2020
Cancellation of IAHR Congress 2020
The IAHR Congress due to take place in New Zealand in August 2020 has been cancelled. See below for the message sent from the IAHR Organizing Committee to partner organizations.
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Kia ora koutou
It is with great regret that we announce the cancellation of the 22nd World Congress of the IAHR which was to have been held in Otago, New Zealand.
Following our previous update on 10 March, we have continued to monitor the situation which (as we are sure you are all aware) has only become worse almost everywhere. Today, New Zealand has entered a period of total lockdown – no-one is permitted to leave their home except to fetch essential items of food and fuel, or for short walks in their neighbourhood. The borders are closed to all but New Zealand citizens, residents and their immediate family members.
The hope, of course, is that such a lockdown will eliminate the virus within New Zealand and allow a return to normal life. But there can be no certainty that this will succeed. Even (or perhaps especially) if New Zealand is successful in eliminating the virus here, there will continue to be tight restrictions on who can travel to New Zealand. It is already clear that we cannot possibly meet in August. We have considered a long postponement, but for many of us (including the local organisers) the first priority in the coming months will be providing teaching to our students in order to minimize the impact on their education. It is not at all clear even when we might begin to be able to plan with any certainty for a large international gathering in the near future. We have also considered also the possibility of holding a virtual Congress online, but New Zealand’s time zone and limited IT infrastructure means that we are not well-placed to do so.
We will contact separately those who have already registered for the Congress, to make arrangements to refund registration, accommodation and excursion fees paid in advance. In the current environment (everyone in New Zealand working from home) this may take a little while and we ask again for your patience.
The Executive Committee of the IAHR will make a further announcement about the consequences of the cancellation for the business meetings of the IAHR that would have been conducted in New Zealand.
We would like to extend our thanks to all those who submitted abstracts. We thank also the academic programme committee who reviewed the abstracts and to the many others who supported the Congress in different way, and in particular the officers of the IAHR Executive Committee. We look forward to meeting again in happier times!
Will Sweetman and Satoko Fujiwara
on behalf of the organising committee
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2020
Joint Societies Conference in South Africa Cancelled
The Joint Societies conference in South Africa this summer has been cancelled. Please look out for further updates sometime after April 2020.
2020
Call for Papers , AASR at the AAR November 2020
Please find below the Call for Papers for African Association for the Study of Religions
at the American Academy of Religion annual meeting Boston, November 2020.
AASR CFP AAR 2020 (PDF)
2020
AASR President, Elias Bongmba, is new the Executive Editor of The Journal of Religion in Africa.
The Journal of Religion in Africa invites you to consider serving as a reviewer of manuscripts that have been submitted to the journal. The peer review process remains the core of our intellectual practice and we would greatly appreciate it you take the time to review submissions. If you are interested in occasionally reviewing submissions, send a message to Elias Bongmba, Executive Editor bongmba@rice.edu or to Diana Bell at bell.dianna@gmail.com.
2020
Nomination of New AASR Executive
Dear AASR members,
At the business meeting during the AASR conference in Lusaka in 2018, we were appointed in the committee with the task of nominating candidates for the new Executive, to be elected in 2020. Following our appointment, we have taken the following steps:
• First, we have consulted with the current members of the Executive – Professor Elias Bongmba, Dr Damaris Parsitau, Dr Abel Ugba, and Dr Corey Williams – who each are eligible to serve for another term. We checked with them whether they are available to be part of the new Executive. The outcome of this process was that Dr Parsitau is available for a second term, in the same or in a different office; Dr Ugba is available for a third term, in a different office; Dr Williams and Prof Bongmba are not available for another term.
• Second, as recommended by the AASR Constitution, we have consulted the AASR membership, in an email dated 17 July 2019. We solicited nominations for each of the four offices in the Executive: President, Vice President, General Secretary, and Treasurer. The deadline for this passed on 31 August 2019.
• Third, we have internally considered the various nominations we received and have consulted those who were nominated, to check whether they are available to serve on the Executive.
Following this process, as a Committee we have unanimously decided to put forward the following nominations:
• Office of President: Dr Damaris Parsitau
• Office of Vice President: Dr Abel Ugba
• Office of General Secretary: Dr Nathanael Homewood
• Office of Treasurer: Dr Sara Fretheim
We believe that this Executive makes a strong team of highly qualified members who have demonstrated a great commitment to our Association. With two continuing members, and two newly incoming members, this Executive also has the right balance between continuity and renewal. It preserves the existing knowledge regarding the Association while bringing in fresh ideas and energy.
Following the advice from some members, as a nomination committee we recommend the newly elected Executive to create the additional office of Membership Officer and to appoint someone in that role.
Elections for the new Executive were initially scheduled to take place at the AASR conference in Senegal, 29 July–1 August 2020. However, with the conference being postponed till 2021, elections are now scheduled to take place at the IAHR quinquennial World Congress in New Zealand (23-29 August, 2020). Prior to the conference, an online vote will be opened and
* We remind you of the constitutional right of AASR members to nominate counter-candidates for particular offices until one month before the elections. The deadline for this is 22 July 2020. Counter-nominations must be send electronically to the AASR General Secretary, Dr Corey Williams. Each counter-nomination must be supported by electronic mail by at least three AASR members. They must also have ascertained that their nominee is willing to serve in the office for which they nominate her or him.
If we do receive counter-nominations by 22 July 2020, members who cannot attend the IAHR congress will be given an opportunity to cast their vote online or postal. Communication about this will be send out shortly after the closing date.
If we do not receive any counter-nominations, no online/postal vote opportunity will be given; the vote at the IAHR congress will serve to affirm the above nomination.
In case the above raises any questions or concerns, please do contact the co-chairs of the nomination committee.
Sincerely,
Co-chairs:
Professor Njoki Wane
Professor Adriaan van Klinken
Members:
Dr Rose Mary Amenga-Etego
Dr Chammah Kaunda
Professor Danoye Oguntola-Laguda
