News and Events

Posted on by Chris News and Events

Westminster Faith Debates

A series of debates on religion in public life, running from February to May 2012 at RUSI, 61 Whitehall, SW1A 2ET, Wednesdays fortnightly, 5.30-7pm.

Between 2007-2012 £12m was invested by two research councils, the AHRC and ESRC, in the largest-ever funded research programme on ‘Religion and Society’. In this series leading academics will present findings arising from that research, for response by public figures. Together they will open up debate about the place of religion in public life today.

The series is organised by the Rt Hon Charles Clarke, Professor Linda Woodhead and Dr Rebecca Catto, in co-operation with Theos.

1. Religious Identity in ‘Superdiverse’ Societies – 8th Feb

  • Trevor Phillips, Dominic Grieve, Kim Knott, Therese O’Toole

2. What’s the Place of Faith in Schools? – 22nd Feb

  • Richard Dawkins, John Pritchard, Jim Conroy, Robert Jackson

3. What have we Learned about Radicalisation? – 7th March

  • Mehdi Hasan, Ed Husain, Mark Sedgwick, Marat Shterin, Mat Francis

4. What role for Religious Organisations in an era of Shrinking Welfare? – 21st March

  •  David Blunkett, Peter Smith, Adam Dinham, Sarah Johnsen

5. What Limits to Religious Freedom? – 18th April

  • Lisa Appignanesi, Maleiha Malik, Peter Jones

6. What are the main Trends in Religion and Values in Britain? – 2nd May

  • Aaqil Ahmed, Cole Moreton, Linda Woodhead, Grace Davie

Please email p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk to register for the debates you would like to attend, and visit http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates for further details.

Posted on by katieaston Calls for Papers, Teaching

Aarhus University Research Foundation Call for grant applications: Deadline January 24 2012

Please see details below for grant opportunities for PhD’s with focus on the religion in the contemporary world or those wishing to work within a multidisciplinary setting, proposing to study religion, culture and cognition. Details should be presented to either Jørn Borup or Armin W. Geertz, details below.

For those interested in pursuing study or research with the following research groups at the Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University:

1. Center for Contemporary Religion (CCR)

2. Religion, Cognition and Culture Research Unit (RCC)

Grant applications

AUFF, the Aarhus University Research Foundation invites interested Master or PhD students to apply for grants to be awarded during the first half of 2012.

http://www.au.dk/en/facultiesdepartmentsetc/otherunits/tilknyt/auff/

The foundation’s objective is to support scientific and scholarly research at Aarhus University. The foundation awards grants on the basis of recommendations from Aarhus University. In the evaluation of applications and recommendations, emphasis is placed on academic excellence and on supporting initiatives with the potential to strengthen strategically important research efforts.

The eligible applicant for AUFF is the head of the graduate school. This call is directed to interested Master or PhD students to send forward an expression of interest to:

1. Center for Contemporary Religion (CCR). The CCR constitutes a base for general interest in contemporary issues regarding religion and society. CCR was founded as collaboration between researchers within the Study of Religion and researchers within Theology, but now being placed at the Department of Culture and Society, the center organises research focusing on religion and society in the contemporary world.

2. Religion, Cognition and Culture Research Unit (RCC). The RCC explores the dynamic interrelationships between religion, cognition and culture from both top-down and bottom-up disciplinary approaches. Its scientific methodology is explicitly interdisciplinary and draws on and practices laboratory methods as well as fieldwork, textual, iconological and archaeological methods in close cooperation with its partners in psychology, the neurosciences and the humanities.

The CCR and RCC will send selected candidates further to the head of the graduate school. If more than one candidate is recommended, the head of the graduate school is responsible for ranking the candidates. The head of the graduate school is also responsible for the qualitative evaluation of the potential doctoral student.

Application deadline

Applicants wanting to be associated with CCR should send an expression of interest to Jørn Borup (JB@teo.au.dk)

Applicants wanting to be associated with RCC should send an expression of interest to Armin W. Geertz (AWG@teo.au.dk)

The deadline for application is January 24, 2012.

Funds are distributed in May and December.

The next call for grant applications to the Aarhus University Research Foundation will take place in July 2012.

FUNDING TO FURTHER THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF PHD EDUCATION AT AARHUS UNIVERSITY

Projects and initiatives which are eligible for support:

A. Recruitment of talented foreign researchers to PhD programmes at Aarhus University

Purpose

To increase the number of highly qualified foreign PhD students at Aarhus University. Grants to enable a potential foreign applicant to visit Aarhus University for one to three months are available. The goal of the visit is to facilitate a thorough qualitative evaluation of the potential applicant to a PhD programme at Arhus University. Examples of relevant activities in which a foreign candidate might participate include courses, summer school, and workshops; laboratory work; or developing a PhD project in collaboration with his/her supervisor. The candidate is to be evaluated by his/her supervisor at the end of his/her stay. This evaluation may be included in the candidate’s application for admission to a PhD programme at Aarhus University. Danish citizens are not eligible for this grant. Students with qualifying examinations from Danish institutions are not eligible.

Funding available

Applications for funds to cover the following costs will be considered:

* An introductory grant for the foreign candidate (DKK 10,000 per month)

* Travel expenses (DKK 15,000 maximum)

* Expenses related to courses, workshops, laboratory work, etc. (DKK 20,000 maximum)

Maximum total funding available per candidate: DKK 65,000

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

* The foreign candidate’s qualifications in relation to the research field of the section to which he/she is considering applying

* The ability of the institutional research culture to host the candidate’s visit successfully

* Additional documentation of the foreign candidate’s qualifications (where applicable)

The following documentation must be submitted along with the application

* The foreign candidate’s CV

* Reasons from both principal supervisor and the head of the graduate school in question in support of the candidate’s stay, including any strategic considerations related to the recruitment of doctoral students from specific universities, countries or regions

* Documentation of PhD scholarships the foreign student would be able to apply for

B. Funding for a term of research at Aarhus University for doctoral students enrolled at a foreign university

Purpose

To increase the number of highly qualified foreign PhD students at Aarhus University, thereby contributing to the internationalisation of doctoral education at the university, by establishing three to six-month research collaborations with foreign doctoral students. During their term of study at AU, foreign PhD students may (for example) participate in research activities, PhD courses, summer schools and workshops: perform laboratory work and/or work on their PhD theses, in order to complete a limited portion of their doctoral work at AU. Doctoral students with Danish citizenship are not eligible.

Funding available

* Fellowships (DKK 5,000 – 10,000 per month)

* Travel expenses (DKK 15,000 maximum)

* Expenses related to courses, workshops, laboratory work, etc. (DKK 20,000 maximum)

Maximum total funding available per candidate: DKK 65,000

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

* The foreign student’s individual qualifications

* The foreign candidate’s qualifications in relation to the research field of the section at which he/she would continue his/her studies

* The ability of the institutional research culture to host the candidate’s term of study successfully

* The extent to which the foreign student’s presence would strengthen the institutional collaboration between the foreign student’s home university and Aarhus University

The following documentation must be submitted along with the application

* The foreign student’s CV

* The head of the graduate school’s reasons in support of the candidate’s term of study at AU, including any strategic considerations related to the recruitment of doctoral students from specific universities, countries or regions

Posted on by katieaston Calls for Papers

Deadline Extended CFP: “Preservation and Access: Facilitating Research in Information & Religion”

Call for Papers & Posters – Deadline Extended

Second Annual Conference on Information & Religion: “Preservation and Access: Facilitating Research in Information & Religion”

Keynote: Carisse Mickey Berryhill, Ph.D., Special Collections Librarian,
Abilene Christian University

May 18 & 19, 2012
Kent State University, Kent, OH

The Center for the Study of Information and Religion (CSIR) will host its Second Annual International Conference on Information and Religion in May 2012. This call for papers and posters seeks original contributions in all areas related to information and religion. The conference theme invites participants to share their work in a variety of areas in which scholars are exploring the intersections of religion and information. Topics that might be addressed include but are not limited to the following:

  • Preserving and making available religious texts and information objects associated with communities of faith;
  • Social uses and appropriations made of these texts and objects;
  • The information-seeking behavior of clergy;
  • The role of the sermon as an influential communication medium in society; case studies in the sermon preparation task;
  • Information in its application to local congregations as communities of practice;
  • Faith and many types of intelligence (e.g., emotional intelligence);
  • Dissemination of faith messages;
  • Intersections of interests in the study of information and religion, where different disciplines might find it worthwhile to collaborate in research.

Prospective participants are encouraged to submit abstracts that report on recent research and scholarship. Contributions to this call for papers and posters should not have been previously published. There are no restrictions on research methodology.
Instructions for submitting refereed paper or poster abstracts:

The abstract should be no longer than 250 words and should include the following:
Title of the paper or poster;
Research question, methods, and results;
Names, affiliations, and contact information for the authors (with one author to be designated as primary contact for the paper).

The abstract should be submitted in PDF or Word format to Dr. Rosemary Du Mont, CSIR Associate, at rdumont@kent.edu.

Jan. 31, 2012: (Extended) Deadline to submit abstracts.
March 15, 2012: Notification of acceptance sent to participants.
April 15, 2012: Deadline to submit final, completed papers in order for them to be considered for publication in ASIR: Advances in the Study of Information and Religion. Papers must be in proper APA style. Additional details regarding submission of full papers will be sent to those whose abstracts are accepted for conference presentation.
Presenters are responsible for their own expenses related to the conference, including but not limited to registration fees, lodging, transportation, and meals.
The Center for the Study of Information and Religion (CSIR) is a research initiative of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University. Located in northeast Ohio, in close proximity to the cities of Akron-Canton and Cleveland, Kent State has an enrollment of more than 41,000 students. SLIS is home to approximately 700 master’s students and is a partner in the doctoral program of the College of Communication and Information (CCI).
For more information, please contact Dr. Don Wicks (dwicks@kent.edu), Interim Director of SLIS and Director of CSIR, Dr. Dan Roland (droland1@kent.edu), CSIR Primary Researcher, or Dr. Rosemary Du Mont (rdumont@kent.edu), CSIR Associate.
Conference information will be posted at http://bit.ly/CSIRconf2012.

Posted on by katieaston News and Events, Publications

The Religious Studies Project Launches Today

Today saw the launch of the Religious Studies Project, directed by Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson in association with the British Association for the Study of Religions.

The project will allow some great dialogue between scholars, researchers, in fact anyone with an interest in contemporary issues in Religious Studies. Every Monday, they’ll be putting out a new podcast featuring an interview with a  leading international scholar, presenting a key idea in  the contemporary socio-scientific study of religion in a concise and accessible way. You can find the podcast and accompanying notes here, or you can also subscribe on iTunes to make sure you always get the latest episode.

Each Wednesday, they will also feature a resource to help postgraduate students and aspiring academics. And on Fridays  a response to each of the podcast will be put up, reflecting on, expanding upon or disagreeing with the Monday podcast. Plus much more, including conference reports, opinion, publishing opportunities, book reviews.

Please take some time today to have a look at the Religious Studies Project site, follow them on Twitter, “Like” them on Facebook or rate them on iTunes. Feel free to share this with friends, on you facebook wall or  post to interested networks.

Posted on by katieaston News

Baggini, Heathen’s Progress New Post: You don’t have to be religious to pray … but it helps

Julian Baggini continues his conversation on the topic of religion and non-religion with his latest post You don’t have to be religious to pray … but it helps

'I do think that prayer, like many rituals, is something that the religious get some real benefits from that are just lost to us heathens.' Photograph: Rex Features

This week, Baggini muses on prayer.”I think many religious rituals are like this. They have real benefits, whether you buy into the belief system behind them or not. But if you try to separate them from the beliefs, they lose some of their potency and grip”

He argues that practice is why people believe and perhaps not vice versa and concludes that in ridding “ourselves” of religions, the heathen refuses to sacrifice reason, but may in the process pay the price of losing some of the benefits, in this case prayer, having to make do with less worthy substitutes.

If you are interested in this you can read more about Heathens’s Progress in the Guaridan CIF pages.

Posted on by katieaston Calls for Papers, News and Events

CFP The Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions March 23-25 2012

The Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions

Merton College, the University of Oxford

March 23-25 2012

The Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions invites papers on Indic religious cultures and traditions.  This year we encourage papers relating to ecology and related matters, such as animals; however, we will consider papers on other themes. The Spalding Symposium is an annual conference bringing together scholars from many disciplines who are working in the general areas of Indic Studies.  It is funded by the Spalding Trust.  Papers on Jain, Hindu, Buddhist, Parsi, Sikh and sub-continental Christianity or Islam are welcome, as are those that examine Indian religions as diasporic or global communities.

We invite proposals for 45 minute papers, with 15 minutes for discussion.  Proposals in the form of a title, a short abstract and a brief biographical statement including affiliation should be sent, by February 3rd, to Catherine Robinson c.robinson@bathspa.ac.uk

It is expected that a selection of papers from the Symposium will be published in our peer-reviewed journal, Religions of South Asia (RoSA). However, giving a paper at the Symposium does not guarantee inclusion in the journal.

Speakers, papers and a provisional programme will be posted on the Spalding website as soon as they become available.

www.spaldingsymposium.com

http://spaldingsymposium.wordpress.com/

Posted on by katieaston News

The stuff of funerals: Material culture and commemoration for the non-religious of London

UCL anthropology department run a weekly Material, Visual and Digital Culture Research Seminar Series

Details: Mondays 5 pm- 6.30 pm, followed by drinks Daryll Forde Seminar Room, 2nd floor, 14 Taviton St.

The whole series looks great, but of particular interest is Dr. Matthew Engelke’s seminar on non-religious funerals, commemoration and funerals in London:

February 27: Mathew Engelke (LSE)
The stuff of funerals: Material culture and commemoration for the non-religious of London

More details on the UCL seminar site

Posted on by katieaston Calls for Papers, News and Events

CFP: Sacred Practices of Everyday Life

A conference of interest of that perhaps has space for a nonreligious and civic perspective on the notion of the Sacred?

AHRC/ESRC RELIGION AND SOCIETY PROGRAMME

9th to 11th May 2012

The John McIntyre Conference Centre (Edinburgh University), 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AY

Call for Papers

Roadside shrines; divorce parties; tattoos made with ink containing a loved one’s ashes; spiritual retreats; prayer cairns; naming ceremonies; healing rituals; contacts with the dead: however ‘disenchanted’ the world may be, there is plenty of evidence of enchantment and re-enchantment all around. Life and death are still rendered meaningful through ancient and reinvented practices, rituals, beliefs and symbols which attach sacredness and significance to what would otherwise be merely mundane.

The purpose of the conference is to explore new evidence, analysis and theory concerning the sacred practices of everyday life. There is a particular focus on the varied ways in which the life course is being re-enchanted in the 21st century, but papers looking at other eras and/or larger forms of sacred practice (e.g. civic rituals) are also welcome. The scope is global.

The conference will showcase thirty or so projects funded by the Religion and Society Programme which have new findings in this area. These will be supplemented by the papers received through this open call.

The conference streams are:

  • Formation and Cultivation
  • ·Life-styles and (After)Death-styles
  • Sex, Life and Love
  • Gods, Spirits and the Sacred
  • Fate, Destiny and the Future
  • Identity, Solidarity and Conflict
  • Suffering, Healing and Well Being
  • Objects, Language, Rituals and Consumption

Individual paper proposals (max. 200 words) should be submitted to:

Peta Ainsworth: p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk by 29th February 2012.

The conference is subsidised by the sponsors and costs £95 per delegate, £60 for postgraduates/unwaged (for the entire conference) or £45 per day, £30 for postgraduates/unwaged. The conference fee excludes accommodation and conference dinner. For further details and registration go to: http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/events/programme_events/show/sacred_practices_of_everyday_life

Peta Ainsworth

Administrator

AHRC/ESRC Religion & Society Programme

C14 FASS Building

County South

Lancaster University

Lancaster LA1 4YD

Tel. (01524) 510826

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk

Posted on by katieaston News and Events

Religion and Society Faith Debates: Debating the latest research on religion in public life

The Religion and Society have announced a series of Faith Debates taking place at fortnightly, on Wednesdays at 5.30 – 7pm at RUSI, 61 Whitehall, SW1A 2ET

Between 2007-2012 £12m was invested by two research councils, the AHRC and ESRC, in the largest-ever funded research programme on ‘Religion and Society’. In this series leading academics will present findings arising from that research, for response by public figures. Together they will open up debate about the place of religion in public life today.

These events have been organised by Professor Linda Woodhead, Rt Hon Charles Clarke and Rebecca CattoFunded by the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme with the assistance of Theos

1. RELIGIOUS IDENTITY IN ‘SUPERDIVERSE’ SOCIETIES

This will be the first of the series, starting on Wednesday 08 February 2012, 5.30-7pm, 61 Whitehall

Britain is now one of the most diverse societies in the world, not just in terms of ethnicity, but the many different types of ‘Briton’, and their varied status and identities. What does this mean for policy and practice, where does religion come in, and what do other superdiverse societies have to tell us?

Contributors include, Therese O’Toole, Kim Knott, Trevor Phillips and Dominic Grieve

The remaining events include:

2. WHAT’S THE PLACE OF FAITH IN SCHOOLS?

22nd Feb

Richard Dawkins, John Pritchard, Jim Conroy, Robert Jackson

3. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT RADICALISATION?

7th March

Mehdi Hasan, Ed Husain, Mark Sedgwick, Marat Shterin, Mat Francis

4. WHAT ROLE FOR RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS IN AN ERA OF SHRINKING WELFARE?

21st March

David Blunkett, Peter Smith, Adam Dinham, Sarah Johnsen

5. WHAT LIMITS TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?

18th April

Lisa Appignanesi, Maleiha Malik, Peter Jones

6. WHAT ARE THE MAIN TRENDS IN RELIGION AND VALUES IN BRITAIN?

2nd May

Aaqil Ahmed, Cole Moreton,  Linda Woodhead, Grace Davie

You can register for this Debate or any others by  emailing p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk

When registering, please let us know which of the following categories best describes you ‘Academic’,‘FBOs and Voluntary Sector’, ‘Media’, ‘Policy’, ‘Religious Communities’ or ‘Other’

Posted on by katieaston News and Events, Teaching

Call For Applications: Fellowship in Religious Studies – Closings Dates 16 JANUARY, 29 FEBRUARY AND 16 APRIL 2012

CHANCELLOR`S FELLOWSHIP in RELIGIOUS STUDIES (5-year, full-time, tenure-track)

SALARY SCALE: £36,862 – £44,016 GRADE: UE08

CLOSING DATES: 16 JANUARY, 29 FEBRUARY AND 16 APRIL 2012

VACANCY REFERENCE: 3015150

The School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh intends to appoint three Chancellor’s Fellows in the coming months, ONE of which will be in RELIGIOUS STUDIES, with the aim of having the positions start in SEPTEMBER 2012.

These prestigious awards are aimed at early career scholar-teachers of the highest potential who have begun to establish a reputation for research at the forefront of their discipline and who have a commitment to teaching at the university level. The Fellowship will be held for 5 years, subject to satisfactory review at the end of year 3, and the Fellow will then move to a standard University academic open-ended contract.

The first year of the Fellowship will focus on establishing the Fellow`s research programme, with a limited amount of teaching. Fellows will be expected to submit an appropriate number of high quality research submissions to REF2014. Teaching and administration will gradually increase over the 5-year period to that of a normal academic load in the School of Divinity.

Normally a Fellow appointed from or shortly after their PhD will be appointed on the Grade 7 scale, whereas those with postdoctoral experience would normally be appointed at grade 8. Current Salary Scales are: Grade 7: £29,972 – £35,788; Grade 8: £36,862 – £44,016.

The School of Divinity expects to appoint a Chancellor’s Fellow in each of three Subject Areas – Christian Ethics and Practical Theology, World Christianity and RELIGIOUS STUDIES:

 *RELIGIOUS STUDIES: any substantive field or tradition in the Study of Religions that can enhance and extend the existing subject area profile, including strong theoretical and methodological interests*

Candidates should apply online via the University of Edinburgh recruitment website http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk and enclose a detailed CV and a one page outline of a proposed research programme. We encourage applications, if possible, for the first of the advertised closing dates: 16 JANUARY 2012.

The School of Divinity is located within the College of Humanities and Social Science, and you should indicate clearly in your application that you are applying through the College of Humanities and Social Science, by citing the reference number as below: College of Humanities and Social Science Reference: 3015150CHSS.

For Further Particulars, see: http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/vacancies/index.cfm?fuseaction=vacancies.furtherdetails&vacancy_ref=3015150

Further information on the post from Dr Steven Sutcliffe:s.sutcliffe@ed.ac.uk