The Indiana University Graduate Conference for the study of religion is pleased to invite proposals for its conference on “Religion, Conflict, & Boundary Maintenance,” April 17-18, 2015, at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Keynote Speaker: Sean McCloud, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Theme: How do religious groups construct, manage, and police boundaries? What role does conflict play in the production of socio-cultural and religious identities? How do individuals and/or societies interpret adversity and mediate between competing concerns? This conference explores the various avenues of religion where conflict can be found, whether that is a broad, theoretical exploration of the relationship between religion and opposition or a highly focused topic. If submissions allow for it, the organizers would like to devote a subsection of the conference to the relationship between religious and social boundaries and idealized evil, especially in cases when that has developed as a form of demonology.
The organizers are looking for conference presentations that approach the intersection of religion and conflict through various styles, historical eras, methods, and interpretations. Other viable paper topics might include (but are not limited to):
• religion and legal conflict
• religion and sexual identity
• religion and ethical conflict
• ritual and performativity
• methodological and theoretical considerations in the identification and study of “religion” and “conflict”
• religion and peacemaking
• religious conflict as depicted in popular culture
• contested interpretation and authority in myth and text
• interpretations of war
• portrayals of religion and conflict in journalistic accounts
• institutions, power, and resistance
Submission details: Paper proposals should be submitted by February 6th, 2015. Please include an abstract (150-250 words) and an academic CV. Decisions will be made by February 20th; final papers, due by April 3rd. Please direct all inquiries and submissions to <iugradconfATgmail.com>.