Association for Jewish Studies – annual conference

AJS Call for Papers Now Online!
Travel Grants Available for European Scholars

The Call for Papers for the 48th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, the largest learned society and professional association representing Jewish Studies worldwide, is now available on the AJS website. The online proposal submission site will be open for submissions beginning March 15, 2016; the deadline for submissions is May 5, 2016 at 5:00 pm EST.  The conference will take place December 18 – 20, 2016 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel in San Diego, California.  You will find detailed information about the conference on the AJS website, including a page to share ideas about sessions seeking participants and papers seeking sessions, as well as suggested themes for each subject-area division.

 

AJS is pleased to offer travel grants, on a competitive basis, for European scholars presenting at the conference, including travel grants specifically designated for graduate students and early career scholars, and travel grants for Eastern European scholars. Please see the AJS website for further information.  In collaboration with EAJS, AJS is also pleased to offer special reduced membership rates to EAJS members.  Click here for further information.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact the AJS office (ajs@ajs.cjh.org or 917.606.8249) if you have any questions regarding the submission process. We look forward to seeing you in San Diego!

http://ajsnet.org/conference-call-for-papers-2016.htm

Conference: Religious Pluralisation – A Challenge for Modern Societies

Travel Grants available! The challenges of religious pluralization and the contribution to be made by interreligious dialogue in the areas of societal and scientific discourse will be discussed at the Herrenhausen Conference on October 4-6, 2016, in Hanover.

4th World Day of Prayer for Peace, Assisi (Italy), 2011 (Photo: Stephan Kölliker)

4th World Day of Prayer for Peace, Assisi (Italy), 2011 (Photo: Stephan Kölliker)

The long-held belief in the secularization thesis and the subsequent expectation that religion would gradually lose its societal relevance in public and scientific discourse led to religion being treated rather as a side issue. This has changed fundamentally in the wake of growing religious pluralization. In this respect, both the destructive potential of religion as well as initiatives designed to promote understanding between people of different religions and worldviews play a significant role. In view of these ambivalences, a need has arisen for clarification in the area of societal as well as scientific discourse. The planned conference will debate the challenges of religious pluralization and the contribution to be made by interreligious dialogue in five thematic areas – theology, politics/civil society, education, Communication/media and contexts. The aim of the conference is to describe innovative scientific approaches and broad political and social scopes of action for addressing religious plurality.

Herrenhausen Conference: “Religious Pluralisation – A Challenge for Modern Societies”
October 4-6, 2016
Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, Germany

Program

The program for the Herrenhausen Conference on “Religious Pluralisation – A Challenge for Modern Societies” can be found in the column on the right. All speakers and chairs have confirmed their participation.

Session 1: Religion and Dialogue in Different Contexts

Public Lecture: Toward a New Paradigm for Religion in a Pluralist Age

Session 2: Community Building and Policymaking in European Perspectives 

Session 3: Contribution of Religious Education to Dialogue and Integration

Session 4: The Relevance of Interreligious Dialogue in the Public Sphere

Forum on Dialogical Theology 

Session 5: Interreligious Communication and the Role of Media

Perspectives of Further Research in the Field of Interreligious Dynamics 

Registration

If you would like to attend the conference, please register by clicking on the registration link in the column on the right. There are no fees for attendance but registration is essential.

Cancellation

Please cancel your registration if you cannot attend the conference. We have a waiting list for the meeting and can offer your place to another person if you cannot attend. Simply use the registration tool to cancel or send us an email.

Language

The conference language is English.

Travel Grants

The Volkswagen Foundation offers up to 30 Travel Grants for young researchers who wish to attend the conference. We are inviting Ph.D. students or early Postdocs (max. 5 years since Ph.D.) working on independent and challenging projects in the field of religious pluralization or in a field for which religious pluralisation is crucial to apply for a travel grant. Applicants are required to apply until March 30, 2016 by using the application form. The travel grant covers attendance, accommodation and travel expenses (excl. cab fares, parking, food and beverages while travelling as well as poster printing costs).

Venue and public transport

The conference is held at Herrenhausen Palace, a new conference center in Hanover, Germany. You can reach the venue by tram: Take line 4 or 5 and get off at “Herrenhäuser Gärten”.

Travel Funding for Prospective Theology & Religious Studies Research Postgraduates at Leeds

The School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds invites applications from prospective research postgraduate students who wish to visit the school (a) to attend relevant conferences, seminars or lectures, (b) to develop their applications to external scholarship funders, or (c) to meet with potential supervisors.  The three schemes are as follows:

(a) POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH @ LEEDS MOBILITY GRANTS (up to £200)

The Postgraduate Research Mobility Grants are for prospective postgraduate research students who are contemplating the University of Leeds as a possible location to undertake their studies. The grants are designed to provide these students with the financial assistance required to attend a conference, seminar or lecture related to their area of study. For further details and an application form contact PRHS_PGenquiries@leeds.ac.uk. 

(b) PRE-DOCTORAL BURSARIES SCHEME (up to £500)

This scheme provides financial assistance to prospective postgraduate research students who are intending developing an application to an externally funded doctoral studentship scheme where the student and potential supervisor need to work together over a period of time to develop a project that meets the funder's criteria. Examples of such studentships include the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Studentships and the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Project Awards. For further details and an application form contact PRHS_PGenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

(c) TRAVEL BURSARIES SCHEME (up to £50)

These bursaries provide financial assistance to prospective postgraduate research students who wish to travel to Leeds to meet with potential supervisors. For further details and an application form contact PRHS_PGenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

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Within the School of PRHS *Theology and Religious Studies* (TRS) represents an internationally excellent and world-leading environment for postgraduate research. The latest UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014 placed Leeds TRS joint 3rd overall nationally and 1st for research outputs (publications).

Those interested in applying to study TRS at Leeds are advised to contact potential supervisors at an early stage. Areas of supervision offered by TRS academic staff at Leeds are summarised below; for the full range of staff interests and expertise see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/people/20049/theology_and_religious_studies/ 
 
- Religion and Social Theory; Fieldwork and Ethnography
- South & South-East Asian Religions, African Religions, Islam and Muslim societies, Interfaith Relations
- Gender, Development, Environment, Migration/Diasporas
- Philosophy of Religion, theological anthropology, modern Christian thought, Ethics, Political Theology, Hebrew Bible

You should contact supervisors by email, either directly or through the postgraduate research tutor for TRS - Dr Sean McLoughlin (s.mcloughlin@leeds.ac.uk)

You are also strongly encouraged to attend (in most cases following application) the university's Postgraduate Open Day on Friday 5 February 2016 (https://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/101060/), when you will have opportunity to meet potential supervisors, current postgraduates, and the postgraduate team.

For more information about postgraduate study in Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science at Leeds see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125022/postgraduate. 

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N.B. The school is offering up to 18 fully-funded PhD scholarships for UK/EU students available for 2016-17 entry, with deadlines starting from 15 January 2016.

For full, regularly updated information on upcoming scholarship deadlines, including application procedures, see the University of Leeds Postgraduate Scholarships site http://scholarships.leeds.ac.uk/.

Funding opportunities for full-time or part-time PhD study include the following:

UK/EU STUDENTS

* Up to two School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science Scholarships - Fees + £14,250 Maintenance (Awards may be made on a rolling basis after 15 JANUARY 2016)
* Up to six White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities AHRC Studentships (Deadline 2 FEBRUARY 2016)
* Up to three Leeds Anniversary Research Scholarships (Deadline: 15 JANUARY 2016)
* Up to two University of Leeds Research Scholarships (Deadline: 11 MARCH 2016)
* University of Leeds Endowed Research Scholarships (Deadline: 1 JUNE 2016) 
* Around four White Rose Research Studentships (Deadline: to be determined)

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

* Up to three Leeds Anniversary Research Scholarships (Deadline: 15 JANUARY 2016)
* China Scholarship Council-University of Leeds Awards - around 13 in total (Deadline: 8 JANUARY 2016)
* Up to two School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science Scholarships - £14,250 Maintenance + a contribution to fees equivalent to UK/EU Fees (Awards may be made from 15 JANUARY 2016).  N.B. This is a partial scholarship; to be eligible for consideration, applicants will be expected to demonstrate their ability to pay the remainder of their international fees (i.e. approx. £9000 p.a.). 

Correspondence regarding the application procedure may be directed to prhs_pgenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

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Dr Seán McLoughlin
Senior Lecturer in  Contemporary Muslim Cultures, Politics & Societies
School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science
University of Leeds, LS2 9JT 
Email s.mcloughlin@leeds.ac.uk
Web http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/profile/20049/416/sean_mcloughlin 

The Hajj & British Muslims 
- British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship - http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/   
- AHRC 10th Anniversary Image Gallery - http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/research/readwatchlisten/imagegallery/hajjethnographybritish/   
- Twitter @LeedsUniHajjRes
    
Diasporas, Migration & Identities
- AHRC Network - http://www.leeds.ac.uk/writingbritishasiancities  
- Writing the City in British Asian Diasporas (Routledge 2014), https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415590242 
- Diasporas: Concepts, Intersections, Identities (Zed Books 2010), http://zedbooks.co.uk/node/21526  

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Call for Papers: “Regulating Religion: Normativity and Change at the Intersection of Law and Religion”

Call for Papers
Regulating Religion: Normativity and Change at the Intersection of Law and Religion
14 – 15 December 2015
Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (Bukit Timah Campus)

Submission Deadline: 31 May 2015

In most eras and cultures, law and religion relate dialectically. Every major religious tradition strives to come to terms with law by striking a balance between the worldly and the spiritual, the structural and the mystical, the rational and the sacred. Every major legal tradition struggles to align its formal structures and processes with the beliefs and values of its people. Thus, while law and religion can be conceptualized as distinct spheres of human life, they do not exist independently but are constantly interacting with and influencing each other.

This workshop will engage emerging scholarship on the influence of religion on legal systems, both historically and currently, and vice versa. Regulation is our key focus. In simplest terms, we will consider how law regulates religion, and how religion responds to such regulations. The more complex question we ask is how the normativity becomes diversified and drives the regulatory dialectics between law and religion after the institutional development of the latter two. The workshop seeks to approach this question in three streams:

  1. Socio-political norms regulating religion. What social and political assumptions are we making when we make claims about the legitimate role of religion in public debate? What overarching social and political goals underlie how the law deals with issues of freedom of religion and freedom of religious expression? With the resurgence of religion into issues of public debate, how might religious considerations influence the formulation of contemporary legal norms, if at all?
  2. Constitutional and legal norms regulating religion. What can we learn from the different constitutional legal experiences and contexts of Asia and other parts of the world, given the importance of constitutional structures in framing, defining and governing the interactions of religion and law? What alternative models of arranging state and religion exist vis-à-vis the dominant constitutional model separating state from religion? How has the resurgence of public religion opened up the area of constitutional thinking?
  3. Religious norms regulating religion. What type of legal structures do religions have? How do religious traditions and communities perceive their interaction with religious laws? What demands do such internal rules make upon their religious faith and worship? Are all traditions ‘religio-legal’, i.e., as having claims that take the form of law over their adherents and others? What varying forms do they take? How do believers negotiate these internal rules and how can religious traditions change within this legal framework?

Submission:
Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (no more than 200 words), an outline of the proposed paper with section titles and brief section descriptions, and a personal biography (no more than 100 words). Submissions should be emailed to regulatingreligion@gmail.com by 31 May 2015.

Successful applicants will be notified by 15 July 2015 and would be required to send in a completed draft paper (7,000 – 10,000 words) by 15 November 2015. Depending on the availability of funds, partial or full funding may be granted to paper presenters. Full funding covers air travel to Singapore by the most economical means and reasonable accommodation for the duration of the workshop.

Convenors:

Dr. Arif A. Jamal Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

Dr. Jaclyn L. Neo Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor Daniel P.S. Goh Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore

The post Call for Papers: “Regulating Religion: Normativity and Change at the Intersection of Law and Religion” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

News from the ISSR

We would like to inform you about the following:

  • The registration for the ISSR conference to be held in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 2-5 July 2015 is now open. Please go to the ISSR web site and follow the link to be found on the home page or under “Conferences’. The deadline for registration is May 15, 2015.
  • The deadline for proposals for the ISSR Best Article Award and the ISSR Student Paper Award has been extended to February 28, 2015. For more details, please go the ISSR web site. The link is on the home page (http://www.sisr-issr.org).
  • We would like to remind you that we are still seeking nominations for Council members to represent various countries / regions. Nominations should be sent to the General Secretary no later than March 15, 2015. Elections will be held in April 2015. For further details about the procedures to follow and the Council positions to be filled, please see Network 48, available on the web-site (“Newsletters”).
  • Please note also that only members in good standing can participate in the conference, be nominated or vote. If you have not yet paid your membership fee for the 2014-2015 period, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible.You may pay your membership through the web site, under “Join”.

Kind regards,

Siniša Zrinščak

ISSR General Secretary

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Travel grants to 2015 ASR Meeting, Chicago

The Association for the Sociology of Religion is pleased to announce the 2015 Ralph A. Gallagher Travel Grant competition.  Gallagher Travel Grants are awarded to scholars living outside the US, and to graduate students both inside the US and overseas, who seek funds to help defray the cost of staying at the ASR travel hotel during the Annual Meeting to present their research. International scholars may also request funds to help cover the cost of airfare. This year’s meeting will be held in Chicago from August 20-22, 2015.  Applicants must be active members of the Association for the Sociology of Religion at the time of application, and must plan to attend the entirety of the meeting. For details on the application procedure, please see our webpage at http://www.sociologyofreligion.com/lectures-papers/2013-ralph-a-gallagher-travel-grants/.

Please refer any questions to Damon Mayrl, Chair of the International Liaison Committee (dmayrl@clio.uc3m.es).  The deadline to submit applications is April 15, 2015.

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CFP: InterAmerican Postgraduate Forum: Politics of Entanglement in the Americas

The Center for InterAmerican Studies of Bielefeld University invites scholars to participate in the 7th International Postgraduate Forum that takes place at Bielefeld University from June 25 – 27, 2015.

This three-day conference addresses an international community of postgraduate and early-career researchers with perspectives from across the humanities and the social sciences. The conference is integral part of the project “The Americas as Space of Entanglement”, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). We welcome paper proposals that address the overarching theme of the conference: Politics of Entanglement in the Americas. Thereby we want to explore entanglements in their diachronic and/or synchronic dimensions and to contribute to a relational and historically grounded thinking of hemispheric Area Studies in a global context.

For a full description, please see the attached PDF.

Basic Information:

With the transdisciplinary approach – that characterizes the CIAS – we welcome post-graduate and early career contributions from the fields of cultural, literary, and media studies; history and sociology; postcolonial and global studies, social anthropology, geography, and political sciences that have a focus on the Americas. We are especially interested in papers that alongside with an empirical case-study provide conceptual reflections on entanglement in the Americas. Presentations of 20 minutes can be held in English or Spanish.

The Center for InterAmerican Studies invites all interested doctoral students and early-career researchers to submit abstracts in English or Spanish, which should not exceed 500 words, as well as a brief CV. The deadline for paper proposals is February 15, 2015.

A limited number of partial travel grants is available. Please submit your proposals to: cias@uni-bielefeld.de Organizer: Prof. Dr. Olaf Kaltmeier

For further information also contact Dr. Lukas Rehm Center for InterAmerican Studies Bielefeld University P.O. Box 10 01 31 D-33501 Bielefeld cias@uni-bielefeld.de Phone: ++49 (521) 106-6956

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