2016 Western Region Call for Papers
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2016 Western Regional MeetingUniversity of Arizona
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2016 Call for Papers
The overall theme for the 2016 Conference is Social Justice. We are using this idea in its broadest terms. We are hoping to encompass racism, feminism, womanism, eco-justice, gender justice, classism, neo-colonialism, etc., seen through the eyes of religious scholars.
The mission of AAR/WR is to promote awareness of the importance of Religious Studies for understanding contemporary issues, and we invite you participate in this important mandate.
General Instructions
Extended Deadline: Saturday, October 10, 2015, is the deadline for submitting proposals via e-mail to unit chairs for papers for the 2015 AAR/WR Conference. Proposals or abstracts should be no more than 250 words in length and, along with participant forms, should be sent as an attachment to unit chair(s) at the e-mail addresses provided below. If you are proposing a panel of three to four papers, please include short abstracts for each paper on the panel, and a short description of your panel theme.
Individuals whose proposals are accepted must be members of the AAR before the conference date in order to present.
For any questions regarding the call for papers please contact the Program Chair Dorothea Kahena Viale at dkviale@cpp.edu.
International presenters are expected to handle their own visa issues. If visa issues present a problem for a presenter, please contact Regional Coordinator Dirk von der Horst at dirkster42@yahoo.com.
Asian-American Religious Studies
The Asian American Religious Studies section invites individual papers or panels on the topic of social justice and religion among Asian Americans and their communities. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches to the study of religion and alternative, fresh, and new conceptions of social justice. We invite works from scholars, activists, artists, clergy, and community members. Topics and subjects of interest include, but are not limited to the following: race and racial formation, sex and gender, LGBTQ, class, model minority, secularization and social justice, socially engaged religiosity, religion as tool for social justice, religion as obstacle of social justice, or social justice as “religion” among Asian American faith communities.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to Jonathan Lee at jlee@sfsu.edu.
Buddhist Studies
Buddhist Studies invites individual papers or panels on the topic of social justice and Buddhism. We invite works from scholars, activists, artists, clergy, and community members. Topics and subjects of interest include, but are not limited to the following: social justice in Buddhist sacred text; social justice in Buddhist history; social justice as Buddhist practice; social justice, women, and Buddhism; social justice, LBTGQQI and Buddhism; social justice, class inequality, and Buddhism, and so on.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to Jonathan Lee at jlee@sfsu.edu and Alison Jameson at ajameson@email.arizona.edu.
Catholic Studies
The Catholic Studies section seeks the submission of abstracts that address this year's focus on social justice. Papers addressing any aspect of Catholicism and social justice in either contemporary or historical contexts will be considered. We invite papers that explore the relationships between Catholicism and race, gender, sexuality, immigration, neo-colonialism, poverty, environmental and distributive injustice, etc. How has Catholic social teaching, from Augustine to Pope Francis, expressed social justice/injustice in the world? How have other Catholic movements (e.g. Liberation Theology, Nuns on the Bus) been involved with social and political reform? We are especially interested in creating a panel that focuses on contemporary issues of income inequality, the prison industrial complex, faith/spirituality & economic justice, or restorative justice, but papers need not address these issues to be considered. Overall, this section seeks to investigate topics related to Catholicism as a global religious tradition and a way of life that has taken different cultural forms in various times and places, using the tools of academic research including critical studies, cultural, ethical, and historical perspectives.
Please send proposals (not to exceed 250 words) and participant forms to Lauren Horn Griffin at lhg@umail.ucsb.edu and Kolby Knight at kknight@umail.ucsb.edu. Proposals of full panels are also welcome; please include abstracts for each paper as well as a short description of your panel theme. All accepted participants must be members of AAR.
Ecology and Religion
Ecology and Religion welcomes papers dealing with the conference theme of Social Justice. Other topics will also be considered.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to interim chair Emily Silverman at ebinah@gmail.com.
Education and Workshops
Should you have an interest in a session on education or a workshop, please submit your proposal and participant form to Melissa James at melmjames@yahoo.com and Program Manager Kahena Viale at dkviale@cpp.edu.
Ethics
Many of the world’s religions hold that, while there's a difference between justice and love, there's an important connection between them. This connection is important to thinking about social ethics, and what social justice is and how it ought to be pursued. We invite papers exploring how different religions conceive of justice, the justice-love relationship, and this relationship's bearing on social justice. Moreover, in light of recent events like the shooting in Emanuel African Episcopal Church in South Carolina, we also invite papers that explore the ethics of forgiveness as it relates to justice, love and social justice. Some motivating questions that reflect the above themes are as follows: What is justice, and how does this impact how we think about and pursue 'social justice'? What is the relationship to justice and love, and how does this impact how we think of and pursue 'social justice'? What is forgiveness, and is it just to forgive the shooter? Papers exploring either this from differences within a religious tradition or between different religions are welcome.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to Chad Bogosian at chad.bogosian@yahoo.com
Goddess Studies
How does Goddess Studies, or the study of women and/or female figures in religion and mythology, contribute to social justice?
In what ways can Goddess Studies aid in the examination of themes such as classism, eco-justice, womanism, racism, and/or colonialism? From philosophical, anthropological, archetypal, literary, mythological, hermeneutical, and/or religious studies perspectives, what do particular goddesses/figures in religion bring to the scholarly conversation of social justice?
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to Angela Sells at comingintobeing@gmail.com and Lauri Ramey at lramey@calstatela.edu.
Graduate Student Professional Development
The Graduate Student Professional Development section welcomes proposals, workshops, or fully developed panels (2–4 papers) on related topics dealing with social justice. Generally speaking, social justice suggests an appreciation for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable peoples in societies/groups/communities, who deserve equal access to opportunities and affirmation of their humanity. In this session, the notion of social justice will be examined in its manifold manifestations and intersecting forms. In particular, we would like to explore the “ethics of scholarship” or scholarship as space for social activism through the lens of graduate student professional life and thought. Though not an exhaustive list, below are a number of research questions presenters may like to consider presenting on:
- What is the difference, if any, between research and advocacy? In other words, are the two necessary antithetical to one another? To be more specific, is the notion of an “armchair” theologian or religious studies scholar antiquated or redundant in light of the vast inequality in the world?
- Assuming that research impacts the “real world,” how do or should such binary constructions (e.g., “academic world” verses “real world”) influence life in and beyond graduate school?
- As scholars of religion, how does the “ethics of scholarship” impact such scholarly activities as CV “hygiene,” honing a non-academic résumé, preparing for interviews, surviving Ph.D. exams and the dissertation, grant writing, syllabus building, teaching and learning, strategic thinking in the job market, or networking?
- In our modern times, what are the best (and perhaps even future) resources for doing the work of “scholarly ethics” or “scholarly social activism”? Are they limited to the social sciences? Are they in the natural sciences? In theorizing approaches to global social justice, how do traditional subfields (e.g., liberation theology, womanist theology, queer studies, postcolonial studies, hip hop studies, etc.) assist how graduate students today should think about their work as transformative scholarship?
- Can graduate school itself be reimagined as a social movement? What theorists, theories, traditions, and/or methods assist in conceiving of such an idea?
This session is not limited to graduate students. It is open to everyone: those in doctorate programs, recent graduates, and senior scholars interested in helping all to critically think about the intersection(s) between social justice and graduate life.
EXCEPTION TO THE ONE PAPER PRESENTATION POLICY: If you are submitting a proposal on professional development, you ARE ALSO ELIGIBLE TO PRESENT A RESEARCH PAPER TO ANOTHER PANEL. You must indicate in your submission email to which other unit you have applied.
Please send an abstract of no more than 350 words and participant form to unit chair Chase Way (chase.laurelle.way@gmail.com) and faculty advisor Roy Whitaker (dwhitaker@mail.sdsu.edu). Thank you!
History of Christianity
“Social Justice” has an important place in the intellectual history of Christianity. Although coined by a Jesuit, the term was elaborated for the first time in the 1848 by an Italian priest and Church diplomat, Antonio Rosmini. Since then, social justice as a notion and practice has accompanied the vicissitudes of Christianity in the modern world, affecting aspects such as politics (democracy, fascism), economics (the fate of capitalism and the socialist system), society (poverty, injustice, divide between developed and underdeveloped countries). On the theological front, the social justice thought has been linked to a specific theology in the Protestant world (Social Gospel) and a rich production of encyclicals in the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, several Christian theologies of liberation in different continents place social justice as their cornerstone.
History of Christianity Chairs welcome proposals on the social, intellectual, and the cultural history of social justice in History of Christianity in any era and any area of the world. Examples of proposals are: US civil rights movement, Asian liberation theology, John Paul's social thought, Martin Luther King Jr.'s social thought, industrialization and Christianity in different countries and ages, poverty, poor, and Gospel, and so on.
Please send an abstract and participant form to Enrico Beltramini at ebeltramini@ndnu.edu and Dyron Daughrity at dyron.daughrity@pepperdine.edu.
Indigenous Religions
- Indigenous Cosmopolitanism. Consider this passage from Paul C. Johnson, Diaspora Conversions:
When indigenous religions become diasporic, they must become at least modestly more cosmopolitan in their appeal—available and recognizable to audiences that did not produce them, and which may be distant in time and space from the site of their origins. (44)
This year the Indigenous Religions Section invites proposals investigating indigenous religions in diaspora. How do they change and adapt to urban life in cities around the world? How are indigenous religions becoming cosmopolitan and how are they changing the existing character of cosmopolitan life? How can diaspora theory help form comparative bridges to interpret indigenous movements around the world?
- General Call for Papers in Indigenous Religions. For this panel, we welcome papers that address theory and method in the study of Indigenous Religions. In particular, we continue to explore issues of identity & identification, representations of indigenous people in various cultural venues, cultural appropriation, religion & ecology, religion & healing, revitalization movements around the indigenous world that seek to renew spiritual practices and reclaim indigenous spaces and symbols, as well as any other topic relevant to the academic study of Indigenous Religions.
Please send an abstract and participant form to Brian Clearwater at clearwater@umail.ucsb.edu and Kevin Whitesides at kevinwhitesides@umail.uscb.edu.
Islamic Studies
The Islamic Studies section encourages papers and panel proposals in all areas of our field for the upcoming 2016 conference. This year's theme asks broad questions about Islam in America. The history and the impact of the Muslim experience in the Americas in general, and the United States in particular, goes back more than 500 years. It tells a complex story of personalities, places, transformations and socio-political and religious experiences. In the United States, we currently witness one of the most diverse Muslim populations in the world, including people of almost every ethnicity, nationality, and school of thought. Here we explore the dynamics between the myriad identities held by Muslims in America, and the many ways they have navigated these identities in the Americas.
Proposals or abstracts should be no more than 250 words in length, and along with a participant form, should be sent to Dr. Abdullahi Gallab, Arizona State University: Abdullahi.gallab@asu.edu and Dr. Sofia Pandya, California State University, Long Beach: pandya@csulb.edu.
Jewish Studies
Abrahamic sacred texts continue to inspire a diversity of scholarship that seeks to transform the ancient into the contemporary, the remote into the immediate, and the distant into the visceral experience. This panel takes that process into the examination of troubling topics, often overlooked, yet found in the Tanakh. Building from the foundational texts, other sacred works such as Talmud as well as philosophy and contemporary scholarship can be brought into play. Some presenters may focus on one sacred text and the ancillary works; others may contextualize all three sacred texts. Although the goal is to present a spectrum of insights, the strategy is text-based and ruminations spring from textual pericope. Suggested troubling topics include but are not limited to the following: racism, domestic violence, suicide, sexuality, unbeliever, LGBTQ, misogyny, trickster, humor, fallible prophet, good vs./and evil, self-denial, change as well as social action grounded in these texts. This panel continues an exploratory tradition begun with the Brill Press 2009 collection Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur’an as Literature and Culture.
Please send an abstract and participant form to Roberta Sabbath at sabbathr@yahoo.com
See below for a joint session call with the Religion and the Arts section.
Latina, Latino, and Latin American Religion
The Latina, Latino, and Latin American Religion unit seeks proposals addressing the theme of social justice: How does Latina/o religion speak to the pursuit of social justice (defined in its broadest terms) today? What are the histories and futures of Latina/o religion and the pursuit of social justice? The unit is open to proposals that link Latina/o religion to questions of social justice, with respect to gender, sexuality, class, race/ethnicity, etc. In addition, the unit is open to proposals on other subjects, including (but not limited to):
- Eco-justice
- Latina/o migrant politics
- The politics of cross-racial solidarities
- Archives, counter-archives, and/or archivization
- Liberation theology and/or Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’
- Latina/o religion and cultural expression (e.g., art, theater, film, music, etc.)
- The relevance and/or structural disadvantage of Latina/o religious studies in the Academy
Please send proposals and participant form as attachments to Joseph Morales (UC Irvine) at joseph.morales@uci.edu. Thank you.
Nineteenth Century
Many religious reformers fought for social justice in the nineteenth century, which saw movements toward abolition, temperance, women’s rights, labor rights, greater protections for consumers and more socially funded programs, to name a few. The nineteenth century struggle with social justice sometimes produced arguments that impeded greater social justice that still echo today. Sometimes the same thinkers that promoted some venues of social justice impeded others. The nineteenth century panel thus seeks papers that explore how nineteenth century thinkers promoted or impeded social justice or, alternately, papers that explore in detail the messy pathways toward progress in the nineteenth century. The panel welcomes all methodologies, all religions and all locations — seeking a global perspective on the struggles toward social justice in the nineteenth century.
Please send proposal and participant form to co-chair Christina Littlefield at christina.littlefield@pepperdine.edu and Matt Crabb mcrabb76@gmail.com
Pagan Studies
We face issues of social justice everywhere we look, from something as overwhelming as #blacklivesmatter to the seeming trivial Wiccanate privilege. As we work on one issue others appear. The shaking of the injustice tree has released underlying hate, making it harder to join together to create a better society.
We are living in a world that has embraced technology/science, neglected mythos and uses religion as a front for all the “isms” that foster inequality in the world. How does your research unearth a path to sanity? What have you discovered from the past that would be helpful? What are you exploring/inventing for the future?
How do we as Pagans, Wiccans, Druids, Witches, Heathens and the many other paths that have arisen incorporate these concerns into our research, our outlook, our activism, etc.? We are using this idea in its broadest terms. We are hoping to encompass issues concerning racism, feminism, womanism, eco-justice, food security, gender justice, classism, neo-colonialism, etc. seen through the eyes of our scholars/activists.
As usual, we are using Pagan in its most inclusive form, covering pagans, wiccans, witches and the numerous hybrids that have sprung up as well as any indigenous groups that feel akin to or want to be in conversation with Pagans.
Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words. Please email abstracts and participant forms to dkviale@cpp.edu.
Philosophy of Religion
This year the Philosophy of Religion unit seeks proposals addressing questions that are primarily self-reflective: What is Philosophy of Religion? What kinds of metaphysical or epistemological frameworks hinder or aid progress towards studying religion philosophically? What new, ignored, or disregarded topics, issues, or subjects deserve attention from those in the field of philosophy of religion today? For example, does post-colonial/decolonial theory have any bearing on commonly held assumptions about what deserves philosophical reflection? In what ways have philosophers of religion unnecessarily narrowed focus on concerns that arise within traditional monotheistic religions of the Western world, and how might we correct this tendency? How have ignoring religious questions that arise within religions indigenous to Asia, Africa, and the Americas limited insights into the nature of religion and philosophical reflection? In line with the conference theme, how do any or all of these questions relate to social justice? The Philosophy of Religion unit is open to creative proposals on other subjects of interest (including but not limited to the theme of social justice).
Please email proposals and participant forms to the unit co-chairs: Dane Sawyer (University of La Verne) at dsawyer@laverne.edu and Paul Rodriguez (Claremont Graduate University) at paul.rodriguez@cgu.edu.
See below for a joint session call with the Religion, Literature, and Film section.
Psychology, Culture, and Religion
Concerns about social justice have ramifications for those who study the intersections of psychology, culture, and religion. Accordingly, we invite presentations dealing with the conference theme. In particular, we hope to receive proposals for presentations dealing with the myriad ways in which psychology, culture, and/or religion promote or inhibit just social relationships. Presentations, for example, might deal with the relationship between cultural perspectives and moral absolutes. Though we especially encourage the submission of proposals for presentations dealing with practices that foster justice, we also welcome proposals for presentations that expose practices that undermine social justice.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to John Leech at john.leech@yahoo.com and Tim Helton at tim@timhelton.com.
Queer Studies in Religion
Queer Studies in Religion is seeking papers addressing the theological, institutional and cultural development in global Catholicism in light of the Francis Papacy. We are also considering for this session any work on how the symbol of Pope Francis relates to LGBTQ lived lives in any religious or spiritual denominations.
Additionally, we will consider work on all issues of LGBTQ life in the U.S. that pertain to the shifting landscape of LGBTQ rights in terms of legal, sociopolitical and religious lived lives. We encourage papers that examine what it means to have “the right to discriminate based on religious ideology,” as well as “the right to get married” in the same state. Finally, queer studies in religion wants to emphasize any type of scholarship that explores queer (LGBTQIA) studies in religion from queer identified or allied scholars both within and outside of the academy. All will be considered as part of the sessions.
Please send a 250-word proposal alongside the program participant form to Queer Studies in Religion Co-Chairs John Erickson (jerickson85@gmail.com) and Marie Cartier (ezmerelda@earthlink.net).
We are eager and excited begin another great year in Queer Religious scholarship in the Western Region.
Pre-Conference Sponsored by Queer Studies in Religion and Queer Caucus - “Queer View”
Continuing from last year’s “Queer California: In the Rough” and years past, the Queer Studies in Religion and the Queer Caucus are again sponsoring a night of queer film and discussion Friday night before the conference. Directors and activists may be on hand to discuss their works. Details to be announced: evening start time, film lineup, and venues. Please check www.aarwr.org/queer-caucus.html for updates.
If anyone in the AAR/WR has a feature or short they would like to have considered, please send your information and brief query describing the work to Queer Board Advocate Leigh Ann Hildebrand at trinsf@gmail.com and Queer Studies in Religion Co-Chairs John Erickson jerickson85@gmail.com and Marie Cartier ezmerelda@earthlink.net.
Religion and Social Science
Religion and Social Science welcomes papers dealing with the conference theme of Social Justice. Other topics will also be considered.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to interim co-chairs Hester Oberman at heoberman@msn.com and Emily Silverman at ebinah@gmail.com.
Religion and the Arts
The Religion and the Arts section welcomes proposals, workshops, or fully developed panels (2–4 papers) on related topics dealing with social justice. Topics may include discussions on the intersection(s) between art, religion, and some other structural inequality/ institutionalized oppression. Areas of inquiry could include trans-identity/ies, racial ideology, ecological injustice, indigenous rights, and/or neo-colonialism. Though not an exhaustive list, here are a few research questions presenters may wish to answer: Is there a current theory, methodology, or subfield of study that deserves more attention for scholars of religion to help them analyze religious art through the lens of social justice? How does social justice function within the academy of religion and the academy of the arts? For example, are there necessary or implicit analytical connections between art, religion, and social justice (e.g., in painter’s work, movie, TV show, etc.)? From the perspective of the oppressed, how and in what ways is religious art subversive of dominant culture and space? Does the category of “social justice” fit more properly in theological studies (confessional communities) or religious studies (secular communities) for scholars of aesthetics? Is there a contemporary artistic social justice movement that deserves more attention by scholars of religion? Is there are recent book on religion, the arts, and social justice that deserves more attention in the American Academy of Religion? How, if at all, does your own research complement or supersede the thesis or methodology of the book?
Please send an abstract of no more than 350 words and Participant Form to unit chairs Dirk von der Horst (dirkster42@yahoo.com) and Roy Whitaker (dwhitaker@mail.sdsu.edu). Thank you!
See below for a joint session call with Jewish Studies.
Religion in America
Fitting into the larger 2016 Conference theme in the broadest of terms, the Religion in America Unit seeks papers that explore how faith has shaped the concept of Social Justice, both in theory and practice. Our Unit is also curious to better understand how 'ethical disaffiliation' (i.e. the act of leaving one's religion for moral reasons) is changing the landscape of both religion and social justice work. For instance, recent research indicates that over 30% of Millennials left the faith into which they were born because they believed it to be hostile to the LGBT community. Where are these and similar trends taking the US? Are there historical case studies (e.g. abolitionism, prohibitionism, etc.) that shed insight into current realities?
While this relationship between faith and social justice is a general topic of the larger conference, call for papers within the Religion in America Unit remains open to considering papers that go beyond this topic.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to Konden R. Smith, Ph.D. at krsmith1@asu.edu and Chase Laurelle Way chase.laurelle.way@gmail.com.
Religion, Literature, and Film
The Religion, Literature, and Film unit welcomes proposals addressing religion itself or themes related to religion as presented in contemporary literature or contemporary films. This year, we seek proposals that explore in general social justice as it pertains to the individual or culture. We are particularly interested in papers that address any of the following archetypes in relation to religion and social justice: the outcasts, the outlaw, law enforcers, and/or lawmakers. We also seek paper proposals for a joint session (listed at the end of the CFP) with the Philosophy of Religion section.
Please send a 250-word proposal and the participation form to section co-chairs Emmanuelle Patrice at empstork2233@gmail.com and Jon R. Stone at jrstone@csulb.edu.
Religions of Asia
Promoting inclusivity and excellence in scholarship, this section invites individual papers covering a variety of religious and cultural traditions in order to explore all aspects of Religions of Asia. This year, we are especially interested in papers that relate to the conference’s 2016 overall theme of social justice. How are ideals of freedom and equality manifested, addressed, expressed or suppressed within current and historical contexts of Asian religions? How is social justice discussed and treated across the contemporary landscape of religions in Asia? How do ideas in Asia about religions inform ideologies more broadly within cultures? We encourage the submission of papers that utilize interdisciplinary and nontraditional approaches to research. Other topics and themes of interest to the Religions of Asia group include: ways in which Asian religions interact with art, music, material culture, and ideology; rites of passage (birth, marriage, death, etc.); sacred spaces; the body as location for religious experience or ideology; religious and/or secular rituals or performances; gender and religion; religion and ecology; sacred text; or storytelling and oral tradition.
Please send participation form and abstracts as email attachments to Anna M. Hennessey dr.amhennessey@gmail.com and Charles M. Townsend charles.townsend@ucr.edu. We look forward to receiving your proposals.
Womanist/Pan-African
Womanist/Pan-African welcomes papers dealing with the conference theme of Social Justice. Other topics will also be considered.
Please send title, abstract, and participant form to Sakena Young-Scaggs at revsystah@gmail.com.
Women in Religion
Engaging the 2016 conference theme of social justice, the Women and Religion Unit invites papers that broadly consider one of the two following themes: (1) rape culture as it intersects with religion and/or academic institutions, and (2) the way in which we navigate social justice-making, feminist praxis, or women’s advocacy from different intersectional positionalities. We are particularly interested in papers that will explore the complex interplay of different forms of oppression as these realities generate oppressive cultural paradigms, and the way in which our diverse, intersectional identities shape our justice-making efforts.
Please send a 250-word proposal and participant form to both Women in Religion Unit co-chairs Emily Silverman and Sara Frykenberg at: ebinah@gmail.com and sfrykenberg@gmail.com.
Thank you. We look forward to receiving your proposals.
2016 Women's Caucus Pre-conference Event
Friday, April 1, time TBA
Theme: How do our studies relate meaning “on the ground”?
A variety of study areas represent communities of people working for social change, justice, care, ethics, and compassion in relation to the innumerable "-isms" (racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, ageism, ableism, religious intolerance, etc.) that require engaged work. What are the intersections where study and community meet? How do real people connect with the work being done by/about/on behalf of them? As scholars concerned with women, what is important for us to understand about this dynamic interchange between living communities and the studies done about them? Can or should these scholars' methodologies be neutral? Are studies intended (tacitly or explicitly) to benefit those communities, and if so, how do they deliver those benefits? Inasmuch as all scholars, in fact, are on the ground, how can we express this integrity and integration of scholarship and lived experience amongst ourselves and for our communities of relevance?
Please send a 250-word proposal and participant form to Sarah Robinson-Bertoni, the Women's Caucus Liaison to the AAR/WR Board, at: sarahrobinsonbertoni@icloud.com. Thank you.
2016 AAR/WR Joint Sessions
Joint Session: Jewish Studies/Religion and the Arts
Jewish Studies and Religion and the Arts welcome papers that address the conference theme of Social Justice at the intersection of artistic representation and Jewish identity and practice. Papers may include discussions both of representation by and of Jewish identity. Understanding “artist” in the broadest sense, including those working in the mediums of visual art, music, performance, and dance, some lines of inquiry might include questions such as the following: How do Jewish artists negotiate anti-Semitism? What forms of solidarity with other oppressed groups do Jewish artists pursue in their work? What is the relationship between an artist’s portrayal of Judaism and her/his understanding of Social Justice? We seek a broad and inclusive array of perspectives. Papers on any topic addressing both Judaism and the Arts are encouraged, though those that fit with the conference theme will be given priority.
Please send participant forms and proposals to Roberta Sabbath, chair of Jewish Studies at sabbathr@yahoo.com and Roy Whitaker and Dirk von der Horst, co-chairs of Religion and the Arts at roy_whitaker@hotmail.com and dirkster42@yahoo.com.
Joint Session: Religion, Literature, and Film and Philosophy of Religion
For the joint session, please designate your proposal as such and send with participant form to Religion, Literature, and Film co-chairs Emmanuelle Patrice at empstork@gmail.com and Jon Stone at jrstone@csulb.edu and Philosophy of Religion co-chair Dane Sawyer at dsawyer@laverne.edu.
