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JAAR Call for Papers: Sanctified Violence in History
In recent decades, the relationship between “violence” and “religion” in contemporary social and political life has become an increasingly pressing subject of public discourse. These discussions often take for granted contemporary Western categories such as “the religious,” “the political,” “the ethical,” or “the juridical;” in so doing they employ as universal analytical categories what are in fact historically and culturally contingent terms. In particular, the dominant paradigms used to understand the causes and meanings of “religiously-motivated” violence are in large measure products of the specific history of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world.
This focus issue of JAAR aims to contribute to a better genealogy of the idea of “religious violence” by exploring, within a comparative framework, the diverse discourses and practices of violence that operated across the full range of ethnic, linguistic, and religious communities throughout the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world from 150 BCE to 750 CE — the era that saw the rise and consolidation of the Roman Empire and the emergence of rabbinic Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
JAAR seeks papers that analyze the specific strategies and tactics used by various groups in the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world for distinguishing and legitimating their own discourses and practices of “religious violence” from those of others. Papers that develop comparisons between these groups and others elsewhere in time or space — in medieval Europe, for example, or elsewhere in the world — are also encouraged. Given that the categories through which we understand such violence today have a particular historical genealogy, the focus issue's core interest is in deepening our understanding of this genealogy, by developing a more fine-grained sense of the various ways in which religious violence has been identified and legitimated. Through what modes (charismatic, performative, interpretative, etc.) or sources (prophetic, narrative, textual, etc.) of authority did individuals or communities legitimize their own norms or actions, and/or de-legitimize those of others? Furthermore, what can we know about the actual violence, or the lack thereof, that was associated with such rhetorics — and what else of interest does that tell us about those rhetorics themselves?
Deadline of submission is April 1, 2008. Direct queries to jaar@virginia.edu. | |
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Religious Conversions Study Group
A group of scholars in the American Academy of Religion is developing a proposal for a Religious Conversions Study Group. The group is open to proposals from scholars who study conversions within and between all religious traditions, in all periods of history, and from a multiplicity of approaches: historical, doctrinal, sociological, psychological, economic, political, etc. Those interested in helping form such a group should contact Alexander Hwang (ahwang@slu.edu), Linda Mercadante (LMercadante@mtso.edu), Marc Pugliese (pugliesem@cookman.edu), or Charles Scalise (cscalise@fuller.edu). | |
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Committee Nominations
The following committees and task forces will have openings this year: Academic Relations Committee, Book Award Juries, Career Services Advisory Committee, History of Religions Jury, International Connections Committee, Nominations Committee, Public Understanding of Religion Committee, Publications Committee, Research Grant Jury, Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession Committee, Status of Women in the Profession Committee, Teaching and Learning Committee, and the Theological Education Steering Committee. If you want to nominate a colleague or yourself, please send a letter explaining interest in serving on the particular committee, participation in the AAR, academic and professional interests, and a C.V. to nominations@aarweb.org; or by fax to: 404-727-7959; or mail to: Jack Fitzmier, Executive Director / American Academy of Religion / 825 Houston Mill RD NE STE 300 / Atlanta, GA 30329-4205 / USA. Deadline is May 1. | |
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Important Dates
April 1, 2008: JAAR Call for Papers Deadline
April 21, 2008: Registration for Workshop with Krista Tippett at the Annual Meeting
May 1, 2008: Committee Nominations Deadline |
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