Category Archives: Funding

The John Templeton Foundation- Gods in Minds: The Science of Religious Cognition

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The John Templeton Foundation is launching a $3m funding competition to advance the scientific study of religious cognition.

Purpose and scope: Scientific descriptions of how people think about God and gods are currently fragmented across sub-disciplines of the psychological, cognitive, and social sciences. This competition is designed to promote integration of ten existing lines of research and to generate and test new hypotheses that emerge from this integration. Applicants may request up to $250,000 for empirical or conceptual projects of up to 30 months in duration.

Eligibility: The competition is open to researchers worldwide. Proposals are encouraged from — but not limited to — scholars in the disciplines of psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, religious studies, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science.

Deadline: October 1, 2013

Full details are available at
http://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/funding-competitions/gods-in-minds-the-science-of-religious-cognition

Call for Papers: Routes and Rites to the City: Temporal and Spatial Diversity in Johannesburg’s Migrant Religions and Rituals

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Call for Contributions

The proposed anthropological project — to be completed between March 2013 and June 2014 — aims to explore both the temporal and spatial diversity of migrant religious,divination and death rituals in inner-city and Southern Johannesburg. It will seek to explore how this diversity develops as a response to both the spiritual and material insecurities of experiences of migration. The interest in migration conceived broadly — not a bureaucratic category – but aims to explore experiences of mobility, dislocation and distance from familial and ancestral ‘homes’. Hence, it encompasses both South African nationals and non-nationals.

We aim here to outline the temporal and spatial diversity of these rituals of different urban spaces which churches occupy (the veld, factories, reclaimed churches and synagogues …) and both the economic and symbolic reasons for this diversity. In this analysis we will also conduct historical research into the uses of these urban spaces and the overlay of different temporal and spatial patterns of migration. We wish to delve into processes of sacralization and desacralization of the urban landscape as it results from disputed access to the urban space and is associated with mobility and migration historically and in its present formations.

The book will cover, among other religions and rituals: African Initiated Churches, Pentecostal, Apostolic, Catholic and Methodist churches – but aims to extend beyond a focus on Christianity. In particular we are looking for contributions on ‘traditional’ healing’ and indigenous African religions, Chinese religions, and Islam. The project will focus around Zone F and Rosettinville, though other areas will be considered.

The outputs of the project will be a book to be edited by Dr Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon (Matthew@migration.org.za) and Dr Lorena Nunez (Lorena.Nunezcarrasco@wits.ac.za ), a multi-media platform, a public symposium/workshop and an exhibition.

Participants would be expected to attend a bi-monthly discussion and reading group, to produce materials for online use and to produce a draft chapter by November 2012 and final chapter for presentation in a workshop/exhibition in February 2014, after which the final manuscript will be edited.

Technological support and limited research funding is available which will be allocated on a needs assessment. Submissions based on existing research will also be considered.

Please submit proposals with abstract, a CV and a sample of writing (preferably an existing publication) and proposed research costs (please note only research costs and not salaries or time will be paid for) by Friday March 8. Please send proposals via email to Peter Kankonde: Kankondepter@gmail.com,  cc’d to Dr Wilhelm-Solomon and Dr Nunez.

IAHR African Trust Fund Research & Publication Grant Applications for 2012

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The IAHR African Trust Fund herewith young scholars in particular of any ethnic/national origin, working and/or studying in any higher academic or research institution on the African continent (and nearby islands), whose research project needs financial support or whose publication in an African publishing house (scientific journal) requires a subsidy.

Grant Amount: The total grant allocation for 2012 is US$4000. There will be two awards at the level of US$1000 and four awards at the level of US$500.

Eligibility Criteria: Applicants have to be scholars resident in Africa and associated with any higher academic or research institution within this context. We especially encourage applications from members to the IAHR member associations, namely the African Association for the Study of Religion (AASR), the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA), the East African Association for the Study of Religion (EAASR) and the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religion (NASR).

Evaluation Mechanism & Criteria: Applications will be evaluated by the Board of Trustees of the IAHR African Trust Fund, and the board will consult specialists in the relevant fields when needed. Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  1. The originality, quality, importance and impact of the proposed study as it relates to the historical, social and comparative study of religion in the African continent (and nearby islands).
  2. Adherence to the best practices of research methodology and theory employed.
  3. The relevance of the study to the African continent (and nearby islands).

Submission Deadlines: Applications are open till 15th March 2012. Grant-winning applicants will be announced on 30th March 2012. Note that all grants will be awarded to the successful applicants in April 2012.

Conditions of Grants: Applicants who receive the grant should submit a copy of the publication or a research report (of no less than 5 pages) that summarises the project’s findings to the IAHR African Trust Fund. The publication or completed research project should acknowledge the support received in the form of an IAHR African Trust Fund Grant. The IAHR African Trust Fund will be allowed to reproduce or report the summary and parts of the report on the IAHR website, annual reports, and any other document or medium for the purpose of informing its stakeholders on the study findings. In all these publications, the authorship of the research will be clearly attributed to the applicant.

Application Form: Send a brief covering letter addressed to the IAHR African Trust Fund stating that your submission is for consideration for the IAHR African Trust Fund Grant and include the following required materials:

  1. Name of Applicant
  2. Email, Telephone Number and Mailing Address of the Applicant
  3. Name of University, Department, Research Centre or Institute
  4. Name(s) of IAHR African Member Association(s)
  5. Title of Research/Publication Proposal
  6. A research proposal of not more than four single-spaced pages detailing the aims/objectives, specific research questions, methodology and theoretical issues, the rationale and plan of research ( time frame), and a detailed, one-page budget should be attached, indicating the amount being applied for and the exact purposes for which it will be used. If application is for only publication purposes, also indicate to what specific journal or book and evidence of what sum is required for such publication.
  7. Brief curriculum vitae and a statement of qualifications that specifically addresses the research project.
  8. Include two letters of reference from senior scholars, one of whom MUST be a member, preferably an executive member of the IAHR member associations.

Completed applications forms are to be submitted as an electronic copy file in PDF or MS Word format in an attachment via email to the Secretary of the African Trust Fund Board of Trustees, Dr. Afe Adogame [A.Adogame@ed.ac.uk].

Please include in the electronic copy file the applicant’s last name e.g. Elizabeth.pdf / Elizabeth.doc. The subject line in the email should read “IAHR African Trust Fund Application 2012” – Note, no hard copies will be accepted.

For more information on the IAHR African Trust Fund Applications, please contact the Secretary of the African Trust Fund Board of Trustees at A.Adogame@ed.ac.uk