2016
Conference: Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion (10-11 November 2016)
The Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion (LUCSOR) will be hosting an international conference on 10-11 November 2016. The theme is:
Compassion, Social Engagement, and Discontent: Believing and the Politics of Belonging in Europe Today
This LUCSoR conference aims to investigate forms and elements of religion in public settings and technologies of belonging in Europe today by taking compassion as a locus. We approach compassion not primarily as an emotion but as a social relation. Compassion may lead to social engagement, but also to the desire not to connect, to refuse engagement, or to turn away.
The conference is intended for scholars of religion of various disciplinary backgrounds interested in exploring new ways of studying religion in public settings.
The conference is free and open to all. Please register before 1 November 2016. For a tentative programme, see the conference website.
The papers start from small stories or vignettes of:
1. Compassion and social engagement of religious community groups and individuals
These may vary from local-based initiatives of informal care and volunteer aid, to more institutionalized forms of aid provided by religious community groups, such as faith-based refugee work and social service agencies caring for the poor and homeless. The vignettes provide a window into forms and elements of religion today and the politics of belonging: who deserves compassion, who is excluded or undeserving, and what does the response toward suffering entail?
2. Discontent and anxiety about multiculturalism in everyday life
This category of papers engages with a relatively under-researched topic: the discontent of the “angry” citizen, who feels ignored by politicians, who, unlike the elites in their ivory tower, experiences daily what it means to live in a multicultural society, and who may express her- or himself in riotous protests against the resettlement of refugees. What values underlie their discontent? What makes them reject certain forms of compassionate action and choose others?
The focus of the conference is Europe today, but other times and other places also receive attention.
2016
2 PhD Positions and 1 Faculty Position at University of Groningen
PhD scholarship in Theology and Religious Studies: Comparative Studies of Religion
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PhD scholarship in Faculty Theology and Religious Studies: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Origins
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Assistant/Associate Professor Religion, Law and Human Rights (1.0 ate)
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2016
Job post: Assistant Professor in Material Culture and Religion at UPenn
Position Description: The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor in the field of Religious Studies and Material/Visual Culture. Time period, religious tradition, and sub-specialization are open and may include scholars who approach the study of religion through related methodological approaches in the areas of art history, archaeology, architecture, ethnography, film and media studies, gender and embodiment, material texts, and visual studies. The search committee is interested in specialists with research experience in religions in Africa and the African Diaspora, the Americas, Asia, or the Middle East. The successful candidate for this new faculty position should have a compelling and original research agenda and a commitment to pursue it within the interdisciplinary framework offered by the Department of Religious Studies, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the wider University. Recent PhDs are particularly welcome to apply. The successful candidate will participate in the departmentas undergraduate and graduate teaching mission. A normal teaching load is 4 courses per year on a semester system. Interested candidates should apply at http://facultysearches.provost.upenn.edu/postings/960 and submit a letter of application, CV, statement of research, writing sample, and the contact information for three individuals who will be asked by the University to submit a letter of recommendation. Review of applications will begin November 1, 2016 and continue until the position is filled. The Department of Religious Studies is strongly committed to Pennas Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence and to creating a more diverse faculty (for more information see: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n02/diversityplan.html). The University of Pennsylvania is an EOE. Minorities/Women/Individuals with disabilities/Protected Veterans are encouraged to apply.
2016
Call for Papers: THE BIBLE AND GENDER TROUBLES IN AFRICA
Biblical scholars and other academics are invited to contribute an article to the forthcoming volume of the BiAS series. The articles should focus very rigidly on the topic of THE BIBLE AND GENDER TROUBLES IN AFRICA. Articles that tend to ignore the topic will be rejected. The volume will be peer-reviewed. Every contributor will be expected to act anonymously as peer-reviewer for another article.
Deadline for submission is END OF APRIL 2017. Please send your article to: joachim.kuegler@online.de Please tell us as soon as possible if you are planning to contribute an article.
Style regulations:
Please avoid formatting a lot. Footnotes are reserved for real annotations. Bibliographical reference is given within the main te+t like this (Kuegler 2010:35) i.e. (Author Year: Page). For the full bibliographic information add a literature list at the end of your te+x. Please avoid internet links in the main te+t. Include them in the literature list and quote them according to the short way given above. Every article should start with a short summary (not more than 10 lines). At the end (after the literature list) some information on the author should be given: Full name (as used in publications); academic titles; professional status; university; research fields; one or two important publications; e-mail
2016
Call for Papers: JSR special issue 2017: The Role of Religion in Violence and Peacebuilding
The role of religion in political and socio-economic violence as well as peacebuilding has been theorised and analysed in diverse ways and contexts. Political violence has been conceptualised in a narrow way as collective acts of political significance that result in direct physical harm to persons and property. Approaches taking in broader contexts have drawn attention to the systemic violation of people’s rights and dignity in modern states that claim a monopoly on legitimate violence and that have often normalised colonialism, racism, classism and sexism. The different forms of violence – direct, cultural and structural – have also been facilitated or opposed by actors who have deployed religion to meet their ends. This has been done through both violent and non-violent means, which have made reflections on the ethics of violent resistance and peacebuilding particularly salient.
We would like to invite interested authors to submit articles for a special issue of JSR (Journal for the Study of Religion, official journal of ASRSA, Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa) on the role of religion in political and socio-economic violence and peacebuilding. Analyses should be theoretically informed and applied to pertinent case studies (networked societies on the internet are relevant as well).
The aim of this edition is to publish a coherent body of analytical articles that focus on, but are not limited to, the following questions:
– In which ways have religious beliefs, practices and institutions been instrumentalised in political, ethnic and/or resource-based violence?
– Which roles have religious movements and religious actors played in secular politics towards peacebuilding and reconciliation?
– In which ways do networked groups on the internet use religion in discourses of violence and peacebuilding?
IMPORTANT DATES
1. Submission of abstracts: Abstracts for consideration should be submitted by 01 November 2016. Abstracts should be between 200-250 words, providing the research question, theoretical approach, methodology and case study / studies.
2. Notification of acceptance of abstract and invitation of full paper submission for consideration: 15 November 2016.
3. Full papers (6000 – 10 000 words), prepared according to the guidelines for authors at http://www.scielo.org.za/revistas/jsr/iinstruc.htm, are due by 31 January 2017.
4. Articles will be peer-reviewed during February and March 2017.
5. Authors will be notified of the outcome of peer-reviews by 31 March 2017.
6. Final revised papers are due by 30 April 2017.
7. Publication of first issue of JSR in June 2017.
Please send abstract submissions and all correspondence relating to this special issue to the guest editors:
Johan Strijdom (Religious Studies and Arabic, University of South Africa, South Africa). Email: strijjm@hotmail.com
Joram Tarusarira (Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain, University of Groningen, The Netherlands). Email: j.tarusarira@rug.nl
