Public Lecture: ‘Socializing Influences on Young People’s Attitudes to Religion and Religious Diversity: Findings from a Nation-Wise Project in the UK’

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The University of Western Sydney’s Religion and Society Research Centre invites you to attend a Public Lecture:

‘Socializing  Influences on Young People’s Attitudes to Religion and Religious Diversity: Findings from a Nation-Wise Project in the UK’

Speaker: Dr Elisabeth Arweck, University of Warwick

Date:  Monday, 09 February 2015

Time:  11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Venue: UWS Bankstown Campus, Building 23, Room G.40

RSVP: SSAP-Travel@uws.edu.au by 02 February 2015 (for catering purposes)

This is an open and free event.

Abstract

The presentation will draw on data from a three-year project (2009–2012) in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick, which explored the attitudes of 13–16 year-old pupils across the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland) towards religious diversity. The project was funded by the Religion and Society Programme of two major funding bodies in the UK: the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The project took a mixed method approach, combining qualitative with quantitative data: focus group discussions with, and a survey by questionnaire of, young people in secondary schools.

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CFP: Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies, March 2015

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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 to be held and 18, 19 and 20 March, 2015.  The meeting will be held at The Old Library.  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 session 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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New Deadline: January 5th Sociology of Religion: Foundations and Futures

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Sociology of Religion: Foundations and Futures

Sociology of Religion Study Group (Socrel) Annual Conference

www.socrel.org.uk

Tuesday 7 – Thursday 9 July 2015 hosted by Kingston University London

High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK

http://www.cct.org.uk/high-leigh/introduction

Keynote Speakers:

  • Professor Nancy T. Ammerman (Boston University)
  • Professor James Beckford (University of Warwick)
  • Professor Grace Davie (University of Exeter)
  • Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray (Cardiff University)
  • Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University)

Since its foundation in 1975, the Sociology of Religion Study Group has become one of the largest in the British Sociological Association (BSA). Its membership includes educators and researchers from across the UK and internationally, and in 2015 the Sociology of Religion Study Group will be celebrating 40 years!

Given this occasion, it is an opportune moment to reflect on religion in society, and religion in sociology. From its foundation, Socrel has foregrounded research on secularisation, gender, spiritualities, embodied and lived accounts, materiality, generational innovations, atheism, social difference, migration, institutions, politicised expressions and methodologies in the study of religion. While this list does not account for all the many ways scholars have been investigating religion in social life – its various forms, intersections and spaces – it does speak to how religions continue to be important subjective and collective experiences that are stable and continuous, resistant and shifting. This conference will bring together scholars who have shaped and are shaping the discipline. It will be an opportunity to pay heed, not only to the Study Group’s and discipline’s accomplishments, but also an opportunity to address questions that are emerging to inform future agendas and areas of concern and study, such as:

  • - What are the key points of continuity and innovation in theorising religion?
  • - How are methodologies emerging and informing research on religion?
  • - How are new approaches adapting and transforming old practices?
  • - What are the key controversies that will occupy sociologists of religion?
  • - What are the pedagogical challenges and innovations in teaching the sociology of religion?

We invite you to celebrate with us by engaging in the conference questions from your particular area of research in the Sociology of Religion.

Abstracts for individual papers (250 words max.) and panels (500 words max.) are invited by 5 January 2015. Panels may take a standard format of 20-minute papers or take alternative modes such as pre-circulated papers/work in progress/or ‘points of view’ that are 10-minutes long. Submissions should be made in Word format and include in the following order: Name, institutional affiliation, email address and paper title.

**All presenters must be members of Socrel.

Abstracts will be subject to peer review. Please note, presenters will be limited to one paper per person at the conference, but you may also organise a panel.

  • -Abstract submissions open: 1 September 2014
  • -Early bird registration opens: 1 September 2014
  • -Abstract submissions close: 5 January 2015
  • -Decision notification: 15 January 2015
  • -Presenter registration closes: 16 March 2015
  • -Draft programme online: 16 April 2015
  • -Early bird registration closes:  11 May 2015
  • -Registration closes: 15 June 2015

Please send abstracts to the attention of the conference organisers:

  • Dr Sylvie Collins-Mayo (Kingston University London) and
  • Dr Sonya Sharma (Kingston University London) at:socrel2015@gmail.com

Should you have other questions about the conference please also contact the conference organisers at the above email address.

Online Registration:http://portal.britsoc.co.uk/public/event/eventBooking.aspx?id=EVT10391

A limited number of bursaries are available to support postgraduate, early career, low income or unwaged Socrel members to present at the conference. Please visit www.socrel.org.uk for instructions, and to download an application form, and submit your bursary application along with your abstract by 5 January 2015.

Socrel is the British Sociological Association’s study group on Religion. For more details about the study group and conference please visit www.socrel.org.uk .

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New Book: Secularism, Religion, and Politics: India and Europe

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Secularism, Religion, and Politics: India and Europe
Edited by Peter Losonczi, Walter Van Herck
Routledge India – 2014

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138796003/

This book highlights the relationship between the state and religion in India and Europe. It problematizes the idea of secularism and questions received ideas about secularism. It also looks at how Europe and India can learn from each other about negotiating religious space and identity in this globalised post-9/11 world.

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Call for Papers: “Religion in Civil Society”

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The 10th Annual Patuxent Defense Forum will be held at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, Maryland on April 22, 2015. The Center for the Study of Democracy and The Patuxent Partnership jointly present this forum. The  forum  includes  a  mix  of  international representatives, policymakers, academics, government officials, and other interested parties, providing a unique environment for discussing critical issues related to international affairs.

We are soliciting paper proposals for our 2015 topic “Religion in Civil Society: Lessons from Policies Past and Present”

Recent developments around the world underscore the importance of addressing religious diversity and developing policies that support civil society. Whether it is discord between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East, Christians  and  Muslims  in  Africa,  Asia  and  the Middle  East,  or  Palestinian,  Jewish  and  other  religious extremists in more secular Western states, this forum will help us better understand the history of these tensions, the impact of U.S. foreign policy approaches to religious diversity and the ethics of taking action when these tensions flare.

Discussion of these issues is particularly fitting at St. Mary’s City, the site of Maryland’s first capital, settled by Catholics.  Considering this legacy, the forum will contemplate precedents and current policies.

Proposed  Conference  Topics:

  • How have past policies shaped religious tensions today in specific nations?
  • What is the role of religious plurality in modern democracy? 
  • How and when should Western nations (1) engage, (2) provide humanitarian assistance to religious groups?

Paper proposals should be emailed to Adrienne Dozier, Program Assistant, Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, at   amraines@smcm.edu, and should include a title, institutional affiliation, and short abstract of no more than 150 words. Proposals are due by February 9, 2015.

Accommodations will be provided for panelists.

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Call for Papers: “Cognitive Science of Religion”

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Open Theology – the online journal published by De Gruyter Open (http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth) invites submissions for the topical issue “Cognitive Science of Religion”, under the general editorship of Dr. Jason Marsh (St. Olaf College, USA).

In the last couple of decades, the cognitive science of religion (CSR) has established itself as a major area within the scientific study of religion. According to this general approach, if we want to understand religion – and specifically why human beings tend to be religious – then in addition to doing what traditional scholars of religion do, we also need to think about the nature of human cognition. For, goes the claim, various cognitive structures and habits naturally give rise to a belief in supernatural agents in diverse environments. This approach to the study of religion, though it does not pretend to answer every question about religion, nonetheless raises a number of important questions for science, philosophy, theology and their various relationships. We invite submissions that address one or more of these relationships. Some possible questions are as follows, though we welcome papers that address other topics related to CSR:

Philosophical and Theological Questions

  • · Much recent work in CSR suggests that people distrust atheists. What are the moral or political implications of such claims, if they are true? Can anything be done to change this pattern?
  • · Does CSR threaten to undermine or explain away religious belief or the reliability of religious testimony? Might it be supportive of religious claims?
  • · Can one think that CSR debunks religious beliefs without also thinking that CSM (cognitive science of morality) debunks moral beliefs?
  • · How might CSR shape the challenge of religious diversity? Does CSR support the idea that the divine, if such there be, isn’t too concerned about the specifics of people’s religious outlooks?
  • · What is the relationship between CSR and the problem of divine hiddenness? Is the so-called ‘problem of natural nonbelief’, according to which some nonbelief in God naturally occurs, answerable?
  • · Many theologians want to resist the idea that the divine is literally a person. Does CSR pose a cultural challenge to their claims? Does it show that abstract conceptions of the divine (i.e. that God is the ground of being or the Ultimate nonpersonal reality) will not likely enjoy cultural success? If so, does this matter?

Scientific Questions

  • · How far has CSR gone in explaining religion? And how far might it reasonably be expected to go?
  • · What is the cognitive and/or evolutionary relationship between religion and morality? Did one evolve first?
  • · Is the common selection versus by-product dichotomy in the scientific study of religion a false one?
  • · CSR has had a lot to say about religious belief, ritual, and morality. But has it paid insufficient attention to religious experience? If so, how might CSR fruitfully incorporate investigation into religious experience?
  • · Are we really natural born dualists, as Paul Bloom has claimed?
  • · What is the relationship between religious belief and autism?

Questions for Religious Studies

  • · Can CSR help to illuminate the vexing question of what religion is, or is the latter question entirely immune to scientific investigation?
  • · Some within CSR (e.g. Cohen, Lanman, and Whitehouse 2008) have suggested that standard criticisms of CSR (e.g. it is irrelevant, reductionist, ethnocentric, narrow-minded etc.,) voiced within religious studies are unjustified and unfair. Are they right?
  • · Does CSR have any interesting implications for recent discussions about religious pluralism or religious dialogue?

HOW TO SUBMIT

Submissions are due by August 30, 2015. To submit an article for the special issue of Open Theology, please use the on-line submission system http://www.editorialmanager.com/openth/choosing as article type: ‘Special Issue Article: Cognitive Science of Religion’.

All contributions will undergo a critical review before being accepted for publication.

Further questions about the thematic issue can be sent to Dr. Jason Marsh at marshj@stolaf.edu. In the case of technical questions or problems please contact Managing Editor of the journal Dr. Katarzyna Tempczyk atkatarzyna.tempczyk@degruyteropen.com.

Authors publishing in the special issue will benefit from:

· transparent, comprehensive and fast peer review

· efficient route to fast-track publication and full advantage of De Gruyter Open’s e-technology,

· no publication fees,

· free language assistance for authors from non-English speaking regions.

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Symposium: “Sacred and Secular: Faith and Formation” (16 January, 2015; London)

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FaithXchange invites you to its 2nd Annual Symposium of v. This year’s theme focuses on how do religion and belief inform how we do policy, politics, and practice. This is an exciting day for all of us as it brings together scholars of all stages in their career, as well as practitioners to open up and expand a cross disciplinary and cross national dialogue. 

A keynote panel will proceed a series of exciting papers that bring different disciplinary perspectives in the conversation. Keynotes include Professor Adam Dinham, Professor Elaine Graham, Dr. Daniel Nilsson DeHanas, and Dr. Alp Arat.

Please follow the link for more information http://www.gold.ac.uk/faithsunit/network/​ 

For RSVP, please contact Clare Canning at faithxchange@gold.ac.uk

We are looking forward to seeing you on January 16th at Goldsmiths. 

With best regards

faithXchange Research Network 

23 St. James St. | London SE14 6NW | Goldsmiths, University of London

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CFP: “Changes in Contemporary Judaism”

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Call for papers for a session or sessions at the Biennial Conference of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (SISR/ISSR)
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, July 2-5, 2015

Special deadline extension until January 15th, 2015.

WG6: Changes in Contemporary Judaism:Judaism and Jews in Contemporary Societies

This working group has been created since 2011 and focuses on changes in contemporary Judaism and Jewish society. It is a reflection from within the community itself, our thoughts about change extends to the following questions:

  • Where do Jews live today?
  • What can we say about their recent migrations?
  • What about Israel?
  • What about women in judaism?  What are their real and their symbolic places in contemporary societies?
  • Questions on the permanence and rise of antisemitism in Europe? in Muslim countries?

This working group will allow for a reflection intersecting concepts from Sociology, Anthropology, History, Psycho-Sociology, etc.

Send paper proposals by January 15th to joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr

Joëlle Allouche-Benayoun
   page perso:  https://www.gsrl.cnrs.fr
CNRS, Groupe Sociétés,Religions,Laïcités
Site Pouchet, 59-61 rue Pouchet,75017 Paris
joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr

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Appel: “Mutations et évolutions du monde juif contemporain.”

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APPEL A COMMUNICATION
    Mutations et évolutions du monde juif contemporain.  Judaïsme et judaïcités dans les sociétés contemporaines, SISR 2015,  Louvain la neuve(Belgique)

Les propositions de communication sont attendues jusqu’au 15 janvier 2015 (prolongation exceptionnelle) aux: joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr,

    WGT 6
  Mutations et évolutions du monde juif contemporain.  Judaïsme et  judaïcités dans les sociétés contemporaines

Joëlle ALLOUCHE-BENAYOUN,
Groupe Sociologies, Religions, Laïcités (GSRL-CNRS)

    Dans la continuité de l’atelier mis en place depuis 2011, nous  nous interrogerons sur les évolutions du judaïsme et des  sociétés juives contemporaines. Tant d’un point de vue “interne” : comment être juif en diaspora après la Shoa ? Quels sont les effets de ce génocide sur l’être juif ?pluralité religieuse? place d’Israël? Place des femmes? question de la conversion?  que  d’un point de vue plus global et externe : où vivent les Juifs dans le monde au début du 21éme  siècle ? Qu’en est-il des migrations juives depuis la deuxième moitié du 20éme siècle ? Quelle  place le judaïsme et les Juifs occupent-ils dans l’imaginaire des sociétés contemporaines ? Quid  de la permanence et du renouveau de l’antisémitisme en Europe, dans les pays musulmans ?

    Cet atelier devrait permettre de réfléchir à ces questions en  s’appuyant de façon tant  unilatérale que croisée sur les concepts issus de la Sociologie, de l’Anthropologie, de l’Histoire, de la
Psycho-Sociologie, etc.

joelle.allouche@gsrl.cnrs.fr

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New Book: “Lone Star Muslims”

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Lone Star Muslims: Transnational Lives and the South Asian Experience in Texas
Ahmed Afzal
288 pages
5 tables illustrations
December, 2014
ISBN: 9781479844807

Link to title on NYU Press online catalog:
http://nyupress.org/books/9781479844807/

Lone Star Muslims offers an engaging and insightful look at contemporary Muslim American life in Texas. It illuminates the dynamics of the Pakistani community in Houston, a city with one of the largest Muslim populations in the south and southwestern United States.

Using a multi-sited approach, the volume examines Pakistani diasporic public cultures and everyday life to demonstrate the complexity of the South Asian Muslim American experience. Drawing on interviews and participant observation at Pakistani festivals and parades, radio programs, and ethnic businesses, it develops the concept of a transnational Muslim heritage economy, illuminating the increasingly central role of Islam in shaping consumption patterns and public cultures among Pakistani communities in Houston.

Importantly, the volume incorporates a range of narratives, including stories from the Pakistani corporate workforce; Pakistani ethnic entrepreneurs, the working class, and the working poor employed in Pakistani ethnic businesses; second generation youth; Muslim American gay men; community activists; and radio program hosts and producers. Critiquing dominant understandings of Muslim Americans, such as “terrorist” on the one hand, and “model minority” on the other, Lone Star Muslims offers a glimpse into a variety of lived experiences that belie generalizations. It shows how specificities of class, Islamic sectarian affiliation, citizenship status, gender, and sexuality shape transnational identities and mediate racism, marginalities and abjection.

Link to title on NYU Press online catalog:
http://nyupress.org/books/9781479844807/

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