This issue includes:

• Advanced Notice: Journals
• Job Opportunities
• Calls for Papers: Conferences
• Calls for Papers: Journals
• Announcements
• Scholarship Opportunities

Advanced Notice – Journals

Sociology of Religion – http://socrel.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/recent?etoc

Journal of Hindu Studies – http://jhs.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/recent?etoc

Job Opportunities

Position Religious Studies, Univ. of Virginia, Director of Center for Contemplative Sciences, Research Asst prof.

Further details: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=44326

Closing date: 29 March 2012

The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent has two vacancies for lecturer posts; one an on-going contract, and the other a fixed-term lectureship until the end of August 2014. Candidates would ideally be able to take up their posts in September 2012.

The posts are open to applicants in any area of Religious Studies, but priority would be given to candidates able to complement the existing teaching and research profile of the Department which has particular strengths in theory and method in the study of religion and the study of religion and contemporary society. Applicants will be expected to show a strong research profile for the Research Excellence Framework exercise in 2014 and a monograph published by the REF deadline in autumn 2013 would be a distinct advantage. Applicants will also be expected to show how they would extend teaching and research work in the department.

The successful candidates will have a PhD or equivalent in Religious Studies or related area, with knowledge of the historical and critical practice of Religious Studies and a developing profile of international excellence in research and publication. The successful candidates will have experience in the development of taught programmes of study and be able to deliver effective teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Religious Studies.

Religious Studies at Kent is a growing academic department with a strong track record of securing external research funding, good links with a range of national organizations through which it undertakes significant public engagement and impact activities, and a strong ethos of cross-disciplinary and theoretically-informed work in the study of religion.

For more details on these vacancies, please go to http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AEB437/lecturer-in-religious-studies/

Lecturer in the Study of Religion, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University

Full details of the post are available on the university website at www.durham.ac.uk/jobs/

Deadline for applications: 2nd April 2012 (midnight)

The Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University has a long-standing tradition of outstanding research and is widely recognized as one of the leading departments in its field. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise it was ranked first in the UK, while its teaching quality is shown in its consistently obtaining exceptionally high rankings in both National Student Surveys and independent league tables. Its strengths range across Biblical Studies (Old Testament, New Testament, ancient Judaism, and Biblical languages), Christian theology (Greek and Latin patristics, the history and theology of late antiquity and the early middle ages, the Reformation, doctrinal and philosophical theology, and theological ethics), and the Study of Religion (the anthropology, sociology and psychology of religion). It also has Centres in Catholic Studies and in Death and Life Studies, and research projects in Spirituality, Theology and Health, and Faith and Globalization. The Department has a welcoming and collegial atmosphere, and is beautifully sited between the Cathedral and the Castle on the World Heritage Site in the centre of the city of Durham.

This new post welcomes applicants from those with research expertise in any area of the social scientific study of religion, a developing field flourishing within the Department. Current  teachers in this area include Professor Douglas Davies, specializing in the anthropology of religion, particularly Mormonism, Death Studies, Ritual-Symbolism, Emotion and Embodiment, and the contemporary Anglican church; Dr Mathew Guest, specializing in the sociology of religion, particularly evangelical Christianity, religion in universities and religion and generational change; and Dr Charlotte Hardman, specializing in the anthropology of religion, particularly shamanism. Staff in this area have a proven track record in externally funded research projects, including recent research into ‘Christianity and the University Experience’, ‘Cremation in Scotland’, ‘Woodland Burial’, ‘Religion, Identity and Emotion’ and ‘the Clergy and British Society’. Several other departmental staff have ongoing cross-disciplinary research interests that relate to the study of religion. There is a fortnightly research seminar in Religion and Society, at which papers are presented by leading scholars from the UK and abroad as well as by members of staff and research postgraduates. More information about the Department is available at http://www.dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/.

The successful applicant will be expected to teach and collaborate in modules in the Study of Religion at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, to supervise postgraduate research, to undertake outstanding research leading to publications of international significance, and to play a full part in the life of the department.

If you need to talk to someone about this post, please contact Dr Robert Song, Head of Department, +44 (0)191 334 3959, robert.song@durham.ac.uk.

The Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) in the Social Sciences Research Institute at Rice University is offering one two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the social sciences to begin on July 1, 2012 at a rate of $52,000 per year. The fellow will be housed in the Department of Sociology and work primarily with Associate Professor of Sociology and RPLP Director Elaine Howard Ecklund (www.ehecklund.rice.edu <http://www.ehecklund.rice.edu/>) on the Religion among Scientists in International Context study, a six-nation study of how scientists understand religion and science ethics.  The fellow will also work with Kirstin Matthews, Science and Technology Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy and Steve Lewis, C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy, who are participating with Dr. Ecklund on the RASIC study. There are no teaching responsibilities associated with the fellowship.

Because of the needs of the study, preference will be given to applicants who speak one or more of the following languages fluently: French, Italian, Turkish, or Mandarin, in addition to fluent English. Ability to do high-level statistical analysis or experience conducting qualitative interviews is also an asset to the application.  An online application is required, and additional required application materials include a curriculum vitae, a copy of at least one recent social science publication, and a transcript for language courses taken or other evidence of fluency (article published in language, for example).

Please apply online at jobs.rice.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=53111.  In addition to the online application materials, three letters of recommendation sent by writers under separate cover will be required. Letters should be sent to Samuel Kye, RASIC Postdoctoral Selection Committee, Department of Sociology MS-28, Rice University, 6100 Main St, Houston TX 77005-1892.  Application review will begin on April 1, 2012.  Rice University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Calls for Papers: Conferences

Call For Papers: EASR

2012 EASR (European Association of the Study of Religion) conference, ‘Ends and Beginnings’, Stockholm, 23-26 August.

Conference theme/ website: http://webappl.web.sh.se/EASR2012

The title of one of the panels is: ‘Spirituality as the End of Religion?’ (no 24). In order see more details regarding the panel and to propose a paper, go the following webpage, http://webappl.web.sh.se/EASR2012 and in the section ‘Submit Abstract: Open Session’ choose the no 24 from the dropdown menu. Submission deadline: 30 April

Call for Papers: Sacred Practices of Everyday Life

10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 9th May to 3.30 p.m. on Friday 11th May 2012 at the John McIntyre Conference Centre, University of Edinburgh

Roadside shrines; divorce parties; tattoos made with ink containing a loved one’s ashes; spiritual retreats; prayer cairns; naming ceremonies; healing rituals; contacts with the dead: however ‘disenchanted’ the world may be, there is plenty of evidence of enchantment and re-enchantment all around. Life and death are still rendered meaningful through ancient and reinvented practices, rituals, beliefs and symbols which attach sacredness and significance to what would otherwise be merely mundane.

The purpose of the conference is to explore new evidence, analysis and theory concerning the sacred practices of everyday life. There is a particular focus on the varied ways in which the life course is being re-enchanted in the 21^st century, but papers looking at other eras and/or larger forms of sacred practice (e.g. civic rituals) are also welcome. The scope is global.

Submitting an Abstract

Individual paper proposals (max. 200 words) should be submitted to: Peta Ainsworth: p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk by 29^th February 2012.

Registration

The conference is subsidised by the sponsors and costs £95 per delegate, £60 for postgraduates/unwaged (for the entire conference) or £45 per day, £30 for postgraduates/unwaged.  The conference fee excludes accommodation and conference dinner. Registration now open. Deadline 9th March.

A limited number of bursaries are available for people in the UK who need to travel some distance to Edinburgh. Please send an email with your registration form to Peta Ainsworth stating in one paragraph why you require assistance and how much your travel costs will be.

Call for papers for the international workshop the University Centre Saint Ignatius Antwerp (cf. www.ucsia.org), a forum for academic reflection on societal issues and their ethical implications, is organising on the topic of Risk and Uncertainty in Changing Society on November 22^nd – 23^rd 2012 at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

The organisation committee, composed of the Academic Director of UCSIA, theologian Jacques Haers and  project promoters Dirk Geldof, professor sociology at the Higher Institute for Family Sciences (HUBrussels) and at the Artesis University College Antwerp and lecturer ‘Current Political Issues’ at the department of social work of the Karel de Grote-University College Antwerp, and Diemo Urbig, doctor in management science, researcher at the Department of Management, Faculty of Applied Economics at the University of Antwerp, has established the programme.

You will find:

• a project description with the programme
• the application procedure
• an application form

here: http://www.ucsia.org/main.aspx?c=*UCSIAENG2&n=106210

The deadline for submission of applications is set for June 10^th 2012. Candidates should send in the completed application form, accompanied by an academic curriculum vitae and an outline of the proposed paper. The selection of participants will be communicated by the beginning of July.

The organizer takes on charge all costs pertaining to participation and stay in Antwerp of all selected participants, while travel arrangements and costs are incumbent on participants themselves.

The selected participant will present her/his paper in a panel session (20 minutes in English) and will afterwards send in an article to be considered for publication (which will be submitted to careful selection). The aim of the organizer is to publish a selection of articles presented at the workshop.

For more information, and to see past conference schedules, please visit http://etenetwork.weebly.com

Call for Papers: Religion on the Move –  How Motion and Migration influence Religion

10th Conference of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion

Szeged, Hungary 12-14 September, 2012

In many ways movement is an important aspect of religion and

spirituality. Not only has the significance of motion within the

practice of religion and rituality increased (Coleman & Eade 2004),

but also, through the movement and migration of people all over the

world, religions and religious practices are relocating and changing

(Jenkins 2007).

Movement is significant for the practice of many religions. It seems

that motion has been gaining in importance and that the performative

expression and execution of religious practice play a stronger part

than they used to do. There might be related to the more participative

role of believers in religion and rituality and the enhanced relevance

of individuals ‘doing’ religion. The popularity of walking the many

pilgrim ways through Europe is an example of that trend, while other

expressions of movement like dancing, meditations, processions and

other rituals also seem to be more in focus.

A second strand of movement is connected to migration for, by moving,

people bring faiths and religious practices to other places in the

world where they were not previously known or practised. Nowadays,

through mass migrations, refugees, displacements because of war and

other translocations, religions and beliefs can expand both spatially

and quantitatively. These are processes in which the faiths which are

moving are being transformed, and the religion(s) of the areas in

which people and their religion are newly settled are likewise

affected (examples include Islam in Europe and the new Christians from

Africa in Europe). Sometimes beliefs are appropriated through tourism

or by ‘spiritual seekers’; aspects of Eastern religion and esoterism

have been imported to Western society. In that regard the Internet has

become a migratative instrument, in its capacity of ‘posting’ religion

all over the globe and into people’s homes, regardless of what

religion is practised there. The extension of religion through

(digital) migration has an impact on social, cultural and political

contexts (Woodhead et al. 2002). The movement of religion might lead

to an adaptation to new circumstances, to inculturation, but also

potentially to a transformation in the religious constituents of the

local culture as well. Sometimes there is openness and religion finds

new host communities.  Evangelical, Pentecostal, neo-Pentecostal

churches have spread across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe (Coleman

2007) and so have Afro-American religions, as Candomblé, Umbanda, or

Santeria cubana (Capone 2004; Saraiva 2010). Sometimes the members of

the host country become involved in such new practices, but movement

may also lead to segregation within host communities and contested

situations.

Papers connected to these two research strands on movement and

religion are welcomed; one could for example think of the following

topics:

•       The influence of migration on religion

•       Movement as constituative element in religion and rituality

•       Effects of globalisation and transnationalism on religion

•       Changes in religion through digital movement, via the Internet.

•       Movement and spatiality related to the practice of religion

Format: the conference takes place over two days, followed by an

excursion on the third day. Paper presentations are limited to 20

minutes each, followed by ten minutes of discussion. In total 20 paper

presenters will be selected. Colleagues who do not present a paper are

welcome to participate in the conference and its discussions. A

business meeting of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion

will be held during the conference.

Organizers: the conference is organized by the Department of Ethnology

and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Szeged together with

the Bálint Sándor Institute for Research on Religion and the

International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF).

Venue: University of Szeged and Gál Ferenc Theological College of Szeged

Fee: the conference fee is 60 €, including conference materials,

reception, coffee, brunch, excursion.

Participants are responsible for travel and accommodation; there is no

funding for expenses available.

Application: submit an abstract of your paper of maximum 300 words,

together with your name, position, and institutional affiliation to

Dr. István Povedák povedak@yahoo.com by March 15, 2012. The selection

of the papers will be done in collaboration with the Board of the SIEF

Working Group on Ethnology of Religion. The final selection will be

communicated by April 1, 2012.

Contacts: povedak@yahoo.com; peter.jan.margry@meertens.knaw.nl

CALL FOR PAPERS International Workshop

Religion, Politics and Policy-making in Russia: Domestic and International Dimensions

Center for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS), University of Tartu, Estonia. June 6-7, 2012

Organizers: Prof Jerry G. Pankhurst (Wittenberg University, USA; visiting Fulbright scholar at the University of Tartu) and Alar Kilp (University of Tartu)

http://ceurus.ut.ee/conferences/international-workshop-call-for-papers/

The Center for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS) at the University of Tartu invites your participation in a workshop on

Religion, Politics and Policy-making in Russia: Domestic and International Dimensions. The workshop is meant to highlight new research on the questions of religion and politics in Russia, to foster collaborative relations for future projects, and to provide an opportunity for everyone to learn about high-quality research that is being carried out in this area of inquiry.

The program organizers seek to explore the politics of religious affairs in Russia and the former Soviet countries and to assess the activities and role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and other organized religious groups in domestic and foreign policy. Issues related to religious diversity and religious tolerance in Russia and the neighboring countries are also of interest.

Confirmed keynote speakers include

Irina Papkova, Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations at the Central European University, and Viacheslav Karpov, Professor of Sociology at Western Michigan University.

Workshop organizers will actively seek opportunities to publish selected papers in a special issue of a journal or in an edited volume.

Workshop Venue: University of Tartu, Estonia.

Tartu is a home to one of the oldest universities in Eastern Europe. It was founded by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus in 1632. Today the University of Tartu is the only classical university in Estonia. It is a leading center of research and training, ranked among the 400 best universities of the world by Times Higher Education. The city of Tartu is a charming university town whose relaxed and sophisticated atmosphere creates a perfect environment for scholarly conversations. Tartu is well-served with bus and

train connection with the city of Tallinn and its Lennart Meri Airport. There are also flights to Tartu from Tallinn (Estonian Air) and Helsinki (Flybe, in connection with Finnair). For more information, see: www.tartu.ee; www.ut.ee. 

Who may participate? We invite scholars of Russian religious affairs and scholars with research focusing on the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church both in and outside of Russia. Graduate students carrying out advanced work are welcomed to submit proposals for a presentation.

The workshop sessions will be open to the public. Anyone who has a serious and informed interest in scholarly research on the topical issues is invited to attend the presentations and participate in question and answer sessions.

Cost: There will be no registration fee for this workshop. The sponsoring organizations will host a reception and a dinner but are not able to cover travel or accommodation expenses of individual participants. However, limited travel support is available to participants from the CIS countries. CEURUS will assist as much as possible with information about local accommodations and other arrangements. If you have questions, please contact Britt Ressar at britt.ressar@ut.ee

Proposing a paper: If you are interested in presenting a paper, please consider the topic preferences below and send your abstract (250-300 words) and a succinct statement of your present position and recent publications and grants (if any) to Alar Kilp (alar.kilp@ut.ee).

The deadline for receiving abstracts for consideration for the program is April 2, 2012.

Abstracts will the evaluated by the workshop organizers for quality of scholarship and appropriateness for the program structure and workshop theme. Authors of abstracts selected to be presented will be notified by April 13 via email.

Full papers by presenters will be due by 25 May, 2012. Send papers via email to Alar Kilp (alar.kilp@ut.ee)

Additional information: Workshop participants may be interested in a conference at the University of Tartu that is scheduled to take place in the week following this workshop. It is the 2012 annual conference of CIHEC, the

Commission Internationale d’Histoire et d’etudes du Christianisme. For more information on this conference, see http://www.history.ac.uk/cihec/our-conferences

Academic conveners: Prof Jerry Pankhurst (jerrygp@ut.ee), Alar Kilp (alar.kilp@ut.ee)

Administrative support: Britt Ressar (britt.ressar@ut.ee)

For more information about the Centre for EU-Russia Studies and the University of Tartu, see

http://ceurus.ut.ee and www.ut.ee

Calls for Papers: Journals

The deadline for submitting papers for the first issue is April 1st 2012. Emails recommending papers, as well as actual papers should be sent to: amelie.barras@umontreal.ca

Announcements:

INFORM Seminar – Prophecy in the New Millennium (featuring the Religious Studies Project’s David Robertson)