Journal of Contemporary Religion – Virtual Special Issue: Sociology

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Journal of Contemporary Religion
Virtual Special Issue: Sociology

http://explore.tandfonline.com/content/ah/cjcr-sociology-vsi

We are pleased to introduce a brand new Virtual Special Issue from
Journal of Contemporary Religion featuring key research on sociology and
religion.

By exploring the crossroads between the two subject areas, this new
Virtual Special Issue seeks to celebrate the interdisciplinary character
of Journal of Contemporary Religion.

Join Elisabeth Arweck, Editor of JCR in a journey through the latest
articles and reviews taking a sociological approach to contemporary
issues regarding religion.

All research featured in this new Virtual Special Issue is free to
access for a limited time, so simply click on the link below to start
reading today.

Rethinking Islamic Education in Europe: Research, Professional Practice and Policy Development

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CES/WRERU Islamic Education Summer School
Rethinking Islamic Education in Europe:
Research, Professional Practice and Policy Development
5th-7th September 2016
Scarman House, University of Warwick

In association with Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit
Centre for Education Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Warwick

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ces/news/islamiceducationsummerschool/

Since their mass arrival after the Second World War, Muslim communities in the UK and across Western Europe have experienced a complex set of socio-economic, political and educational challenges. The rise of religiously motivated global terrorism, home-grown extremism and overwhelmingly security-focused official policy responses to these events have further undermined social and community cohesion. Muslim children and young people, who constitute the highest percentage within the overall Muslim demographics, have been most affected by these developments. The identities of Muslim communities, particularly the young, are shaped by the uncertainties of an inherited post-colonial Muslim world and the expectations of wider secular and multicultural societies.

Bringing about confident Islamic self-understandings through reflective pedagogies of studying Islam, its rich legacy and nurturing intercultural and inter-religious engagement, as well as developing competence for active citizenship, remain essential for the community and the wider society to address. Education in general, and Islamic Education in particular, are critical long term areas of investment that will shape our longer term responses to the significant set of issues that concern us all. However, the relevance of the current models of Islamic Education in adequately addressing the present contexts and facilitating a positive transformation within the community require re-examination. There is an urgent need to develop research-based scholarly approaches in the field so that a set of professional standards can inform and guide its diverse practitioners.

The first Warwick Islamic Education Summer School aims to offer a rigorous academic forum to rethink Islamic educational practice that takes place within formal/informal educational settings and identify future research and policy directions in the field. There will be opportunities for networking and special sessions for young researchers to present their work. The aim is to facilitate a cross-fertilization of ideas and to share the best practice among the emerging community of researchers, practitioners and policy makers working within this inter-disciplinary area of study. One of the main expectations of the meeting is to consider setting up a specialist ‘Islamic Education Research Network’ at Warwick. The workshop is also open to researchers and educators who are interested in developing their understanding of the educational culture and pedagogic practice within Muslim communities and their interaction with wider social and educational institutions.

The Summer School will be delivered through interactive workshops, lectures and presentations. The participants will have the opportunity to know more about the Islamic Education initiative at Warwick, research expertise within WRERU and the wider relevant research and taught programmes within CES. The aim of this initial meeting is to map out the major areas of research, professional practice and policy development in Islamic Education, and identify topics to be explored in depth during the next annual meeting of the Summer School.

Call for Abstracts – Religion in Contexts

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Call for Abstracts

Religion in Contexts

-Handbook of the Sociology of Religion-

                                                                                          We are inviting for outline abstracts of 500 words by 30.09.2016 to each editor.

                                                              Melanie Reddig, Düsseldorf/  Annette Schnabel, Düsseldorf/ Heidemarie Winkel, Bielefeld

It is the aim of the volume to collect contributions that contextualise religions in their worldwide multiplicity, their particular societal configurations and their dynamics of social transformation. We want to understand religion as a multi-dimensional concept comprising of religious beliefs, world views and practices as well as the richness of religious groups, parishes, organisations and professions characterized by varying hierarchical relations, norms and values systems of societal range. Additionally, religion is also relevant from a macro-perspective as a category of social belonging and social difference; this includes institutional settings as well as social teachings and the religious bodies of knowledge.

At large, the volume will gather and systematically discuss a wide range of contexts and their varying influences on religion. On the basis of selected empirical data, the contributions shall reveal the social mechanisms and processes by which religion is shaped, realised and made salient. By this, the volume will provide a theoretical reconstruction of varying social effects in various societal contexts and a critical input to the up-to-date sociology of religion. This includes the analysis of interdependencies with other social fields like politics or science as well as the intersection with other social categories of difference like gender, race or age.

We are looking for manuscripts that locate religion in spatial, functional and societal contexts: (i) spatial contexts may comprise of global, regional or local environments that influence the relationship between religion and society. (ii) Functional contexts may relate to law, politics and economics but also to social inequalities and social identities. (iii) Societal contexts are practice- and interaction-related and embedded in everyday life on the micro-level; they endorse organisations, networks and their hierarchical order on the meso-level and relate to societal discourses, world views, and values on the macro-level.

Our explicit aim is to emphasise the so far neglected perspective on religion arising from culturally and socially structured phenomena–religion in this regard is understood as neither ‘quasi-naturally’ given nor as a necessarily antecedent and independent category. By this, we want to question Eurocentric perspectives in the sociology of religion and instead, search for alternative accesses to compare religions and contribute to a better understanding of the social mechanisms that make (and maintain) religions salient.

Projected structure:

 

(I) Introduction: Contextualising religion

(II) Religion in spatial contexts

Global contexts

Regional contexts

Local contexts

(III) Religion in social contexts

Religion and its political context

Religion and its legal contexts

Religion and contexts of economy and social inequality

Religion and its contexts of identity

(IV) Religion and the levels of inquiry

Religion in the context of everyday life

Religion in the context of organisations, networks and hierarchies

Religion in the context of structure and culture

The volume will be published by NOMOS end of 2017. Manuscripts should be submitted by 31.03.2017.

We are inviting for contributions of up to 30.000 characters (including bibliographical indications). We very much appreciate your acceptance. Initially, please submit an outline abstract of 500 words by 30.09.2016 to each editor:

 

Melanie Reddig: reddig@phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de

Annette Schnabel: annette.schnabel@uni-duesseldorf.de

Heidemarie Winkel: heidemarie.winkel@uni-bielefeld.de

Invitation to the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies, 5, 6 & 7 December 2016

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We are pleased to invite you to participate in the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies. Registration for our Fall Session (5, 6 & 7 December) is now open. The meeting will be held at The Old Library in the Oxford University Church of St Mary.  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 sessions will be hosted by Canon Brian Mountford MBE, 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. The symposium is inter-disciplinary and has a broad-based theme.

The deadline for proposals is 14 November.

The regular registration deadline is 16 November. (Early Registration is 10 October and is £60 less than the regular registration fees).

For more information visit our website Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies

Permanent Qualitative Social Science Research Fellow Post

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Permanent Qualitative Social Science Research Fellow Post ‘Establishing a framework for a multidisciplinary study of science in Muslim societies’

List members may be interested in the permanent Research Fellow post below at Newman University, Birmingham, UK. For further details please follow this link:

http://www.newman.ac.uk/jobs/4656/qualitative-social-science-research-fellow?1=m

Another fixed term position linked to the same project is being advertised at Hampshire College in the US:

https://jobs.hampshire.edu/index.cgi?&JA_m=JASDET&JA_s=503

*****************************

REF: NU3216
Salary scale: £31, 656 – £35, 609 per annum

Closing date for applications: 09/08/2016

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Research Fellow to work within the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society (CSKBS) at Newman University.  Up until September 2017 the post holder will work principally on the development of a large-scale project on ‘Establishing a framework for a multidisciplinary study of science in Muslim societies’. Beyond 2017 it is expected that the post holder will work on subsequent phase 2 grant delivery and contribute to the development of the ‘Science across diverse societies’ research theme within CSKBS.

‘Establishing a framework for a multidisciplinary study of science in Muslim societies’ phase 1 project overview: There is a significant gap in scholarly understanding of how Muslims living in majority and minority contexts perceive science and the role it plays in the construction of both their religious and secular worldviews. The primary aim of this planning project is to begin to build the capacity and networks necessary to conduct a larger scale research study to address this gap. This longer term research will seek to develop a more comprehensive picture of how differing groups along a spectrum of worldviews, within Muslim majority and minority contexts, relate to and form public domain narratives surrounding ‘science’ and ‘religion’.

The Centre for Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society (CSKBS) is a multidisciplinary Research Centre that fosters open-minded social science and humanities based research on: the public understanding and communication of the relationship between science and religion, research into the sociology and psychology of religion, and the role of science, knowledge and belief in diverse societies. For further details, please go to:

/research-centres/2371

This project will be undertaken in partnership with Dr. Salman Hameed at the Center for the Study of Science in Muslim Societies (SSiMS) at Hampshire College, US. For further details, please go to:

https://www.hampshire.edu/faculty/salman-hameed

Research Fellow candidates should expect to undertake and play a significant role in the development of the ‘Establishing a framework for a multidisciplinary study of science in Muslim societies’ project, and to contribute to project publications and the development of future research within the research CSKBS. Therefore, they are expected to have a relevant disciplinary background and an interest in/enthusiasm for the subject matter of the project and the Centre’s wider research.

We welcome applications from experienced, enthusiastic and creative early career researchers with backgrounds in:

  • science and technology studies
  • Sociology of religion/sociology of Islam
  • qualitative sociology
  • Human Geography
  • related areas of social scientific research

You will hold a relevant doctoral qualification. You will have a record of research activity commensurate with your career stage. It is essential of the post holder to have some experience working on postdoctoral qualitative research projects. Language skills in French, Arabic or Turkish are desirable but not essential.  Where relevant mentoring and support will be provided.

The post is expected to start in September 2016.  

Informal enquiries regarding the above post may be made with, Dr, Fern Elsdon-Baker, F.Elsdon-Baker@newman.ac.uk, 0121 476 1181 Ext 2415.

Further particulars can be obtained by emailing: recruitment@newman.ac.uk  or telephone 0121 476 1181 ext 2398.

Gouvernance et religion en Europe / Governance and Religion in Europe

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Le colloque international “Gouvernance et religion en Europe” est organisé
conjointement par le réseau Eurel de sociologues et juristes de la
religion (www.eurel.info), et la Faculté de langues, littérature, humanités, art et éducation de
l’Université du Luxembourg. Le colloque vise à se concentrer sur “le rôle
de la religion dans l’élaboration européenne des politiques et du droit”.
Il comportera des approches en sciences politiques, sociologie et droit.
Les interventions s’inscrivent dans quatre thématiques : religion, discours
et stratégies politiques ; engagement religieux et mobilisations politique
des groupes religieux minoritaires ; les groupes religieux, acteurs et
objets de la gouvernance locale ; les religions dans la législation et
l’application de la loi. (Luxembourg, 29-30 septembre 2016,
eurel.sciencesconf.org).

 

The international conference “Governance and Religion in Europe” is jointly
organised by the Eurel network of sociologists and legal scholars of
religion (www.eurel.info), and the University of Luxembourg. The Conference
aims at focusing on “the role of religion in European policy-making and
law”. Its approaches will be based in political science, sociology, and
law. Contributions will be organised in four panels: Religion, Party
Discourse, and Policy-Making; Religious Engagement and Political
Mobilization of Minority Religious Groups; Religious Groups as Actors and
Objects of Local Governance; Religion in Legislation and Law Enforcement.
(Luxembourg, 29-30 September 2016, eurel.sciencesconf.org).

Religions journal

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Dear Colleagues,

Religions (ISSN 2077-1444, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions) feels honored to be announced at the ISSR website.

Religions is an international, open access scholarly journal, publishing peer reviewed studies of religious thought and practice. It is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, Web of Science, Scopus, etc. Religions is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and, accordingly, submissions are peer reviewed rigorously to ensure that they conform to the highest standards in their field.

Religions publishes regular research papers, reviews, communications and reports on research projects. We dedicate to research of religion and sociology, as a result, we have published some papers in this filed. You may go to our website to have a look at the manuscripts that we published so far http://www.mdpi.com/search?journal=religions&section=97

We wish the conference will be a fabulous success. We sincerely hope we will have the opportunity of working with the conference participants in the near future.

On behalf of the editorial team,

Kind regards,
Jie Gu
Senior Assistant Editor

—
Ms. Jie Gu
MDPI Branch Office, Beijing
Religions Editorial Office
Tel. + 86 10 81521170
E-mail: religions@mdpi.com
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions
MDPI AG
Klybeckstrasse 64, 2nd Floor, Basel CH-4057, Switzerland
Tel. +41 61 683 77 34; Fax. +41 61 302 89 18

Journal Announcement: Special issue of New Diversities

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The Infrastructures of Diversity: Materiality and Culture in Urban Space, ed. Marian Burchardt, Stefan Höhne and AbdouMaliq Simone

Out now: special issue of New Diversities

The Infrastructures of Diversity: Materiality and Culture in Urban Space

Guest Editors: Marian Burchardt (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen), Stefan Höhne (Technische Universität Berlin) and AbdouMaliq Simone (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen). With contributions by Suzi Hall, Kim Knott, AbdouMaliq Simone and many others.

In contemporary scholarship  materiality and human diversity constitute two largely disconnected ways of think- ing about urban space. Scholars interested in materiality are loosely connected and inspired by the “infrastructural turn” while those focusing on human diversity work within the “diversity turn”. This special issue argues that bringing together urban infrastructures and urban diversity opens up new avenues for thinking about the politics and meanings of space. Spanning distances between Rio de Janeiro, London, Manila and Ankara, the contributions to this special issue ask how socio-material assemblages shape encounters with diversity in urban life in relation to concrete social problems. 




LIST OF CONTENTS

The Infrastructures of Diversity: Materiality and Culture in Urban Space – An Introduction
by Marian Burchardt (Max PIanck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen) and Stefan Höhne (Technische Universität Berlin)
»read the full article

Walls and Other Unremarkable Boundaries in South London: Impenetrable Infrastructure or Portals of Time, Space and Cultural Difference?
by Kim Knott (Lancaster University)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Infrastructures of Partition, Infrastructures of Juncture: Separation Barriers and Intercommunal Contact in Belfast and Nicosia
by Emily Bereskin (Technische Universität Berlin)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Envisioning Migration: Drawing the Infrastructure of Stapleton Road, Bristol
by Suzanne M. Hall, Julia King, and Robin Finlay (London School of Economics and Political Science)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

The Sacred Diesel: Infrastructures of Transportation and Religious Art in Manila
by Anderson Blanton (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Large-scale Urbanization and the Infrastructure of Religious Diversity in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro
by Stephan Lanz (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Architectures of Interreligious Tolerance: The Infrastructural Politics of Place and Space in Croatia and Turkey
by Jeremy F. Walton (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Urban Diversity: Disentangling the Cultural from the Economic Case
by Boris Vormann (John-F.-Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Berlin)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Cities as Infrastructures of Diversification and Homogenisation: Constructing Multiformal Spaces in Paris and Shenzhen
by Stephen Read (Delft University of Technology)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Passing Things Along: (In)completing Infrastructure
by AbdouMaliq Simone (Max PIanck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords