Author: Jan Platvoet

Africa Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK) Biennial Conference, University of Sussex, Brighton UK, 9-11 September 2014

CfP for the Panel on ‘Islamic Education in Africa’

We welcome participants for a panel titled ‘Islamic Education in Africa: Continuities, Changes and Contestations’ as part of the upcoming Africa Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK) biennial conference www.asauk.net/conferences/asauk14.shtml to be held at the University of Sussex, Brighton UK, from the 9’th -11’th September, 2014.

For any queries about the panel please contact Anneke Newman at a.newman@sussex.ac.uk, but please use the ASAUK online system via this webpage http://www.asauk.net/conferences/asauk14.shtml to submit your 250 word abstract. The deadline for abstracts is the 1st April 2014, submissions will be considered shortly thereafter. Decisions about the exact day on which the panel will be held will not be made by conference organisers until after abstracts are submitted; we apologise for any inconvenience this might cause. 15 minute presentations should be supported by a 3000 word paper, to be circulated to convenors, discussant and other participants by the 15’th August 2015. The language of the conference is English.

Please find the detailed panel description below.
We hope to hear from you soon,
Anneke Newman (University of Sussex) and Hannah Hoechner (University of
Oxford)

Panel 3988 – Islamic Education in Africa: Continuities, Changes and Contestations

Contemporary African societies are characterised by plural educational landscapes, with a variety of actors alongside the state providing schooling services and scholarships. Education has been the site of competing powers where players reflecting different world views have confronted each other. In countries with significant Muslim populations, this dynamic is reflected in a diverse landscape of educational institutions, spanning both formal and informal schools, private as well as public actors, and varying degrees of integration between religious and secular subjects.

For much of the last century this educational context has been characterised by mutual antagonism, with Islamic schools often created in an act of explicit opposition to colonial and postcolonial government education policy, and enjoying popularity among families who perceive inadequacies in the secular state school system. In turn, indigenous Islamic reformers have sought to adapt older models of Quranic schools by introducing Western pedagogies and subjects into religious education.

Furthermore, facing international donor pressure to meet ‘Education For All’ goals, in the last decade some Sahelian countries have begun ambitious state policies of educational reform including unprecedented rapprochement with the Islamic school sector. Similarly, faith-based organisations from the Arab world and Western international development actors have also begun to engage with the Islamic school sector for various ends. Under these circumstances, diverse models of Islamic education have emerged, at times in competition with each another as well as with state schooling.

Yet, despite the importance of Islamic education in people’s everyday lives, and its influence on the social, political and cultural landscape of contemporary Africa, it has suffered relative scholarly neglect. To address this deficit, participants are invited to share original research on this topic. Disciplinary approaches could include, but are by no means limited to: political economy; history; literature, film and media studies; anthropology and sociology; international development and area studies; comparative and international education. Presenters are invited to consider the relevance of their scholarship to wider current academic debates such as engagement with faith in international development; the implications of globalising forces including migration and new media on education; the intersections between axes of social difference like gender, with knowledge and authority; links (genuine or perceived) between Islamic education and Islamist radicalisation; the power struggles which arise when contrasting pedagogies and cosmologies collide; and the methodological challenges of researching such processes.

Convenors:
Anneke Newman (University of Sussex)
Hannah Hoechner (University of Oxford)

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2014 Annual Meeting, October 31-November 2, 2014, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Call for Papers

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2014 Annual Meeting: Building Bridges
October 31-November 2, 2014, JW Marriott, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

SSSR’s current web site notes:
The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion was founded in 1949 by scholars in religion and social science. Its purpose is to stimulate and communicate significant scientific research on religious institutions and religious experience. Scholars from all fields of study who are interested in the scientific exploration of religion are invited to join the Society. Membership in the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion gives scholars the opportunity to share their research and ideas with other scholars.

Our theme for the 2014 conference is “Building Bridges” between all those interested in the study of religion. This includes any disciplines that focus on the study of religion as well as scholars from various geographical and cultural areas. Our intent is to build bridges between disciplines and cultures that have become isolated and communicate mainly among themselves. Suggestions for contributions include:
• the study of religion in diverse cultures and regions (Eastern, Central Europe, Asia, South America, etc.)
• the study of religion within diverse faith traditions (Islam, Christianity, Paganism, NRMs, etc.)
• inter-disciplinary studies of religion (religious studies & the social and behavioral sciences, etc.)
• new disciplines that study religion (cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, etc.)
• methodology interaction in the study of religion (quantitative, qualitative, creative, etc.)
• the study of non-belief and atheism

All session and paper proposals must be submitted via the on-line submission system that will be available on the SSSR’s web site, http://www.sssrweb.org. In addition to the session proposer’s full contact information, a session proposal requires a session title and an abstract of not more than 150 words describing the goal of the session and how the proposer expects the session to contribute to scientific knowledge about religion. Individual paper proposals require the name(s) of the author(s), first author’s full contact information, an abstract of not more than 150 words that succinctly describes the question(s) motivating the research, the data and methods used, and what the paper contributes or expects to contribute to the knowledge or understanding of religion. NOTE NEW POLICY ON MANDATORY PREREGISTRATION OUTLINED BELOW.

Submissions Open: February 03, 2014 (see http://www.sssrweb.org)
Submissions Close: March 31, 2014
Decision Notification: April 30, 2014

In 2014, the SSSR/RRA Annual Meeting will require all program participants to preregister for the meeting, and to pay the non-refundable fees, by May 31, 2014. For submitted papers, the presenting author must pre-register, although co-authors not attending the meeting are not required to do so. For submitted sessions, the organizer and all presenters must pre-register and pre-pay. Online registration will open immediately after decision notifications are emailed. Those presenters and organizers who do not preregister will be dropped from the program.

Please direct questions to:
Ralph Hood (UTC), Program Chair (Ralph-Hood@utc.edu)
Co-chair for Asia-Pacific region: Alphia Possamai-Inesedy (Alphia.Possamai@uws.edu.au)
Co-Chair for Western, Central, and Eastern Europe: Elisabeth Arweck (Elisabeth.arweck@warwick.ac.uk)
Special assistant for developing sessions on Islam: Besheer Mohamed (BMohamed@PewResearch.org)
Graduate Student Representative: Christopher F. Silver (Christopher-Silver@utc.edu)