Call for Proposals

This Section invites proposals on the following topics:

• Social scientific perspectives on the Bible


• Catholicism and spirituality


• Religious freedom and religious tolerance


• The rising number of religiously unaffiliated people, a.k.a. “Nones”


• Religion and incarceration


• For a potential cosponsored session with the Cultural History of the Study of Religion Group and the Religion and Sexuality Group, critical analysis and/or methodological reflection on sex and sexuality as categories of inquiry in empirical approaches to the study of religion. Possible themes include reading or misreading sex and desire in representations of religion and analyzing ways in which constructed meanings of sex and sexuality have shaped classificatory categories and comparative models across religious studies


• For a possible cosponsored session with the Critical Approaches to Hip-Hop and Religion Group, the meaning of methods — social scientific approaches to religion, theology, and hip-hop. The burgeoning field of religion, theology, and hip-hop has worked hard to expand the object(s) of inquiry beyond a sole focus on rap music. While this expansion has provided form, content, and structure for the making of religion and hip-hop scholarship, less attention has been given to the methodological tools necessary to provide a rigorous account of the ways in which these endeavors are taken up in hip-hop material culture. We seek papers from leading scholars working with various methodologies from fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, and cultural studies for the study of religion, theology, and hip-hop culture

Proposals that address new books in the field, major trends, and issues (e.g., immigration reform, same-sex marriage) relevant in the coming year and other questions in the study of religion and the social sciences are also welcome. All proposals should clearly state their key question(s), methodologies, data, and disciplinary perspective(s).

Mission

This Section supports scholarship at the intersection of the social sciences — including psychology, ethnography, sociology, political sciences, economics, and cultural studies — and religious or theological studies. Topic areas include the study of religious and theological questions through specific social scientific methodologies, the contribution of religious and theological approaches to the work of social scientific disciplines, and comparative assessments of current issues by humanities-based and social scientific methods.

Anonymity of Review Process

Proposer names are anonymous to Chairs and Steering Committee members during review, but visible to Chairs prior to final acceptance or rejection.

Questions?

Gerardo Marti
Davidson College
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Ann B. McClenahan
Washington, D.C.
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Method of Submission