Category Archives: Publishing Opportunities

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

Announcements from the Australian Association for the Study of Religion

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The AASR 2019 Conference on ‘Religion and Violence’ is now open for registration. Early bird registration ends 30 September 2019. Four postgraduate bursaries are offered (worth $500 each). Application deadline: 30 September 2019. More info.

Call for Papers:

Conferences

  • 2019 Conference of the Australian Girard Seminar: Girard, Gender, Victims and Violence, 4-5 Oct 2019. Proposal deadline: 18 September 2019. More info.
  • 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

  • Islam and Society: Challenges and Prospects. AAIMS Second Conference on the Study of Islam and Muslim Societies, September 30th- October 1st, 2019, Western Sydney University Parramatta South Campus. 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.
  • “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. More info.

Job Opportunities

New Publications

CFP for Advanced Graduate Students

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The editors of Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review are now soliciting essays (25-page maximum or 7,000 words, all inclusive) built on dissertations in process.  Focusing on advanced graduate students, the essay should speak to your scholarship, yet generally to sociologists interested in religion by presenting a central idea of relevance to our readership and rooted in the research process.

The essay should include a clear focus on religion, which may include observations on how “sociology of religion” as a sub-field is currently being shaped, where it is heading, and why that matters, etc.  While the essay may address one’s own experiences and be written in the first person, all aspects of the essay should remain of relevance and interest to rigorous scholarship, which therefore should focus on presenting research findings and include things like conceptual breakthroughs and empirical surprises.  While conceptual and methodological rigor should be evident, a separate “Theory” or “Methods” section is not required.

All manuscripts should follow standard author guidelines (e.g., 12-point, Times Roman, double space throughout) and be submitted through Manuscript Central, https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/socrel. Be sure to cite sources and develop arguments, ideas, and explication of findings adequate to the high standards of our journal.

The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2019.

Any questions should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief, Gerardo Marti, sorjournal@davidson.edu

CFP: On Religion & Economy in Late Capitalism

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Dear Colleagues,

We are soliciting proposals for 8000-10,000-word contributions to a roundtable or special issue on religion, economy, and class in global context to submit to a leading US journal in Religious Studies. In particular, we seek contributions examining the ways that religion and economy co-produce one another in non-Western and non-Christian contexts in the current moment of late capitalism. See the abstract below.

300-word abstracts are due on October 15, 2019 and full articles are due April 1, 2020.  We have received positive interest from journal editors and expect the roundtable to be published by early 2021.

Please email the editors Kirsten Wesselhoeft (kwesselhoeft@vassar.edu) and Deonnie Moodie (dmoodie@ou.edu) with submissions and questions.

All best,
Kirsten Wesselhoeft and Deonnie Moodie

Religion, Economy, and Class in Global Context

Neoliberal capitalism shapes social and religious life worldwide, and yet theoretical work analyzing it draws disproportionately on North Atlantic contexts and Christian or Christian-secular traditions.  Scholars of religious studies, for example, have begun to examine the ways Christian ideas and practices have both produced and responded to capitalist economic conditions (Bowler 2013; Hulsether 2019; Singh 2018; Porterfield 2018).  Important recent work has also shown how practices of capitalist consumption in the US both reanimate Christian theological categories and, more broadly, constitute domains of effervescent religious activity (Gonzalez 2015; Lofton 2017; Moreton 2010; Vaca 2019).  While individual studies of religion in diverse global contexts attend to economy and class in important and novel ways (Ahmad 2017; Birla 2009; Rudnyckyj 2018), these works are rarely taken up as part of a shared conceptual conversation about economy and class in the study of religion.

This special issue seeks to address this lacuna by bringing together scholarship that examines the multitude of ways that communities in non-Christian and non-Western contexts respond to the idioms, practices, and infrastructure of the global capitalist economic order. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research, contributors address the following questions:  How do religious and economic ideas and practices produce one another in the present economic moment?  In what ways do religious idioms become intertwined with ideas about economic value and class status?  How are religious practices used to address problems of inequality inherent in neoliberal capitalism?  And how are religious idioms deployed to reproduce certain economic conditions? The editors’ introduction to the special issue will not only draw together the individual contributions, but will offer a ‘state of the field’ analysis of contemporary conversations about religion, economy, and class, taking into account the global range of work in these areas.

—

Kirsten Wesselhoeft, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religion
Vassar College
845.437.7586

Call for book proposals

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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).

    • This is the first book series dedicated exclusively to studies in material religion. Within the field of lived religion, the series is concerned with the material things with which people do religion, and how these things – objects, buildings, landscapes – relate to people, their bodies, clothes, food, actions, thoughts and emotions. The series engages and advances theories in ‘sensuous’ and ‘experiential’ religion, as well as informing museum practices and influencing wider cultural understandings with relation to religious objects and performances. Books in the series are at the cutting edge of debates as well as developments in fields including religious studies, anthropology, museum studies, art history, and material culture studies.

    • Forthcoming titles: Christianity and the Limits of Materiality,Minna Opas and Anna Haapalainen (University of Turku, Finland) Materiality, Practice, and Performance at Sacred Sites in India and Pakistan, Navtej K. Purewal (SOAS, University of London, UK) and Virinder S. Kalra (University of Manchester, UK) Food, Festival and Religion, Francesca Ciancimino Howell (Naropa University, USA) Museums of World Religions, Charles Orzech (University of Glasgow, UK).

    Please send initial enquiries to Amy Whitehead, Managing Editor (a.whitehead@yahoo.com) or Lalle Pursglove, Senior Commissioning Editor (Lalle.Pursglove@bloomsbury.com).

    CFP: Special issue on Religion & Ecology

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    Call for Papers: A special issue of the journal Religions on Religion & Ecology.  The Special Issue aims to assess the current explanations for the role of religion in addressing climate change and offer new analyses about religion and climate change from the perspectives of social sciences and humanities.

    As the pace and intensity of climate changes increases, so too does the peril it poses to earth and all who live in it. Many religions follow an ethic of caring for those most strongly impacted by the effects of events like climate change and bear the moral legitimacy to mobilize millions to act in order to ameliorate climate change. Historically, many religions have been silent, indifferent, and even hostile to environmentalism, but over the past 25 years, religious communities and organizations have developed green theologies, ethics, and rituals, and have spoken prophetically in defense of nature. But how effective have religions been in mobilization action and persuading individuals, communities, and governments to take action against climate change?

    The purpose of this Special Issue is to assess the current state of religious involvement to address climate change and the effects we are already experiencing. What are religions actively doing to combat climate change and has it made a difference? What are the limits on religions’ involvement in and work towards climate justice? Why have some religions taken action to combat climate change while others refuse to engage? The issue will be comparative in scope on several dimensions: From local religious congregations to national bodies; from religions of the book to dark green and eco-spirituality communities; from the developed west to the developing south. Contributions from a variety of disciplines that focus on assessing and explaining the role of religions in addressing climate change are welcome.

    Stephen Ellingson Guest Editor
    Professor and Chair
    Department of Sociology
    Hamilton College
    198 College Hill Road
    Clinton, NY 13323
    sellings@hamilton.edu

    Manuscript Submission Information

    Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

    Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page.Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

    Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charges (APCs) of 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs) per published paper are partially funded by institutions through Knowledge Unlatched for a limited number of papers per year. Please contact the editorial office before submission to check whether KU waivers, or discounts are still available. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

    Keywords

    • · religion and the environment
    • · climate change
    • · climate justice
    • · green religion
    • · ecopolitics
    • · environmental ethics

    Invitation for Submissions

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    The British Academy is working with The Faith & Belief Forum to commission a Companion Review on Cohesive Societies that will sit alongside the programme’s existing Literature Review and Policy Review. This will explore the connection between faith and belief and social cohesion in the UK, with a particular focus on practice.

    The aim of this review is to examine the social cohesion policy and practice landscape to understand where this policy and practice include and exclude faith and belief groups, and why.

    For information about the program, see https://faithbeliefforum.org/tender-for-submissions-cohesive-societies-companion-review/

    Applications should be emailed to Tim Mortimer on tim@faithbeliefforum.org by Wednesday 28 August.  You may also direct questions to him.

    Job Opening: Muslim-Christian Studies Research Fellow

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    The Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies <www.cmcsoxford.org.uk>, an
    independent academic centre, is seeking to appoint a full-time Muslim
    Research Fellow, based in Oxford, for a three-year contract commencing
    on 1st October 2019, or as soon as possible thereafter.
    The Research Fellow will conduct research in the area of
    Muslim-Christian studies, either  theological, historical or
    sociological. The main aim would be to produce a high-quality  monograph
    on an area of the candidate’s choosing in discussion with CMCS. In
    addition, the Research Fellow would participate in other academic
    activities at CMCS, including (for example) teaching and advising a
    range of students who come to the Centre,  engaging with practitioners
    in the field of Muslim-Christian Relations, and contributing on
    an agreed basis to CMCS projects such as the Summer School for Christian
    and Muslim leaders in training, Hikmah Guides and the Christians and
    Muslims in Public Life Project.
    For further information see
    https://www.timeshighereducation.com/unijobs/listing/172669/muslim-research-fellow-/

    Conference Call for Papers: The Ahmadiyya In Scholarly Perspective.

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    We are interested in organizing a conference on the Ahmadis and Ahmadiyya in which the speakers examine

    • – Its theology- Christology
    • – Its history,
    • – Its organization, governance and associated groups,
    • – Membership: numbers, growth, sociological profile. International expansion,
    • – Iconography,
    • – Their original territories and their international developments, as well as their various types of changes,
    • – Judicial issues addressing its status; prosecution in certain countries,
    • – Media relations and media coverage,
    • – Impact on humanitarianism, art and culture in general,
    • – Influences in popular culture,
    • – The peculiar way of placing itself within the Islamic world, from which it is considered “heretical”
    • – Relationship with the broader society.

    This list of topics above is not exhaustive. We welcome additional studies or surveys completed or in process on the Ahmadiyya and its followers. 

    As for our previous conferences, we will prepare the publication of the best papers, once the scientific committee has reviewed them. You may see our publications on www.antwerpfvg.org.

    We plan our conferences on one or two days, presuming there will about 12 speakers.  Our requirement is to make sure speakers have a scholarly record and training even if they do not work in an academic background. Doctoral students are welcome. We do not offer grants or stipends to participants, and every participant has to pay registration fees.

    Organized By: The European Observatory of Religion and Secularism (Laïcité) in partnership with Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG), CLIMAS (Bordeaux), Cesnur (Turin).

    Practical Information

    • Venue: Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG)
    • Bist 164 – B-2610 Wilrijk-Antwerpen. Belgium. Tel.: +32 (0)3 830 51 58. E-mail: info@antwerpfvg.org www.antwerpfvg.org
    • Date of the conference: October 24-25, 2019.
    • Language of the conference: English.

    Submitting: Send a 10 line abstract, with a 5 lines résumé of your previous work and a short biography to:

    • Régis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism): Associate member of the Group of Sociology of Religion and Laicité. CNRS: Paris. France. redericq@netcourrier.com
    • and/or to Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor in North American Studies, Université Michel de Montaigne, member de CLIMAS (Culture et littératures du monde anglo saxon), Bordeaux. France Vice-President of the Observatory of Religion and Laicité. bcellard@numericable.fr
    • and/or Chris Vonck, rector of the Faculty for Comparative religion and Humanism (FVG). fvg.faculteit@skynet.b
    • And/or Willy Fautre. Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, w.fautre@hrwf.org

    Papers will be considered for publication, with editorial details given during the conference. It is understood that each presenter must submit his or her paper first to the organizers for possible inclusion in the conference proceedings. When submitting the abstract, please inform the committee whether the paper has been submitted for review or publication in another venue.

    Registration and Transportation:

    • Registration Fee: 100 euros and 15 euros for each lunch.
    • Students: 30 euros and 10 euros each lunch.
    • There are many hotels in Antwerp and a few in the nearby town of Mortsel, which are discoverable online, and each attendee should book directly. FVG is located off of a bus line to downtown Antwerp.

    Proposal Deadline: July 1 st , 2019

    Scientific Committee:

    • Raffaella Di Marzio, managing director LIREC;
    • Massimo Introvigne, managing director, CESNUR;
    • Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor in North American Studies, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, member de CLIMAS (Culture et littératures du monde anglo saxon), France
    • Régis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism), France and Belgium
    • Chris Vonck, Professor in Religious Studies, Dean of the Faculty of Comparative Studies of Religions, (FVG), Wilrijk (Antwerpen), Belgium

    CALL FOR PAPERS/BOOK CHAPTERS – **ISLAM AND HUMOUR*

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    Seeking submissions for an edited volume on Islam and Humour.

    We propose a pioneering essay collection on a topic of great scholarly and public interest, aimed at exploring in greater depth the links between Islam and humour.

    The idea that Islam resists and perhaps even opposes humour is widespread in the West. This view is based in part on the public outrage in Muslim countries over the *Jyllands Posten *caricatures of 2006 (also known as the Muhammad
    cartoons controversy) and the deadly attacks on cartoonists at *Charlie Hebdo* in 2015. Strict blasphemy laws and other restrictions on free speech in Muslim countries have further nurtured the idea that Islam is averse to humour, an outlook compounded and reinforced by persistent stereotypes that frequently circulate throughout western media.

    Against this backdrop, we invite contributors to address a range of themes  on this topic, including the following:

    • – humour in the lives of Muslims around the world
    • – joking as an oppositional strategy in Muslim contexts
    • – how Muslim comics use jokes to counteract oppression, in either Muslim majority or minority contexts
    • – how Muslim comics use humour as a tool for social integration into new communities
    • – the historical role of humour in Arabic culture and other Muslim contexts
    • – systematic study of the kinds of humour that are tolerated and those that are not tolerated in Muslim societies, including discussions on the distinction between “permissible” and “impermissible” laughter
    • – what Muslim scriptures say about laughter
    • – comparing and contrasting what constitutes a “sense of humour” with respect to Muslim and non-Muslim communities
    • – the role and/or presence of humour in contemporary mass media in Muslim countries
    • – laughter in formal religious settings such as mosques and madrasas
    • – manifestations of “Muslim humour” in western countries (USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, etc.), such as Muslim stand-up comedians and TV shows with Muslim settings and/or themes

    Authors are invited to submit by 1st August 2019 a 500-word chapter proposal and a short bio to the two editors listed below. The deadline for chapter submissions is 1st June 2020. Final chapters are expected to be between 5,000-8,000 words (including all notes and references).

    We look forward to hearing from you and to receiving your submissions!

    Thank you.

    Lina Molokotos-Liederman: mololied@gmail.com
    https://arts-london.academia.edu/LinaMolokotosLiederman

    Bernard Schweizer: Bernard.Schweizer@liu.edu
    https://longisland.academia.edu/BernardSchweizer

    Co-founders of Humour and Religion Network:
    https://groups.yahoo.com/humour-religion