Category Archives: Events

Public Lecture: “Public space as the arena of assertion vs. repression of Muslim identity”

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The Religion and Society Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney invites you to attend a public lecture.

Public space as the arena of assertion vs. repression of Muslim identity

Speaker: Amir Sheikhzadegan, University of Fribourg

Date: Thursday 14 May 2015

Time: 10:30am-12:00pm

Venue: Bankstown Campus, Building 03.G.55

RSVP: SSAP-Research@uws.edu.au by Monday 11 May 2015

This is an open and free event.

Abstract

A gradual emergence of diasporic communities out of migrant groups with an Islamic background (Schiffauer 2007) also implies a transition of their status from the “invisible migrant-worker” to that of “visible Muslim citizenship” (Göle 2011).

Geared with a strengthening of the populist right in Switzerland, the increasing visibility of Islam has given rise to conflicting claims to the appropriation of urban spaces – a tug of war that culminated in 2009 in a minaret ban, on the one hand, and the emergence of the radical organization Islamic Central Council Switzerland (ICCS) on the other.

Drawing on Lefebvre’s (1991) concept of “representational space” the study argues that public visibility has become the main contested issue between the populist right and the ICCS. Whereas the former strives for containing “the Islamic threat” by pushing Islam out of the public spaces, the latter uses urban spaces to maximize the public visibility of Islam in Switzerland. Arguing that ICCS’s public presence stands in a dialectical relationship to its identity politics, the study then highlights the following identity formation practices of this organization:

Firstly, ICCS struggles for a formal recognition of Islam in Switzerland.

Secondly, it seeks for an inversion of the stigma “Islam” (Wieviorka 2001; Cesari 2004) by persuading Muslims to publicly celebrate their muslimness.

Thirdly and finally, it strives for a strong public presence by running book stands in the crowded urban areas, distributing pamphlets and flyers in migrants’ gatherings, upholding public conferences in renowned city halls, and organizing demonstrations in city centers.

The study is part of a larger research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation investigating the narrative identities of Muslims who are actively engaged in voluntary associations. As for methodology, it draws both on reconstruction of narrative identity (Lucius-Hoene & Deppermann 2004) and ethnographic investigation.

Amir Sheikhzadegan is a senior post-doc lecturer and researcher at the Department of Social Sciences (Section of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work) of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of “Der Griff des politischen Islam zur Macht: Iran und Algerien im Vergleich” (2003) as well as the co-editor of “Gesellschaften zwischen Multi- und Transkulturalität” (forthcoming). Sheikhzadegan has been a visiting fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin as well as a lecturer at the universities of Zurich, Lucerne, and Basel. His fields of interest include societal change in Iran, Islam and modernity, civil society, and narrative identity.

The post Public Lecture: “Public space as the arena of assertion vs. repression of Muslim identity” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Open Seminar on the Role of Religion in Sweden, 1980-2009

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Welcome to an open seminar on the role of religion in Sweden 1980-2009, hosted by the research programmes Impact of Religion and The role of religion in the public sphere: A comparative study of the five Nordic countries (NOREL).

The research project NOREL presents the results from Sweden, April 15th, 14-17, followed by an informal reception 17-18, Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre (CRS), room 4-2007.

Please register to info@crs.uu.se, no later than April 10th.

More information and program.

Välkommen på ett öppet och kostnadsfritt seminarium om religionens roll i Sverige, 1980-2009. Seminariet arrangeras av forskningsprogrammen Impact of Religion och NOREL, The role of religion in the public sphere: A comparative study of the five Nordic countries.

Vid seminariet presenteras och diskuteras  de svenska resultaten av NOREL-studien.

Tid: den 15 april, kl 14-17, följt av mingel 17-18 med dryck och lättare förtäring.

Plats: Centrum för forskning om religion och samhälle, sal 4-2007.

Anmälan senast den 10 april till info@crs.uu.se.

Mer information och program.

The post Open Seminar on the Role of Religion in Sweden, 1980-2009 appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Seminar: Islamic Modernities: Time and Space

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University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
April 16-17, 2015

Presented by:
Midwest Association for Middle East and Islamic Studies (MAMEIS)
Middle East and Islamic Studies program, University of Louisville

Keynote Speaker: Asma Afsaruddin, Chair and Professor, NELC, Indiana University

Full Conference Schedule: http://www.indstate.edu/mameis/conference.htm

The Midwest Association for Middle East and Islamic Studies and University of Louisville’s Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies program are pleased to present this joint conference on Islamic Modernities: Time and Space at the University of Louisville, April 16-17, 2015.

Modernity serves as a dynamic lens for viewing a wide range of transformations in Middle Eastern and Islamic societies, even as no generally accepted definition of modernity has yet emerged. The scholarly discussion on modernity has broadened to view this as not only a global, structural transformation centered on Europe, but a process that has created “many modernities,” each with its own local vernacular form. Moreover, modernity has been recognized as not only a temporal period, but also a process manifested in spatial relationships that shape, and are shaped by, historical agents. This conference will highlight current research related to theorizing and applying the concept of “modernity” to Middle East and Islamic studies in a broad, interdisciplinary manner.

For more information, contact:

James.Gustafson@indstate.edu, or Julie.Peteet@louisville.edu
MAMEIS: http://www.mameis.org
Middle East and Islamic Studies – University of Louisville:
http://www.louisville.edu/meis

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Seminar on religious transnationalism

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Date: Thursday 16 and Friday 17 April 2015

Venue: VU University (Metropolitan building, room Z009 and Z007)

            De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam

Time: 9.00 a.m. till 5.00 p.m.

Conveners:

Prof. Dr. Thijl Sunier, department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University

Prof. Dr. Nina Glick Schiller, University of Manchester

General theme

The seminar deals with the contemporary dynamics of transnational religious fields across the world by addressing the shifting configurations between new modes of transnational religious practices on the one hand and evolving forms of nation-building and national domestication of religious communities in a time of growing nationalism en exclusion. Transnational activity of religious communities and social actors is certainly not new, nor is the paradox between people living religious lives, locally and transnationally and states domesticating religions (Glick Schiller et al. 1994). However, emerging new forms of regulatory regimes both at a national and a local level have engendered new forms of transnational activity. The ever changing character of the ‘cosmologistical problem’ (Vasquez et al. 2003) informs and shapes new modes of transnational religious activity.

Keynote address: Prof. Dr. Manuel Vasquez (University of Florida, USA), Thursday morning, the 16th

“Seeing Transnationally: Religion and the Emergence of New Regimes of Visibility and Discipline”

Four panels ( Click here for the full program in PDF)

Transnational religious activism

Pilgrimage

Secular intolerance

Cosmopolitanism and religion

Admission is free. Please register with Heleen van der Linden: h.l.e.vander.linden@vu.nl

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Seminar on Religious Transnationalism, April 16-17, 2015

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Dear colleagues,

We would like to invite you to join our 2-day seminar on religious transnationalism on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 April 2015 at VU University Amsterdam.  

Venue: VU University (Metropolitan building, room Z009 and Z007)

Time: 9.30 a.m. till 5.00 p.m. (the programme is attached)

Conveners:

Prof. Dr. Thijl Sunier, department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University

Prof. Dr. Nina Glick Schiller, University of Manchester

General theme

The seminar deals with the contemporary dynamics of transnational religious fields across the world by addressing the shifting configurations between new modes of transnational religious practices on the one hand and evolving forms of nation-building and national domestication of religious communities in a time of growing nationalism en exclusion. Transnational activity of religious communities and social actors is certainly not new, nor is the paradox between people living religious lives, locally and transnationally and states domesticating religions (Glick Schiller et al. 1994). However, emerging new forms of regulatory regimes both at a national and a local level have engendered new forms of transnational activity. The ever changing character of the ‘cosmologistical problem’ (Vasquez et al. 2003) informs and shapes new modes of transnational religious activity.

Keynote address: Prof. Dr. Manuel Vasquez (University of Florida, USA), Thursday morning, 16 April, entitled “Seeng Transnationally:  Religion and the Emergence of New Regimes of Visibility and Discipline.”

Four panels

Transnational religious activism

Pilgrimage

Secular intolerance

Cosmopolitanism and religion

Entrance: free, and open to everyone! Registration: h.l.e.vander.linden@vu.nl

Please find the programme attached. We would appreciate it if you could distribute this invitation among your network and/or students.

We hope to welcome you on 16 and 17 April!

Best regards, on behalf of the conveners,

Heleen van der Linden

The post Seminar on Religious Transnationalism, April 16-17, 2015 appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies

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Invitation to the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies, 2015, at the Old Library in the Oxford University Church Of St Mary

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies. You may register for the Summer Session (3, 4 & 5 August) or the Fall Session ( 7, 8 & 9 December). The meeting will be held at The Old Library in the Oxford University Church Of St Mary.  Constructed in 1320, The Old Library is the first university (as opposed to college) building in Oxford and therefore uniquely important; this is where the nascent University began.

The sessions will be hosted by Canon Brian Mountford, Vicar of St Mary’s. Dr. Mountford is a Fellow and Chaplain of St Hilda’s College in the University of Oxford.

You are invited to present a paper on an aspect of religious studies, or you may wish to attend as an observer.

For more information visit our website Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies

The post Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Open seminar on the role of religion in Sweden 1980-2009

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Välkommen på ett öppet och kostnadsfritt seminarium om religionens roll i Sverige, 1980-2009.Seminariet arrangeras av forskningsprogrammen Impact of Religion och NOREL, The role of religion in the public sphere: A comparative study of the five Nordic countries.

  • Vid seminariet presenteras och diskuteras  de svenska resultaten av NOREL-studien.
  • Tid: den 15 april, kl 14-17, följt av mingel 17-18 med dryck och lättare förtäring.
  • Plats: Centrum för forskning om religion och samhälle, sal 4-2007.
  • Anmälan senast den 10 april till info@crs.uu.se.
  • Mer information och program.

Welcome to an open seminar on the role of religion in Sweden 1980-2009, hosted by the research programmes Impact of Religion and The role of religion in the public sphere: A comparative study of the five Nordic countries (NOREL).

  • The research project NOREL presents the results from Sweden, April 15th, 14-17, followed by an informal reception 17-18, Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre (CRS), room 4-2007.
  • Please register to info@crs.uu.se, no later than April 10th.
  • More information and program.
  • **********************

Ulrika Öster

Informatör/Information officer

Centrum för forskning om religion och samhälle/ Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre

Uppsala universitet

The post Open seminar on the role of religion in Sweden 1980-2009 appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Workshop on ‘Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism’

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Workshop on ‘Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism’:  25 February 2015, Middlesex University

Co-organised by Dominic Pasura SPRC and Marta Bivand Erdal PRIO

http://sprc.info/events/future-events/

 

Place: Middlesex University, Town Hall Committee Room 1

Time: 9am–5.15pm

The workshop is free to attend but you must book a place via Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/migration-transnationalism-and-catholicism-tickets-15550371580

Please note that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

The post Workshop on ‘Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism’ appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Event: “Faith, Politics & Social Justice: The General Election and Beyond”

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Faith, Politics & Social Justice: The General Election and Beyond

An event organised by the Faith & Peaceful Relations Research Cluster at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University.

Tuesday 3rd February 2015, 12.00-3.45pm (lunch provided)

Taking place three months before the General Election, the event will explore the current and likely future relationship between religion and politics in the UK. High-profile speakers from across the political and religious spectrum – including faith- based organisations, the voluntary and third sector, think tanks, policy makers and academics – will reflect on the role faith and faith groups play in politics, and specifically in the forthcoming election. They will discuss how electoral politics is engaging and affecting faith groups. Confirmed speakers include: Sughra Ahmed (Islamic Society of Britain), David Barclay (Contextual Theology Centre), Mike Battcock (Department for International Development), Revd Canon Paul Hackwood (Church Urban Fund & Near Neighbours), Lucinda Hasell (Mothers’ Union), Sister Jayanti (Brahma Kumaris), Fiyaz Mughal (Tell MAMA & Faith Matters), Philip Rosenberg (Board of Deputies of British Jews), Stephen Shashoua (Three Faiths Forum) and Daniel Singleton (Faith Action).

To register for this free event, please visit the following website address: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/faithpoliticsandsocialjustice  Places are limited and registrations will close by 30th January 2015.

We are very pleased to announce that a Coventry University lecture by the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, will directly follow the event (4.15-5.15pm). He will speak on ‘How can we build communities of peace and trust?’ Please indicate whether you wish to attend this lecture when you register.

We look forward to welcoming you at this event. Please direct any queries to Mandeep Singh Sehmi (PhD researcher and Research Assistant) on sehmim2@uni.coventry.ac.uk

The post Event: “Faith, Politics & Social Justice: The General Election and Beyond” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Public Lecture: ‘Socializing Influences on Young People’s Attitudes to Religion and Religious Diversity: Findings from a Nation-Wise Project in the UK’

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The University of Western Sydney’s Religion and Society Research Centre invites you to attend a Public Lecture:

‘Socializing  Influences on Young People’s Attitudes to Religion and Religious Diversity: Findings from a Nation-Wise Project in the UK’

Speaker: Dr Elisabeth Arweck, University of Warwick

Date:  Monday, 09 February 2015

Time:  11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Venue: UWS Bankstown Campus, Building 23, Room G.40

RSVP: SSAP-Travel@uws.edu.au by 02 February 2015 (for catering purposes)

This is an open and free event.

Abstract

The presentation will draw on data from a three-year project (2009–2012) in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick, which explored the attitudes of 13–16 year-old pupils across the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland) towards religious diversity. The project was funded by the Religion and Society Programme of two major funding bodies in the UK: the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The project took a mixed method approach, combining qualitative with quantitative data: focus group discussions with, and a survey by questionnaire of, young people in secondary schools.

The post Public Lecture: ‘Socializing Influences on Young People’s Attitudes to Religion and Religious Diversity: Findings from a Nation-Wise Project in the UK’ appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.