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In this issue:
- Resources
- Books
- Call for papers
- Conferences
- Jobs
- Funding
RESOURCES
And don’t forget, you can always get involved with the Religious Studies Project by writing one of our features essays or resources pages. Contact the editors for more information.
THE NETWORK FOR THE STUDY OF ESOTERICISM IN ANTIQUITY
AncientEsotericism.org is the website for the Network for the Study of Esotericism in Antiquity (NSEA), a thematic group associated with the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE).
Our website provides resources and information for students and specialists of ancient esoteric thought, history, and literature.
BOOKS
Religion, Science and Empire: Classifying Hinduism and Islam in British India
Peter Gottschalk
Oxford University Press: 2012
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780195393019.do#.UPhikWfuoyo
Buddhism in a Dark Age: Cambodian Monks under Pol Pot
Ian Harris
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press
45 illus. 256pp. December 2012
Paper – Price: $22.00ISBN: 978-0-8248-3561-3
Paganism and Christianity in Egypt
Philip David Scott-Moncrieff
Cambridge University Press
Dec 2012
http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item7078320/?site_locale=en_GB
JOURNALS
Paranthropology, vol 4 no. 1 http://www.scribd.com/doc/120804094/Paranthropology-Vol-4-No-1
The BASR committee is pleased to announce the publication of issue 13 of Diskus (our online peer reviewed open access journal). This issues contains papers arising from presentations at BASR’s 2011 conference (at Durham University) addressing the topics of Ritual Knowledge and Knowing.
http://www.basr.ac.uk/diskus/diskus13/index.html
· Loyal Rue: Rites make Right
· Peter Collins: On Ritual Knowledge
· Christian Karner and David Parker: Religious and Non-Religious Practices and the City
· Jan Krátký: Cognition, material culture and religious ritual
A further addition to these excellent articles is expected and will be announced when published.
CALLS FOR PAPERS
CFP: Risk and Rapture: Apocalyptic Imagination in Late Modernity
Centre for Faiths and Public Policy, University of Chester
Wednesday 11th September 2013
Keynote Speaker: Professor Scott Lash (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
Apocalypse captivates the human imagination. Once synonymous with end of the world scenarios and confined largely to the religious, the term is part of vernacular language in the West and is used to describe a myriad of events from the fiscal difficulties of the Eurozone to nuclear war, from environmental disaster to the dangers of digital technology.
The advancement of science and technology has assisted in expediting anxiety with regard to apocalyptic catastrophe because such progress has produced unforeseen hazards and risks. Critical theories of risk have been developed that harness and organise responses to scientific developments in an attempt to provide solutions to possible catastrophe. It is suggested that in order to prevent global catastrophe, modern society must be reflexive. Moreover, the advent of such hazards has served as a recruiting sergeant for fundamentalist religious groups who have clear and explicit eschatologies. Rather than viewing possible risks and hazards as by-products of late modernitysigns of the times, they are re-interpreted as signs of the end times. Consequently, one strand that runs through the above is the political implications of apocalyptic ideology and theories of risk. Whether this is the focus some Christian dispensationalist groups put on the role of the state of Israel in the Middle East, or the so-called catastrophic acceleration of global-warming, decisions based on interpretations of these inevitably have political ramifications.
The purpose of this inter-disciplinary conference is to investigate and evaluate some of the variety of apocalyptic discourse that exists in contemporary popular western culture along with critical theories of risk. Papers are invited that explore both the secular and religio-political dimensions of apocalyptic language in contemporary society and include, but not restricted to, the following themes:
Secular interpretations of apocalypse;
Religio-political apocalyptic discourse;
Critical theories that seek solutions to contemporary notions of risk;
Correlations between critical theories of risk and apocalyptic ideology;
The growth of fundamentalisms as a reaction to risk culture(s).
Proposals for short papers are invited on any aspects or themes related to the above. Papers will be 20 minutes in length with an additional 10 minutes discussion. Applications to submit a paper should include:
Proposers name and affiliation;
Title of the paper;
250-word abstract;
Details of any audio-visual equipment you will need to deliver your paper.
Short paper proposals should be submitted to Riskraptureconf [at] chester.ac.uk by no later than 4pm on Friday 6th April 2013.
Conference costs: 50 (25 unwaged and students) inclusive of lunch and refreshments.
Conference registration will open in due course.
CFP: Eighteenth Annual Postgraduate Religion and Theology Conference.
Hosted by the University of Bristol.
8th;9th March 2013.
Keynote speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton.
Amended Submission Deadline – Friday 25th January 2013 Midnight.
Amended Registration Opening – Monday 4th February 2013 Midday.
Please submit abstracts for papers and/or posters through our University’s ‘Stop Shop’ page at:
http://shop.bris.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?catid=521&modid=1&compid=1
(Kindly note that the organisers are not in a position to assist anyone with visas, and will not consider or accept abstracts from those who require assistance with visas).
- The extended deadline for submitting proposals will be 12:00 midnight on Friday 25th January 2013.
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Registration for the conference will open at 12:00 midday on Monday 4th February 2013 and will include refreshments and lunch on both days.
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Early registration is free for members of partner institutions and £10 for participants from other institutions or for those who are unaffiliated.
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Optional social events will be held on both evenings of the conference.
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Please note that all registrations received after 12.00 midday on Monday 18th February, will incur a £10 late registration fee.
A limited amount of financial assistance may be available to presenters of papers and/or posters. The assistance may be used towards defraying travel or accommodation expenses, or the early registration fee for participants from non-partner institutions. Application details will be posted in early February 2013 on the conference website.
For more information and registration, please visit:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/gradschool/conferences/thrs/
CFP: RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2013, London, 28th-30th August 2013.
Occult Geographies: (im)material agents and the geographical imagination.
Sponsored by the History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group (HPGRG).
Organisers
Julian Holloway (Manchester Metropolitan University)
James Thurgill (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Over the last decade geography has turned its attention to engaging with those elements of place that remain unseen and to exploring the relationality between materiality, agency and the invisible as affect or spectrality.
The session invites papers that deal with occult and esoteric geographical imaginations and spatial practices. Furthermore, we seek papers that highlight new occult directions for the geographic imagination and explore how the occult can potentially be used to redefine the world around us. Therefore, we seek papers that both analyse occult movements and their geographies, and papers that aim to deal with the occult as an exploratory method in the study and development of geographic thinking that have the potential to reconfigure our understanding of place, materiality and agency.
Topics might include but are not limited to:
- Geomancy and arcane cartographics
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Magick and the esoteric manipulation of space and place
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Ambiguous materialities and their spaces
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UnNatural agents
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Occult movements and their geographies (Rosicrucian, Speculative Freemasonry, The Golden Dawn, The Illuminati, Hermeticism, Chaos Magick, etc.)
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Haunted and ghostly landscapes.
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Placing the occult
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Geopolitics and the occult
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Occult prophecies and apocalypticism
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Conspiracy culture and the ‘hidden control’ of geography.
-
Popular culture and commodifying the occult imaginary (from Dan Brown to ghost tourism)
Please send abstracts (c.300 words) to both session organisers James Thurgill (James.Thurgill.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk)
and Julian Holloway (J.J.Holloway@mmu.ac.uk) by Monday 4th February 2013.
RE21 Religious Education in a Global-Local World
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Study of Religions Department
University College Cork,
Cork, Ireland
Date: 29-30 August 2013
Religious Education (RE) is a term that conveys diverse and often incompatible meanings to different constituencies. For some, RE means religious nurturing, either tailored to parental views or meant to inculcate a uniform religiosity. For others, RE means learning about the many religious and non-religious world-views and secular ethics that exist, not promoting one religion or another. Some seek to avoid the ambiguous term religious education, replacing it with terms such as education about religions and beliefs or the religious dimension of intercultural education.
The RE21 Religious Education in a Global-Local World conference starts from two assumptions: (a) that RE has and will continue to have multiple and contested meanings and (b) that local interpretations of RE are increasingly in negotiation with each other as a consequence of globalisation. The RE21 conference emphasises a student-centred approach, viewing any kind of RE (or indeed its absence) as a formative lived experience for pupils. It stresses a bottom-up, sociological and ethnographic/anthropological research-based approach to the study of RE, rather than the top down approaches which often start from prescriptive legal, ideological or religious standpoints.
One aim of this conference is to further international academic research into the diverse past, present (and possible future) forms of RE and we hope to publish selected papers from the conference. A second aim is through discussion and debate at the conference to enhance public and professional understanding, in Ireland and beyond, of the complex issues and debates surrounding RE in the wider world.
We encourage early-career scholars, including advanced postgraduate research students, to share their empirical research findings and insights with others. Subject to availability, priority for funding assistance (see below) will be given to early-career scholars and those from countries geographically distant from Ireland. The RE21 Conference which takes place on Thursday-Friday 29-30 August 2013 is timed to help overseas delegates to attend both the RE21 conference in Cork and the Religion, Migration, Mutation EASR/BASR Conference in nearby Liverpool, UK, 3-6 September 2013.
Delegates from all relevant disciplines who are actively engaged in peer-reviewed research and publication in the field of RE worldwide are warmly invited to Cork. Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:
Childhoods role and childrens agency in RE and wider socio-religious formations,
[Auto-] biographical research on experiences and evaluations of RE,
Qualitative studies and quantitative surveys of student and teacher attitudes to RE,
Historical and comparative studies of RE across cultures.
RE teacher education and accreditation,
The impact, especially on pupils experience and evaluations of RE, of particular configurations of state-religion-education relations.
Policy analysis in relation to RE and cognate fields.
RE21: Submission Guidelines and Deadlines:
The following deadlines are for those planning to apply for funding assistance:
Submissions for panels, individual papers or poster presentations should be sent to Dr Yafa Shanneik, email: y.shanneik [at] ucc.ie
Panel proposals deadline: Thursday 7 February 2013.
A panel proposal should come from one proposer and comprise: (1) name and institutional affiliation of proposer, (2) panel title (max 20 words), (3) panel description (max 150 words), (4) names and institutions of participants (if any) expected to offer papers to the panel.
Decisions on panels will be notified by 18 February 2013 and an initial list of panels posted on the conference website http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/research/re21/
Note: if the website does not show properly, check the address showing in your browser and delete everything before the last http.
Individual paper proposals deadline: 28 February 2013.
Poster presentations deadline: 28 February 2013
Individual papers do not need to fit into a listed panel. If you are proposing your paper for a panel listed on the website, please state this on the proposal.
Individual paper or poster proposals should comprise: 1. Name and institutional affiliation (2) paper/poster title, (3) abstract (max. 150 words).
Decisions on acceptance of papers/posters will be notified by 20 March 2013 and a list of papers/posters accepted will be published on the conference website.
The above deadlines apply especially to those who intend to apply for help with funding (see Funding Assistance below). If there is still space, paper proposals may be accepted after these dates, but proposals submitted after these dates will not be eligible for funding assistance.
Conference Fees (payable on full registration at a later stage):
Waged 70, unwaged 30.
(Unwaged in this context means not in receipt of a regular living wage.)
The conference fee includes teas/coffees, two lunches and a conference dinner.
Information about registration, payment of fees, accommodation, travel etc. will be provided on the RE21 website at http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/research/re21/
Note: if the website does not show properly, check the address showing in your browser and delete everything before the last http.
====================================================
Funding assistance
The RE21 Conference will take place shortly before the large EASR/BASR Conference on the theme of RELIGION, MIGRATION, MUTATION to be held at Liverpool Hope University, UK, 3-6 September 2013.
Limited funding for the RE21 conference in Cork will be available to assist with flights to Cork and towards accommodation costs for scholars wishing to come to Cork either for RE21 alone or, where possible, en route to Liverpool for the EASR/BASR Conference. Liverpool may be reached easily from Cork by direct Ryanair flight from Cork-Liverpool or by bus from Cork to Dublin and then flights from Dublin Liverpool.
To be eligible for funding assistance, you must first have your paper or poster proposal accepted by the organisers for RE21. Hence, applications for funding will be accepted only after written approval of papers, i.e. after 20 March 2013.
Application forms for funding assistance will be made available only to those whose papers have been approved, after 20 March 2013. As a guide, applications for funding will be accepted up to 30 April and funding decisions notified by 14 May 2013.
Enquiries: Dr Yafa Shanneik y.shanneik[at]ucc.ie
CFP: Correspondences Journal <http://correspondencesjournal.com/>
A new academic journal on the study of Western esotericism seeks paper submissions.
Correspondences is a new, biannual online journal devoted to the academic study of Western esotericism. The journal seek to create a public academic forum devoted to discussion and exposition of issues and currents in the field commonly known as ‘Western esotericism.’ The editors acknowledge that the use of “Western esotericism” as an umbrella term for a widely variant field of alternate scientific and religious ideas is problematic. Thus, articles related to esoteric currents from other global cultural centres may be accepted if a connection to alternative currents in “western culture” is implicitly established. The following list of areas of study is provided for
clarification:
Alchemy, Anthroposophy, Astrology, Eco-spirituality, Esotericism in art, literature, and music, Freemasonry, Geomancy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Illuminism, Initiatory secret societies, Kabbalah, Magic, Mesmerism, Mysticism, Naturphilosophie, Neo-paganism, New Age, Occultism, Occulture, Paracelsianism, Rosicrucianism, Satanism, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Traditionalism, Ufology, Witchcraft.
Correspondences intends to promote a wide forum of interdisciplinary debate regarding such areas of study, and therefore does not require academic credentials as a prerequisite for publication. Students and non-affiliated academics are encouraged to join established researchers in submitting insightful, well-researched articles that offer new ideas, positions, or information to the field.
We are currently accepting book reviews (max. 1500 words) and articles
(5000-10000 words) for our first issue. The deadline for submission is February 28. Following a peer-review process, the first issue will be published June 1, 2013. Manuscripts should be submitted as per our submission guidelines, available at www.correspondencesjournal.com. Please send your manuscript and any enquiries to submissions [at] correspondencesjournal.com.
CONFERENCES
Fifth International Dharmakīrti Conference in Heidelberg from
25-29 August, 2014.
The conference is aimed to showcase current research on all aspects of Buddhist epistemology and logic in India, China or Tibet from a historical, philological and/or philosophical perspective. Papers may also address aspects of the relationship of Buddhist pramāṇa to other currents of thought within Buddhism or in the respectively pertinent
broader intellectual environment.
The conference is scheduled for the week immediately after the IABS conference in Vienna (August 18-23), to facilitate participation in both conferences for scholars from overseas.
To receive further circulars for the Dharmakīrti conference in the future, please subscribe to the conference mailing-list at this website:
https://listserv.uni-heidelberg.de/cgi-bin/wa?A0=IDHC5HEIDELBERG
(Click “subscribe” on the right-hand side.)
Participants of the last conference who already received the first circular are already subscribed to the list. An online registration system for the conference will be made available by 31 July 2013.
Representing Sikhism a centennial conference in honour of the Irish scholar Max Arthur Macauliffe
(11 September 1838 15 March 1913)
Date: 15 March 2013
Time: 2pm
Place: UCC, Western Gateway Building,
(near Victoria Cross)
Western Road, Cork, Ireland
ALL WELCOME
Attendance free For those interested in religions, Irish-Indian history and cultural diversity
This Centennial Conference in honour of M. A. Macauliffe is organised by the Study of Religions Department, School of Asian Studies, UCC and made possible by the generosity of the Sikh community in Ireland through the Cork University Foundation http://www.ucc.ie/en/alumni/cuf/
Website: http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/research/macauliffe/
Enquiries: email studyofreligions[at]ucc.ie
JOBS
University of British Columbia – Assistant Professor in Japanese or
Korean Art History or Architectural History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=46180
University of British Columbia – Assistant Professor in Japanese or
Korean Art History or Architectural History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=46180
Smith College – Lecturer in Modern Hebrew
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=46111
Director of charity
Central London
£40000-55000 per annum
Inform collects, evaluates and disseminates objective information about minority religions. The Director is responsible for ensuring that it achieves its aims.
Inform is a registered charity that collects, evaluates and disseminates information about minority religions which is as reliable and objective as possible. The Director is responsible to Inform’s Board of Governors for ensuring that these aims are achieved. The job requires ‘vision’ in the sense of setting the directions in which research needs to be steered in order to investigate the constantly changing landscape of minority religions and the reactions to them. The Director also needs to be a ‘self-starter’ and ‘doer’ who not only initiates new areas of research but also sees them through to completion, including the dissemination of findings for the benefit of stakeholders and the public.
Further particulars and the application form can be downloaded from www.inform.ac. Applications and any questions to be sent to informdirector [at] yahoo.co.uk.
FUNDING
The Religion and Diversity Project, a SSHRC funded Major Collaborative Research Initiative, is seeking new PhD level students who are interested in completing thesis research related to the goals of the project (see project proposal at www.religionanddiversity.ca/about) in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. Students will be supervised by either Dr. Lori Beaman (Project Director) and/or Dr. Peter Beyer (Project Co-investigator).
This research funding is contingent on successful application and acceptance to the Department of Religious Studies graduate program and the offer of an admissions scholarship as well as demonstrated research capacity. The research award granted through the Religion and Diversity Project will be determined based on the number of successful applications but will range from $3,000-$7,500 per year and will be contingent on completion of assigned research tasks. The funding and expectations will be outlined specifically with the successful student (s).
As one of the few large scale research initiatives housed in a Canadian institution for the study of religion, the Religion and Diversity Project in the Department of Religious Studies offers a unique graduate research experience. Students involved in the project are afforded a broad array of opportunities, such as graduate student workshops, participation at team meetings, workshops and conferences, access to a large research network, and research opportunities with the team.
The Department of Religious Studies focuses on religions in Canada and on religions in a comparative cultural context, particularly religions in the Roman Empire and in the contemporary period. The department offers specialization in Canadian Studies. Because the study of religions reaches well beyond programs and courses, the Department seeks many other avenues to facilitate the exchange of ideas. This includes regular lecture series (Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory and Building Bridges Lunch and Learn Lecture Series) and Professional Development Workshops for graduate students. The Religious Studies Graduate Students’ Association hosts a variety of social and scholarly events throughout the year. The Department also publishes the Ottawa Journal of Religion, a peer-reviewed journal showcasing some of our graduate students’ best work.
Proposals should be 2-3 pages in length, and should include a project description that specifically addresses the ways in which it will work within the broader mandate of the Religion and Diversity Project. It should also include theoretical and methodological approaches and elaborate on previous research experience. We are presently especially interested in projects related to religious nones, religion and health, comparative policy studies, and the spatial and geographic aspects of religious diversity.
Send proposals to Dr. Heather Shipley, Project Manager, at hshipley [at] uottawa.ca no later than March 1, 2013.
—
CEU Department of History, the Religious Studies Program and the Jewish Studies Program offer fellowships for graduate students
Date: 2013-01-24
Description: The History Department at CEU Budapest offers competitive fellowships for MA and PhD programs. Central European University in Budapest, Hungary is the only international English-language graduate school in Europe that is accredited in both Europe (Hungary) and in the United States. The History Depar …
Contact: BendikAg [at] ceu.hu
URL: history.ceu.hu
Announcement ID: 200067
http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=200067
Feinstein Center Kaiserman Summer Fellowship Announcement
Date: 2013-03-15
Description: The Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History announces its annual Kevy Kaiserman summer fellowship to support research in the American Jewish
experience. The grant of $3,000 is available to graduate students and recently graduated Ph.D. students. There is no requirement that ap …
Contact: feinsteincenter [at] temple.edu
URL: www.temple.edu/feinsteinctr
Announcement ID: 200065