2014
IAHR 21st World Congress, 23-29 August 2015, Erfurt, Germany: Call for Panel Proposals
Dynamics of Religion: Past and Present
The XXI World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) will take place August 23 to 29, 2015 in Erfurt, Germany. The Congress will address Dynamics of Religion: Past and Present.
We now invite contributors to submit Panel Proposals addressing the topic in any of the areas outlined below.
Religion is a human, historical, social and cultural phenomenon. As such, religious ideas, practices, discourses, institutions, and social expressions are constantly in processes of change. The Congress will address the processes of change, the dynamics of religions past, present, and future, on several interconnected levels of analysis and theory, namely that of the individual, community and society, practices and discourses, beliefs, and narrations.
These will be addressed within four areas:
- Religious communities in society: Adaptation and transformation
- Practices and discourses: Innovation and tradition
- The individual: Religiosity, spiritualities and individualization
- Methodology: Representations and interpretations
We invite contributions from all disciplines of religious studies and related fields of research to allow for broad, interdisciplinary discussion of the Congress topic to register their panels for the XXI World Congress of the IAHR.
Each panel lasts two hours. Panel papers should be limited to 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of panel participants. Panel conveners are asked to approach possible participants from different nations to reflect the scope and internationality of the IAHR Congress.
To propose a panel, please submit a general proposal of the panel as well as individual proposals of all papers included in the panel. Both panel and papers of a proposed panel will be evaluated by the Academic Program Committee to ensure a high academic standard of the Congress program. We therefore ask panel conveners to submit the proposals of all prospective panel participants of a proposed panel as indicated by the submission form. Proposals of panels and of papers should not exceed 150 words.
The deadline for submission of proposals is Sunday, September 14, 2014. All proposals must be submitted electronically via the IAHR 2015 website (www.iahr2015.org). This site will be available for submissions from Sunday, September 1, 2013 through Sunday, September 14, 2014. As part of the submission process, you will be asked to indicate the area in which you would like your proposal considered. Your proposal will then be forwarded to the appropriate member of the Academic Program Committee.
You will receive notice concerning the status of your proposal as soon as possible and certainly before March 1, 2015. If your panel or paper has been accepted by the Academic Program Committee, please note that you will have to register as Congress participant before May 15, 2015 to be included in the Congress program.
2013
Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR): Third annual ISASR conference, in collaboration with Queen’s University, Belfast, Fri-Sat 23rd-24th May 2014
Conference theme: ‘Religion and Remembering’: Cross-Disciplinary Conference
Memory studies has become one of the most popular research areas in the humanities and social sciences producing a vast number of studies examining how nations, communities and cultures remember, re-construct or indeed forget the past. The theme of the conference encourages paper proposals across disciplines, being open to topics including (but not restricted to) remembering in the form of rituals, public commemorations, anniversaries, festivals, bodily practices, physical objects and places or in the form of orality, literacy, narratives and language.
Please send a 150-200 word abstract for papers to Dr Jennifer Butler (j.butler@ucc.ie) by the closing date of Friday 7th March 2014. Notification of abstract acceptance will be given by Friday 28th March, 2014.
Further information on the ISASR Conference 2014 will be posted in due course at: http://isasr.wordpress.com/events/isasr-2014-conference/
2013
Call for Papers: Devotion, Intimacy, and Ecstasy in African and Diasporic Religions
The African and Diasporic Religious Studies Association (ADRSA) presents
Devotion, Intimacy, and Ecstasy in African and Diasporic Religions
Harvard University | Friday, April 11, 2014 | 9 am – 6 pm
Submission Deadline – Friday, December 27, 2013
The African and Diasporic Religious Studies Association (ADRSA) presents its second day-long conference on the theme Love Supreme: Devotion, Intimacy, and Ecstasy in African and Diasporic Religions. “Devotion,” “marriage,” and other intimate relational language is often used to characterize the relationships between adherents of African and Diasporic Religions and the universal energies with which they interact during worship. Practitioners of these traditions most frequently refer to themselves as “devotees” – in contrast to the designation “believers” used in other traditions – and through initiations, spiritual weddings, possessions, and other means, they form profound personal bonds with the spirits and with each other. This conference will explore these bonds, with topics including but not limited to:
• Theories and meanings of devotion and service
• Marriage and coupling as tropes in sacred narratives
• Spirit possession and other forms of religious ecstasy
• African and Diasporic religious perspectives on human intimate relationships Initiation, spiritual weddings, and other forms of bonding
Submissions should center on one or more African Indigenous (Ndebele, Yoruba, Kongo, Dagara, Eedyi, Igbo, Shona, etc.) or African Diasporic (Vodou, Lukumi, Umbanda, Shango Baptist, Kumina, Revival Zion, etc.) spiritual/religious traditions. Scholar-practitioner perspectives are welcomed. Panel proposals are encouraged.
For consideration, please submit a 500 word abstract, a 250-500 word bio, and Curriculum Vitae by December 27, 2013. Panel proposals should include a 300-500 word description of the panel and all of the above for each participant.
Submit abstracts at www.ADRSA.com/conference For inquiries contact:
Funlayo E. Wood (Harvard University) Funlayo@ADRSA.org Lisa Osunleti Beckley-Roberts (Florida State University) Osunleti@ADRSA.org
Find out more about the ADRSA and join our mailing list at www.ADRSA.org
2013
IAHR e-Bulletin Supplement November 2013
To the officers and members of the IAHR member societies and affiliates:
Please send the members this link
http://www.iahr.dk/bulletins/2013/november/index.html
and kindly urge them to open it and spend some time browsing the latest issue of the IAHR e-Bulletin Supplement.
Please do not hesitate to write in case you have any questions regarding the IAHR.
Sincerely
Tim Jensen
IAHR General Secretary
2013
IAHR African Trust Fund: Research & Publication Grant Applications for 2014
IAHR African Trust Fund
Research & Publication Grant Applications for 2014
Purpose
The IAHR African Trust Fund seeks to facilitate and promote the advancement of research and the development of scholarship on religion in the African continent (and nearby islands) by encouraging scholarly and contextual research initiatives and practices, as well as publications.
The IAHR African Trust Fund aims to encourage and acknowledge the generation of scholars whose research is deemed to hold significant future promise to increase knowledge and contribute to the historical, social and comparative study of religion in the African continent (and nearby islands).
Thus, the IAHR African Trust Fund herewith invites young scholars in particular of any ethnic/national origin, working and/or studying in any higher academic or research institution on the African continent (and nearby islands), whose research project needs financial support or whose publication in an African publishing house (scientific journal) requires a subsidy.
Grant Amount
The total grant allocation for 2014 is US$4000. The grant application is divided into two categories and successful applicants will be awarded the respective amounts within the specific category:
Category 1: Research and/or Publication
2 X Award of US$1000
Category 2:Research and/or Publication
4 X Award of US$500
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants have to be scholars resident in Africa and associated with any higher academic or research institution within this context. We encourage applications from members to the IAHR member associations, namely the African Association for the Study of Religion (AASR), the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA), and the East African Association for the Study of Religion (EAASR). Members of the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religion (NASR), no longer a member to the IAHR, may apply if they are also individual members to the AASR.
Evaluation Mechanism & Criteria
Applications will be evaluated by the Board of Trustees of the IAHR African Trust Fund, and the board will consult specialists in the relevant fields when needed. Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
1. The originality, quality, importance and impact of the proposed study as it relates to the historical, social and comparative study of religion in the African continent (and nearby islands).
2. Adherence to the best practices of research methodology and theory employed.
3. The relevance of the study to the African continent (and nearby islands).
Submission Timeframe
Applications are open till 30th January 2014. Grant-winning applicants will be announced on 20th February 2014. Note that all grants will be awarded to the successful applicants at the end of February 2014.
Conditions of Grants
Applicants who receive the grant should submit a copy of the publication or a research report (of no less than 5 pages) that summarises the project’s findings to the IAHR African Trust Fund. The publication or completed research project should acknowledge the support received in the form of an IAHR African Trust Fund Grant. The IAHR African Trust Fund will be allowed to reproduce or report the summary and parts of the report on the IAHR website, annual reports, and any other document or medium for the purpose of informing its stakeholders on the study findings. In all these publications, the authorship of the research will be clearly attributed to the applicant.
Application Form
Send a brief covering letter addressed to the IAHR African Trust Fund stating that your submission is for consideration for the IAHR African Trust Fund Grant and include the following required materials:
1. Name of Applicant
2. Email, Telephone Number and Mailing Address of the Applicant
3. Name of University, Department, Research Centre or Institute
4. Name(s) of IAHR African Member Association(s)
5. Title of Research/Publication Proposal
6. A research proposal of not more than four single-spaced pages detailing the aims/objectives, specific research questions, methodology and theoretical issues, the rationale and plan of research ( time frame), and a detailed, one-page budget should be attached, indicating the amount being applied for and the exact purposes for which it will be used. If application is for only publication purposes, also indicate to what specific journal or book and evidence of what sum is required for such publication.
7. Brief curriculum vitae and a statement of qualifications that specifically addresses the research project.
8. Include two letters of reference from senior scholars, one of whom MUST be a member, preferably an executive member of the IAHR member associations.
Completed applications forms are to be submitted as an electronic copy file in PDF or MS Word format in an attachment via email to the Secretary of the African Trust Fund Board of Trustees, Dr. Afe Adogame [A.Adogame@ed.ac.uk]. Please include in the electronic copy file the applicant’s last name e.g. Eliza.pdf / Eliza.doc. The subject line in the email should read “IAHR African Trust Fund Application 2014” – Note, no hard copies will be accepted.
For more information on the IAHR African Trust Fund Applications, please contact the Secretary of the African Trust Fund Board of Trustees at A.Adogame@ed.ac.uk.
