Tag: Religious Studies

CFP: For special issue of Religious Studies

Special Issue Guest editors:
Meghan D. Page, Loyola University Maryland,
US Ignacio Silva, Universidad Austral, Argentina

Religious Studies in collaboration with the SET Foundations Project calls for papers that integrate practice-based philosophy of science with topics in philosophy of religion and theology. The best submitted paper, as judged by a committee, will receive a prize of $5,000. That paper, along with others selected, will be published in a special issue of Religious Studies.

Although both practice-based philosophy of science and philosophy of religion and theology explore topics such as causation, explanation, laws of nature, natural kinds, representation, models, and evidence, there is a significant lack of constructive dialogue between them. However, we believe that deeper theological and philosophical interaction with practice-based philosophy of science is likely to produce novel approaches to the big questions in theology and philosophy of religion.

This new approach encourages scholars to explore general questions regarding the aims and methods of scientific practice
rather than emphasize specific scientific theories or theses. We are particularly interested in work by philosophers of religion and theologians that engages with recent literature in practice-based philosophy of science, exemplified by questions such as: How do scientific explanations work? How do scientists use models? How do causal concepts vary across different domains of scientific inquiry? What are scientific “laws” and do all scientific theories employ them? How do we determine what counts as “good” science? We take this approach to be distinct from theory-based philosophy of science, which focuses on the metaphysical implications of particular scientific theories.

We do not intend to privilege any style or tradition of theology or philosophy. We hope scholars from across the globe will integrate philosophy of science into their preferred theological or philosophical approach. We view this engagement as one aspect of a rich and complex theological methodology, to be appropriately paired with historical, social, and textual analysis. We

invite philosophers of religion and theologians to submit papers that

Examples of possible paper topics include:

  • What counts as evidence for claims in theology and philosophy of religion?
  • How do we understand the content and meaning of theological or religious terms? Do we gather our understanding of these terms from experience?
  • What role do models play in theology? Is doctrine best thought of as a kind of model? Or is it something else?
  • Can experience confirm or undermine theological claims?
  • Are there multiple, distinctive strands of evidence used in • theology? What are they?
  • Can scientific evidence be used as support for theological views?
  • Do multilevel explanations (which integrate more than one scientific theory) offer a path for integrating multiple levels of explanation in theology (e.g. reconciling human and divine action)?
  • Are theological models like scientific models? Can scientific models offer a template for new models in theology?

Deadline for submissions: April 1, 2023

Full papers should be submitted via the Religious Studies Portal (a special section has been established for papers for this issue). Visit the Religious Studies homepage for a description of the journal and instructions to authors. More at setfoundations.com.

Call for Contributors: Three-volume ABC-CLIO encyclopedia titled American Religious History

If you are interested in contributing, please review the entries in the Headwords document and the style guide, especially Section A, General Guidelines. If you want to participate, please send the entries you are interested in doing and your CV to gssmith@gcc.edu. The deadline is October 1, 2019. Please also share this information with other scholars you know who may be interested.

 

IAHR 2020 Congress Open for Submissions and Registrations

From AAR:


The XXII Quinquennial World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), hosted by the New Zealand Association for the Study of Religions, will take place August 23-29, 2020, at the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand. AAR members, who are also members of the IAHR, are encouraged to submit and attend.

Details provided by the IAHR:

Submissions and registrations for the Congress are now open. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2019. The deadline for early bird registrations is May 1, 2020.

While welcoming contributions on any topic in the academic study of religion, this year’s Congress will have the theme of Centres and Peripheries. Learn more about the theme and the submission process.

Abstracts will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We aim to give responses within four weeks of submission.

Please visit the Congress website for more information. We look forward to receiving your abstracts and to welcoming you to Otago in 2020!

IAHR