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/

Call for Papers: Devotion, Intimacy, and Ecstasy in African and Diasporic Religions

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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

Download a PDF of the Call for Papers flier

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

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.

‘The Future of Africa’, conference of the African Studies Association in Germany, at Bayreuth University, June 11-14, 2014

The Call for papers for this conference lists 46 panels; cf. http://www.vad-ev.de/bayreuth2014/callforpapers/
I select three that are relevant to scholars of the religions of Africa:
Panel 8: Transformations of Islamic Knowledge in Africa: Media, Agents, and Institutions”. Convenors: Britta Frede & Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Seesemann. For the Call for Papers, visit: http://www.vad-ev.de/bayreuth2014/callforpapers/pdf/panel8.pdf
Panel 16: „The “Gospel of Prosperity” and Social Change in Africa”. Convenor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Heuser. For the Call for paper, visit: http://www.vad-ev.de/bayreuth2014/callforpapers/pdf/panel16.pdf
Panel 32: Religious pathways to better futures. Convenors: Dr. Eva Spies & Dr. Kathrin Langewiesche. For the Call for papers, visit: http://www.vad-ev.de/bayreuth2014/callforpapers/pdf/panel32.pdf.
Papers are welcome until the 17th of November 2013. Please send your abstracts to the panel convenors and to the conference organizers. Email: vad.bayreuth2014@gmail.com

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