2015
Proposals Requested for New Book Series on Africana Religions
Pennsylvania State University Press invites proposals for its new book series on Africana Religions.
“The book series will emphasize the translocal nature of Africana religions across national, regional, and hemispheric boundaries,” according to series co-editor Sylvester A. Johnson of Northwestern University,
“We want to publish academic monographs in addition to books designed for classroom use about Africana religious experiences, identities, beliefs, aesthetics, ethics, and institutions,” said Edward E. Curtis IV, co-editor from the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis. “And we welcome a variety of methods, including archival, theoretical, literary, sociological, and ethnographic approaches.”
The series’ prestigious editorial board includes Afe Adogame of Princeton Theological Seminary, Sylviane Diouf of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Paul Christopher Johnson of the University of Michigan, Elizabeth Pérez of Dartmouth College, Elisha P. Renne of the University of Michigan, and Judith Weisenfeld of Princeton University.
Potential authors should send 3-5 page proposals outlining the intent of the project, its scope, its relation to other work on the topic, and potential audience. Please include one or two sample chapters if available. The proposal and current CV can be sent to the editors at series@africanareligions.org.
Book Series Flyer: Africana_Religion_Series
2015
Religious Education in the Mirror of a Life Trajectory: Conference Call for Papers, University of Cape Town
Conference Call for Papers: Religious Education in the Mirror of a Life Trajectory
University of Cape Town
Prof. Abdulkader Tayob
Email: abdulkader.tayob@uct.ac.za
Religious education has become a particularly contentious issue in our times. It is not longer merely the concern of those who wish to ensure the transmission of religious knowledge. Government ministers, policy think-tanks, educators in general, reformers and other public intellectuals have strong views on the merits, demerits, dangers and value of religious education. Some see religious education as the root of all evil, while others see religious education as a panacea. Some are focussed on religion within confessions or traditions, others have thrived on the distinctions between philosophy, critical theory, theology, sensorial sensitivities and ethics in pursuit of the perfect model of religious education in their contexts.
This is a call for papers on the individuals that have engaged with religious education in one way or another. The focus of this conference lies on the full life trajectory of those who have taken a position, changed that position, on religious education in their particular contexts. It could be a study of school teachers, religious leaders, theologians, academics, policy makers, elected officials or government bureaucrats. They should all be concerned or directly involved in teaching religion in their communities, societies, countries or regions.
This approach of focussing on life trajectories appreciates that positions change over time, that there are personal and political struggles involved in the development of a position or syllabus or vision, and that local, regional and global developments are not too far removed from the personal. The conference welcomes a focus on experiments in religious education engaged along the way, further developed or discarded as the case may be.
The proposed conference welcomes papers that approach the life trajectories from a variety of methods and theoretical frameworks. These include anthropological, philosophical, critical theological, literary/textual and historical approaches.
If you would like to participate, please send a clear and comprehensive abstract (1000 words) by 20 November 2015. If your abstract fits in with the general theme of the conference, then an invitation will be sent to you. Unless you can access funds from your University, we offer you an economy class ticket, and will provide boarding and lodging during the duration of the meeting.
Selected Papers will be published in a special issue of a journal or edited volume.
2015
13th Cadbury Fellowship Scheme 2016: Bodies of Text: Learning to be Muslim in West Africa
The Department of African Studies and Anthropology at the University of Birmingham invites applications for the 2016 Cadbury Fellowship Scheme, which focuses on ‘Bodies of Text: Learning to be Muslim in West Africa’.
Three or more visiting fellows from Africa will be appointed to participate in a ten-week schedule of seminars, discussion groups, and other activities. One aim of the scheme is to assist new scholars to develop a research paper and bring it to publication, and the programme will culminate in an international conference to be held at the University of Birmingham on 30 June and 1 July 2016 at which the visiting fellows will present their papers alongside an international cast of both established and younger participants.
HOW TO APPLY FOR THIS CADBURY FELLOWSHIP
Fellowships will cover return air-fare, and accommodation and living costs for a period of ten weeks. If you would like to be considered for the 2016 scheme, please: send your application by email to ALL THREE recipients:
Dr PF de Moraes Farias (paulofarias@blueyonder.co.uk)
Dr Insa Nolte (i.nolte@bham.ac.uk)
Dr David Kerr (d.kerr@bham.ac.uk)
In your email, please let us know how you learned about this programme and confirm that you can get away for ten weeks from 2 May to 8 July 2016. Attached to your email should be two documents:
A research project description in English of not more than 1,000 words on the theme, showing what research you have already done and what you would work on during the fellowship.
A short CV (not more than 3 pages) and the names of two referees.
2015
ACLS African Humanities Program competition 2015-16
ACLS African Humanities Program competition
in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, 2015-16
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, announces competitions for:
• Dissertation-completion fellowships in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda
• Early-career postdoctoral fellowships in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa
Stipends are $10,000 for dissertation-completion Fellows and $17,000 for postdoctoral Fellows, plus an additional $1,000 per Fellow for books and media at both award levels. Fellowships release recipients from teaching and other duties for an academic year to permit full-time research and writing. (They may be used to “buy time.”) Recipients of both kinds of fellowship are also eligible for further support in the form of a residency at a participating research center in Africa for a sustained period of writing. Approximately forty fellowships will be awarded annually in all five countries combined. Awards will be decided by an international committee of distinguished scholars in the humanities.
For further details visit: https://www.acls.org/programs/ahp/, or http://www.facebook.com/ACLS.AH
Application Deadline: 2 November 2015
2015
Associate/Full Professor, Islam in African Societies, Northwestern University,Evanston [IL], USA
Northwestern University’s Program of African Studies invites applications for a tenured appointment at the rank of Associate or Full Professor in the study of Islam in African societies. The appointment will be contingent upon a successful tenure review by the University. The appointment will be made in a home department in the humanities and social sciences within the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and will be associated with the interdisciplinary Program of African Studies. Candidates should have an active research agenda involving the role of Islam in African societies, a record of excellence in teaching, and the ability to engage across disciplines and provide leadership for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Review of applications will begin October 1, 2015 and continue until the position is filled.
