Public Discussion: Religious Aspects & Consequences of the U.S. Election (University of Sherbrooke, en français)

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Evénement : La culture politique américaine à la lumière des élections présidentielles 2016 : Le religieux menace-t-il la licité et la neutralité de l’État ?

Date : Le mercredi 16 novembre 2016

Heure : De 14 h  à 17 h

Lieu : Campus principal de Sherbrooke, Balcon du Foyer du Mont-Orford – Centre culturel

Les présidentielles américaines du 8 novembre constituent l’un des événements politiques majeurs de l’année 2016. Une semaine après les résultats, le Centre de recherche Société, droit et religion de l’Université de Sherbrooke (SoDRUS) tiendra une table ronde qui offrira des clés essentielles pour la compréhension des différentes formes et expressions du religieux dans les discours, les actes et les débats durant la course présidentielle à la Maison-Blanche. À cette table ronde seront présentées et analysées les imbrications du religieux, du politique et du socio-culturel des élections américaines entre les démocrates et les républicains.

Le débat sera enrichi par les contributions de différents experts de la politique américaine, notamment, la diplomate Anne Leahy (Université McGill), les professeurs Gilles Vandal(Université de Sherbrooke), Donald Cuccioletta (Université du Québec à Montréal), le chargé de cours Mohammed Ourya (Université de Sherbrooke), sous la modération du professeur Sami Aoun (Université de Sherbrooke).

Tous concernés par les présidentielles américaines, ces experts aborderont,  tour à tour, entre autres, l’importance du catholicisme dans la politique publique et la politique étrangère américaine, les dimensions éthiques et religieuses des décisions de Barak Obama et celles que Mme Clinton priorisera, des conséquences du résultat des élections sur le Canada, l’islam étasunien et l’islam aux États-Unis entre les considérations de la démocratie libérale et les alliances géopolitiques.

New Book: Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts

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Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts
Bloombury, 2016
http://bloomsbury.com/uk/buddhism-in-america-9781472581938/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Buddhism%20in%20America&utm_campaign=IC-SOLUS_Buddhism%20in%20America_OCT%2016_UK/

About Buddhism in America

Buddhism in America provides the most comprehensive and up to date survey of the diverse landscape of US Buddhist traditions, their history and development, and current methodological trends in the study of Buddhism in the West, located within the translocal flow of global Buddhist culture.

Divided into three parts (Histories; Traditions; Frames), this introduction traces Buddhism’s history and encounter with North American culture, charts the landscape of US Buddhist communities, and engages current methodological and theoretical developments in the field. The volume includes:

  • – A short introduction to Buddhism
  • – A historical survey from the 19th century to the present
  • – Coverage of contemporary US Buddhist communities, including Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana

Theoretical and methodological issues and debates covered include:

  • – Social, political and environmental engagement
  • – Race, feminist, and queer theories of Buddhism
  • – Secular Buddhism, digital Buddhism, and modernity
  • – Popular culture, media, and the arts

Pedagogical tools include chapter summaries, discussion questions, images and maps, a glossary, and case studies. The book’s website provides recommended further resources including websites, books and films, organized by chapter. With individual chapters which can stand on their own and be  assigned out of sequence, Buddhism in America is the ideal resource for courses on Buddhism in America, American Religious History, and Introduction to Buddhism.

Post-Doc: “Striking from the Margins: Religion, State and Disintegration in the Middle East”

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Dear Friends of the CEU Center for Religious Studies,

The CEU Center for Religious Studies is pleased to announce a call for applications for the project Striking from the Margins: Religion, State and Disintegration in the Middle East, which launched this September 2016.

Please find attached the call for applications.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you feel might have an interest in applying to distributing to other interested parties.

You can find out more about the project on our website:  https://religion.ceu.edu/new-research-project-launched-ceu-striking-margins-religion-state-and-disintegration-middle-east.

Please let me know if I can provide you with any further details. 

Apologies for any cross-posting.

Best regards,

Esther 

Esther Holbrook          

Coordinator

Center for Religious Studies

1459947696413_CEU_logo_color_web.jpg

Central European University

1051 Budapest, Nador u. 11 Room 211
Phone: +36 1  327-3000 ex.2170
Fax: +36 1 327-3191

www.religion.ceu.edu

Job Opening in Christian and Islamic Studies, Louvain

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An academic position in Christian and Islamic studies (1 EFT)

http://www.uclouvain.be/en-emploi-academiques.html

Vacancy Reference : 10731 / TECO 001 / 2017 (to be quoted in any correspondence)

The Université catholique de Louvain invites applications for a tenure track or tenured full time position in

Christian and Islamic studies

The successful candidate will carry out research in the field of dialogue between Christianity and Islam. He or she will have teaching assignments in both Christian theology and Islamic studies.

Special qualification

An university training in islamic studies is an asset.

Starting date : 1st  September, 2017

Further information :
Professor Eric Gaziaux, dean TECO – doyen-teco@uclouvain.be
Professor Louis-Léon Christians, research director RSCS  – president-rscs@uclouvain.be

Localization :

Humanities Sector
Faculty of Theology

(http://www.uclouvain.be/en-teco.html)
Religions, Spiritualities, Cultures, Societies (http://www.uclouvain.be/en-rscs.html) 

General conditions

Tasks : the applicant will:
– be responsible for teaching courses at all study levels (i.e. undergraduate and postgraduate), as well as in programmes of continuing education;
– supervise the final diploma research (i.e. theses) of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as PhD students;
– be involved in (and/or supervise, promote) research programmes;
– contribute to the international visibility of the University through teaching and research excellence;
– contribute to activities of the University with a societal impact in the fields of the economy, socio-cultural changes or cooperation with developing countries.

Qualifications : the applicant must have
– a PhD degree in Christian theology or any related discipline;
– a significant scientific record with international publications;
– either  studied abroad for an extensive period or have had substantial experience outside UCL;
– experience in and the aptitude for teaching at university level;
– the capacity to work within a team of teachers and to integrate research findings into teaching;
– creativity and must be open to teaching innovation and interdisciplinarity;
– the capacities required to undertake academic research at a high level and to advise, or lead, a research team;
– good knowledge of both spoken and written French and English. If this is not the case, the applicant accept to learn French and/or English in order to be able to teach in French and English within 2 years. Fluency in other languages is an additional advantage.

Apply to this job now…

New Book: Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion

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This book has just been published. 

Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion (Oxford University Press, 2016); edited by Nadia Marzouki, Duncan McDonnell and Olivier Roy.

  • Critical look at the new wave of right-wing populist movements that are using religion to mobilize people
  • Draws on international case studies, including the USA, UK, France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland and Israel
  • Looks at how modern religion is more about identity than faith

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/saving-the-people-9780190639013?cc=us&lang=en&

An excerpt of the introduction can be found here: 

http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2016/09/27/religion-and-populism/

Conference: The Life and Legacy of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Movements in Scholarly Perspective

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Call for Papers


The Life and Legacy of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Movements in Scholarly Perspective


29-30 May 2017

Antwerp, Belgium 


Organized By

The European Observatory of Religion and Secularism (Laïcité) in partnership with Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG), CESNUR and CLIMAS (Bordeaux) 


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

2016 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Exposition of the Divine Principle, written by Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012), founder of the Unification Church that has its roots in South Korea (1954). Since that time, the Unification Church—or Unificationism/Unification Movement(s), among other names and affiliated organizational entities—has spread worldwide and expressed itself in a variety of international contexts. The original Unification Church is a case study of a new religious movement that claims Christian roots but contains a unique and evolving theology, set of practices, and community life that set is apart from the majority Christendom (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions). In this way it may be comparable to say Mormonism or Christian Science, though of course the Unification Movement has its origins outside the United States, and not surprisingly most of its members reside in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and throughout East Asia. With the death of Rev. Moon in 2012, the Unification Church has fractured and a number of rival groups—in addition to dozens of smaller schismatic groups—now claim to be the rightful heirs of the founder’s theological mission and institutional legacies. 

Thirty-three years after the publication of Eileen Barker’s groundbreaking book The Making of a Moonie (Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1984), we invite religious studies scholars to join us in Antwerp to focus on the Unification Church and Movement(s)—their evolution and possible transformations— over the course of 60+ years of existence. 

The list of topics below is not exhaustive: 

• – Evolution of the governance of the Unification Church/Movement(s), 

• – Organization and associated groups, 

• – Membership: numbers, growth, sociological profile. International expansion, 

• – History, theology, and practices, iconography, 

• – Perception in the world as a South Korean-born new religion, 

• – Judicial issues addressing its status; prosecution in certain countries, 

• – Impact on humanitarianism, art and culture in general, 

• – Media relations and media coverage, 

• – Influences in popular culture, 

• – Relationship with the broader society. 

Practical Information

Language of the conference: English. 

Send a 10 line abstract, with a 5 line résumé of your previous work to: 

Régis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism) redericq@netcourrier.com

and/or to Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Vice-President of the Observatory. 

bcellard@numericable.fr

and /or Massimo Introvigne : maxintrovigne@gmail.com

and/or Donald Westbrook : westbrook@humnet.ucla.edu

and/or Chris Vonck : fvg.faculteit@skynet.b 

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.

Call for Papers: FAITH COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM

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Please find below a link to the CALL FOR PAPERS for the conference to be held at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 18-20 May 2017, and co-sponsored by the European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment entitled:

FAITH COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM

18 – 20 May 2017, University of Edinburgh

https://goo.gl/forms/7xkId1o6Ojrqw4Y72

Please submit your proposal to the form at the above link.

For further information please contact:m.northcott@ed.ac.uk

The Donner Research Prize 2016 to Anu Isotalo

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The Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History in Turku has awarded Dr Anu Isotalo from the University of Turku the 2016 prize for outstanding research into religion. Dr Isotalo is awarded for her dissertation Mistä on hyvät tytöt tehty? Somlaitytöt ja maineen merkitykset [What are good girls made of? Somali girls and the meanings of reputation] 

The Donner Institute Prize is awarded annually for outstanding research into religion conducted at a Nordic university. It is intended for researchers in the field of religious studies for a significant and relatively newly published monograph or article in print or digital form. The prize sum is 5,000 Euros.

More information: http://www.abo.fi/forskning/en/News/Item/item/11884

On behalf of the Donner Institute Board,

Turku, 10 October 2016

Tage Kurtén
Chairman

Ruth Illman
Secretary

CALL FOR PAPERS The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

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CALL FOR PAPERS

The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

12-13 June 2017, Åbo Akademi University, Turku/Åbo, Finland

Conference website: http://www.abo.fi/refe/

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1684659638516383/

Europe is undergoing significant demographic changes due to an aging population and increased immigration. This expert symposium will gather internationally leading experts to discuss the cultural, ethnic and religious aspects of this ongoing demographic shift.

The demographics of religion is a new field that has developed alongside growing xenophobia and Islamophobia worldwide. Fear of the demographic change in Europe is one of the ideological motors behind several xenophobic and populist social and political movements. Academic research has lagged behind, but now there is a growing body of serious scholarship on this controversial topic. The conference will bring together people to present the latest research findings as well as methodological and theoretical questions concerning the cultural and societal implications of demographic trajectories. Groundbreaking research has been conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Religious Futures Project that has provided elementary data on global demographic trajectories in the 2010s. Also the Vienna Institute of Demography has given major contributions in projecting the future development of religious adherence in the City of Vienna and developing methodologies for the visualization of demographic change.

Keynote lectures:

  • .”What we know and do not know about future religious developments: The contribution of demography” by Dr Anne Goujon, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austria
  • .”New estimates and projections of Europe’s Muslim population” by Dr Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center, USA
  • .”Religion and demographic change around the world ” by Prof. Vegard Skirbekk, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • .”Estimating Future Religious Diversity in Finland” by Dr Tuomas Martikainen, Migration Institute of Finland

We invite people from different academic backgrounds to discuss religion and demographic developments including but not limited to the following topics:

  • – Demographic projections on religion and ethnicity
  • – Statistics on religion and ethnicity
  • – The use and misuse of demographic and statistics of religion and ethnicity
  • The larger implications of demographic changes for the research on multicultural societies, interreligious encounters and diversity.

To apply, please send an abstract of approximately 150 words to the Donner Institute, donner.institute(at)abo.fi, no later than 31 December, 2016. Letters of acceptance will be posted no later than 31 January, 2017.

Selected papers from the conference will be published in volume 28 of the Donner Institute series Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis as a co-publication of the Donner Institute and the Migration Institute of Finland.

The expert symposium is arranged jointly by the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, the Migration Institute of Finland and the “Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective” Åbo Akademi University Centre of Excellence in Research.

CALL FOR PAPERS The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

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CALL FOR PAPERS

The Religious and Ethnic Future of Europe: An International Conference

12-13 June 2017, Åbo Akademi University, Turku/Åbo, Finland

Conference website: http://www.abo.fi/refe/

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1684659638516383/

Europe is undergoing significant demographic changes due to an aging population and increased immigration. This expert symposium will gather internationally leading experts to discuss the cultural, ethnic and religious aspects of this ongoing demographic shift.

The demographics of religion is a new field that has developed alongside growing xenophobia and Islamophobia worldwide. Fear of the demographic change in Europe is one of the ideological motors behind several xenophobic and populist social and political movements. Academic research has lagged behind, but now there is a growing body of serious scholarship on this controversial topic. The conference will bring together people to present the latest research findings as well as methodological and theoretical questions concerning the cultural and societal implications of demographic trajectories. Groundbreaking research has been conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Religious Futures Project that has provided elementary data on global demographic trajectories in the 2010s. Also the Vienna Institute of Demography has given major contributions in projecting the future development of religious adherence in the City of Vienna and developing methodologies for the visualization of demographic change.

Keynote lectures:

  • .”What we know and do not know about future religious developments: The contribution of demography” by Dr Anne Goujon, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austria
  • .”New estimates and projections of Europe’s Muslim population” by Dr Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center, USA
  • .”Religion and demographic change around the world ” by Prof. Vegard Skirbekk, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • .”Estimating Future Religious Diversity in Finland” by Dr Tuomas Martikainen, Migration Institute of Finland

We invite people from different academic backgrounds to discuss religion and demographic developments including but not limited to the following topics:

  • – Demographic projections on religion and ethnicity
  • – Statistics on religion and ethnicity
  • – The use and misuse of demographic and statistics of religion and ethnicity
  • The larger implications of demographic changes for the research on multicultural societies, interreligious encounters and diversity.

To apply, please send an abstract of approximately 150 words to the Donner Institute, donner.institute(at)abo.fi, no later than 31 December, 2016. Letters of acceptance will be posted no later than 31 January, 2017.

Selected papers from the conference will be published in volume 28 of the Donner Institute series Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis as a co-publication of the Donner Institute and the Migration Institute of Finland.

The expert symposium is arranged jointly by the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, the Migration Institute of Finland and the “Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective” Åbo Akademi University Centre of Excellence in Research.