Call for Proposals: CURA Colloquium 20-21
Call for Proposals for Religion and World Affairs Colloquium
2020-21 Theme: Religion and Communal Interaction
Boston University’s Institute for Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA) invites BU faculty and graduate students to apply to become fellows in the interdisciplinary Colloquium on Religion and World Affairs run in cooperation with the BU School of Theology. The CURA Colloquium involves bimonthly meetings throughout the academic year to discuss working papers on a chosen theme. The papers are prepared by both the BU fellows and invited scholars from outside BU. The colloquium sessions are open to the general public, with the expectation that all attendees read the papers in advance and that the sessions focus on providing feedback and suggestions to the authors. At the end of the colloquium, we hope to collect a coherent group of papers into an edited volume or a themed edition of a relevant journal.
The theme for this year’s Colloquium is religion and communal interaction. Religion plays an important role in how communities across the globe interact. Religion can play a role in peacemaking or can foster social divisions. Religion is a major aspect of identity, and conflict both between and within religious communities is an important aspect of world affairs. Religion plays an important part in debates of definitions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and race. In an election year, we are particularly aware of the role that religion can play in politics, as religious identity helps to shape various communities and how they interact with the political system. We invite proposals that explore various aspects of religion and the ways that it affects interactions between and within communities.
A committee of faculty will select the proposals from among those submitted, with the idea of accepting approximately 8-12 fellows. Those selected as CURA Fellows will be asked to prepare a working paper of 5,000-8,000 words that will be scheduled for presentation next year. Fellows will be expected to attend all sessions, read papers in advance, and provide feedback for other participants. Colloquium sessions will be held on Fridays, 12:00-1:30 (on weeks where STH does not have faculty meetings). Fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend for successful participation in the colloquium.
To Apply: Send your resume and a paragraph about your paper topic to Arlene Brennan arleneb@bu.edu. The deadline for applications is Friday, April 17, 2020.
Founded in 1985, CURA was the first interdisciplinary research center in the United States focused on religion and global affairs. CURA seeks to build a community of scholars from BU and beyond with a shared interest in religion and world affairs. Under the leadership of Peter Berger and Bob Hefner, CURA has sponsored 140 research projects in over 40 countries, resulting in the publication of 145 books, and organized countless academic lectures and other events. CURA joined the Pardee School of Global Affairs in 2015 and continues to sponsor collaborative research projects, public lectures, and gatherings for faculty, graduate students, and others, and to support the Pardee School’s curriculum in religion and global affairs. For more information, please contact Arlene Brennan at 617-353-5241 or arleneb@bu.edu or Timothy Longman at 617-353-9751 or longman@bu.edu.