CFP: Conference on “Islamism and Post-Islamism”

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On behalf of the School of Religion at Queen’s University, I would like to invite you to join our fabulous international conference, entitled “Islamism and Post-Islamism: Religious and Political Transformations in Muslim Societies” which is scheduled to take place on 13-14 March 2015 at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

This is with great pleasure that I would like to extend the invitation to participate in an international event which will include prominent scholars such as Prof. Asef Bayat, post-revolutionary Iranian
intellectual Abdulkarim Soroush, Prof. Will Kymlicka, Prof. Nader Hashemi, Prof. Forough Jahanbakhsh Prof. Khalid Medani, Prof. Farhang Rajaee, and Prof. Ariel Salzmann. National & international TV channels and journals will be invited to this international event which will produce wide media attention. Please see the link below for the call for papers.

Abstract Submission Deadline (300 words): 25 January 2015

Conference Webpage: http://www.queensu.ca/religion/events/islamismconference.html

Call for Papers: http://www.queensu.ca/religion/events/islamismconference/callforpapers.html

We are looking forward to receiving original paper proposals.

Best regards,
Mehmet Karabela
Assistant Professor
Queen’s University
School of Religion
Theological Hall 230
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
CANADA
Phone: 613-533-6000 ext.74313
Fax: 613-533-6879
E-mail: karabela@queensu.ca

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New Book: “Becoming German, Becoming Muslim”

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BEING GERMAN, BECOMING MUSLIM: Race, Religion, and Conversion in the New Europe by Esra Özyürek
Princeton University Press

“Through thoughtful portraits, Özyürek explores the dilemmas faced by converts to Islam in Germany, where new Muslims are seeking nonethnic forms of the religion. She shows how these converts are finding an original way to be German through their Islam–a discovery that seems dangerous to some in the German state. A clear, convincing account of new Muslims in a European land.”
—John Bowen, author of Can Islam Be French?

Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to one hundred thousand German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. BEING GERMAN, BECOMING MUSLIM: Race, Religion, and Conversion in the New Europe, by Esra Özyürek, explores how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society’s fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today’s Europe.

Esra Özyürek looks at how mainstream society marginalizes converts and questions their national loyalties. In turn, converts try to disassociate themselves from migrants of Muslim-majority countries and promote a denationalized Islam untainted by Turkish or Arab traditions. Some German Muslims believe that once cleansed of these accretions, the Islam that surfaces fits in well with German values and lifestyle. Others even argue that being a German Muslim is wholly compatible with the older values of the German Enlightenment.  BEING GERMAN, BECOMING MUSLIM provides a fresh window into the connections and tensions stemming from a growing religious phenomenon in Germany and beyond.

Given the current position of Islam in Europe, why do Europeans convert? What do the experiences of converts reveal about contemporary life, particularly in Germany? This rich book offers a new perspective and entrée into the discussion of religion in Europe.”
—Damani J. Partidge, University of Michigan

About the Author:
Esra Özyürek is an associate professor at the European Institute of the London School of Economics. She is the author of Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey.

PRINCETON STUDIES IN MUSLIM POLITICS
Dale F. Eickelman and Augustus Richard Norton, Series Editors
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10404.html

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Call for Papers: “Nature and Religion”

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Twentieth Postgraduate Religion and Theology Conference
Theme: ‘Nature and Religion’
University of Bristol

Keynote speaker: Professor Peter Hampson
Research Fellow, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University
13-14 March 2015

The relationship existing between religion and nature manifests itself in numerous ways in nearly all religions. Throughout the centuries, thinking about nature has been perceived both as extremely supportive of and also profoundly damaging to religious belief. This year’s postgraduate conference invites papers exploring all aspects of the theme of nature, including environmental (papers on things such as climate change, food chains), biological (animal welfare, bio-ethics), philosophical and theological subjects (creation-evolution debate, the nature-grace dichotomy), historical (mythical and monstrous animals, the black plague), scriptural (the use of natural metaphors in scripture and  preaching), ethical issues (themes of environmental sustainability, categories of beings/animals, the question of the status of nonhuman beings), inter-personal relationships (gender and sexuality), esoteric, gnostic, and new-age spirituality and the occult, natural religions, issues associated with ontology, hamartiology, anthropology, physics, astronomy and history, politics and sociological issues. We invite papers on these and a myriad of other topics related to religion and nature. All religious topics and religions: Buddhist, Hindu, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Druidism, Rosicrucianism, Bahaism, Shamanism, Atheism, etc will be given equal consideration. As always, papers will
also be accepted on all subjects related to religion and theology.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/gradschool/pg-activity/conferences/twentieth-postgraduate-religion-and-theology-conference/

We welcome paper submissions now!

We will make a proper website to receive papers soon, but in the meantime please send paper proposals to: Dr Jon Balserak at: J.Balserak@bristol.ac.uk.

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New Book: After Integration: Islam, Conviviality and Contentious Politics in Europe

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After Integration: Islam, Conviviality and Contentious Politics in Europe.

Edited by Marian Burchardt and Ines Michalowski,
Springer 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-02593-9, € 38,86
http://www.springer.com/springer+vs/politikwissenschaft/book/978-3-658-02593-9

The integration of Muslims into European societies is often seen as a major challenge that is yet to be confronted. This book, by contrast, starts from the observation that on legal, political and organizational levels integration has already taken place. It showcases the variety of theoretical approaches that scholars have developed to conceptualize Muslim life in Europe, and provides detailed empirical analysis of ten European countries. Demonstrating how Muslim life unfolds between conviviality and contentious politics, the contributors describe demographic developments, analyze legal controversies, and explore the action of government and state, Muslim communities and other civil society actors. Driving forces behind the integration of Islam are discussed in detail and compared across countries.

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CFP: Panel on Heritization of Religions and Spiritual Practices

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SIEF 2015 CONGRESS Utopias, Realities, Heritages. Ethnographies for the 21st Century
Zagreb, 21-25 June
Call for papers closes on 14th January 2015

PANEL Reli002: The heritagization of religious and spiritual practices: the effects of grassroots and top-down policies (SIEF Ethnology of Religion Working Group)

PANEL ABSTRACT:
An idea of the ‘past’ seems to be endlessly popular and valued in various religious contexts. Institutionalized and well-established religious systems eagerly call upon the concepts of the ‘past’ and
‘heritage’ to justify their contemporary practices and ideologies. Also numerous emergent religious and spiritual movements within much more ephemeral and less institutionalized spheres inscribe themselves into heritagization processes.

This panel aims to enhance understanding of how ‘heritage’ as process works in the religious-spiritual domains of contemporary as well as historical societies. We are interested in how heritage is invented, adopted and adapted within specific cultural, social and historical frames, and how it is embraced by or attached to religious-spiritual practices. Is heritagization instigated by grassroots, spontaneous activities, or top-down policies operating on regional, national, trans-national or global  levels, or a combination of both?Are there any conflicting visions of ‘heritage(s)’ between these two – bottom-up and top-down – perspectives? How does religious-spiritual heritagization situate itself in relation to dominant political circumstances, economic conditions and the spread of new media? Is heritagization perceived as a positive value or as an obstacle from an emic viewpoint of religious-spiritual movements and their participants? Does heritage relate to ossified behaviors and practices or can it perhaps engender innovation in religious-spiritual life?

We welcome discussion of these and other questions relating to heritagization of religious and spiritual practices during this panel. Papers which combine ethnographic case studies with theoretical
approaches are especially encouraged.

Convenors:
Anna Niedźwiedź (Jagiellonian University) a.niedzwiedz@uj.edu.pl
Clara Saraiva (IICT Tropical Research Institute) clarasaraiva@fcsh.unl.pt
​

To propose a paper for this panel, please, use the link below:​
http://www.nomadit.co.uk/sief/sief2015/panels.php5?PanelID=3394

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Post-Doc: Islam in Africa

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We invite applications for a one-year postdoctoral position for a scholar working on Islam in Africa in any time-period and region and in any discipline. The fellow will teach one course in the Department of History, pursue his/her own research, participate in the activities of Stanford Center for African Studies and Stanford Global Studies Division, and contribute to the intellectual life on campus.

Candidates must have completed the Ph.D. by the time of appointment on September 1, 2015. The recipient may not be more than three years beyond the receipt of doctoral degree by the time of the appointment. Scholars trained in disciplines other than History (including, for example, Art History, Political Science, and Music) whose work engages in historical analysis are welcome to apply.

Application materials must be submitted online at http://apply.interfolio.com/27224 . Please submit a cover letter, CV, two-page description of your research plans, drafts of two course syllabi, and a writing sample of no more than 30 pages. Applicants should arrange to have three letters of recommendation submitted directly to Interfolio.

Compensation includes an annual salary of $55,000 – $60,000, health coverage, and a $1,500 research fund. Review of applications will begin on February 27, 2015. Inquiries may be addressed to Dr. Burcak Keskin-Kozat (Associate Director of the Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program) at burcak at stanford dot edu.

Stanford University is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty. It welcomes nominations of, and applications from, women, members of minority groups, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, as well as others who would bring additional dimensions to the university’s research and teaching missions.

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Workshop on Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religion

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METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
23-27  February 2015
University of Kent
Registrations now open!

This annual programme is designed to give post-graduate students core training in social research in relation to the study of religion. By the end of the programme, you will have an understanding of a range of key issues in designing and conducting research, as well as the potential and challenges of specific research methods. This should give you new ways of thinking about your own research work, as well as giving introducing you to resources and approaches that you will want to explore in more depth after completing this training. Whilst covering issues addressed on more generic social research methods training courses, the content will be designed and delivered by researchers with particular experience in studying religion, enabling us to focus on specific issues and resources relevant to this specific field.

This programme builds on Kent’s experience of delivering a similar intensive training programme, funded by the AHRC, for postgraduate research students in the study of religion in 2010. This project also led to the creation of the ‘Research methods for the study of religion’ website (www.kent.ac.uk/religionmethods) from which some of the preparatory work for this training programme has been set.

The 2015 programme will be led by Abby Day, with an international Academic Team including Lois Lee, Sarah Dunlop, Mia Lövheim, Melissa Caldwell, Sylvia Galandini, Anna Strhan, and Adam Dinham. They will  cover issues such as research design and rigour, visual methods, internet research, ethnography, qualitative research analysis, quantitative methods and resources, action research, making impact, and getting published and funded.

Numbers are strictly limited to encourage hands-on participation.

Students not registered at the University of Kent pay a nominal fee of £100.00 for the week. Accommodation and meals are not included.

For further information please contact
Dr Abby Day, Department of Religious Studies, University of Kent,
Canterbury UK
a.f.day@kent.ac.uk

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Job Opening: Professor of Sociology of Religion

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Professor/Førsteamanuensis innen fagområdet religionssosiologi, ved Fakultet for humaniora og pedagogikk Ref. 116/14

http://uia.easycruit.com/vacancy/1304639/35068?iso=no

Universitetet i Agder tilbyr mer enn 150 studier og har et aktivt og ledende forskermiljø. Vi vektlegger respekt, åpenhet og evnen til å vise engasjement og stolthet over både egne og andres resultater. Våre over 1000 ansatte og omlag 10 000 studenter trives godt og har stort faglig utbytte av virksomheten på våre topp moderne og funksjonelle campuser I Kristiansand og Grimstad.

Ved Universitetet i Agder er det ledig en 100 % fast stilling som professor/førsteamanuensis ved Fakultet for humaniora og pedagogikk, Institutt for religion, filosofi og historie. Arbeidssted er for tiden Campus Kristiansand. Tiltredelsestidspunkt: 1. august 2015, eller etter avtale.

Institutt for religion, filosofi og historie har ca 40 vitenskapelige stillinger og ca 500 studenter knyttet til studieprogrammene i religion, filosofi og historie. Instituttet tilbyr undervisning på bachelor-,
master- og phd-nivå, samt i lærerutdanningene.

Den som ansettes, vil få ansvar for undervisning og veiledning på bachelornivå, masternivå og phd-nivå, og i lærerutdanningene.

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Call for panels and papers: “Transnational Religion, Conflict and Dialogue”

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Call for panels and papers: Section on “Transnational Religion, Conflict and Dialogue”, 9th Pan-European Conference of the European International Studies Association (EISA)
Wednesday 23 – Saturday 26 September 2015, Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy

Section Convenors: Jeffrey Haynes, London Metropolitan University, jeff.haynes@londonmet.ac.uk , and Luca Ozzano, University of Turin, luca.ozzano@unito.it

Website: http://www.paneuropeanconference.org/

Prospective participants can propose both panels and single papers, by logging in at the address https://www.conftool.pro/paneuropean2015/  submitting an abstract of up to 200 words by January 15, 2015. Please also send an email to the address luca.ozzano@unito.it.

Prospective panel convenors, particularly, are also requested to signal their interest by sending an email to the same address, possibly by December 20, 2014.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch also to contact us for further information.

Abstract:
For a long time, the discipline of international relations has showed reluctance to take into account religion, both because of the dominant realist state-centric perspective, and as a consequence of the so-called secularization paradigm, regarding religion as an irrelevant or utterly negative factor. Scholars, particularly, widely accepted the so-called post-Westphalian pillars, according to which states are the only legitimate actors in international relations, and religion must not significantly influence politics, especially at the international level. As a consequence, until the recent rise of radical Islam, transnational religious actors were not regarded as legitimate actors in international affairs. Only since the 1990s, as a consequence of the growing relevance of such actors, often bypassing states, the discipline of international relations has started to take them into account. Researches have thus flourished about Muslim movements, but also about the transnational role
of the Catholic Church and the US-based Evangelical organizations. A growing corpus of literature about non universalist religions, such as Hinduism, has also developed, mainly in relation to the role of the diaspora communities. As a whole, researches have highlighted that transnational religion can become a source of understanding and dialogue, but also of conflict and violence. This section aims at casting light on both sides of this dichotomy by analyzing transnational religious movements belonging to different religious traditions and geographic/cultural areas both oriented towards conflict, violence and terrorism, and oriented towards peace, dialogue and reconciliation.

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CFP: “Crafting a Nuanced Sociology of Religious Experiences: Realities, Sensed-Experiences, Discourses”

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33rd ISSR Conference: “Sensing Religion” Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), 2-5th July, 2015 http://www.sisr-issr.org/

STS03 “Crafting a Nuanced Sociology of Religious Experiences: Realities, Sensed-Experiences, Discourses”

Organized by:

  • - James SPICKARD, University of Redlands (USA)
    jim_spickard@redlands.edu
  • Géraldine MOSSIÈRE, Université de Montréal (Canada)
    geraldine.mossiere@umontreal.ca

Sociologists and other scholars often write about ‘religious experiences’ as if these were only private phenomena. That is far from the case; they are social phenomena as well. This session invites sociologists to examine the social nature of religious experiences in any of three modes.

  • First, there is the question of reality: scholars of many types assume that religious experiences are ‘real’ – i.e., that they refer to real events in the outside world, whether those events are in fact ‘religious’ (e.g., real visitations by real angels) or are the by-product of something else (e.g., brain manifestations). We invite papers that explore the social aspects of any of these views.
  • Second, there is the question of experience: How do religious experiences appear to those doing the experiencing, leaving aside the question of their reality? What are their qualities, attributes, and consequences? How are they induced? How can we best grasp these as social experiences, not just as individual ones? Can any of the various schools of phenomenology help us in this task? If so, how?
  • Third, there is the question of symbols and meanings: How do people interpret their experiences and what is the meaning they attach to them? This brings up the issues of language and discourse: How do people report their religious experiences? In which frames? What is the role of cultural, social and political contexts in these narratives? Are there standardized narratives on religious experiences? Finally, we welcome discussions of why people talk so much about religious experience today and why so many people think that the question of whether religious experiences are real is so important.

We invite paper proposals that examine deeply any of these questions on any basis: theoretical, empirical, philosophical, etc.

Please submit your proposal (abstract around 300 words) at the the ISSR website (http://sisr-issr.org/Program/ ), before December 15, 2014.

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