Secularism, Religious Freedom, and Global Politics: a CFP

Charles McCrary

The Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR), the southeastern region of the AAR, recently released its call for papers (due October 1). I bring this to your attention for multiple reasons, all of which are meant to encourage you to submit a paper. SECSOR is in Raleigh, NC, March 3-5, 2017. Scholars from anywhere, even if your home institution is outside the region, are able to attend and participate. SECSOR is always a good time, a small conference that’s not too small, with good papers and conversation. Also, my birthday is often during SECSOR, and next year is no exception; so, you can come to my birthday party. And there are lots of great sections—some of which are chaired by RiAH bloggers, including Mike Graziano, Andy McKee, Molly Reed, and blogmeister Cara Burnidge, as well as many friends of the blog. But the most specific reason I’m writing is to tell you about a new section (er, technically, “consultation”)! That section, which zealously covets your submissions, is titled Secularism, Religious Freedom, and Global Politics.

Here is the call for papers:

“Proposals from any disciplinary or methodological perspective on topics related to secularism, religious freedom, and global politics are welcome. We are especially interested in proposals related to (1) the roles of religious freedom in international relations and foreign policy; (2) critical accounts of ‘freedom’ or ‘religious’ in the production of ‘religious freedom;’ (3) conceptualizations and consequences of the public and private; (4) discourses of religious freedom in historical or contemporary debates about refugees.”

Finbarr Curtis and I are the section chairs, and we would be happy to have your submissions. If you have questions, please feel free to email us. To submit, use SECSOR’s nifty new proposal submission form, but you can email us in addition. We hope to provide opportunities for interdisciplinary conversations and analyses of these pertinent topics. We’re especially interested in scholars who work on topics outside the United States, but many American religious studies scholars work on fitting subjects. In the past year, RiAH has published multiple reviews of Beth Hurd’s Beyond Religious Freedom (here and here) and Anna Su’s Exporting Freedom (here, here, here, and here), and soon will publish three responses to Finbarr’s new book, The Production of American Religious Freedom. If you’re into stuff like that, we’re into people like you. We hope to hear from you! See you in Raleigh.

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