News and Events

Posted on by Beth Calls for Papers, News and Events

CFP: Secularism and Secularity – American Academy of Religion (AAR) Annual Meeting

CFP: Secularism and Secularity – American Academy of Religion  (AAR) Annual Meeting

Over the course of the last few decades, theoretical reappraisals of the secular have tried in a variety of ways to destabilize and revalue the notion of the secular so that it no longer means simply the “absence of religion.” Yet vernacular uses of the secular frequently continue to orbit around that very understanding. With this in mind, we invite proposals for papers or panels that explore “the secular” at its various sites of construction. In concert with this year’s conference theme, we are particularly interested in proposals that critically engage public understandings of secularism as well as those that investigate the constitution of the secular in religiously plural publics, in multiple identity formations (especially among the so-called religious “nones”), and in and through a range of social practices (for example, those related to death and dying). In addition, for a possible cosponsored session with the Death, Dying, and Beyond Group, we seek proposals on secular approaches to death.

To submit a paper proposal please follow the instructions on the AAR website found here. All proposals must be submitted no later than March 1 March 4, 2013.

Questions can be directed to the program unit co-chairs (Per Smith and Jonathan VanAntwerpen) at secularism.secularity@gmail.com

UPDATE – The AAR has extended its deadline for proposals to Monday, March 4th.

Posted on by Beth Calls for Papers, News and Events

CFP: Is the Post-Colonial Secular?

Conference in Syracuse, NY
September 20-21, 2013

Description and Call for Papers:

Across the humanities, critical scholarship on the secular / secularism / secularization has recently ballooned. Scholars of history, anthropology, political theory, and religion have begun revisiting questions of enchantment and disenchantment, political theology, blasphemy, religious freedom, and much more. Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age in particular has garnered wide attention, but Taylor’s narrative focuses on the disenchantment of modern Christian Europe. Before and after A Secular Age, scholars have probed the boundaries of the secular beyond Christian Europe, and beyond the confines of intellectual history.

Some have asserted that the ideologies of secularism and colonialism are deeply intertwined. Others have asserted that post-colonial religiosity remains a symptom of colonial control of reason and affect. Still others have pointed to neo-liberalism as the shared basis of contemporary racial, religious, and post-colonial regimes.

We invite proposals that probe the question, “Is the Post-Colonial Post-Secular?” Projects may employ methods of history, literary criticism, theoretical reflection, ethnography, or cultural studies. We are interested in projects from a variety of regions and periods, for example contemporary Africa, the early U.S., or nineteenth century Haiti.

Please send 300 word abstracts, or questions, to: Owais Khan (mokhan01@syr.edu) and Vincent Lloyd (vwlloyd@syr.edu).
Deadline for abstracts: March 25; Notification: April 10.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: 
Gauri Viswanathan (Columbia, Literature)
Barnor Hesse (Northwestern, African American Studies)
Pamela Klassen (Toronto, Religion)
Uday Mehta (CUNY, Political Science)
Matthew Engelke (LSE, Anthropology)
Gyanendra Pandey (Emory, History)
Ludger Viefhues-Bailey (Philosophy, Le Moyne)

This symposium is sponsored by the Syracuse University Religion Department in cooperation with Le Moyne College.

Posted on by Beth Calls for Papers, Publications

CFP: Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe (RASCEE)

RASCEE

Religion & Society in Central and Eastern Europe – Journal of the International Study of Religion in Eastern and Central Europe Association (ISORECEA) | ISSN: 1553-9962 http://www.rascee.net

Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe (RASCEE) is an open-access peer-reviewed annual (published in December) academic journal reflecting critical scholarship in the study religion in the region. Journal Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe is included in Index to the Study of Religions Online (A cross-searchable database and bibliography of journal articles) and in EBSCO Publishing – Academic Search Complete, SocIndex with Full Text and in Central and Eastern European Academic Source., while it is in the review process with Religious and Theological Abstracts, ATLA Religion Databases and ProQuest.

Call for papers

RELIGION IN THE SOCIETIES OF FORMER SOVIET UNION TERRITORIES:ROLES, MANIFESTATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS In the early 1990s the territories of the former Soviet Union opened up to social and religious innovations. After generations of nurturing the idea of a homogenous society, different states emerged,some of them with homogenous, and some of them with heterogeneous, religious fields, with different ways of living and coping with the new conditions of religious freedom, and with different conceptions of the role of religion in society. Looking back after two decades, we can state that religion in the territories of the former Soviet Union has undergone transformations: from forced secularization, to offering new roles, and having a variety of manifestations within contemporary societies that are marked by modernization, individualization and globalization. Is it possible to talk about a religious revival or not? What are the roles of religion in post-Soviet societies? What are the manifestations of new forms of religiosity? How has religion been transformed and mutated in the last two decades? Which religions have been successful and which have failed?Throughout this period a new generation of social scientists and humanities scholars have grown up,and we are particularly interested in their interpretations of the social situation in the region. How does the new generation of scholars understand and interpret the roles, manifestations and transformations of religion in the former Soviet Union?

Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe invites submissions for a special issue dedicated to religion in the former Soviet Union. We welcome both empirical and theoretical contributions from diverse areas of the social sciences, such as: sociology, anthropology, political science, religious studies, history and law, and that focus on the post-Soviet religious landscape and its post-Communist transformations.

Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe (RASCEE) is an annual, open-access, peer-reviewedacademic journal that reflects critical scholarship in the study of religion in the region.

Language: English

Website for the submission of articles: http://www.rascee.net/index.php/rascee

Deadline: June 1, 2013

Contact: Milda Alisauskiene at m.alisauskiene@smf.vdu.lt, or Annika Hvithamar ahvit@sdu.dk

Posted on by Beth Calls for Papers, News

CFP: Global Secularisms at NYU, Due 3/31

Call For Papers

Global Secularisms

The Global Liberal Studies Program at New York University is currently seeking paper submissions for its inaugural conference on the topic of Global Secularisms — to be held on November 15 and 16, 2013 in New York, NY.

From a global perspective, Western secularism, and for example the American debate regarding the separation of church and state, appear as very parochial issues. Secularism is a vexed topic with global implications and consequences, affecting virtually every part of the world, every nation state and every culture, traditional or modern. Questions related to secularism have become increasingly urgent and involve enormous real-world implications. From the emergence of the “new atheism,” to battles over shariah law in Europe and the Middle East, to the reemergence of religion in the politics of India, to battles over the authority of science in the United States, to struggles both intellectual and political over the shape of the public sphere, the question of secularism proves critical.

Some scholars question the assumption that the modern social order is undergoing, or indeed has ever undergone, the process of secularization; others hold that we have entered a post-secular era. Still others associate secularism with western cultural, social, economic or political hegemony. And on the other hand, some of the most compelling thinkers insist that secularism is the only possible means of negotiating sectarian strife and establishing and maintaining a democratic state. Equating secularism with the rejection of the transcendent, secular humanists insist that secularism is the best way to achieve real human flourishing. Yet the very meanings of the words “secularism” and “religion” have been questioned. The history of secularism — and the word should be made plural — helps define the crises of our moment. This conference returns to these issues, in the light of these recent discussions and of recent events that are having serious effects on the way we live now, on the shape of global politics and culture for the immediate future.

This conference hopes to appeal to scholars and creative authors from the major divisions of the academy, including the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as to independent scholars and writers from outside of the academy. We welcome engagement with questions involving secularism and the arts, culture, economics, history, international relations, religion, philosophy, politics, and science. Among the possible broad areas that papers might address, we offer the following possibilities:

  • Secularist movements/figures, past and present
  • Secularism and/as religion
  • Secularism and the arts, literature
  • Secularism and human flourishing
  • Secularism and the state
  • Anti-secularism, anti-atheism
  • Secularism and imperialism
  • Secularism and rights
  • Secularism in colonial/postcolonial contexts
  • The secularization of knowledge, science
  • The secularization of culture
  • The secularization of the university
  • Secularism and feminism
  • Post-secularism

Please email abstracts of 150-300 words by March 31, 2013 to:
Dr. Michael Rectenwald (michael.rectenwald@nyu.edu)

The conference steering committee will respond to submissions by June 1, 2013.

Posted on by Beth News, News and Events

Event: IWM Lecture “‘Russia Beyond Belief’ Living in a Post-Modern Dictatorship”

Tuesday, February 26 2013, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
IWM library

Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen
Spittelauer Lände
31090 Wien
Austria
 

Speaker: Peter Pomeranzev
´Russia beyond Belief´:
Living in a Post-Modern Dictatorship

Lecture Series: Russia in Global Dialogue

Communism, liberal euphoria, hyper-inflation, mafia state, oligarchy, oil boom: since 1989 Russia has experienced so many different realities at such blistering speed that by the start of the Putin era many Russians believed they could master all of them and live ‘beyond belief’. During the oil boom of the past decade, Moscow became a decadent, brilliant whirligig of a city, led by a generation of triumphant cynics who developed a new form of authoritarianism far subtler than the types familiar from the 20th century – a model I call ‘post-modern dictatorship’. In this lecture, Peter Pomeranzev will look at how this sense of being ‘beyond belief’ shapes contemporary life in Russia, and how the current protest movement can be seen as reflecting a conflict between the triumphant cynicism of the noughties and the desire to live in a value-driven society.

Peter Pomeranzev is a British television producer and non-fiction writer of Russian origin. He is also contributor to theLondon Review of Books and Newsweek Magazine (London). Currently he is Guest at the IWM in the framework of the “Russia in Global Dialogue” Fellowship program.

More information here:

http://www.iwm.at/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&Itemid=&agid=359&year=2013&month=02&day=26

Posted on by Chris News and Events

Tomorrow: LSE Forum on Religion, featuring Audra Mitchell and Stacey Gutkowski

LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY – Programme for the Study of Religion and Non-religion

FORUM ON RELIGION

Date: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Time: 16.30-18.00
Venue: Seligman Library (OLD 6.05), Old Building, LSE

Speakers:


Audra Mitchell (University of York)
‘Bringing Secularity (Back) into International Relations: Immanence, Agency and Intervention’

and

Stacey Gutkowski (King’s College London, Middle East and Mediterranean Studies Programme)
‘Secular Ways of War’

 

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/research/PRNR/Events/events.aspx

Posted on by katieaston News, Publications

And the winner is….’Non-Religion and Secularity’ from Journal of Contemporary Religion

We have received the news that the NSRN’s special issue of Journal of Contemporary Religion has topped the list of ‘most wanted’ of special issues published by Routledge! We are also pleased to note that the list in general shows and interest in the secular and the nonreligious. Thank you to everyone who voted!

Free Access to the Top 3 Most Wanted Special Issues

These issues are now available for you to read for free
online until 28th Febuary 2013.

In first place with the most overall votes.

‘Non-Religion and Secularity’ from Journal of Contemporary Religion

A close runner up in second place.

‘Mindfulness: diverse perspective on its meaning, origins and
multiple applications at the intersection of science and dharma’ from
Contemporary Buddhism

and finally, in third place.

‘Post-Secular Trends: Issues in Education and Faith’ from Journal of
Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion and Education

Read these articles for free today at
http://tandf.msgfocus.com/c/1duaF7xlTqaaDmZRuCyaW6DAm

Posted on by katieaston Calls for Papers, News and Events

CFP: Social relations and Human Security Conference

The Centre for Social Relations is Calling for papers on topics relevent to the network, including the role of belief and the impact of Secularism and Pluralism in local, national and international contexts.

Social relations and Human Security Conference

Friday 22nd – Saturday 23rd March
Centre for Social Relations (incorporating the Institute
of Community Cohesion), Coventry University

We live in an interconnected world that transports social issues across and between people, sectors, communities and societies. Tackling some of the drivers and misconceptions that underpin the most pressing problems for societies today –ethnicity, the environment, or socio-economics – requires continued multi-disciplinary dialogue between, governments, practitioners and publics.

The context of contemporary people-to-people relationships and the consequences of differences are both an opportunity and challenge for human security agendas. The question of how we interact, whether at work or at home, with people who we perceive as different to us is central to our sense of stability and security, not just for ourselves, but also for our families and communities. How do we challenge polarising narratives and negative representations through new models of engagement or dialogue? How can we develop communities where people interact in a meaningful way and experience true equality of opportunity? How can we help to equip people in the UK and globally to live engaged and peaceful lives in pluralistic societies?

In learning to understand how our social relations play out in communities both locally and globally, we can begin to address how to live together in peaceful relationships in a world of difference.
Keynote speakers include:
Professor Linda Woodhead, Professor in the sociology of religion in the Department of Politics, Philosophy & Religion at Lancaster University,
Prof. Salman Hameed, Director Centre for the study of Science in Muslim Societies, Hampshire College, US.
Registration Fees: Coventry University will be offering a subsidized rate for registration and accommodation for all delegates and a significantly subsidized rate for registration and accommodation to all postgraduate students, recently qualified postdoc’s or early career scholars who are not currently in full-time employment. Registration fees will be advertised shortly.
Publications: We are currently in discussion with publishers to produce an edited volume of selected papers from this conference. Further details will be available in due course and a call for submissions will be circulated to those who successfully submit a paper to the conference.
Abstract submission:

Our conference will explore the importance of work under the broad banner of social relations in policymaking, international inter-cultural dialogue/cross-community dialogue and academic research. Applied research, empirical studies and critical theoretical papers are welcomed on topics including, but not limited to:
• Agendas for social relations at a community level
• The role of belief, class or ethnicity in society, public space, or discourse
• New directions in intercultural dialogue/cross community dialogue
• The impact of top down vs. bottom up approaches on communities and policy
• Individuality vs. Individualism
• Secularism and Pluralism in local, national and international contexts
• Multiculturalism, Identity and Integration
• Inter-generational conflict/relations
• Do we need a new social contract for diversity?
Proposals are welcomed from researchers of all nationalities at all stages of their careers.
Session proposals should normally consist of three or four papers, with or without a commentator/chair. Sessions will be 90 minutes to 2 hours long. Proposals for alternative types of session (eg. round-table or witness seminar) are strongly encouraged. Please discuss this with us in advance of the Call for Papers deadline.
Proposals for individual papers should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Abstracts should not contain footnotes and should be comprehensible to a non-specialist audience.
The deadline for submitting a session or abstract is 14th January 2013

Abstracts should be submitted to: socialrelationsevents@coventry.ac.uk
Any enquiries should be directed to: Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker
For further information and updates please go to:

http://www.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/NewsEvents/SocialRelationsAndHumanSecurity

Posted on by katieaston News and Events

Events: Forum on Religion Audra Mitchell and Stacey Gutkowski

Forum on Religion Seminar

Date: 23 January 2013
Time: 16.30-18.00
Venue: Seligman Library (OLD 6.05), Old Building, LSE

Speakers:
Audra Mitchell (University of York)
‘Bringing Secularity (Back) into International Relations: Immanence, Agency and Intervention’

and

Stacey Gutkowski (King’s College, London)
‘Secular Ways of War’