Call for Proposals Missionaries, Modernity and Education (MiMoRA), Leuven, 13-21 September 2018

Over the past years, the history and impact of missionary movements have become of interest to diverse disciplines within the humanities, including anthropology, theology, architecture and heritage studies, history, and educational sciences. However, this interdisciplinary booming of the field has also led to divergence. This is why KU Leuven researchers from several faculties decided to set up MiMoRA: the Mission and Modernity Research Academy. It aims at bringing together expertise, stimulating international research in Leuven collections, and steering it towards new thematic frontiers by providing a forum for academic debate and creating new networks for young scholars across the globe. MiMoRA is coordinated by KADOC, the interfaculty Documentation and Research Center on Religion Culture and Society at KU Leuven. See our website.

The first Research Academy will study the theme of Christian Missionaries, Modernity and Education and take place from 13 to 21 September. It welcomes researchers working on all types of topics related to Christian missionaries and education in the modern era (1850-), both in a colonial and a postcolonial context. It will address analysis of agency, target audiences, curricula, material culture, heritage, etc. preferably from a comparative perspective (e.g. cross-cultural, diachronic, Catholic/Protestant, …). It obviously is very interested in the religious factor, including inter-religious collaboration or inspiration, as well as the relationship with the secular and the profane. We feel very strongly about innovative and interdisciplinary aspects, examining how, for example, language, acoustics, material culture, and sports and leisure have contributed to the construction and deconstruction of identities and difference in (post-)colonial contexts. More information.

MiMoRa I will take place in Leuven from 13 to 21 September 2018. All participants will be offered accommodation (with a maximum of ten nights); participants from beyond Europe and North America will also receive funding for travel costs. In order to apply, please upload your research proposal (max. 1,500 words, including both your current research and its link with Leuven collections), a CV (max. 1 page, with a picture and language skills), copies of your diplomas, a letter of motivation (ca. 500 words), and a letter of recommendation by your supervisor on our website: application form on the webpage. Deadline for submissions is 30 April. The selection of candidates will be based on the application file as well as on geographical and thematic criteria. The selection of candidates will take place before 15 May. After the Research Academy, we aim at publishing a number of research papers in an edited volume with a university press.

Please send further inquiries to mimora@kuleuven.be.