Religion Compass: CFP

Religion Compass: Religion in the Americas is a new section of an online academic publishing project from Blackwell Publishing; the American Religion Section is headed by Jason Bivins and Sean McCloud. Below is a call for papers on the senses and American Religions.

Religions in America section editors Jason Bivins and Sean McCloud invite you to contribute an article to Religion Compass, an online journal from Blackwell Publishing Ltd. The topic for our inaugural issue is "The Sensorium of American Religions," and our goal is to offer pieces on American religions and the five senses: vision (such as religious visual cultures, iconography, film, art), hearing (such as religion and music, oral prayers, incantations), taste (such as religion and food), touch and smell (in the context of ritual and memory, for example). We also welcome proposals on religious understandings of a "sixth sense," the recurring register through which American religions have imagined alternative or extra-sensory experiences.

Articles will ideally be between 3,000 - 6,000 words and would summarize the state of the field for the educated non-specialist by discussing recent research on the subject and providing a look to the future direction of study. All articles go through a full peer-review and revision process. For further information, or to proposea n article, please contact the editors at: Jason Bivins, jcbivins AT unity DOT ncsu, or Sean McCloud, spmcclou AT uncc DOT edu.

Jason C. Bivins, Associate Professor and Associate Head, Department of Philosophy and Religion, North Carolina State University

YSAR Reminder and Repeat

Reminder and Repeat Post:

Here is the latest round of the Young Scholars in American Religion Program. As a current leader of the 2008-2010 group, I encourage everyone to apply, including those who applied for the last round. Those fortunate enough to be selected will have no more valuable professional opportunity. The deadline is mid-October, so pass the word!

Young Scholars in American Religion Program 2009-2011

The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI announces a program for early career scholars in American Religion. Beginning in April 2009, a series of seminars devoted to the enhancement of teaching and research for younger scholars in American Religion will be offered in Indianapolis. The aims of all sessions of the program are to develop ideas and methods of instruction in a supportive workshop environment, stimulate scholarly research and writing, and create acommunity of scholars that will continue into the future.

For more information about the Center or the YSAR Program, please visit the Center's website.

Dates:
Session I: April 2-5, 2009
Session II: October 15-18, 2009
Session III: April 15-18, 2010
Session IV: October 14-17, 2010
Session V: April 28-May 1, 2011

Seminar Leaders:

W. Clark Gilpin is the Margaret E. Burton Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology in the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is a historian of Christianity who studies the cultural history of theology in England and America since the seventeenth century. Among his works is an intellectual biography of Roger Williams, the seventeenth-century advocate of religious liberty. A more recent book, A Preface to Theology, examines the history of American theological scholarship in terms of the theologian's responsibilities to a three-fold public in the churches, the academic community, and civil society.

Tracy Fessenden is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University, specializing in western religious traditions, religion and literature, and American religious and cultural history. Her recent work focuses on religion, race, gender, and sexuality in American cultural history, on the relationship between religion and the secular in American public life, and on questions of religion and violence. She is author, most recently, of Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature.

Eligibility: Scholars eligible to apply are those who have launched their careers within the last seven years and who are working in asubfield of the area of religion in North America, broadly understood.Ten scholars will be selected, with the understanding that they will commit to the program for all dates. Each participant will be expected to produce a course syllabus, with justification of teaching approach, and a publishable research article. All costs for transportation, lodging, and meals for the seminars will be covered, and there is no application fee.To Apply: Applicants must submit a curriculum vitae with three letters of reference directly supporting their application to the program (do not send portfolios with generic reference letters) as well as a 500-word essay indicating 1) why they are interested in participating,and 2) their current and projected research and teaching interests. The deadline for applications is 15 October 2008. Essays, CVs, and letters of reference should be sent to: Director, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, IUPUI, Cavanaugh Hall 417425, University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5140

Southern Jewish Historical Society Grants

Paul Harvey

Click here for information on a variety of grants provided for research in Southern Jewish History, from the Southern Jewish Historical Society, ranging from $1000 archival grants to $6000 "Project Completion" funding. Deadlines for the grant proposals are August 1, 2008.

ASCH Spring Meeting in Montreal, 2009

American Society of Church History, Spring Meeting, April 2009, Montreal, Quebec

Dear members and friends of the ASCH:

The biennial springtime meeting of the American Society of Church History will be held April 16-20, 2009, in Montreal, Quebec. We invite ASCH members to submit proposals for entire panels or for individual papers on any aspect of the history of Christianity. Our theme, however, will be “Mission and Empire in the History of Christianity.” We especially seek proposals that explore the ways that Christianity’s expansionist impulses have shaped the structure and exercise of political, cultural, economic, and social power by states and empires, as well as the ways that such entities have shaped the people, institutions, and cultures of Christianity. As 2009 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, we also seek proposals on Calvin’s life, thought, and influence. True to the history of the ASCH, but not to that of Montreal, this will be an English-language conference.

The historic city of Montreal is the center of Canada’s second largest metropolitan area and the home of numerous sites of interest to historians, including the Pointe-a-Calliere Museum, the Maison Historique George-Etienne Cartier, the Maison Saint-Gabriel, the Lachine Fur Trade Museum, and McGill University.

Please send submissions electronically to asch2009montreal@gmail.com no later than September 30, 2009. Proposals for individual papers should include a summary of the paper not to exceed 250 words and a CV including current mailing address, email address, and phone number.

Proposals for individual papers should include (a) a summary of the paper not to exceed 250 words with the subject, argument, and evidence clearly detailed; (2) a biographical paragraph or CV summary of the presenter (not to exceed 250 words); and (3) a current mailing location, email address, and phone number for the proposed presenter. Proposals for entire sessions—which are strongly preferred—should include all of the above for each presenter as well as (1) the session’s title; (2) a one-paragraph description not to exceed 250 words describing the session’s theme or topic; and (3) biographical data for the chair and the respondent. Sessions normally feature a chair, three presenters, and a respondent, although other arrangements are possible. Applicants will be notified when their materials are complete. The program committee reserves the right to reconfigure sessions as needed. All program participants are expected to register for the spring meeting.

Spring 2009 Program Committee: Bryan Bademan, University of Wisconsin-River Falls; Kenneth Minkema, Jonathan Edwards Center, Yale University; John B. Roney, Sacred Heart University; Andrea Sterk, University of Florida; Marguerite Van Die, Queens University

GIS'ing Religion and Culture in the Atlantic World -- Professional Development Opportunity

Religion and Culture in the Atlantic World
(Posted for John Corrigan of Florida State University):

An NEH-funded initiative undertaken collaboratively by Florida State University, West Virginia University, and Indiana University will gather a small group of scholars interested in religion and culture in the Atlantic World for a series of three workshops in 2008-2009. The purpose of the workshops will be to discuss ways in which to spatially organize data about the Atlantic. We will brainstorm ways in which to utilize the electronic mapping capabilities of GIS (Geographic Information System) and, more pointedly, imagine how the humanities can be better served by such technology. Ideally, we would like to build a model for a Humanities GIS by using GIS to display information about the Atlantic.

We do not expect participants to be trained in GIS, but all participants should develop some familiarity with it in the early stages of the project. We are seeking persons who have an interest in exploring ways in which the humanities can collaborate more actively with the social sciences, and especially through adapting the electronic mapping technology of GIS (and the multimedia displays - images, audio, text, and so forth - that can complement it) to the agendas of the humanities.

Participants will meet three times, likely in the fall of 2008, spring of 2009, and fall of 2009. The first meeting will be in Indianapolis and the second two in Tallahassee. The project will cover all travel expenses of participants and pay small honoraria for participation in the second and third meetings.

We seek a group of approximately 6-8 persons. Please contact John Corrigan (jcorrigan AT fsu DOT edu) if you are interested in joining the project. We expect to have a complete team in place by mid-July, 2008.

CFP: Lincoln's Era: The Role of Religion in the Underground Railroad

CALL FOR PAPERS
7th Annual National Conference on the Underground Railroad
<http://www.freedomcenter.org/>

Lincoln's Era
The Role of Religion in the Underground Railroad
November 6-8, 2008 / Cincinnati, Ohio

Coinciding with the Lincoln Bicentennial and the opening of "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War" (exhibit created by the National Constitution Center), the conference will explore the roles of religion and people of faith working against the institution of slavery during the 1800s, as well as the provocative debate over Lincoln and racism. The conference also foregrounds the roles of faith in the anti-slavery movement with a special focus on Abraham Lincoln's evolution and Christian, Islamic, and Jewish anti-slavery advocates.

Conference Highlights

Ø Talks by prominent theologians (Rabbi Gary Zola) and scholars (Lerone Bennett, Jr., Harold Holzer, and Roger Billings);

Ø Panels on religion, faith, slavery, and abolitionism;

Ø Panels on Lincoln's evolving views on slavery, race, and racism;

Ø Genealogy research at the Freedom Center;

Ø Spirituals concert;

Ø Interfaith service and historical re-enactment of services from the era;

Ø Bus tours of historic faith sites on the Underground Railroad.


Break-Out Sessions on the following topics:

Ø Runaways and Cincinnati Churches

Ø Antislavery Literatures

Ø Spirituals and the Underground Railroad

Ø Lincoln's Spiritual Journey to Abolitionism

Who should attend: Religious Leaders, Lay Members, as well as Academic and Non-Academic Scholars, and Students

Cost: Participants can attend the entire conference or individual events. Registration for the entire conference, except for the bus trips, is $150 per person. Registration includes membership to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Individual Events: Tickets for individual activities can be purchased in advance beginning September 1: Thursday morning faith tours, Thursday night keynote address, Friday luncheon speaker, or spirituals concert.

Call for Papers: The conference committee invites scholars, faith leaders and activists from all disciplines to make presentations in Cincinnati on the role of faith or religion in the spread of anti-slavery activism in the 1800s and the lessons for today for cooperation across the faith divide.

The Freedom Center and NKU support and value all scholarship examining the history and lives of peoples involved in the Underground Railroad movement. Deadline for submissions is July 31, 2008. Please submit 250 word abstracts or paper proposals electronically to Academic Program Chair:

Dr. Eric R. Jackson
Northern Kentucky University
Department of History and Geography
Highland Heights, Kentucky, 41099
jacksoner (at) nku (dot) edu

Young Scholars Program, 2009-2011

Here is the latest round of the Young Scholars in American Religion Program. As a current leader of the 2008-2010 group, I encourage everyone to apply, including those who applied for the last round. Those fortunate enough to be selected will have no more valuable professional opportunity. The deadline is mid-October, so pass the word!

Young Scholars in American Religion Program 2009-2011

The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI announces a program for early career scholars in American Religion. Beginning in April 2009, a series of seminars devoted to the enhancement of teaching and research for younger scholars in American Religion will be offered in Indianapolis. The aims of all sessions of the program are to develop ideas and methods of instruction in a supportive workshop environment, stimulate scholarly research and writing, and create acommunity of scholars that will continue into the future. For more information about the Center or the YSAR Program, please visit the Center's website.

Dates:

Session I: April 2-5, 2009
Session II: October 15-18, 2009
Session III: April 15-18, 2010
Session IV: October 14-17, 2010
Session V: April 28-May 1, 2011

Seminar Leaders:W. Clark Gilpin is the Margaret E. Burton Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology in the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is a historian of Christianity who studies the cultural history of theology in England and America since the seventeenth century. Among his works is an intellectual biography of Roger Williams, the seventeenth-century advocate of religious liberty. A more recent book, A Preface to Theology, examines the history of American theological scholarship in terms of the theologian's responsibilities to a three-fold public in the churches, the academic community, and civil society.

Tracy Fessenden is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University, specializing in western religious traditions, religion and literature, and American religious and cultural history. Her recent work focuses on religion, race, gender, and sexuality in American cultural history, on the relationship between religion and the secular in American public life, and on questions of religion and violence. She is author, most recently, of Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature.

Eligibility: Scholars eligible to apply are those who have launched their careers within the last seven years and who are working in asubfield of the area of religion in North America, broadly understood.Ten scholars will be selected, with the understanding that they will commit to the program for all dates. Each participant will be expected to produce a course syllabus, with justification of teaching approach, and a publishable research article. All costs for transportation, lodging, and meals for the seminars will be covered, and there is no application fee.

To Apply: Applicants must submit a curriculum vitae with three letters of reference directly supporting their application to the program (do not send portfolios with generic reference letters) as well as a 500-word essay indicating 1) why they are interested in participating,and 2) their current and projected research and teaching interests. The deadline for applications is 15 October 2008. Essays, CVs, and letters of reference should be sent to: Director, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, IUPUI, Cavanaugh Hall 417425, University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5140