. Creative modes of presentation, such as:
a. Panels and roundtables
b. Moderated debates
c. Interactive workshops
d. Author-Meets-Critics
e. Film events
f. Etc.

We encourage session coordinators to create diverse panels and to include papers that cross national and other categorical boundaries. Some sessions can be nation-based or regionally specific, but we encourage comparative, cross-cultural sessions representing our Research Committee’s diversity.

Session organization
We expect those who propose sessions to coordinate them and possibly serve a Session Chair, though you should consult the ISA rule regarding “limited appearance in the Program,” below). You should also:
· Promote the session to the RC membership (and others)
· Select papers from among those submitted to you.
· Communicate regularly with the Program Coordinators, especially about program changes. A
ll presenters, including the session coordinators and chairs, are expected to register and pay to attend the conference in accordance with the general registration policy.

Session structure
The language of the conference is English, but coordinators/presenters can arrange for translators or other ways of supporting linguistic diversity. The ISA has posted a list of suggestions at:
http://www.isa-sociology.org/congress2014/guidelines-program-coordinators-and-session-organizers.htm.
Each session will be 110 minutes. This leaves time for 3 to 4 presenters, plus the chair and a discussant. You should also accept 3-4 “distributed papers”, whose authors can step in to present if one or more of your regular presenters has to drop out at the last moment.

ISA Rules:
1. “Limited appearance in the Program: Participants may be listed no more than twice in the Program. This includes all types of participation – except being listed as Program Coordinator or Session Organizer. Program Coordinators and Session Organizers can organize a maximum of two sessions where their names will be additionally listed in the program.”
2. “A ‘participant’ is anyone listed as an author, co-author, plenary speaker, roundtable presenter, poster presenter, panelist, critic, discussant, session (co)chair, or any similar substantive role in the program. 
A participant cannot present and chair in the same session.”

Religions and Social Innovation
An International Conference at the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada
27-29 October 2013

We are seeking proposals for papers and poster sessions that highlight the various ways that religious traditions and religiously-inspired movements have served and continue to serve as forces for social innovation. We are seeking proposals from scholars, practitioners, activists and leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations and other social initiatives. We welcome any proposal exploring the contribution of religiously-affiliated or religiously-inspired organizations, movements or initiatives in any area of social innovation.

The full CFP, including specifications for proposals, is available here:
http://stmikes.utoronto.ca/doc/callForPapers_w_logo.pdf

Because this Call is directed to different kinds of participants, who are bound by different schedules, we will be accepting proposals for paper and poster sessions in two rounds.

*To be considered in the first round of adjudication, proposals must be submitted no later than 15 February 2013.
*To be considered in the second round of adjudication, proposals must be submitted no later than 3 May 2013.
For more information, please download the full CFP (http://stmikes.utoronto.ca/doc/callForPapers_w_logo.pdf) or contact Monica Phonsavatdy, m.phonsavatdy@utoronto.ca, phone: 416.926.7256, or 416.926.1300×3306.

Call for Papers
Social relations and Human Security Conference Friday 22nd – Saturday 23rd March
Centre for Social Relations (incorporating the Institute of Community Cohesion), Coventry University

We live in an interconnected world that transports social issues across and between people, sectors, communities and societies. Tackling some of the drivers and misconceptions that underpin the most pressing problems for societies today -ethnicity, the environment, or socio-economics – requires continued multi-disciplinary dialogue between, governments, practitioners and publics.

The context of contemporary people-to-people relationships and the consequences of differences are both an opportunity and challenge for human security agendas. The question of how we interact, whether at work or at home, with people who we perceive as different to us is central to our sense of stability and security, not just for ourselves, but also for our families and communities. How do we challenge polarising narratives and negative representations through new models of engagement or dialogue? How can we develop communities where people interact in a meaningful way and experience true equality of opportunity? How can we help to equip people in the UK and globally to live engaged and peaceful lives in pluralistic societies?

In learning to understand how our social relations play out in communities both locally and globally, we can begin to address how to live together in peaceful relationships in a world of difference.

Keynote speakers include:
Professor Linda Woodhead, Professor in the sociology of religion in the Department of Politics, Philosophy & Religion at Lancaster University,
Prof. Salman Hameed, Director Centre for the study of Science in Muslim Societies, Hampshire College, US.

Registration Fees: Coventry University will be offering a subsidized rate for registration and accommodation for all delegates and a significantly subsidized rate for registration and accommodation to all postgraduate students, recently qualified postdoc’s or early career scholars who are not currently in full-time employment.
Registration fees will be advertised shortly.

Publications: We are currently in discussion with publishers to produce an edited volume of selected papers from this conference. Further details will be available in due course and a call for submissions will be circulated to those who successfully submit a paper to the conference.

Abstract submission:
Our conference will explore the importance of work under the broad banner of social relations in policymaking, international inter-cultural dialogue/cross-community dialogue and academic research. Applied research, empirical studies and critical theoretical papers are welcomed on topics including, but not limited to:
* Agendas for social relations at a community level
* The role of belief, class or ethnicity in society, public space, or discourse
* New directions in intercultural dialogue/cross community dialogue
* The impact of top down vs. bottom up approaches on communities and policy
* Individuality vs. Individualism
* Secularism and Pluralism in local, national and international contexts
* Multiculturalism, Identity and Integration
* Inter-generational conflict/relations
* Do we need a new social contract for diversity?

Proposals are welcomed from researchers of all nationalities at all stages of their careers.
Session proposals should normally consist of three or four papers, with or without a commentator/chair. Sessions will be 90 minutes to 2 hours long. Proposals for alternative types of session (eg. round-table or witness seminar) are strongly encouraged. Please discuss this with us in advance of the Call for Papers deadline.

Proposals for individual papers should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Abstracts should not contain footnotes and should be comprehensible to a non-specialist audience.
The deadline for submitting a session or abstract is 14th January 2013

Abstracts should be submitted to: socialrelationsevents@coventry.ac.uk
Any enquiries should be directed to: Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker For further information and updates please go to:
http://www.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/NewsEvents/SocialRelationsAndHumanSecurity

CALL FOR PAPERS

ECAS 2013 – 5th European Conference on African Studies June 27-29 Lisbon

Panel 171: Multipolar religious production: old and new trends
The age of European imperial rule in Africa brought forth an accrued complexity in the cultural and historical roles played by religion, as the impact of colonialism on African societies and the effects of counter-hegemonic struggles also carved out the post-colonial landscape of African religions. On the other hand, the religious circulation between Africa and other continents has a long history with new trends in the current era. The transatlantic slave trade and European colonial rule resulted in the travelling of religious ideas, practices and symbols from and to Africa. Taking this complex narrative into account, our panel intends to discuss and compare historical and contemporary forms of religious production within African societies as well as the circulation of religions to and from Africa, looking at how they are distributed and made sense of. We aim to address some of the following issues:
– Colonial policies towards religions and their effects in post-colonial settings.
– Strategies of integration/transformation/survival of local and traditional religions in new African cultural and political contexts. – New forms of south-south and north-south religious circulation.
– Processes of religious globalization in Africa; African religious transnationalism, understood in its plurality and complex inscription in global networks; local impacts of global religions; ethnic and other factors that weighed on the transnational diffusion of religious customs and ideas.

Convenors
Linda van de Kamp (Tilburg University)
Clara Mafra (State University of Rio de Janeiro)
Marina Pignatelli (Technical University of Lisbon – Political and Social Sciences Institute)
Mário Machaqueiro (CRIA/FCSH-UNL)
http://www.nomadit.co.uk/ecas/ecas2013/panels.php5?PanelID=2334

Call for Papers
International interdisciplinary scientific conference Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Syncretism
May 3-4, 2013
Kaunas, Lithuania

From the earliest times, encounters between people of different societies resulted in adoption of non-native religious customs, beliefs, practices, and concepts. Successful adoption of foreign customs and beliefs allowed some religions to spread so widely that today they are considered “the great world religions”. Today in Western society multiple religions coexist. There are many ways in which different religious traditions interact. They oppose or assimilate each other. They also enrich each other with new insights and cultural expressions. The contemporary situation of “religious market” and spread of modern technologies create many opportunities not only to know better the existing religions but also to create one’s own “private religion” by mixing various elements of different religious traditions.
This conference is the 4th one dedicated to the research of religious experience, tradition, and religious consciousness. Main questions of this conference are: What do we mean by “syncretism”? Where is the dividing line between interreligious dialogue and religious syncretism? Is the interreligious dialogue possible without absorbing some features of the other side? Is it possible for religious tradition to stay pure and without additives for longer time? What influence do religious experiences and practices have (if they do) on the merger of religious traditions?

The Conference organizers invite scholars of different disciplines to address these and similar questions and welcome papers in line with the Conference theme, particularly in relation to the following subthemes:
• Problems of defining syncretism
• “Good” and “bad” syncretic processes
• “Eastern” and “Western” syncretism
• Inculturation of Christianity
• Missionary work in the modern societies
• Religious experience as an ecumenical phenomenon
• Clash of religions as the form of interreligious dialogue
• Psychological, social, anthropological, artistic aspects of interreligious communication

Please submit an abstract of your paper of 250-300 words, together with your name, position, and institutional affiliation to religio@ktf.vdu.lt by February 15, 2013. The abstract should be sent as an email attachment in Microsoft Word format.

Registration fee is 30 € (EUR). Unfortunately, there are no funds available at the time to cover the accommodation- or travel-expenses.

Selected extended papers from the conference will be invited to appear in the scientific journal ‘SOTER’ published by the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Vytautas Magnus University. The Journal is reviewed in the international databases: CEEOL, The Philosopher’s Index, eLABa, DOAJ.

Organizing institute: Vytautas Magnus University (Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Catholic Theology).
Venue: Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania Conference languages: English, Lithuanian.
Submission of proposals – February 15, 2013 Notification of acceptance – February 27, 2013

Organizing committee: Assoc. prof. dr. Agnė Budriūnaitė (chair, VMU, Dep. of Philosophy), prof. habil. dr. Alfonsas Motuzas (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), prof. dr. Eugenijus Danilevičius (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), assoc. prof. dr. Živilė Advilonienė (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), assoc. prof. dr. Povilas Aleksandravičius (MRU, Dep. of Philosophy), assoc. prof. dr. Benas Ulevičius (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology), assoc. prof. dr. Jurga Jonutytė (VMU, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy), dr. Aušra Kairaitytė (VMU, Faculty of Humanities), assist. prof. dr. Valdas Mackela (VMU, Faculty of Catholic Theology).