Monthly Archives: September 2015

New Book: Advaita Vedanta and Akan: Inquiry into an Indian and African Ethos

Advaita Vedanta and Akan: Inquiry into an Indian and African Ethos
by Veena Sharma
(Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, 2015)

This book places the yet unexamined consonances and dissonances between two disparate world views – one Indian and the other African – under a comparative lens. It seeks to set up a cross-cultural dialogue even as it aims to understand the two on their own terms through their own epistemological constructs. Through an exploration of the concepts of God and the Human Person, it unravels the aspirational goals framed by each, the degrees of ultimate perfection sought by it and the contributions the two traditions make to human civilization.

The book foregrounds the fact that there are many ways of approaching fundamental questions regarding the human condition, each valid in its own historical and geographical context. It provides an insight into how each world view points to a different approach to the universe; to relations between the Divine and the world, and between humans and humans, leading to different types of social formations and related issues and having far reaching influence on their understanding of morality, ethics, justice, group cohesion and how they deal with defaulters. An understanding of those approaches can enable sharper insights and deeper reflections into the strong and weak points of one’s own particular tradition.

The field work shows that despite sustained and pervasive exposure to other belief systems – especially the colonial intervention – the two indigenous systems continue to deeply impact the mindsets of their followers.

In a global environment of increased social interactions the book seeks to showcase freshly negotiated relations that transcend traditional prejudices and biases.

Fully funded PhD Studentship – Social Science or Humanities approaches to Science and Religion in Society

Fully funded PhD Studentship – Social Science or Humanities approaches to Science and Religion in Society

Call for Applications for Home/EU Studentship to commence 1 February 2016
Applications are invited for one fully-funded PhD Studentship for three years (full-time) for UK or EU students within the Centre for Science, Knowledge, and Belief in Society, at Newman University. CSKBS is a multidisciplinary Research Centre whose work spans a diverse range of disciplines including social sciences, history, philosophy, and psychology. The Studentship includes a subsistence grant in line with the recommendations of the UK research Councils (currently £14,057 p.a. for 2015-16) with all fees paid.
The successful candidate will also be eligible for an hourly paid research assistant role within the broader multidisciplinary Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum project team. This will be designed to allow the successful candidate to develop a range of research skills. This work is paid over and above the subsistence grant.
In addition, dependent on the successful submission of a PhD thesis within three years of commencement, the university will offer a one-year postdoctoral follow-on research position to the successful PhD candidate. This is designed to enable successful PhD students to be retained and develop further as an early career professional in this field of research. This is therefore 3+1 year PhD-to-post-doctoral role.
We welcome applications with proposals for PhD research projects in distinct and multidisciplinary areas related to the wider project’s research themes. We will be happy to discuss project ideas that focus on contemporary debates surrounding ‘science and religion’, particularly in the following areas:

  1. Social Sciences and/or Humanities approaches to media, social media and public space discourse surrounding evolutionary science and religion, spirituality or belief. This could among other areas focus on specific organisations, groups or communities or be undertaken at a broader societal level. The candidate should have a background in a relevant area of social sciences or humanities including the social studies of science, and/or of religion, science technology studies, science communication, media studies, anthropology or a field related to sociology.
  1. Quantitative or mixed methods approaches to public perceptions and attitudes concerning the relationship between science and faith. This studentship will link into a strand of research with a focus on developing and commissioning a representative quantitative polling of public attitudes to provide a more in-depth understanding of public perceptions of the relationship between evolutionary science and belief in Canada and the The candidate should have a background in a relevant discipline, e.g. social science or human geography, with good quantitative data analysis skills.

Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum project:

This innovative and unique research project currently employs 15 people working across four intersecting approaches: qualitative social science field research; oral history, historical and media discourse analysis; social psychology experimental research; and a large scale quantitative survey of public perceptions, attitudes and identity formation in the UK and Canada. Newman University lead this 3-year research project funded by the Templeton Religion Trust in partnership with York University (Canada) and National Life Stories at the British Library and British Science Association. The research team is led by Principal Investigators Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker (Newman) and Prof. Bernard Lightman (York, Canada), and Co-Investigator Dr Carola Leicht (University of Kent).
More details about the project and the research team can be found here: http://www.sciencereligionspectrum.org.
Research project related questions can be directed to Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker
F.Elsdon-Baker@staff.newman.ac.uk.
Applicants are expected to possess a Master’s Degree with Distinction, or with Merit including a Distinction in the Dissertation, from a UK University, or an equivalent qualification.
Alongside the standard application form candidates for this PhD Studentship are asked in the first instance to submit a research project proposal (between 3000-4000 words) highlighting how their PhD project will contribute through an open minded approach to the wider understanding of a perceived clash between science and religion.
The key criteria for selection and appointment will be:

  • Record of academic excellence of the candidate;
  • Availability of supervisory expertise and capacity;
  • Quality of project proposal;
  • Research skills and training;

Further information and the application form are available on: http://www.newman.ac.uk/studentships/867?1=o.
Newman University supports world-leading and internationally recognised research across a broad range of disciplines. Please note that Newman University offers its PhDs in partnership with Liverpool Hope University (who are the awarding institution), by whose regulations successful applicants will be bound: http://www.hope.ac.uk/research/postgraduateresearch/.

Timescale

  • Deadline for applications: Friday 23 October 2015
  • Interviews: week commencing Monday 2 November 2015
  • Commencement of Studentship: Monday 1 February 2016

Apply here: http://academicpositions.eu/ad/newman-university/2015/fully-funded-phd-studentship-social-science-humanities-approaches-science-religion-society/65270/

Call for panels and Papers: Populism as movement and rhetoric (Jyväskylä, Finland 17-19 March 2016)

CALL FOR PANELS AND PAPERS

Populism as movement and rhetoric

International conference

Jyväskylä, Finland on 17–19 March 2016

Venue: University of Jyväskylä, Seminarium (S)

Period for applying until October 7th 2015

In Finland as elsewhere in Europe, rapid social change, multicultural challenges, social inequality, and the way different kinds of threat are disseminated by the media for public imagination, have given rise to populist protests and appeals to cultural values usually combining anti-elite and anti-immigrant nationalism with nationally and locally bounded demands of social justice. In the conference, the populist movement and populist rhetoric are in the focus. We invite papers that study populism as a phenomenon with multiple sources and multiple agendas. Issues of nationality, Europeanness, ethnicity, gender, and environmental issues can be explored against the backdrop of the new public sphere and the intermingling of the private and the public in it.

 

Keynote speakers:

Yannis Stavrakakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Ruth Wodak, professor emerita, Lancaster University

Eoin Devereux, University of Limerick,

Mikko Lehtonen, University of Tampere

 

Coordinators of the conference: PhD Urpo Kovala and PhD Tuija Saresma, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Conference secretary: Irma Hirsjärvi populistrhetoric2016@jyu.fi Tel +358 40 8053518

Possible topics of the panels and presentations include, but are not limited to:

  • abusive empowerment in the rhetoric of protest
  • articulations of religion in populist agendas
  • from protest to power: populism in the margin and in the centre
  • cultural expressions of populism; cultural populism
  • politics and culture of populism
  • populist discourse
  • populist movements
  • populist rhetoric
  • populism and the ‘people’

 

Participation

Submissions for panel sessions
The deadline for proposals for panel sessions is October 7th 2015. The proposal has to include the title and a general description of the panel as well as the names of the individual contributors and the titles of their presentations. The maximum length is 300 words, excluding possible references.

 

Submissions for individual paper presentations
Individual paper presentations are organized in parallel sessions with 30 minute slots that include discussion time. The deadline for individual paper proposals is October 7th 2015. The maximum length is 300 words, excluding possible references. The acceptance will be notified in two weeks after the deadline

If you wish to participate without presenting a paper, please contact the conference secretary.

Submissions and registration https://www.jyu.fi/en/congress/populistrhetoric2016 (will open 22.9.2015)

Fees, scholarships and grants

Early bird fee is 140 euro (students 40 euro) until February 14th. Lunches, refreshments and conference dinner are included. Further information about travel and accommodation in Jyväskylä can be found in the conference website https://www.jyu.fi/en/congress/populistrhetoric2016

A number of scholarships and grants for PhD students and those coming from the low income countries and are in need of financial support will be provided. They consist in a reduction of the participation fee and include all meals. Please note that the deadline for applying for a scholarship or grant is October 7th. The application process and criteria are explained in greater detail on the website: https://www.jyu.fi/en/congress/populistrhetoric2016

Practical information

The conference takes place in the city of Jyväskylä (https://visit.jyvaskyla.fi/en). It is organized by the research project Populism as Movement and Rhetoric, funded by the Academy of Finland (2014–2016) together with the Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä (https://www.jyu.fi/en)

About the research project: https://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/taiku/opiskelu/nykykulttuuri/tutkimus/projektit/populismi

Email:populistrhetoric2016@jyu.fi

 

Facebook: Populism as movement and rhetorics

 

Web page: https://populismasmovementandrhetoric.wordpress.com/

 

Twitter: during the conference #populistculture

Job Openings: Method Specialists

ADVANCED METHODOLOGIES CLUSTER HIRE CLA POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

The Departments of Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, and the Brian Lamb School of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University (https://www.cla.purdue.edu/) are conducting a cluster hire for three positions at the Assistant or Associate Professor ranks, with initial positions starting in the fall of 2016. This search is part of a larger hiring initiative with departments in the College of Health and Human Sciences (https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/), seeking a total of six tenure-track or tenured faculty members (three in each College) to expand campus-wide expertise in social, behavioral, and health science statistics and research methodology. For information about the cluster see: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/research/clusterhire/index.html.

The successful candidates for these positions will be expected to contribute to the research and teaching programs of the departments in which they affiliate, and to collaborate with others within the cluster and across the university in interdisciplinary and extramurally-funded research. Candidates will also be expected to contribute to an anticipated multi-college, shared graduate training platform, including a graduate certification program in advanced quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

The College of Liberal Arts at Purdue includes ten academic units across the social sciences, humanities and arts and is home to or closely affiliated with a wide range of interdisciplinary programs and research centers, including: Center on Aging and the Life Course, C-SPAN Archives, Center on Religion and Chinese Society, Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and Center for the Environment. Successful candidates should have a Ph.D. in one of the social science disciplines participating in the cluster hiring initiative, a strong publication record (for Associate-level applicants) or the promise of a strong publication record (for Assistant Professors), a research program with high likelihood of external funding, and the potential for teaching and mentoring excellence. Faculty responsibilities will include maintaining a productive research program, directing graduate student research, and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in methodology in their home department as well as cross-listed courses. We are particularly interested in candidates with a substantive area of research and who have demonstrated expertise in innovative quantitative or qualitative techniques. We welcome applicants with expertise in the analysis of large or untraditional data, experimental design and causal inference, textual analysis, and network analysis, among other areas.

A background check will be required for employment in this position. Reviewing of applications will begin on November 1, 2015, and continue until the positions are filled. Please send a cover letter outlining qualifications, vita, research and teaching statements, a writing sample, and the names of three academic references via email in PDF format to: cla_adr@purdue.edu. Questions regarding the position may be directed to Professor James A. McCann, College of Liberal Arts Cluster Hire Search Chair, Department of Political Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907

 

(mccannj@purdue.edu).

Purdue University is an EEO/AA employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.

Conference: The Unfinished Project of the Arab Spring - Why “Middle East Exceptionalism” is Still Wrong

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

The Unfinished Project of the Arab Spring: Why “Middle East Exceptionalism” is Still Wrong

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
September 25-27, 2015

Conference website: https://upasconference.wordpress.com/

Keynote Speakers:
https://upasconference.wordpress.com/keynotes/
* Tariq Ali: Recolonizing the Arab World
* John Espositio: Islam and Democracy after the Arab Spring
* Amina Wadud: Reformist Islam, Gender and the Question of Authority
* Karima Bennoune: The Struggle against Fundamentalism after the Revolutions of 2011: Your Fatwa Still does not Apply Here
Conference Full Program:
https://upasconference.wordpress.com/conference-program-2/

There is no registration fee; All Welcome

Mojtaba Mahdavi, PhD
Conference Chair

Call for Papers: Art Approaching Science and Religion, Turku 11-13 May 2016

CALL FOR PAPERS

Art Approaching Science and Religion
11-13 May 2016 at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

Symposium website: http://www.amoslab.fi/?page_id=214

The symposium aims at bringing together the fields of art, science and
religion. How can science and religion be explored from the perspective
of the arts? Themes to be discussed will unwind from and be elaborated
on contemporary notions of beauty, ornament, and public art. The public
and aesthetic space offer not only timeless objects of appreciation,
aesthetic value and use, but also habits and rituals. The aim is to
bring out different images of how aesthetics, as a historical and
contemporary tradition, is formed together with strands of artist
research, art criticism, art history as well as the humanities,
philosophy, and religious studies.

Keynote Speakers (12 May 2016):
Kent C. Bloomer, Chief Designer, Professor, Yale School of Architecture, USA
Melissa Raphael, Professor of Jewish Theology, University of
Gloucestershire, UK
Serafim Seppälä, Professor of Systematic Theology and Patristics,
University of Eastern Finland
Mark C. Taylor, Professor of Religion, Columbia University, USA

Call for Papers for the Roundtable seminar on 13 May 2016 is now open:

http://www.abo.fi/forskning/en/News/Item/item/10299

Proposals are welcome on the interconnectedness of art, science and
religion, including (but not restricted to) the following themes:

  • Truth claims in philosophy, art, science, and religion.
  • Art criticism, art history, and artist research.
  • Commerce and communication.
  • Technology and tradition.
  • Artefacts in science and religion.
  • Power and politics of beauty.

*Deadline: 15 November 2015***

Arranged by:
AmosLAB/Amos Anderson Laboratory for Artful Making: www.amoslab.fi
<https://www.amoslab.fi>
The Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History:
www.abo.fi/donnerinstitute <http://www.abo.fi/donnerinstitute>

Job Opening: Tenure-track assistant professorship in the History of Religions, University of Copenhagen

Six-year tenure-track assistant professorship in the History of Religions at the Department of Cross-Cultural and regional Studies, University of Copenhagen.

Deadline for application is 1 October 2015. The full job ad can be found at:

http://jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabelige-stillinger/?show=751804.

Please share the information with suitable candidates.

3 PhD positions in “Human Rights, Society, and Multilevel Governance” (University of Padua

Dear Colleagues,

could you please inform possible candidates for 3 PhD positions on offer
at the University of Padua (Italy)?

The call is for an international programme on “Human Rights, Society, and
Multilevel Governance”.

For more information on the Joint PhD Programme please go to:

https://www.humanrights-jointphd.org

Details on how to apply are here:

https://www.unipd.it/ricerca/dottorati-di-ricerca/bandi-e-graduatorie

Many thanks

Giuseppe Giordan
Joint PhD Coordinator
“Human Rights, Society, and Multilevel Governance”
University of Padua - Italy

CFP: Visual Narratives of Faith - Religion, Ritual and Identity

Call for Papers Visual Narratives of Faith: Religion, Ritual and Identity. Third ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna (Austria) July 10‐14, 2016.

Drawing on the work of Geertz (1973) on ritual behaviour and Claude Lévi-Strauss (1966) on ritual bricolage, this session invites papers that will discuss the use of the visual in researching rituals, faith narratives and faith-based identities. It welcomes papers that engage with themes such as:

The role of ritual objects and material culture in constructing meaning and (re)creating faith rituals
The potential of ritual bricolage to (re)create and/or disrupt rituals, faith narratives and faith-based identities
Faith rituals as (temporary) assemblage(s)
The queering of faith rituals

Panellists are strongly encouraged to use film, photographs, drawings, artefacts, bricolage, assemblages and academic critique to discuss how visual narratives intervene with, disrupt, and make audible, faith-based identities.

Call closes 30 September, 2015 24:00 GMT.

For further details see https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2016/webprogrampreliminary/programs.html

Participants must submit abstracts on-line via Confex platform at http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/ . Abstracts must be submitted in English, French or Spanish. Only abstracts submitted on-line will be considered in the selection process.

For more information about the visual sociology Working Group of the International Sociological Association (WG03) please see http://www.isa-sociology.org/wg03.htm