Category Archives: Seminars

News & Opportunities from the Australian Association for the Study of Religion

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The AASR 2019 Conference on ‘Religion and Violence’ is open for registration. Presenters: please ensure you register by 4 November 2019 to be included in the program. A conference schedule is nowavailable with exciting pre-conference workshops on 4 December that include:

The Journal for the Academic Study of Religion has a new list of books up for review. More info.

Call for Papers:
Conferences

  • Artificial Intelligence and Religion – AIR2020, 3 – 5 March 2020, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento. Abstract deadline: 21 October 2019. More info.
  • What’s God got to do with it? Debating religion and forced migration entanglements, July 27-30, 2020, Accra, Ghana. Abstract deadline: 25 October 2019. More info.
  • The 25th Nordic Conference in the Sociology of Religion. 17-19 August 2020, Gothenburg, Sweden on ‘Religious Organisation(s): Challenges and changes in contemporary society’. Session proposal deadline: 15 November 2019. More info.
  • Rethinking​ ​Media, Religion and Secularities. Conference of the International Society for Media, Religion and Culture Conference location: Sigtuna Foundation, Sigtuna, Sweden. Conference dates: 4-7 of August 2020. Deadline for Paper proposals: 6 December 2019. More info.
  • The XXII Quinquennial World Congress of the IAHR, hosted by the New Zealand Association for the Study of Religions, will take place at the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand from 23-29 August 2020. Submission deadline 31 December 2019. More info.

  Publications

  • Call for book proposals: Bloomsbury welcomes book proposals for Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion, edited by Birgit Meyer (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands), David Morgan (Duke University, USA), Crispin Paine (UCL, UK), S. Brent Plate (Hamilton College, USA), and Amy Whitehead (Bath Spa University, UK). More info.
  • Book Proposals in East Asian Religions. More info.
  • Chapters: Religious Responses to Sex Work and Sex Trafficking – Routledge. Deadline for AASR members: 11 October 2019. More info.
  • Special Issue: Religion, Economy, and Class in Global Context. Abstract deadline 15 October 2019. More info.
  • Call for papers on Religion & Ecology for a special issue of Religions. Deadline 31 May 2020.

Events/Seminars

  • The 2019 Hans Mol Memorial Lecture: “Imagining Asian Australia: Constructions of ‘Asian Religion’ and Australian Federation” by Professor Marion Maddox, 18 October 2019. More info.
  • The 2019 Freilich Lecture of Bigotry and Tolerance: “An Australian Story: The Politics of Bigotry in a Tolerant Country” by David Marr. 31 October 2019. More info.
  • Religion in Contemporary Society – What do we need to know to manage complexity?
    31 October 2019, Turku/Åbo, Finland. More info.
  • Migrant Youth in Multicultural Cities: Comparative Perspectives on Culture, Religion and Identity. 31 October 2019, Deakin University. Panellists: Prof Lori Beaman, A/Prof Serena Hussain and Prof Fethi Mansouri. More info.

Job Opportunities

Seminar: Religion in Contemporary Society – What do we need to know to manage complexity?

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31.10 2019, Turku/Åbo, Finland

Sibelius Museum, Piispankatu 17

13.00   Linda Woodhead, Distinguished Prof. of Religion and Society, Lancaster University, UK: De-Reformation: how the old religious and political order came apart and what has taken its place

  • Response by Terhi Utriainen, Prof. of the Study of Religions, University of Turku

14.00  Paul Bramadat, Prof., Director, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Canada:   Urban Religion, Irreligion, and Spirituality: After After Religion in Canada  

  • Response by Tuomas Martikainen, Director, Migration Institute of Finland, Turku
  • Discussion (Chair: Tuula Sakranaho, Prof. of the Study of Religions, University of Helsinki)

15.30   Coffee

Turku City Library, Linnankatu 2

17.00   Public Discussion: Uskonto ja suomalainen yhteiskunta – mihin olemme menossa?

Paneelikeskustelun tarkoituksena on valottaa Suomen uskonnollista nykytilannetta ja siinä tapahtuvia muutoksia eri uskontokuntien näkökulmista. Onko uskontojen rooli yhteiskunnassa muuttumassa, ja millä tavoin? Millä elämän aloilla uskontoa joudutaan pohtimaan uudella tavalla? Pystyykö suomalainen yhteiskunta vastaamaan yhä monimuotoisemman yhteiskunnan haasteisiin ja näkemään myös sen tarjoamat mahdollisuudet?

  • Kaarlo Kalliala, piispa, Turun arkkihiippakunta
  • Simon Livson, rabbi, Helsingin ja Turun juutalaiset seurakunnat
  • Terhi Utriainen, professori, Turun yliopisto
  • Zahra al-Take, opettaja, Turku
  • Ari Vuokko, psykoterapeutti, Suomen vietnamilaisten buddhalaisten yhdyskunnan varapuheenjohtaja

Moderaattori: Dosentti Ruth Illman, Donner-instituutti, Turku

The seminar is arranged by the Argumenta Project “Uskontolukutaito moniarvoisessa yhteiskunnassa”, dealing with religious literacy in contemporary diverse societies: https://katsomukset.fi/argumenta/

It is free of charge, no registration needed.

Welcome!

Masterclass on ‘Critical Religion’

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All Postgraduate, Honours and Undergraduate Students are invited to
A Masterclass on ‘Critical Religion’ – How Theory that Deconstructs the Category of ‘Religion’ Can Lead to Better Research

With Visiting UoN Fellow
Prof Naomi Goldenberg, Professor of Classics and Religious Studies
University of Ottawa, Canada

10am -12.30pm (X301) NeW Space City Campus, University of Newcastle, December 4, 2019

This Masterclass is free to all students and is supported by the Centre for the Study of Violence, University of Newcastle.

Register by email to Dr Kathleen McPhillips (Kathleen.mcphillips@newcastle.edu.au)

Description of Masterclass
Over the last two decades, a growing number of academics who study ‘religion’ have noticed that the idea that is foundational for their scholarship is fiction. I mean fiction in the Latin sense of factus as signifying something that is made, built, or constructed.  This insight opposes notions of ‘religion’ as a thing or phenomenon that has always existed everywhere in one form or another and that continues to manifest itself in different traditions and configurations throughout the globe. Proponents of “critical religion” understand religion to be a somewhat incoherent, rather recent concept that is projected as an anachronism onto history.  According to this view, ‘religion’ is a modern, discursive product of differing, context-specific, dynamics of power with particular relation to the politics of colonialism and statecraft.  Attendant terms and ideas such as ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’ are looked at similarly.

“Critical religion” is sometimes dismissed as mere semantics and/or as irrelevant to ‘the real world’ in which religion is assumed to exist and is treated as a powerful force in law, culture and experience.  Professor Goldenberg disagrees and will argue that better thinking about government, public policy and scholarly research depends on recognizing the confusion adhering to ‘religion’ as a category of analysis and rejecting it in favor of more coherent concepts.

Prof Goldenberg will use her own work on government and feminism to demonstrate how critical religion can be productively applied.  To prepare for the masterclass, participants will be asked to read two of her papers and then during the Masterclass be invited to think about their own research projects in terms of this deconstructive approach.    

CFP, Events, & Job Announcements from the AASR

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Call for Papers:
Conferences

  • The Australian Church and the Australian Settlement, University of Newcastle NSW, 4 December 2019. Abstract submission due 30 September 2019. More info.
  • IV ISA Forum conference 2020: ‘Challenges of the 21st century for sociology of religion‘.Open for submissions from April 25 – September 30. More info.
  • The 25th Nordic Conference in the Sociology of Religion. 17-19 August 2020, Gothenburg, Sweden on ‘Religious Organisation(s): Challenges and changes in contemporary society’. Session proposal deadline: 15 November 2019. More info.
  • Rethinking​ ​Media, Religion and Secularities. Conference of the International Society for Media, Religion and Culture Conference location: Sigtuna Foundation, Sigtuna, Sweden. Conference dates: 4-7 of August 2020. Deadline for Paper proposals: 6 December 2019. More info.
  • The XXII Quinquennial World Congress of the IAHR, hosted by the New Zealand Association for the Study of Religions, will take place at the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand from 23-29 August 2020. Submission deadline 31 December 2019. More info.

  Publications

  • Call for book proposals: Bloomsbury welcomes book proposals for Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion, edited by Birgit Meyer (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands), David Morgan (Duke University, USA), Crispin Paine (UCL, UK), S. Brent Plate (Hamilton College, USA), and Amy Whitehead (Bath Spa University, UK). More info.
  • ‘Touch’ and Religion. Deadline 1 October 2019. More info.
  • Book Proposals in East Asian Religions. More info.
  • Chapters: Religious Responses to Sex Work and Sex Trafficking – Routledge. Deadline for AASR members: 11 October 2019. More info.
  • Special Issue: Religion, Economy, and Class in Global Context. Abstract deadline 15 October 2019. More info.
  • Call for papers on Religion & Ecology for a special issue of Religions. Deadline 31 May 2020.

Events/Seminars

  • Mirrors of Iran: A Continuum of Architectural Heritage. 2019 Iranica Conference on 28 September 2019. More info.
  • ‘The Islamist Paradox’ by A/Prof William Shepard, University of Canterbury (NZ). Organised by the Religion and Society Research Cluster, Western Sydney University on 4 October 2019. More info.
  • The 2019 Hans Mol Memorial Lecture: “Imagining Asian Australia: Constructions of ‘Asian Religion’ and Australian Federation” by Professor Marion Maddox, 18 October 2019. More info.
  • The 2019 Freilich Lecture of Bigotry and Tolerance: “An Australian Story: The Politics of Bigotry in a Tolerant Country” by David Marr. 31 October 2019. More info.

Postgrad/ECR Opportunities

  • AASR 2019 Conference HDR/ECR Workshop on 4 Dec 2019. More info.
  • AASR 2019 Conference postgraduate bursaries (worth $500 each) are open for application.More info.

Job Opportunities

School of Advanced Studies in the Sociology of Religion: 16-19 December, 2019. Rome

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SAFSOR: Scuola di Alta Formazione in Sociologia della Religione

Università Roma Tre, Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, via del Castro Pretorio 20, 00185, aula C5, Roma, 16-19 dicembre 2019

RELIGIONI E MEDITERRANEO

Programma

Lunedì, 16 Dicembre

  • 9:30 – 10:00: Saluti di Roberto Cipriani, Cecilia Costa, Emanuela C. del Re e Giuseppe Chinnici (Fondazione Ozanam)
  • 10:00 – 11:00: Relazione introduttiva del Presidente Onorario dell’ICSOR, Franco Ferrarotti su “La vocazione interreligiosa e interculturale del Mediterraneo”
  • 11:00 – 12:00: Relazione di Jörg Stolz, Università di Losanna, “The secular transition model: A review and new evidence”
  • 12:00 – 12:30: Dibattito
  • 12:30 – 15:00: Pausa buffet
  • 15:00 – 16:00: “Il pentecostalismo migrante nell’Europa cattolica. Uno sguardo incrociato su Africa e Italia”, Annalisa Butticci
  • 16:00 – 16:15: Dibattito
  • 16:15 – 16:45: Pausa
  • 16:45 – 17:45: “Religione e cooperazione”, Emanuela C. Del Re
  • 17:45 – 18:00: Dibattito
  • 18:00 – 19:00: “Mediterraneo: nuovo ‘Lago Tiberiade’”, Chiara Canta
  • 19:00 – 19,15: Dibattito
  • 20:30: Cena Sociale: Nonna Betta (via del Portico d’Ottavia 16)

Martedì, 17 Dicembre

  • 9:00 – 10:00: “Il fattore religioso nelle dinamiche migratorie e nei processi di integrazione. Riflessioni sul caso italiano”, Roberta Ricucci
  • 10:00 – 10:15: Dibattito
  • 10:15 – 10:45: Pausa
  • 10:45 – 11:45: “Nuovi movimenti religiosi in Cina: il caso della Chiesa di Dio Onnipotente”, Massimo Introvigne
  • 11:45 – 12:00: Dibattito
  • 12:00 – 13:00: “Mediterraneo delle religioni: tra storia e immaginario culturale”, Anna Carfora
  • 13:00 – 13.15: Dibattito
  • 13:15 – 15:00: Pausa buffet
  • 15:00 – 16:00: “ Il sacro femminile nelle religioni mediterranee”, Enrica Tedeschi
  • 16.00 – 16:15: Dibattito
  • 16:15 – 16:45: Pausa
  • 16:45 – 17:45: “Mediterraneo, un confine sempre meno liquido”, Maria Immacolata Macioti
  • 17.45 – 18:00: Dibattito
  • 18.00 – 19:00: Incontro conviviale con la Comunità Sikh

Mercoledì, 18 Dicembre

  • 9:00 – 10:00: “Religione e vita quotidiana all’Havana. Immagini di Ochún, Madonna mulatta”, Elena Zapponi
  • 10:00 – 10:15: Dibattito
  • 10:15 – 10:45: Pausa
  • 10:45 – 11:45: “L’interpretazione weberiana della modernità e del capitalismo”, Vittorio Cotesta
  • 11:45 – 12:00: Dibattito
  • 12:00 – 13:00: ““L’islam in Europa diventerà europeo?””, Stefano Allievi
  • 13:00 – 13:15: Dibattito
  • 13:15 – 15:00: Pausa buffet
  • 15:00 – 16:00: “Il ritorno contemporaneo all’animismo nelle diverse versioni”, Alessandra Ciattini
  • 16:00 – 16:15: Dibattito
  • 16:15 – 16:45: Pausa
  • 16:45 – 17:45: “Tra vecchio e nuovo antisemitismo”, David Meghnagi
  • 17:45 – 18:00: Dibattito

Giovedì, 19 Dicembre

  • 9:00 – 10:00: “Musei/Patrimoni culturali. Forme attese del Rito e del Sacro”, Vincenzo Padiglione
  • 10:00 – 10:15: Dibattito
  • 10:15 – 10:45: Pausa
  • 10:45 – 11:45: “Schleiermacher, ermeneutica e religione”, Paolo Montesperelli
  • 11:45 – 12:00: Dibattito
  • 12:00 – 13:00: “La frammentazione degli orizzonti religiosi nella società digitale”, Costantino Cipolla
  • 13:00 – 13:15: Dibattito
  • 13:15 – 15:00: Pausa buffet
  • 15:00 – 16:00: “Studio delle religioni e dinamiche di pace”, Alessandro Saggioro
  • 16:00 – 16:15: Dibattito
  • 16:15 – 16:45: Pausa
  • 16:45 – 17:45: “Educare in contesti multiculturali”, Massimiliano Fiorucci
  • 17:45 – 18:00: Dibattito

A seguire: Cerimonia di chiusura e Consegna degli attestati

Public Seminar: Religion in Contemporary Society

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Religion in Contemporary Society – What do we need to know to manage complexity?

31.10 2019, Turku/Åbo, Finland
Sibelius Museum, Piispankatu 17

13.00 Linda Woodhead, Distinguished Prof. of Religion and Society, Lancaster University, UK: De-Reformation: how the old religious and political order came apart and what has taken its place

  • Response by Terhi Utriainen, Prof. of the Study of Religions, University of Turku

14:00 Paul Bramadat, Prof., Director, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Canada:   Urban Religion, Irreligion, and Spirituality: After After Religion in Canada    

  • Response by Tuomas Martikainen, Director, Migration Institute of Finland, Turku

Discussion (Chair: Tuula Sakranaho, Prof. of the Study of Religions, University of Helsinki)

15.30 Coffee

Turku City Library, Linnankatu 2

17.00 Public Discussion: Uskonto ja suomalainen yhteiskunta – mihin olemme menossa?

Paneelikeskustelun tarkoituksena on valottaa Suomen uskonnollista nykytilannetta ja siinä tapahtuvia muutoksia eri uskontokuntien näkökulmista. Onko uskontojen rooli yhteiskunnassa muuttumassa, ja millä tavoin? Millä elämän aloilla uskontoa joudutaan pohtimaan uudella tavalla? Pystyykö suomalainen yhteiskunta vastaamaan yhä monimuotoisemman yhteiskunnan haasteisiin ja näkemään myös sen tarjoamat mahdollisuudet?

Kaarlo Kalliala, piispa, Turun arkkihiippakunta

Simon Livson, rabbi, Helsingin ja Turun juutalaiset seurakunnat

Terhi Utriainen, professori, Turun yliopisto

Zahra al-Take, opettaja, Turku

Ari Vuokko, psykoterapeutti, Suomen vietnamilaisten buddhalaisten yhdyskunnan varapuheenjohtaja

Moderaattori: Dosentti Ruth Illman, Donner-instituutti, Turku

The seminar is arranged by the Argumenta Project “Uskontolukutaito moniarvoisessa yhteiskunnassa”, dealing with religious literacy in contemporary diverse societies: https://katsomukset.fi/argumenta/

It is free of charge, no registration needed.  Welcome!

Public Lecture: Minors in Minority Religions

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Minors in Minority Religions: The Delicate Balance between Religious Freedom and the Well-being of the Child. Speaker: Dr Susan J. Palmer (School of Religious Studies, McGill University). Held at Western Sydney University, 17 September 2019, 1-3pm

To be accompanied by a special seminar: “Researching New Religions: Qualitative Methods in a Controversial Field” by guest instructor, Susan J. Palmer. Run by the Religion and Society Research Cluster (RSRC) at Western Sydney University. 19 September, 1-4pm 

Click HERE for more information.  (Scroll down to locate these events.)

Introduction to Islamic Codicology

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We are once again collaborating  with the Islamic Manuscript Association’s Introduction to Islamic Codicology course on 23–27 September 2019 at Cambridge University Library, Cambridge.

This intensive five-day course will introduce the study of Islamic manuscript codices as physical objects, or the archaeology of the Islamic book. The lectures will provide an overview of writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in book making, the palaeography of book hands, and writing Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) manuscript descriptions. During hands-on sessions, participants will examine Islamic manuscripts from Cambridge University Library’s collections and complete a series of practical exercises on codicological description.

If you are interested then please contact the Association or apply via their website.

Regards
Neil Cunningham
Programmes Manager
Centre of Islamic Studies
University of Cambridge

INFORM Seminar: “How Minority Religions React to the Law”

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Registration is now open for the next Inform Seminar, How Minority Religions React to the Law, in conjunction with the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King’s College, London.

Saturday 1st June, 10am-5pm (registration at 9.30). Bush House Lecture Theatre 1, King’s College, London, 30 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BG.

Please visit https://inform.ac/seminars to book tickets via Paypal or credit/debit card.

Registration costs:

  • Standard: £38
  • Unwaged/ university student: £18
  • A Level student: £10

After 12th May, ticket prices will increase by £10, across all three categories and refunds will not be offered.

Speakers include:

  • Professor Eileen Barker, FAcSS, FBA, OBE, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Founder and Honorary Acting Director of Inform.
  • Dr Effie Fokas, Senior Research Fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), host institution to the Grassrootsmobilise project, which studies grassroots level mobilisations ‘in the shadow’ of European Court of Human Rights religious freedoms jurisprudence.
  • Professor Susan Palmer, Director of a four-year (SSHRC Insight) research project, ‘Children in Sectarian Religions and State Control’ at McGill University’s School of Religious Studies, who will present a paper on The Trials of the Old Order Mennonites of Manitoba, 2013-2106.
  • Ringo Ringvee, a government official from Estonia who will speak about minority religions’ reactions to recent laws in Estonia.
  • Eric Roux, President of the Union of Churches of Scientology of France and Vice President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights.
  • Dr Rin Ushiyama, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, an expert on Aum Shinrikyo, and its offshoots Aleph and Hikari No Wa.
  • Peter Zoehrer, Secretary General of FOREF Europe (Forum for Religious Freedom), Austria, and a member of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

New Online Seminar Series on Diasporas / Presentation Katrina Burgess

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Dear all,

A few months ago a group of colleagues and I at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (El Colef) and the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico created an online seminar series on diaspora studies, called the Seminario Permanente de Estudios sobre Diásporas.
During this initial year the presentations have focused primarily on Mexico and its diaspora in the US and the sessions have been held in Spanish. The videos of the first three sessions can be consulted on our Facebook site for anyone interested:
This Thursday, September 28th at 12pm CST (Mexico City / Chicago time) we are happy to announce the participation of Katrina Burgess of Tufts University who will present part of her upcoming book Courting Migrants: How States Make Diasporas and Diasporas Make States, in which she compares the diaspora policies of states such as Turkey and Mexico. Alexandra Délano of the New School will be her commentator.
As mentioned, the seminar is virtual and anyone interested in joining can do so using the following link:
Future sessions will be held in both Spanish and English and will seek to cover cases in both Latin America and in other geographical contexts. Ultimately, we hope to promote collaborative comparative research and dialogue between researchers working on diaspora studies.
For anyone interested in joining our mailing list or in presenting their research within the seminar cycle, please send a brief message to seminariodiasporas@gmail.com or contact me directly at bpbruce@gmail.com or bbruce@colef.mx.
Best,
Benjamin Bruce

 

————-
Benjamin Bruce, Ph.D.
CONACYT Research Fellow | Catedrático CONACYT
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
Técnicos 277, Tecnológico, Monterrey NL, México, CP 64700
+52 81 8387 5027 ext. 6614