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
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