Category Archives: Study Opportunities

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

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Balkan Summer School on Religion and Public Life

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Balkan Summer School on Religion and Public Life
The Paissiy Hilendarski University of Plovdiv
July 26th –August 8th, 2015

The 2015 Balkan Summer School on Religion and Public Life (BSSRPL) will be devoted to the theme Conversion and the Boundaries of Community. As with previous schools, it proceeds from the idea that religion and other forms of collective belonging are central for the life of both individuals and society, and that our religious communities are often those to which we devote our greatest loyalties. In our diverse but increasingly interconnected world, we need to find ways to live together in a world populated by people with very different political ideas,
moral beliefs and communal loyalties.

The goal of the Summer School is to provide a laboratory for the practical pedagogy of tolerance and living with difference in a global society. Its focus is on religion as providing the fundamental terms of moral community and its aim is to produce new practices and understandings for living together in a world populated by “differences”. The Balkan Summer School takes up this very real challenge and tries to critically define differences, especially communal and religious differences between people as the starting point of a publically shared life. Its basic aim is to help participants realize their prejudices and question their taken-for-granted assumptions of the other through the construction of a safe social space of exploration and interaction that includes an innovative mixture of academic teaching, experiential field experience (practicums) and affective engagement with the challenges of “living together differently”.

Our 2015 summer school will explore the issue of conversion, (both religious and non-religious), in the Balkans and elsewhere. We will explore conversion in its legal, social, and religious aspects, as well as its place within families, as an aspect of gender identity and as a form of accommodating the power differentials in a given society. Inquiry into different forms of conversion as lived practice in the area of the Rhodope Mountains and the Thracian plain around the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv will serve as the sharp lens of our inquiry. Ultimately, however we shall be focusing on the experience of our own boundaries, preconceptions, lived practices, prejudices and preconceptions – to better appreciate how to live with difference rather than deny, trivialize or abrogate it.

Drawing on over twelve years experience of CEDAR-Communities Engaging with Difference and Religion (www.CEDARnetwork.org) the BSSRPL seeks to bring together fellows from different walks of life and different religious and confessional communities, (as well as those who define themselves as members of no such communities and have no religious identities) to explore these themes together, in conditions of mutual respect and recognition. We look forward to an enriching mix of post-graduate students, professors, NGO leaders, journalists, religious leaders, policy analysts, and teachers from the area of the Balkans, Europe and beyond to join us for the two weeks of the school.  The BSSRPL combines more traditional academic lectures with field-work, practical, experiential learning and more affectively orientated forms of group learning; in a innovative approach to learning that goes far beyond the purely cognitive.

The successful candidates will be expected to fund their own transportation to Sofia, Bulgaria. The BSSRPL maintains a needs-based tuition policy and bursaries are available.

Please send your Application to desislavadimitrova@uni-plovdiv.net or fif@uni-plovdiv.net. The deadline for Applications is 23 February 2015.

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Post-Doc: Islam in Africa

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We invite applications for a one-year postdoctoral position for a scholar working on Islam in Africa in any time-period and region and in any discipline. The fellow will teach one course in the Department of History, pursue his/her own research, participate in the activities of Stanford Center for African Studies and Stanford Global Studies Division, and contribute to the intellectual life on campus.

Candidates must have completed the Ph.D. by the time of appointment on September 1, 2015. The recipient may not be more than three years beyond the receipt of doctoral degree by the time of the appointment. Scholars trained in disciplines other than History (including, for example, Art History, Political Science, and Music) whose work engages in historical analysis are welcome to apply.

Application materials must be submitted online at http://apply.interfolio.com/27224 . Please submit a cover letter, CV, two-page description of your research plans, drafts of two course syllabi, and a writing sample of no more than 30 pages. Applicants should arrange to have three letters of recommendation submitted directly to Interfolio.

Compensation includes an annual salary of $55,000 – $60,000, health coverage, and a $1,500 research fund. Review of applications will begin on February 27, 2015. Inquiries may be addressed to Dr. Burcak Keskin-Kozat (Associate Director of the Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program) at burcak at stanford dot edu.

Stanford University is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty. It welcomes nominations of, and applications from, women, members of minority groups, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, as well as others who would bring additional dimensions to the university’s research and teaching missions.

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Workshop on Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religion

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METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
23-27  February 2015
University of Kent
Registrations now open!

This annual programme is designed to give post-graduate students core training in social research in relation to the study of religion. By the end of the programme, you will have an understanding of a range of key issues in designing and conducting research, as well as the potential and challenges of specific research methods. This should give you new ways of thinking about your own research work, as well as giving introducing you to resources and approaches that you will want to explore in more depth after completing this training. Whilst covering issues addressed on more generic social research methods training courses, the content will be designed and delivered by researchers with particular experience in studying religion, enabling us to focus on specific issues and resources relevant to this specific field.

This programme builds on Kent’s experience of delivering a similar intensive training programme, funded by the AHRC, for postgraduate research students in the study of religion in 2010. This project also led to the creation of the ‘Research methods for the study of religion’ website (www.kent.ac.uk/religionmethods) from which some of the preparatory work for this training programme has been set.

The 2015 programme will be led by Abby Day, with an international Academic Team including Lois Lee, Sarah Dunlop, Mia Lövheim, Melissa Caldwell, Sylvia Galandini, Anna Strhan, and Adam Dinham. They will  cover issues such as research design and rigour, visual methods, internet research, ethnography, qualitative research analysis, quantitative methods and resources, action research, making impact, and getting published and funded.

Numbers are strictly limited to encourage hands-on participation.

Students not registered at the University of Kent pay a nominal fee of £100.00 for the week. Accommodation and meals are not included.

For further information please contact
Dr Abby Day, Department of Religious Studies, University of Kent,
Canterbury UK
a.f.day@kent.ac.uk

The post Workshop on Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religion appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Two PhD Positions Available

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Two PhD Positions available:

The Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion has announced two PhD positions in the Mumbai project:

  • Religion in Public Spaces in Mumbai’ (advertisement at jobbnorge.no)
  • ‘Religion and Violence in Mumbai’ (advertisement at jobbnorge.no)

Application deadline for both positions: 2 January, 2015

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Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Studentships in the Arts and Humanities

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Closing Date: 26 January 2015

The Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership invites top-calibre applicants to apply to its doctoral studentships competition 2015. More than fifty fully-funded doctoral studentships are available across the full range of arts and humanities subjects, including all areas of theology and religion.

Northern Bridge is an exciting, AHRC-funded collaboration between Newcastle University, Durham University and Queen’s University Belfast.  Our aim is to deliver outstanding doctoral education in the arts and humanities, and successful applicants will join a thriving cohort of almost fifty Northern Bridge PhD students recruited through last year’s studentship competition. Northern Bridge offers exceptional supervision by academic staff researching at the cutting edge of their disciplines, vibrant research environments that promote interdisciplinary enquiry, and research training and career development opportunities tailored to the needs of twenty-first century researchers.

Northern Bridge students benefit from our close partnerships with prestigious local and national organisations in the cultural, heritage, broadcasting, and government sectors. Our partners provide a wide range of placement, research, and training opportunities, and currently comprise: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art; BBC Northern Ireland; Belfast City Council; Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure NI; Durham Cathedral; National Media Museum; New Writing North; Newcastle City Council; Sage Gateshead; Seven Stories National Centre for Children’s Books; The Bowes Museum; Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums; and Wordsworth Trust.

We provide a comprehensive and attractive package of financial support over the duration of study, which incorporates:

  • fees and maintenance at the UK Research Councils’ national rate
  • a research training support grant (RTSG) to fund the costs of study abroad, conference attendance and fieldwork
  • financial support to attend our cohort-building events
  • financial support to incorporate short-term placements, international study visits and specialist training events in order to develop your skills.

For further details, please see the Northern Bridge website:
http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/

The post Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Studentships in the Arts and Humanities appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for Application: PhD position

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PhD position Mecca in Morocco: Negotiating the Meanings of Hajj in Everday Life(vacancy number: 214261) University of Groningen, The Netherlands.http://www.rug.nl/about-us/ work-with-us/job- opportunities/overview? details=00347-02S000482P Job description The research project consists of extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Morocco to investigate the meanings and … Continue reading →