International workshop on “New religiosity in migration”
Convenors: Nelly Elias and Julia Lerner
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel May 27-30, 2013

What are the relations between a spiritual quest and an intercultural migration experience? Why immigrants become more religious than they were before immigrating? How do host national contexts influence immigrant religiosity? What are the patterns
of immigrant religiosity within the global boom of religion and spiritual movements? Based on these questions we suggest bringing together the research insights on immigrant religiosity emerging in the host cultural contexts and to examine new forms, languages and meanings constituted by this intercultural religious transformation.

The workshop will be organized as an exchange of ideas rising in empirical investigations of various migration contexts and immigrant groups in Israel, Europe, US and the post-Soviet space with a special focus on postsocialist spiritual trends and religious trajectories in the Russian-speaking diaspora. We believe that juxtaposition and comparison of different manifestations of migrant religiosity will encourage new ways of conceptualization of these phenomenon.

As a space of extensive migration, Israeli cultural and political context introduces a variety of immigrant groups that bring with them different religious and spiritual worldviews or reinvent them in their new country. In this sense Israel serves as a strategic location for a workshop on immigrant religiosity. Apart from intellectual discussions we invite the participants to take advantage of the immediate surrounding and conduct fieldwork tours to the spaces of immigrant religiosity in the area.

We invite scholars from social and cultural studies of migration, contemporary religion, spirituality & new age, and post-socialist cultural condition to join our working colloquium organized according to the following themes:

Religiosity as a device of national belonging and citizenship

Religion provides symbols, rituals and scripts that immigrants can use to affirm, pass on, or reinvent their collective identity and position themselves vis-à-vis the host and the home countries. Therefore, religion choices could teach us on migrants’ relocation strategies. In some national contexts the religious practices represent imitative adoption of the local cultural and political patterns, while in the other contexts they represent an alternative or resistance to the host society and its way of life.

Immigrant religion as acquisition of a new habitus

Any migration implies some degree of cultural change, all the more adopting religious rules and prescriptions of everyday practice in migration intensifies the need for adopting a new habitus. Adult migrants work to change their everyday practice, body appearance and visibility, consumption behavior, social network, patterns of interpersonal communication and family relations. Using their new and old cultural repertoire, immigrants develop everyday strategies to keep and maneuver the cultural worlds they live in, separate or mix them together.

Therapeutic powers of religion in migration

Migration and settling down in a new country are often associated with various individual and group “crises”: crisis of identify, psychological stress, family crisis etc. In this regard, religious affiliation and practice perform a therapeutic function when religious doctrine and religious community serve as an emotional shelter in the state of instability, as a surrogate family symbolically replacing distant relatives, or as a source for a new collective meaning instead of the one that was lost in migration. The proximity of psychological and religious discourses in the contemporary religious and spiritual movements makes the therapeutic appeal of religion in migration especially powerful and evident.

Immigrant religiosity as intercultural translation

Immigrant religiosity often involves work of intercultural interpretation, converting the code of the core religious ideas and symbols. As they acquire religious thinking and practice in a new language, immigrants learn simultaneously to speak locally and religiously. Reinventing their beliefs in a new context they are preoccupied with the translation of cultural ideas creating a hybrid religious code. This eclecticism becomes intertwined with the tendency of the contemporary religious and spiritual rhetoric to bring together discourses of different and even contradictory cultural origins.

Transnational immigrant religiosity and new media

Religious life in and through new media represents a crucial factor that affects the ways of belief and practice of contemporary religiosity. It is especially prominent for immigrant religious communities that cross and challenge national and cultural borders. Immigrants use new media platforms either to reestablish their affiliation with religious communities of their home countries or to create completely new local or transnational frames of belonging.

Those who wish to take part are invited to send us a short proposal (up to 250 words) of your research related to one of the workshop themes as well as your CV by October 5, 2012 to julialer@bgu.ac.il and enelly@bgu.ac.il. Answers are expected at November 15, 2012. Some contribution towards participants’ expenses will be available.

About the workshop venue and the convenors:

The workshop is will be hosted by the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel). BGU is known for its expertise and extensive research on the issues of contemporary religion, migration and diaspora.

Prof. Nelly Elias and Dr. Julia Lerner are conducting a joint research on “Belief and Practice of Belonging: Religious Transformation of Post-Soviet Immigrants in Israel”. The study traces the routes of the Russianspeaking religiosity in Israel, focusing on the newly established Christian and Jewish movements and communities. Elias as a scholar of immigrant media (from the Department of Communication, BGU) and Lerner as an anthropologist of knowledge (from the departments of Sociology and Anthropology, BGU), bring together their theoretical lens and emphasize the cultural and discursive turn of the new post-soviet religiosity manifested in immigrants’ narratives and experience of everyday life.

Towards a Symmetrical Approach: The Study of Religions After Postmodern and Postcolonial Criticism
29 November – 1 December 2012 * Brno * Czech Republic
http://www.phil.muni.cz/relig/symmetry2012/

“The symmetry postulate”, as David Bloor formulated it, “enjoins us to seek the same kind of causes for both true and false, rational and irrational beliefs.” Such a principle seems to conform to the common sense. At the same time it is often neglected in the field of social sciences. In the light of consequences of this principle, the academic study of religions seems to be predominantly an exercise in asymmetry: neglecting the voices of women and favouring men’s worlds; preferring the voices of experts over those of lay participants, of elites over ordinary people; siding with the winners against the losers. The postmodern and postcolonial criticism of the Western scholarly tradition have brought number of such asymmetries to our sight. Yet, the symmetrical ways are still an unexplored territory.
This workshop on the symmetrical approach would like to offer a chance to explore this unexplored territory together. We therefore invite students of religions, qualitative sociologists, anthropologists, and historians to exchange ideas and scholarly experience and examples of good practice at a workshop on the symmetrical approach in the study of religions held in Brno, Czech Republic.
See the call for papers for a more detailed overview:

http://www.phil.muni.cz/relig/symmetry2012/call-for-papers.php

Organizing bodies
Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University
Czech Association for the Study of Religions (CASR)

INFORM Seminar XLIX
CHANGING BELIEFS AND SCHISMS IN NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics, Saturday 1 December 2012
http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/mapsAndDirections/howToGetToLSE.htm

To register: WE ARE NOW TAKING PAYPAL BOOKINGS:
http://www.inform.ac/seminar-payment
Or post a booking form (attached) and a cheque payable to ‘Inform’ to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE.
(Inform@lse.ac.uk; 020 7955 7677).
Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 12 November 2012 cost  £38 each (£18 students/unwaged).
NB. Tickets booked after 12 November 2012 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged).
A limited number of seats will be made available to A-Level students at £10 before 12 November 2012 (£20 after 12 November). A party of 5 or more A-Level students from one school can include one member of staff at the same price.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

The presence of speakers on an Inform programme does not mean that Inform endorses their position.
The aim of Inform Seminars is to help participants to understand, or at least recognise, different perspectives.
For Inform’s codes of practice see http://www.inform.ac/

9.30-9.50    Registration and coffee

9.50-10.00   Welcome and Introduction

10.00-10.25   Eileen Barker (Professor Emeritus, LSE; Chair & Honorary Director, Inform)
“Re-vision and Division in New Religions: Some Introductory Remarks”

10.25-10.50   Claire Borowik (Co-Director of the Worldwide Religious News Service, and member of The Family International)
“The Family International: Rebooting for the Future”

10.50-11.15   J. Gordon Melton (Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at Baylor University)
“When Science Intervenes-Revising Claims in the New Age”

11.15-11.45 Coffee

11.45-12.10   Pat Ryan and Joe Kelly (International Cultic Studies Association; ex-members of TM and Society of Divine Love)
“Transcendental Meditation and Swami Prakashananda Saraswati”

12.10-12.35   Susan Palmer (Lecturer in Religious Studies, Dawson College / Concordia University)
“Dr. Malach Z. York’s Spiritual Divagations”

12.35-13.00   Masoud Banisadr (PhD in chemical engineering and engineering mathematics, and former member of MEK)
“The Metamorphism of MEK (Mujahedin e Khalgh) and its Schism”

13.00-14.00 Lunch

14.00-14.25   James Tong (Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles)
“The Re-Invented Wheel: Revisioning and Diversification in the Falun Gong, 1992-2012”

14.25-14.50   Mike Mickler (Professor of Church History, Unification Theological Seminary)
“The Post-Sun Myung Moon Unification Church”

14.50-15.15   Eugene Clay (Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University)
“Mother of God Derjavnaja / The New Cathar Church”

15.15-15.45 Tea

15.45-16.10   Eugene Gallagher (Rosemary Park Professor of Religious Studies, Connecticut College)
“The Branch Davidians”

16.10-16.35   Massimo Introvigne (Lawyer and Managing Director of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions), Turin)
“Mormon Origins – Revisionism or Re-Interpretation?”

16.35-17.15 Panel Discussion

Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications
disclaimer: http://lse.ac.uk/emailDisclaimer

The College of Liberal Arts of De La Salle University holds research workshops on The Youth and the Sacred: On Filipino Youth’s Sacred Experiences, Sacred Performances and Notions of the Sacred.

The workshops are divided into the following themes: “The Youth and Religious Discourses”, “The sacred as resource/s”, “Sacred in Spaces and Places: Visual and Material Culture As Media of the Sacred” and “Towards the Rubrics of the Sacred in Young Filipinos: Methodologies, Frameworks,and Avenues for Research.”

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE 1ST WORKSHOP JULY 27, 2012
“The Youth and Religious Discourses”
Main Speaker: Dr. Gerry Lanuza, University of the Philippines
July 27, 2012
Andrew Gonzalez Building RM 1506, De La Salle University Philippines

In the Philippines, a cursory research on Google yields results on sacred that are intimately connected to religion or religious identity. This first workshop gathers scholars who research on youth and religious discourses. Participants will explore the intersections of sacred and religion, of the varying manifestations of sacred in spiritualities, and how these intersect with gender, class and ethnicity in young Filipinos. Moreover, in Asian context, the affirmation of life is widely held and valued.
Nevertheless, an exhaustive research on youth cultures has to take into consideration the myriad of experiences of young people that seemingly undermine such value, like poverty, child labor, sexual trafficking and belonging in large families, to name a few.

Tentatively, the following questions will be considered:
1. In young Filipinos who find increasing dissonance between their new found beliefs and traditional beliefs, how is sacred conceptualized, interrogated or negotiated?
2. In young Filipino Muslims, how is sacred understood or conceptualized that takes into account the religious mandate of Islam that one’s life should be completely surrendered to Allah?
3. How have the “new religious movements,” “new-age movements,” “mega-church phenomenon,” and the like define or re-define the understanding of sacred in young Filipinos?
4. Is sacred to be identified solely as religious? How has spirituality revealed/manifested sacred? Is spirituality connected to sacred?
5. Is life in the Philippines sacred? What is the current evidence/s to show that it is so? What are the threats to the sacredness of life?

Expected output:

Critical inquiry into the classical division between sacred and profane, religious and secular, traditional and modern, sacralization and secularization, believers/nonbelievers, atheists, religious minority, indigenous peoples and its contemporary significance to young Filipinos in particular.

For more information on the workshop, please contact Dr. Jeane C. Peracullo, Philosophy Department, De La Salle University at jeane.peracullo@dlsu.edu.ph or mobile: +63-939-9208-132.  Workshop website is at
http://interfaithphilippines.wordpress.com/filipino-youth-and-sacred-research-workshops-2012/

RELIGION IN CYBERSPACE 2012
Call for Papers

We cordially invite you to participate in the workshop ‘Religion in Cyberspace 2012’ which will take place at the 10th international conference Cyberspace 2012 held in Brno, Czech Republic, 30 November – 1 December 2012.

Illustrative topics

religious normative frameworks in cyberspace, networking diasporas, religious collaborative environments, on-line counseling, on-line fatwas and cyber muftis, new religious movements, religious discourses in cyberspace, methodology of online-religion research, rituals in cyberspace etc.

Note: Authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit their papers for peer review to Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology (MUJLT – mujlt.law.muni.cz) or Cyberpsychology (http://www.cyberpsychology.eu).

Important dates

Abstract submission deadline: 31 July 2012
Notice on acceptance deadline: 31 August 2012
Conference dates: 30 November – 1 December 2012
Papers for publication deadline: 11 January 2013

Abstract formal requirements

Range: max. 1.500 characters incl. spaces
Submission: on-line at www.cyberspace.muni.cz

Paper formal requirements and submission

Papers published in MUJLT: http://mujlt.law.muni.cz/instructions.php
Papers published in Cyberpsychology:
http://www.cyberpsychology.eu/submission.php

Full CFP

Full version of CFP can be found here:
https://cyber.law.muni.cz/storage/1334356391_sb_cyberspace2012cfp.pdf

–Vit Sisler,
Workshop Chair
Ph.D. Charles University in Prague Faculty of Arts & Philosophy Institute of Information Science and Librarianship New Media Studies
http://uisk.jinonice.cuni.cz/sisler/

RESEARCHING THE CONTEMPORARY MORAL LANDSCAPE: CONCEPTS, METHODS AND APPROACHES TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

An intensive residential training programme for doctoral students and early career researchers run by the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, University of Kent in conjunction with the RSA

Monday 10th – Friday 14th September, 2012

The AHRC’s Care for the Future research theme emphasises the importance of studying the ‘ethical, moral, cultural and social landscapes’ of contemporary life. How do we engage with this challenge conceptually, though, or practice research in ways that engage effectively with these complex phenomena? What public audiences do these questions matter to and how can we communicate our work in creative and useful ways? This week-long intensive training workshop, delivered in conjunction with the RSA, will provide doctoral students and early career researchers with a unique opportunity to address these questions through workshop sessions with a range of experienced researchers. The programme content will include a range of disciplinary perspectives and will aim not so much to provide a comprehensive framework, but diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives which can act as a stimulus for participants’ future research.

Speakers at the event will include Louisa Bolch, Abby Day, Adam Dinham, Lois Lee, Gordon Lynch, David Morgan, and Linda Woodhead. Specific areas to be covered in the programme will include:
* forms of ‘belief’ in everyday life
* visual and material culture as media of moral life
* understanding the contemporary moral landscape through literature and the arts 
* the good life and the ‘social brain’
* the contemporary significance of the sacred and the profane
* new forms of ritualization in contemporary society
* the policy context for understanding the contemporary moral landscape
Other training sessions will also explore different approaches to public engagement through print, digital and broadcast media.
The event will run from the morning Monday 10th September until the end of the afternoon on Friday 14th September at the RSA’s offices just off the Strand in central London. There is no registration fee. Lunch and dinner will be provided free of charge, and free overnight accommodation will also be provided in central London for those participants who require it. Delegates’ travel costs within the UK will also be met.
We anticipate a high degree of interest in this programme, and the deadline for applications is Monday 4th June.
Further information on the programme, and how to apply for it, is available at
http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/researchcentres/crcs/moral_landscape.html

Gordon Lynch
Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology
Department of Religious Studies
University of Kent

UCL’s Dr Myriam Hunter-Henin is pleased to announce a workshop to be held at UCL on 12th June 2012 on Negotiating Religion
Workshop: Legal Framework – Schools and Religious Freedom

This one day workshop, which is part of the Negotiating Religion Workshop Series, will look at how and to what extent do legal frameworks – judicial reasoning and legal processes – allow space for negotiating religious issues. The workshop will look at questions such as: * Does this negotiation take place with religious communities or directly with the individuals who claim that their religious freedoms have been infringed? * What are the main actors of the negotiating process? * Who benefits from it? * What are the risks of ‘negotiating’? * Is ‘negotiation’ the best way to reach a fair compromise between conflicting rights and claims? * Is negotiating with religious freedoms any different to negotiation in respect of other human rights? * What special features/dangers derive from the school context in which this negotiation takes place? * What does teaching in a secular institution imply?
These crucial questions will be addressed through analysis of topical case law and legal scholarship under four headings:
1. Religious symbols
2. Religious education and teaching content
3. Religion and staff
4. Faith Schools

You can book online for this conference at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/religion
The cost to attend is:
£60 – standard ticket
£30 – academic ticket
£10 – student ticket