2016
CfP: Religious Pluralism, Heritage, and Social Development in Africa, 4th ACLARS Conference, at the African Union, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, 22-24 May 2016
The African Consortium of Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS) invites scholars interested in the study of Law and Religion in Africa to submit electronically to diane@aloc.co.za paper proposalson of no more than 250 words on the topic of religious pluralism in Africa, particularly in relation to contemporary questions of heritage and social development. “Heritage” is to be understood broadly as including religious, cultural, legal, and historical traditions, and the way these shape religious identities and societies in Africa today by 1 February 2016. Travel support may be available for those whose papers are selected. Persons with matching funds from their institutions will receive preference in being invited to the conference.
2015
Christianity in Diaspora: CfP EASR 2016 Conference, Helsinki, Finland, 28 June-1 July
There is an the opportunity to present ethnographic research on Christianity in diaspora at the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) 2016 Conference ‘Relocating Religion’, 28 June – 1 July 2016, Helsinki, Finland, in the Open Session on:
CHRISTIANITY IN DIASPORA: ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDIES OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICE AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION
The session will use the concept of diaspora – broadly defined both in relation to the transnational and in-country movement of groups of people – in order to explore the practice and experience of Christianity in different socio-cultural settings as communities of people relocate to areas outside their ‘homelands’. The session invites ethnographic papers discussing, but not exclusively, questions such as: What role does Christianity and its institutions play in community-building, community empowerment and community welfare in diaspora settings? How are churches constituted and organised in diaspora? How do churches mediate relations and negotiate cultural differences with (non-Christian) host populations? To what extent are Christian churches involved in facilitating integration with/separation from host societies? What relations do diasporic Christians maintain with their ‘homelands’? How does Christianity shape diasporic identities? How is Christian practice/theology (re)shaped by the diasporic experience? By exploring diasporic forms of Christianity across the world, the session will open up understanding of the diversity of Christian identities, practices, theologies and ways of engaging with and explaining the world among diasporic communities, and the theoretical potentiality inherent in this.
In order to submit an abstract for this open session, please follow the link https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/65198/lomake.html and the submission instructions.
Submission deadline: 31 December 2015
Session conveners:
Iliyana Angelova (University of Oxford; iliyana.angelova@anthro.ox.ac.uk)
Ksenia Medvedeva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia)
2015
CfP: African Lived Christianity: Faith Ritual and Power, Lund, Sweden, 16-18 March 2016
The thematic focus of this conference at Lund University, 16-18 Martch 2016, is on the lived experiences of African Christianity, on how religion and religious experience are part of the understanding and explanation of social reality in Africa. By taking this thematic focus, we wish to overcome the dividing lines in the study of African Christianity between theology and the social sciences. We seek to engage with an emerging literature that combines the analysis of religious experience and faith with an analysis of how African Christianity feeds into constellations of power hierarchies and social relationships of dependency, reciprocity and mutuality. One of the aims is to build interpretative bridges between African enchanted worldviews and Western academic interpretations and to add to an emerging dialogue between anthropology and theology.
We welcome paper proposals within the following themes, but are not limited to these:
* Enchantment as resistance
* Writing and orality as religious experience
* Wealth, reciprocity and well-being in African Christianity
* Gender and healing
* Ritual and the search of good life
* Christianity in Africa or African Christianity?
* Theology, African cosmologies and church life
* Popular culture and rituals of performance
* Transnationalism, migration and mission in African Christianities
* Faith in African public life
Paper abstracts (of maximum 250 words) should be uploaded on the conference webpage by the 15th February 2016 at the latest. By 25 February 2016 information on paper acceptance will be send out. Full written papers (of maximum 8,000 words) are expected to be circulated at the conference.
The conference is free of charge but the participants must cover for their travel, accommodation and meals.
2015
CfP, 3rd British Association for Islamic Studies Conference
Third Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS), London, 11–12 April 2016, Senate House, University of London: Call for panels and papers
2015
Religious Education in the Mirror of a Life Trajectory: Conference Call for Papers, University of Cape Town
Conference Call for Papers: Religious Education in the Mirror of a Life Trajectory
University of Cape Town
Prof. Abdulkader Tayob
Email: abdulkader.tayob@uct.ac.za
Religious education has become a particularly contentious issue in our times. It is not longer merely the concern of those who wish to ensure the transmission of religious knowledge. Government ministers, policy think-tanks, educators in general, reformers and other public intellectuals have strong views on the merits, demerits, dangers and value of religious education. Some see religious education as the root of all evil, while others see religious education as a panacea. Some are focussed on religion within confessions or traditions, others have thrived on the distinctions between philosophy, critical theory, theology, sensorial sensitivities and ethics in pursuit of the perfect model of religious education in their contexts.
This is a call for papers on the individuals that have engaged with religious education in one way or another. The focus of this conference lies on the full life trajectory of those who have taken a position, changed that position, on religious education in their particular contexts. It could be a study of school teachers, religious leaders, theologians, academics, policy makers, elected officials or government bureaucrats. They should all be concerned or directly involved in teaching religion in their communities, societies, countries or regions.
This approach of focussing on life trajectories appreciates that positions change over time, that there are personal and political struggles involved in the development of a position or syllabus or vision, and that local, regional and global developments are not too far removed from the personal. The conference welcomes a focus on experiments in religious education engaged along the way, further developed or discarded as the case may be.
The proposed conference welcomes papers that approach the life trajectories from a variety of methods and theoretical frameworks. These include anthropological, philosophical, critical theological, literary/textual and historical approaches.
If you would like to participate, please send a clear and comprehensive abstract (1000 words) by 20 November 2015. If your abstract fits in with the general theme of the conference, then an invitation will be sent to you. Unless you can access funds from your University, we offer you an economy class ticket, and will provide boarding and lodging during the duration of the meeting.
Selected Papers will be published in a special issue of a journal or edited volume.
