Call for Proposals

This Group invites papers or panels in two areas:

• Current issues in qualitative approaches to the study of religion, communities of faith, and religious practices. Topics include, but are not limited to, researcher reflexivity and ways of accounting for the researcher’s self in the study of religious practices; similarities and differences in various qualitative research practices, such as participatory action research and ethnography by sociologists and by practical theologians; and issues stemming from research in cultural contexts of difference (for a possible cosponsored session with the Religion and the Social Sciences Section)
• Practical theology, economics, and class relations; in particular, joblessness, the phenomenon of “economic refugees,” and/or shifts in class identities; global economic instability and the reshaping of religious practices and communities; the economy of the academy, labor practices of the academy, and the lives of education workers; practical theology and the workplace; and labor/worker justice

Mission

This Group engages practical theology and religious practice, reflects critically on religious traditions and practices, and explores issues in particular subdisciplines of practical theology and ministry. We engage this mission in five interrelated public spheres with the following goals:

• For practical theology, to provide a national and international forum for discussion, communication, publication, and development of the field and its related subdisciplines
• For theological and religious studies, to foster interdisciplinary critical discourse about religious practice, contextual research and teaching for ministry, and practical theological method and pedagogy
• For a variety of religious traditions, to enhance inquiry within a wide range of religions into religious practice and practical theology
• For academic pedagogy, to advance excellence in teaching and vocational development for faculty in divinity and seminary education generally and for graduate students preparing to teach in such settings
• For the general public, to promote constructive reflection on social and cultural dynamics and implications of religious confession and practice

Anonymity of Review Process

Proposals are anonymous to Chairs and Steering Committee Members during review, but visible to Chairs prior to final acceptance or rejection.

Questions?

Mary McClintock Fulkerson
Duke University
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Joyce Ann Mercer
Virginia Theological Seminary
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Method of Submission