Dear All,
Call for Papers to be presented in the Regular Session: Religion, Reason and Science.

The 41st World Congress of the International Institute of Sociology (IIS) will take place in Uppsala, Sweden, on 9-10 June, 2013. The theme of the congress is Sociology in Its Global Contexts: International Institute of Sociology at 120. Both on Sunday, 9 June, and Monday, 10 June, there will be room for a large number of parallel regular sessions. Each session is 90 minutes long and consists of an oral presentation of 3 to 5 papers.

REGULAR SESSION INFORMATION
Title of Session: Religion, Reason and Science
Name of Session Convener(s): Irena C. Veljanova, University of Western Sydney, Sydney Email:
i.veljanova@uws.edu.au<mailto:i.veljanova@uws.edu.au>

Abstract: The understanding that intrinsic intellectual conflict exists between religion and science postulates that science holds the primacy over logic and rational thinking, whereas religious knowledge is unscientific, and by extension, irrational and illogical. Stephen Fuller’s (2007) argument for scientific creationism challenges this understanding stating that creationism has ‘multiple
meanings, … [some of which] have been historically instrumental (and perhaps even conceptually necessary) for the emergence and maintenance of rationality and science’ (Fuller 2007: 27-28). While not identical, science and religion are not mutually exclusive knowledge paradigms, nor are they irreconcilable cultural forces rather they are differently institutionalised (ibid.). Considering the above, the session convenor welcomes, but is not limited to, papers with theoretical and empirical focus that explore the notion of rational and logical thinking within the religious domain.

My best,
Dr. Irena C. Veljanova
Lecturer (Sociology)
Sociology and Criminology TAR Group
School of Social Sciences and Psychology University of Western Sydney