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The Study of Religion as an Analytical Discipline Workshop 2014
The program for this year’s Study of Religion as an Analytical Discipline (SORAAAD) workshop—focusing on comparison—has now been announced:
In its fourth year, toward better design and deployment of comparative work in studies of religion, the SORAAAD workshop will focus on the act of comparison itself. How has comparison served as a method in the study of religion? How do we design research projects wherein data vary across space, time, or conceptual valence? How do we structure comparative studies in order to identify and mitigate hegemonic assumptions? How do we relate deep studies of small populations to larger populations and discourses? How transferable are the insights and mechanics developed within different settings? Addressing these and related questions, SORAAAD seeks not only to recover subfields from essentialism, but also to foster new inter- and intra-disciplinary development.
Speakers include John Kloppenborg, David Frankfurter, Paul C. Johnson, Kathryn Lofton, Jamel Velji, Margo Kitts, Jens Kreinath, and Michael Houseman.
You can find the full program here.
2015 IAHR CFP Deadlines Approaching
**Update: the deadline for panel proposals have been extended to 15 December.**
The deadline for panel proposals for the 2015 IAHR World Congress—to be held in Erfurt, Germany—is 14 September 2014! (The deadline for individual paper proposals is a little further off: 15 December 2014). You can find out more about the IAHR Quinquennial meeting by checking out the IAHR website or the conference website.
Here’s are the details for the call for panels:
We invite contributions from all disciplines of religious studies and related fields of research to allow for broad, interdisciplinary discussion of the Congress topic to register their panels for the XXI World Congress of the IAHR. Panels should address one of the four thematic Congress areas: Religious Communities in Society: Adaption and Transformation – Practices and Discourses: Innovation and Tradition – The Individual: Religiosity, Spiritualities and individualization – Methodology: Representations and Interpretations.
Each panel lasts two hours. Panel papers should be limited to 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of panel participants. Panel conveners are asked to approach possible participants from different nations to reflect the scope and internationality of the IAHR Congress.
To propose a panel, please submit a general proposal of the panel as well as individual proposals of all papers included in the panel. Both panel and papers of a proposed panel will be evaluated by the Academic Program Committee to ensure a high academic standard of the Congress program. We therefore ask panel conveners to submit the proposals of all prospective panel participants of a proposed panel as indicated by the submission form. Proposals of panels and of papers should not exceed 150 words.
The deadline for submission of proposals is Sunday, September 14, 2014. All proposals must be submitted electronically via the IAHR 2015 website (www.iahr2015.org). As part of the submission process, you will be asked to indicate the area in which you would like your proposal considered. Your proposal will then be forwarded to the appropriate member of the Academic Program Committee.
You will receive notice concerning the status of your proposal as soon as possible and certainly before March 1, 2015. If your panel or paper has been accepted by the Academic Program Committee, please note that you will have to register as Congress participant before May 15, 2015 to be included in the Congress program.
JAAR Editor Search
The Journal of the American Academy of Religion is looking for a new editor, as Amir Hussein will be stepping down at the end of 2015. You can find more information and learn how to apply at the AAR website here.
Announcement: “From the Student Desk” Call for Submissions
NAASR member Emily Bailey, editor of the AAR’s “From the Student Desk” series, is look for submissions from graduate students. Articles should be about 1,200 words, and you can find find out more information here.
Announcement: North American Undergraduate Conference on Religion and Philosophy
Conference Theme: “What has Reason to do with Faith?”
(Click here for a printable PDF)
The North American Undergraduate Conference on Religion and Philosophy is organized by Westminster College, PA, St. Francis University, PA, and Lebanon Valley College, PA, with the support of the North American Association for the Study of Religion and the Heinz Lecture Series.
Papers from undergraduates in any discipline on any subject in Religious Studies and Philosophy are sought for a conference at Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA from March 20th to 22nd 2015. Student presentations of their papers will take place on Saturday March 21st. Public events and discussions, including “faculty consultations” in which the faculty members who accompany their students can share their specific expertise, will take place on Sunday.
Although papers on any subject will be considered, those that focus on the conference theme: “What has Reason to do with Faith?” will be given priority. In the second century of the Christian era the Church Father, Tertullian, famously asked, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem, or the academy with the Church?” In the academy of the 21st century the question still has relevance as we consider the relationship of philosophy to the study of religion. What is, or what should be, the role of philosophy in the study of religion? In a conference on religion and philosophy, how do the two disciplines inter-relate?
Subject to the discretion of a panel of judges cash prizes of $300 each will be awarded to the best paper in Religion, in Philosophy, and in a special “wildcard” category. “Non-traditional” presentations that deviate from the traditional format of a standard academic paper are encouraged. Traditional papers of approximately 2,500 words in length, requiring no more than 20 minutes to read, are sought, as well as such “non-traditional” presentations.
Featured Speakers
Arvind Pal Singh Mandair has doctoral degrees in Chemistry and Philosophy. He began his career as a research scientist in Chemistry. However, after becoming involved in human rights work in the early 1990’s he changed his academic field to study religion and philosophy and completed a second Ph.D in Philosophy. After teaching in London and New York, he moved to the University of Michigan where he is currently Associate Professor and holder of the S.B.S.C. Chair in Sikh Studies. Though grounded in South Asian studies, his research covers a wide range of disciplines including comparative and continental philosophy, postcolonial theory and the study of religion. His publications include Religion and the Specter of the West; Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality and the Politics of Translation; Secularism and Religion-Making (with Markus Dressler); Sikhism: A Guide For the Perplexed; and Teachings of the Sikh Gurus (with Christopher Shackle). Dr. Mandair serves on the editorial board of Culture and Religion, and Religions of South Asia and is the founding co-editor in chief of the journal Sikh Formations.
Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He is the author of numerous books in the study of religion, including Comparing Religions (2013); Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal (2011); Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion (2007); and Kali’s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna (1995). His interests include the history, science, psychology, and analysis of psychical experiences, esotericism, and mystical traditions. His present areas of research include the re-visioning and renewal of the comparative method in the study of religion, the comparative erotics of mystical literature, and American countercultural translations of Asian religious traditions.
Undergraduate students wishing to present at the conference should send abstracts of c. 150 words by January 18th and complete papers by February 15th, 2015. All such submissions should be addressed to: Bryan Rennie (brennie@westminster.edu) and include the author’s full name, paper title, institution, e-mail address, phone number, and the name and contact information of a faculty advisor.
Co-organizers: Bryan Rennie, Art Remillard, Matt Sayers
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