Call for Proposals

This Group encourages submissions from scholars whose research employs ethnographic and field-based methods in the study of ritual and from scholars keen to develop theoretical sophistication in the study of ritual. We particularly invite papers on:

• The critiques and developments of the theories of Victor Turner (perhaps for a prearranged roundtable session)


• Theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of ritual and the senses, especially ritual and sound


• Ethnographically-grounded studies of ritual dance


• Ritual as an instrument of social protest and activism


• For a possible cosponsored session with the Western Esotericism Group, play and games in an esoteric context, particularly the dimensions of irony, games, play, and humor in esotericism and challenging the classic stereotype of the esotericist who looks at his/her endeavors and doctrines with extreme seriousness and gravity


• For a possible cosponsored session with the Religion, Holocaust, and Genocide Group, the politics of memory in annual commemorations of Holocaust and genocide (e.g., Yom HaShoah, Kristallnacht, the Rwandan genocide, Srebrenica)


• For a possible cosponsored session with the SBL Ritual in the Biblical World Group, field-based perspectives on studying ritual in biblical texts


• For a possible cosponsored session with the Practical Theology Group, culturally diverse rituals on death, dying, and the body (e.g., contemporary practices/adaptation of funerals — green funeral movement, increase in cremation and cremation art, and cryogenics)

Mission

This Group provides a unique venue for the interdisciplinary exploration of ritual — broadly understood to include rites, ceremonies, religious and secular performances, and other ritual processes — in their many and varied contexts, and from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. To learn more about this Group, visit our Website at http://www.ritualstudies.org.

Anonymity of Review Process

Proposer names are visible to Chairs but anonymous to Steering Committee members.

Questions?

Sarah Haynes
Western Illinois University
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jens Kreinath
Wichita State University
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Method of Submission