16-18 June, 2021
The growing number of nonreligious individuals poses new challenges for societies experiencing simultaneous intensification of religious diversity and renewed presence of religion in the public sphere. The impact of this shift is profound, contributing to social anxiety and divisions as societies become both more and less religious. These tensions are likely to deepen as the nonreligious play a more significant political role. Consequently, we need a better understanding of the moral and social dimensions of nonreligion and secularity, the socio-cultural circumstances of their emergence, and how nonreligion, secularity, spirituality and religion are negotiated simultaneously in social institutions such as in health, the law, education, the economy, politics, the environment, culture, recreation and leisure, as well as migration. Given that the nonreligious populations of many countries are growing rapidly, understanding the implications of this shift is key to addressing the pressing issue of how complex diversities can coexist in positive ways.
The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) invites both paper and session proposals for its 2021 conference titled Nonreligion in a Complex Future. The 2021 NSRN conference will be held in partnership with the Nonreligion in a Complex Future (NCF) project, based at the University of Ottawa (Canada) and led by Professor Lori Beaman.
Given the ongoing travel and gathering restrictions related to COVID-19, the 2021 NSRN conference will be delivered using a virtual format. This format has the benefits of potentially allowing for more international attendees, no monetary costs for attendees and participants (the virtual NSRN 2021 conference will be free to attend and participate in!), lower health risks, and a positive impact on the environment as no travel is required. Reasonable daily time slots will be found for conference presenters from all global time zones.
Please see the attached Call for Papers here for more information and instructions on how to submit paper and session proposals.
All paper and session proposals must be e-mailed to nsrnconference2021@gmail.com by the end of the day on Monday the 1st of February 2021. For any questions, please contact the programme chair Dr. Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme by e-mail at sarah.wilkinslaflamme@uwaterloo.ca
Call for Papers: https://nonreligionandsecularity.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/nsrn-2021-conference-call-for-papers.pdf