Monthly Archives: November 2012

Religion, Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life Edited by Peter Nynäs, Åbo Akademi University, Finland and Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, University of Nottingham, UK Ashgate, 2012

https://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calctitle=1&pageSubject=2925&title_id=8936&edition_id=12167

Exploring the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality within the context of everyday life, this volume examines contested identities, experiences, bodies and desires on the individual and collective levels.

With rich case studies from the UK, USA, Europe, and Asia, Religion, Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life sheds light on the manner in which individuals appropriate, negotiate, transgress, invert and challenge the norms and models of various religions in relation to gender and sexuality, and vice versa.

Drawing on fascinating research from around the world, this book charts central features of the complexities involved in everyday life, examining the messiness, limits, transformations and possibilities that occur when subjectivities, religious and cultural traditions, and politics meet within the local as well as transnational contexts. As such, it will be of interest to scholars of sociology, anthropology, geography and cultural studies examining questions of religion and spirituality, gender and sexuality, and individual and collective identities in contemporary society.

Contents: Re-framing the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality in everyday life, Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip and Peter Nynäs; The resistance from an alterspace: Pakistani and Indonesian Muslims beyond the dominant sexual and gender norms, Vanja Hamzic; Spirituality, activism, and the ‘postsecular’ in the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Melissa M. Wilcox; Hindu, Muslim and Sikh young adults: gendered practices in the negotiation of sexuality and relationship, Sarah-Jane Page and Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip; Coping with religious and cultural

homophobia: emotion and narratives of identity threat among British Muslim gay men, Rusi Jaspal; Sexualities in the migration context:

religious influences on views on abortion and homosexuality, Bernadetta Siara; Queering conversion: exploring new theoretical pathways to understand religious conversion in a Western context, Wim Peumans and Christiane Stallaert; Body and sexuality constructions among youth of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, Sara Zalcberg and Sima Zalcberg; When God is not so good: corporate religion contra new social movements, Kenneth Houston; Index.

About the Editor: Peter Nynäs is Professor of Comparative Religion at and Director of The Center of Excellence in Research, ‘Post-Secular Culture and A Changing Religious Landscape in Finland’ at Ã…bo Akademi University, Finland. He is editor of Transforming Otherness.

Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip is Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham, UK. His research interests include contemporary religious/spiritual identities, sexual identities, youth culture, ageing, and human rights. His writings have appeared in journals such as British Journal of Sociology, Sociology of Religion, Theology & Sexuality, Sexualities, Sociological Research Online and Contemporary Islam. He is also the author of Gay Male Christian Couples: Life Stories (1997); and co-author/co-editor of Lesbian and Gay Lives over 50 (2003), Queer Spiritual Spaces: Sexuality and Sacred Places (2010), Religion, Youth and Sexuality: A Multi-faith Exploration (2011), and The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality (2012).

Reviews: ‘While understanding religion in everyday life is a growing field relevant to numerous disciplines, its intersection with gender and sexuality is less well-documented. This edited collection breaks considerable new ground and will be of interest to both scholars and students alike by offering contributions from leading researchers engaged with these themes across several traditional faiths as well as emergent spiritualities.‘

Stephen Hunt, University of the West of England, UK

‘This volume begins with the everyday life of sexual subjects from different faiths and backgrounds, and then moves to the broader questions which these real lives pose for an understanding of religion, gender and sexuality, and the intersection between each. The chapters are remarkably fresh, kaleidoscopic in scope and essential reading for students and researchers alike.’

Adrian Thatcher, University of Exeter, UK ____________________________________________

Churches, Communities & Society

Public Negotiations and Interventions

25-26 October 2013

The University of Manchester, UK

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT:

In contemporary British society, Christian religion refuses to stay in its place. Unruly, it is established in some places (England, Scotland) and yet in all places numerically in decline; public, and yet caught off guard by an Occupy movement; suborned, and yet capable of protest; lordly, and yet attempting to represent the common good; proactively interfaith, and yet caught up in its own internal concerns; national, yet present in very different ways in city and country. This two-day conference explores some of the issues, concerns and contradictions generated by this remarkable state of affairs. It does so from a variety of perspectives: theological, ethical, and social.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

(more to be announced)

- Philip Lewis (Bradford)

- Alison Milbank (Nottingham)

- Stephen Platten (Wakefield)

- Melissa Raphael (Gloucestershire)

- William Whyte (Oxford)

For more information:

https://religionandcivilsociety.com/churches-communities-society/

Booking will open on 1st February 2013.

ISASR conference 2013

*Second annual conference of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR), *

At The Clinton Centre, University College Dublin, 10th-12^th May 2013

Conference theme:

Ireland, America and Transnationalism: studying religions in a globalised world

We are pleased to invite scholars to take part in the second annual conference of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR). For information on the society, see:

https://isasr.wordpress.com/. The Conference will take place Fri-Sun May 10^th -12^th , 2013 at the Clinton Institute for American Studies, University College Dublin (UCD), and is open to scholars of all disciplines that approach religions, both past and present, from a non-theological, critical, analytical and cross-cultural perspective.

Proposals for papers may relate to the conference theme ‘Ireland, America and Transnationalism’ or any other aspect of the Society’s work in the history, anthropology, folklore and sociology of religion in Ireland or the Irish diaspora, but also the work of Irish-based researchers on topics in the academic study of religions elsewhere in the world.

Although 19^th and 20^th century discourses often highlighted national, including Irish, religious uniqueness, this has always been at best a half truth. Megalithic architecture and pre-Christian myths are routinely studied in relation to other west European contexts. Christian conversion and medieval texts, early modern wars of religion and nineteenth-century ultramontanism also locate Ireland in a wider religious world. The conference theme encourages the study of religions in a global and comparative context, with particular reference to North America, the home of the largest Irish diaspora outside these islands.

From Ireland’s ‘spiritual empire’ of Catholic institutions to American enthusiasm for all things Celtic to imported Pentecostalisms, the religious exchange between the two has been intense. Adopting a transnational perspective highlights the networks of wider global relationships within which religions both in Ireland and among the Irish diaspora are enacted.

Please send a 150-200 word abstract for papers to Adrienne Hawley ( Adrienne.hawley [at] ucdconnect.ie ) by the closing date of Friday 22^nd February, 2012. Notification of abstract acceptance will be given by Friday March 15th, 2012.

*_

Proposals for themed panels from ISASR members are welcomed and may be

made directly to the conference organisers via Adrienne Hawley (email

above). The following panels have already been proposed:_*

* Folk Religion in Ireland: Meaning and Context*__*

* Children’s Subjectivities and the Experience of Religious Educations

* Gender and Religion

*_

If you wish to submit an abstract for these panels please indicate this

in your abstract submission_*

*

Further information on the ISASR Conference 2013 will be posted at:

*https://isasr.wordpress.com/ **

The conference is hosted by ISASR in collaboration with The Clinton

Institute, UCD.

The Fourth Annual International Conference on the Study of Islamophobia

A Call for Papers

The Fourth Annual International Conference on the Study of Islamophobia University of California, Berkeley Booth Auditorium, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Law) April 19th and 20th, 2013

This international conference sponsored by the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project of the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California at Berkeley is a multi-disciplinary and academic gathering focused on the systematic study of the “Othering” of Islam, the racialization of Muslims, and its institutional effects domestically and worldwide. From its inception in 2008, the conference is a forum for scholars, researchers and community activists who are engaged in the study of, and the collective attempt to, deconstruct the ideological, discursive, political, economic, social, and religious forces of Islamophobia. While there is an abundance of scholarly works available across many academic fields, our goal is to provide a dedicated intellectual space for an increasingly interdisciplinary and multi-collaborative platform for a global network of individuals and institutions working on issues about Islamophobia.

Papers presented at the conference will have the possibility of being published in the bi-annual Islamophobia Studies Journal published through as a collaborative effort between the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project of the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California at Berkeley, the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative for the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University; the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia, and Zaytuna College.

This is an open call for papers for our fourth annual conference to be held on April 19th and 20th, 2013 at Boalt Law School at UC Berkeley. The deadline for paper abstracts is January 10th, 2013. Please email proposals or for more information contact: Professor Hatem Bazian at hatemb@berkeley.edu.

Include name, paper topic, academic title, and institutional affiliation.

Secularism and Religious Diversity in Europe: Opportunities and Perspectives

INVITATION to RELIGARE Conference

Secularism and Religious Diversity in Europe:

Opportunities and Perspectives

Leuven & Brussels, 4 - 5 December 2012

RELIGARE (‘Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe: Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy’) is a European research project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7, 2007-2013) of the European Commission. It focuses on the coexistence and interactions of secular and religious values in contemporary Europe.

To mark the end of this 3 year project, a high level Conference will be organized on 4-5 of December 2012 to present the project’s results and recommendations. The event has been organized as follows:

4 December 2012 - Leuven (University of Leuven)

* Conference (9.00 a.m. – 6.30 p.m.):

Presentation of the research results by the project partners, accompanied by an in-depth analysis of scientific findings by invited academics and experts.

Venue: Tiensestraat 41, Law Faculty, 3000 Leuven - Auditorium Zeger Van Hee, Collegium Falconis.

* Evening debate (7.30.p.m. – 9.30 p.m.):

Featuring a panel discussion and a keynote speech by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council.

Venue: Promotiezaal: Universiteitshal, Naamsestraat 22, B-3000 Leuven.

5 December 2012 - Brussels (Centre Albert Borchette, European Commission)

* Conference (9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.): Day two focuses on the EU policy relevance of the RELIGARE results, and aims at stimulating discussion and feedback between researchers and EU policymakers.

Includes the participation of Mr. Lázló Surján, Vice-President of the European Parliament, who will deliver a Keynote Speech at 2 p.m.

Venue: Albert Borschette Conference Centre, 36 Rue Froissart, Brussels

You can click here to download the full programme for this event.

Please register for this event by completing the online registration form. Participation in this event is free of charge. As conference venues have a limited capacity, we advise you to register as soon as possible to ensure your participation. This event will take place in English.

You are warmly invited to disseminate this invitation further among your networks.

We very much hope you can join us.

The RELIGARE Steering Committee (on behalf of the RELIGARE project)

Prof. Marie-Claire Foblets, University of Leuven (Coordinator of the RELIGARE project) Prof. Veit Bader, University of Amsterdam Dr. Sergio Carrera, Centre for European Policy Studies Prof. Silvio Ferrari, University of Milan Prof. Francis Messner, National Centre for Scientific Research (PRISME-University of Strasbourg) Prof. Jørgen Nielsen, University of Copenhagen Prof. Mathias Rohe, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg Dr. Prakash Shah, Queen Mary, University of London Prof. Rik Torfs, University of Leuven

Centre for European Policy Studies | www.ceps.eu |

Place du Congrès 1

1000, Brussels, BRU

Belgium

Contemporary religion in historical perspective: engaging outside academia

The Open University, Milton Keynes – 15-16 May 2013

What is the relevance of research on historical and contemporary religion for today? How might such research inform current debates on religion, and the practice and self-understanding of religious groups and practitioners? What might historical perspective bring to research on contemporary religion? This conference will address such issues under the broad theme of ‘contemporary religion and historical perspective’. There will be two parallel streams. The first is ‘engaging with the past to inform the present’ and the relevance of religious history for the contemporary context. The second is ‘the public value of research on contemporary religion’; here papers on cross-cultural identities and new religions and popular spiritualities are particularly welcomed.

The backdrop for this conference is the growing acknowledgement that Religious Studies and other disciplines must engage with the wider society. Public ‘engagement’ takes many forms - from extensive projects to ad hoc engagement and involving diverse activities such as media work, lectures, workshops and online engagement. This conference will include practitioner perspectives on different themes, and reflect also on the ways in which academic research on religion might engage with communities of interest and place and private; interact with public and third sector institutions and organisations; and influence public discourse and the social, cultural and environmental well-being of society.

We invite paper and panel proposals for either stream. Papers could include case studies of previous or ongoing outreach, knowledge exchange or public engagement. Topics discussed might include (but are not limited to):

  • integrating ‘religious history’ and contemporary religious practitioners;
  • the relevance of historical research on religion for contemporary debates on religion; and for present-day religious groups, organisations and institutions;
  • intersections between research on contemporary religion and present-day contemporary understanding and practice of religion;
  • the idea of ‘applied’ or ‘public’ Religious Studies;
  • methodological, theoretical and ethical issues relating to Religious Studies and knowledge exchange;
  • relationships between academic and practitioner, or academic institution(s) and non-academic ‘partner’ and their implications and challenges.

Confirmed speakers include Ronald Hutton (Bristol), Steven Sutcliffe (Edinburgh), David Voas (Essex) and John Wolffe (Open University).

The conference is organised by the Open University’s Religious Studies Department.

Cost: £20 per day + £20 for conference dinner on the evening of 15 May. Lunch and refreshments (except conference dinner) are included in the day cost; but we ask attendees to book/fund their own accommodation (advice on local hotels and B&Bs available on request).

Please send proposals to Dr John Maiden (j.maiden@open.ac.uk) by 25 January 2013. To book, please contact Taj Bilkhu (t.bilkhu@open.ac.uk) by 23 March 2013.

Nationalism, Identity and Belief Symposium

Call for Papers

First joint symposium of Society, Religion and Belief and Identity, Culture and Representation Research Centres University of Derby 25 March

2013

Keynote speaker: Daniel Trilling author of Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain’s Far Right (London: Verso, 2012), assistant editor The New Statesman, columnist for The Guardian.

The complexities and contradictions of globalized modes of identity have caused a reassessment of what constitutes national identity and how it is experienced. In late modernity there is a tendency for nationalism to be characterised as a reactive and reactionary response to the increasing cultural diversity evident in many Western societies. The British National Party and, latterly, the English Defence League typify this tendency. In continental Europe there are comparable groupings but many continental equivalents have demonstrated a greater capacity for organisation and have enjoyed a modicum of success in terms of parliamentary elections at national and European level: in France, the Front National; the Belgian/Flemish Vlaams Balang; the Danish Danske Folkparti; Jobbik in Hungary, The Golden Dawn in Greece and so on. The fortunes of these parties wax and wane but their social and media presence is constant. This symposium is a call to academics and activists to consider the ongoing appeal of nationalism, its cultural role, its strategies, localities and nature. We seek to explore the lure and repulsion of nationalism to its friends and critics and the many and varied cultural contexts through which it is reproduced.

Papers are invited to be considered for presentation in one of two parallel panels. Typical themes for the panels will include but are not limited to:

Panel One: Nationalism, Identity and Conflict

- The organisation and activities of nationalist groups

- The appeal of nationalism

- Nationalism in crisis

- Banal nationalism

- Rethinking national identity

- The cultures of nationalism

Panel Two: Nationalism, Religion and Belief

- Nationalist rhetoric and the world faiths

- ‘The chosen people’ and globalization

- Spiritual nationalisms

- Subcultures and nationalist discourse

- Considering nationalism as a faith

Please submit a 250 word proposal and a bio-note by 19 December, 2012 to Andrew Wilson (a.f.wilson@derby.ac.uk); Jason Lee (j.lee@derby.ac.uk); and Frauke Uhlenbruch (f.uhlenbruch@derby.ac.uk) _______________________________________________

NSRN Annual Lecture: 28 November 2012, by Matthew Engelke

The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is very pleased to announce the NSRN Annual Lecture for 2012:

NSRN Annual Lecture 2012

In Spite of Christianity: Humanism and its Others in Contemporary Britain

By Matthew Engelke

What do we talk about when we talk about religion? What do we recognize as essential and specific to any given faith, and why? In this lecture, I address these questions by drawing on fieldwork among humanists in Britain, paying particular attention to humanism’s relation to Christianity. In one way or another, humanists often position themselves in relation to Christianity. In a basic way, this has to do with humanists’ commitment to secularism—the differentiation of church and state. In more complex ways, though, it also has to do with an effort to move “beyond” Christianity—to encourage a world in which reason takes the place of revelation—while often, at the same time, recognizing what’s worth saving and even fostering from the legacies of faith. All these various relations and perspectives suggest how we should understand social life in contemporary Britain as what it is in spite of Christianity—and not.

***

Matthew Engelke is a Reader in the Department of Anthropology and co-ordinates the School’s recently launched Programme for the Study of Religion and Non-Religion. His research career has focused on the connections between religion and culture (amongst other things) but he has recently completed pioneering ethnographic fieldwork working with British humanists. In this lecture, Matthew will reflect upon the various and complex dynamics between contemporary British humanism and Christian cultures, past and present.

The NSRN Annual Lecture for 2012 will be held at the Conway Hall in London on Wednesday 28 November at 6.30pm (doors from 6pm; the lecture will be followed by a drinks reception). This event is free to attend, but places are limited. To register, please email Lois Lee at l.a.lee@kent.ac.uk. Full details of the event can be found at the NSRN Online.

Continuity & change in Islamic Societies

CALL FOR PAPERS

“Continuity & change in Islamic Societies”

American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies Seton Hall University South Orange, New Jersey April 5-6, 2013

The topic of the 30th Annual Meeting of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS), to be held on April 5-6, 2013 in The Chancellor’s Suite, Student Center, Seton Hall University is “Continuity and Change in Islamic Societies.”

Islamic societies refer to regions and communities that identify with the religion and culture of Islam, but may approach politics, economics and certain social issues in different ways. Unlike what the late Professor Samuel Huntington may have thought, Islamic societies are far from being monolithic or even universally engaged in an ongoing cultural clash with the West. While Muslims worldwide embrace the concept of ummah, they also possess and express characteristics of diversity.

Muslims live under monarchies and republics and come from a number of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.

Scholars from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences are encouraged to submit proposals. Please include full name, title, and institutional affiliation with your proposal (max. 250 words). We invite proposals dealing with the following topics as well as others not specified:

1. Political, economic and social relations within and between Muslims and other communities.

2. Political, economic, social and philosophical movements within Islamic societies/communities.

3. The impact of globalization on specific Muslim societies/communities.

4. The interplay of Islam with commerce, finance, technology, and education.

5. Religious minorities in Islamic societies and Muslims as minority groups.

6. The press, social networks, and communication within Islamic societies/communities.

7. Islam in America or American Islam? Defining a religion in the American context

Please send abstracts by e-mail attachment to:

Robert Hazan, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor of Political Science

Metropolitan State University of Denver

hazanr@msudenver.edu

Deadline for submission of proposals: January 15, 2013.

Further details of the conference and accommodations will be posted on the website.

For other inquires contact Robert Hazan hazanr@msudenver.edu; Vivienne Angeles angeles@lasalle.edu or Gisela Webb Gisela.webb@shu.edu

Notice of acceptance by January 25. 2013