CFP: Boston University Graduate Conference on Religious Studies

Andrew McKee

When not throwing my own parties, I like to spread the word about good graduate conferences. So, apply to this:


Second Annual 

Boston University Graduate Conference on Religious Studies 

Protest, Public Religion, and Social Change 

October 1, 2016 


Boston University is pleased to announce its second annual Graduate Conference on Religious Studies, on the theme of “Protest, Public Religion, and Social Change.” In this contentious election year, we are frequently reminded of how religious commitments inform all sides of our public debates over what it means to be a just society. This conference draws on B.U.’s rich history of religious activism in pursuit of social justice as a starting point for a broader conversation about how a wide variety of religious traditions engage with changing societies. We invited papers that reflect on how religion manifests publicly in moments of social crisis, and how religious groups use texts, material culture, ritual, theologies, and philosophical traditions to effect or to resist social change.

We welcome individual papers and panels that consider this topic in historical or contemporary contexts, using a variety of methods from a wide range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Submissions are open to students at any level of graduate study.

Possible topics may include:

● The role of art, film, and music in protests or other activism
● Humor in or about religion and its social effects
● Religious support for or opposition to environmental justice
● Historical or contemporary case studies of religion in social movements
● Intersectionality in faith-based organizations and activism
● Authority and tradition in support of or resistance to social change
● Theories and/or theologies of social justice
● Considerations of race, gender, and class in religious movements
● Text or scripture as a form of social power
● The deployment of historical texts in contemporary debates
● Religious responses to science and bioethics
● New religious movements as forms of protest

Proposals for individual papers should include a title, an abstract of approximately 200 words and a current CV in one PDF. Proposals for panels should include the title, abstract, and author’s CV for each individual paper, plus a panel title and 200 word description of the panel. Panel submissions should be submitted as one PDF per panel and should include no more than three panelists.

Please submit proposals to BUreligion2016@gmail.com by June 1, 2016.

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