The last several years, NAASR’s annual programs have addressed theory (2015), method (2016), and data (2017). Building off these important discussions, the program for 2018 will apply these topics to the study of religion internationally as we specifically focus on four topics: Citizenship and Politics, Class and Economy, Gender and Sexuality, and Race and Ethnicity. How, for example, do method and theory apply to the study of religion and these themes? How do scholars construct their categories or critique scholars who do? Who decides how to approach the study of these topics? And what scholarship provides the most important examples of insightful academic analyses of these terms and topics? Using these questions as a starting point, this year’s meeting will explore historiographic and/or contemporary analyses of the aforementioned topics, paying particular attention to applied method and theory in diverse data domains.

Following the model used for the past three annual meetings, four main, substantive papers will be invited and distributed both to respondents and NAASR members approximately one month prior to the meeting. These main papers will only be summarized at the session. Each paper will then have four respondents, who will have ten minutes each to reply to the main paper. This will be followed by an open discussion of roughly one hour. As per the past three years, the aim once again is to see these sessions published as a book (with responses from the main paper presenters) under the NAASR Working Papers series with Equinox Publishing (edited by Rebekka King).

This is therefore a call for respondents.

The four main papers will be invited, each to examine the implications of framing our research as focusing on one of the following topics: Citizenship and Politics, Class and Economy, Gender and Sexuality, and Race and Ethnicity. The main presenters will be asked to analyze the construction of categories in academic literature that addresses each of these themes, to advocate/critique scholarship carried out in that vein, and to explore its implications for the field. Submissions for possible respondents (16 in total are needed) must each:

identify the key theme (one of the four immediately above) on which they wish to focus in their reply
provide a brief (max. 500 words) statement on the most pressing issue(s) in need of consideration when addressing scholarship on religion and one of these themes
as part of (2), discuss how your scholarship and/or field of study explores the theme you intend to address

We would like to pair scholars from diverse data domains.

NAASR especially invites submissions from early career scholars who have an interest in the topics explored in our sessions.

Please send your proposal as a file attachment by March 1, 2018, to NAASR VP Rebekka King at rebekka.king@mtsu.edu

#naasr2018 • Nov. 17-20 • Denver, CO

Books of Interest: Stereotyping Religion: Critiquing Clichés

November 29, 2017 5:06 pm

Brad Stoddard and Craig Martin (editors). Stereotyping Religions: Critiquing Clichés (Bloomsbury, 2017)

Our culture is full of popular stereotypes about religion, both positive and negative. Many people uncritically assume that religion is intrinsically violent, or that religion makes people moral, or that it is simply “bullshit”. This concise volume tackles 10 of these stereotypes, addresses why scholars of religion find them to be cliched, describes their origins, and explains the social or political work they rhetorically accomplish in the present.

Cliches addressed include the following:

– Religions are belief systems
– I’m spiritual but not religious
– Religion concerns the transcendent
– Learning about religions leads to tolerance and understanding
– Religion is a private matter.

Written in an easy and accessible style, Stereotyping Religion: Critiquing Cliches will be of interest to all readers looking to clear away unsophisticated assumptions in preparation for more critical studies.

Table of contents

Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Religions are Belief Systems, Sean McCloud (University of North Carolina, USA)
2. Religions are Intrinsically Violent, Matt Sheedy (University of Manitoba, Canada)
3. Religion Makes People Moral, Jennifer Eyl (Tufts University, USA)
4. Religion Concerns the Transcendent, Leslie Dorrough Smith(Avila University, USA)
5. Religion is a Private Matter, Robyn Faith Walsh(University of Miami, USA)
6. Religions are Mutually Exclusive, Steven W. Ramey(The University of Alabama, USA)
7. I’m Spiritual but Not Religious, Andie Alexander (Emory University, USA) and Russell T. McCutcheon (University of Alabama, USA)
8. Learning about Religion Leads to Tolerance, Tenzan Eaghll (University of Toronto, Canada)
9. Everyone has a Faith, James Dennis LoRusso (Princeton University, USA)
10. Religion is Bullshit, Rebekka King (Middle Tennessee State University, USA)
Bibliography
Index

Available on Amazon.