JOB POSTINGS:
The Department of Religion at Carelton College seeks to hire a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in Global Christianity to begin September 1, 2010. They seek candidates whose specialization engages the Christian tradition in diasporic, transnational, colonial, or post-colonial contexts, with particular interest in African, African-American, Asian, Caribbean, and/or Latin American, contexts. Fields of disciplinary training may include history of Christianity, Catholic studies, history of biblical interpretation, sociology, anthropology, theology/Christian thought, or ethics.
Please send cover letter, c.v., graduate school transcripts, brief statement of teaching philosophy, and three letters of reference to:
Michael McNally, Chair
Department of Religion
Carleton College
Northfield, MN 55057
CALL FOR PAPERS:
The Changing Face of Christianity in the 21st Century
University of Edinburgh
April 6 - April 8, 2010
Paper submissions due October 31, 2009.
Christianity in the 21st century is characterised by rapid change, by
both steep decline in membership in some areas, but resurgence in
other contexts. At the same time, contemporary Christianity
incorporates (sometimes uncomfortably) new forms and hybridisations.
The lived experience and performance of Christianity in the West
appears to be shifting according to influences from late-modern
consumer and media cultures. World Christianities are increasingly
influential and migration and diaspora Christianities are (re) shaping
Christianity in the West. Meanwhile, far from disappearing from the
agendas and language of the public arena, Christianity continues to
excite debates around the place and importance of religion in the
public arena, as well as discourses of citizenship, equality and
well-being.
We invite proposals for papers which explore issues surrounding the
broad theme of the conference. We particularly welcome papers which
fall into three sub-themes we have identified:
1. Contemporary Christian Performance and Belief;
2. World Christianities and migration or diaspora Christianities;
3. Christianity in the Public Arena.
Individual paper proposals (max. 200 words) or proposals for panels of
three or four related papers (max. 300 words) should be submitted by
October 31st, 2009.
Topics may include: World Christianities; post-Christianity; decline
of Christianity, as well as Christian growth or resurgence; mission
and reverse mission; Christianity and young people; the influence of
alternative spiritualities on Christianity; hyphenated Christian
identities (Buddhist-Christians, Pagan-Christians, etc.); new
Christian movements; contemporary pilgrimage or (youth) festivals;
Christianity in areas of social deprivation; social movements and
Christianity; Christianity and the (new) media; Christianity and
popular culture; Christianity and gender; Christianity and sexuality;
Christianity and other religions, including indigenous religions;
contemporary Christian ritual; Christianity and economics;
Christianity and politics; Christianity and education; Christianity
and the law; migration and diaspora Christianities; Christianity and
healthcare; Christianity and public life.
SOCREL is the British Sociological Association's study group on
religion (www.socrel.org.uk). The conference for 2010 is co-hosted by
the University of Edinburgh Institute of Geography and the School of
Divinity (Religious Studies/the Centre for the Study of World
Christianity). The academic organising committee are:
Giselle Vincett (gvincett@ed.ac.uk)
Afe Adogame (a.adogame@ed.ac.uk)
Betsy Olson (eolson@ed.ac.uk)
Christian Unity in Mission and
Service
Andrew F. Walls Centre
Third Annual Conference on World Christianity
Liverpool Hope University
June 11 - June 13, 2010
Paper submissions due Friday, December 18, 2009.
The Andrew F. Walls Centre for the Study of African and Asian
Christianity at Liverpool Hope University are pleased to announce their
third annual conference on World Christianity from 11th June to 13th
June 2010 and invite paper and panel proposals on a specific topic
related to the theme of the conference “Christian Unity in Mission and
Service.”
Full Panel Proposals are due on or before Friday 18th December 2009: The
leader of a panel should send a 500-word abstract of the panel theme
plus a 200-word abstract for each paper presenter in your panel.
Individual Paper Proposals are due on or before Friday 18th December
2009: Please send a 200-word abstract and a two-page CV including your
name, institutional position or affiliation, postal address, telephone
number(s), and email address.
The organizers will inform the prospective paper presenters and
panelists whether or not their proposals can be accommodated on or
before Friday, January 29, 2010.
For further details about
the conference, its context, and significance please click here.
For registration, please click here.
We look forward to hearing from you. If any additional details are
needed, kindly contact the Conference Coordinator Ms Ursula Leahy
(leahyu@hope.ac.uk, Tel. + 44 151 291 3375).
With best regards,
Yours sincerely,
Professor Daniel Jeyaraj
Director of the Centre and Professor of World
Christianity
Professor Andrew Walls
Professor of History of Missions
SCHOLARLY CONFERENCES & MEETINGS:
Being There: Short-term Missions and Human Need
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
July 30 - August 1, 2009
The upcoming conference (July 30 - Aug 1) Being There: Short-term Missions and Human Need will feature an outstanding roster of 35 scholars and experts on short-term missions (including missiologists, medical doctors, anthropologists, sociologists, youth ministries professors, educators, international Christian leaders). Presenters include Dr. Robert Wuthnow, whose recent book Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Congregations is changing understandings of contemporary mission practice and the Rev. Oscar Muriu, pastor of the Nairobi Chapel, who provides an African perspective on short-term missions. Again, Dr. Kara Powell, the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute will explore the role of short-term missions in youth ministry today. Dr. Hunter Farrell, Director of World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will provide a rich analysis of a fascinating short-term mission initiative in Peru. And so on.
Consider the following facts:
· Two million American Christians travel abroad annually on short-term mission trips.
· One third of all missions giving from the US is now channeled in support of short-term missions.
· Half of all seminary students in the US (and 2/3rds in Korea) have traveled abroad on short-term mission trips.
Join us for this informative and helpful conference at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois.
Full information can be found at www.tiu.edu/stm
Dr. Robert J. Priest
Director, PhD Program in Intercultural Studies
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Third Annual Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
Secularization and Revival: The Fate of Religion in Modern Intellectual History
Baylor University
Thursday, October 8 - Saturday, October 10, 2009
The question of faith's place in modern intellectual life never has seemed more pressing in academia or popular culture. While specialists have abandoned simplistic versions of the "secularization thesis," which predicted that religion would crumble inexorably under the weight of advancing science and reason, best-selling atheistic critics still lament religion's influence, deny its philosophical viability, and predict its ultimate demise. Meanwhile, scholars have demonstrated the surging strength of both Christianity and Islam in non-western parts of the world, and the persistent religiosity in the United States. Accordingly, this symposium will consider religion's place in modern thought and culture from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century.
We invited papers that explore the intellectual tensions between the revival and decline of faith, not only in the Anglo-American West, but around the world. Among the confirmed plenary speakers are David Bebbington (Stirling/Baylor), Michael J. Buckley (Santa Clara), José Casanova (Georgetown), Jean Bethke Elshtain (U. Chicago Divinity School), Paul Fiddes (Oxford), Barry Harvey (Baylor), Philip Jenkins (Penn State), Susan Juster (Michigan), George Marsden (Notre Dame), C. John Sommerville (U. Florida), Rodney Stark (Baylor), and Frank Turner (Yale).
Possible themes to be explored include the following, though other paper or session proposals on specific topics, questions, or books:
- The Enlightenment and its critics
- Romanticism and its implication for faith, art, politics, and culture
- Evangelical, charismatic, or fundamentalist revival
- Democracy and religion
- Ethics and religion
- The New Atheism
- Resacralization vs. secularization theory
- Gender, race, and class dynamics of secularization and revival
- Religion as a colonial or indigenous force
- Globalization and religion
- Religion and the modern university
- Faith and reform movements
- Faith and the arts in contemporary culture
For more information, see http://www.baylor.edu/ifl/index.php?id=60689
In the News
-
Global Schism: Is the Anglican Communion the First Stage in a Wider Christian Split?
- Dr. Philip Jenkins joined some leading journalists in May 2007 for the Pew Forum's biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Read the dialogue »
-
Missionaries in North Virginia
- Archbishop Peter Akinola, shepherd of 18 million fervent Nigerian Anglicans, installed a missionary bishop to America. Washington Post Online »
Templeton Grant
Calvin College received a $2 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a project called "Science, Philosophy and Belief: A Program for Chinese Scholars." This effort will include a three-year partnership between the Philosohpy Department at Calvin and the Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP). It is being managed by the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin. More about "Science, Philosophy, & Belief »