All,

This week's job list has some great jobs! Before that there are some
reminders and a call for participants. There are some really exciting
events and opportunities coming up, so I hope you all manage to take
advantage of these.

The first reminder is about the Postgraduate day at the SocRel annual
conference. Thanks to some funding from the PRS Aspiring Academics
programme we're putting on a full day's postgraduate training immediately
before this year's annual conference. Email me for details or check the
attached (basic) programme.

--
What does it mean to believe?
Call for Participants

International Symposium: 8th –10th March 2012
Organised by the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, University
of Kent, and the British Council

Applications are invited for a limited number of funded places (covering
UK travel, food, and accommodation) to attend this symposium being held at
the University of Kent, March 8-10 2012 in Canterbury, UK. International
scholars and practitioners will explore the theme: ‘What does it mean to
believe?’ in the context of inter-cultural relations. Participants will be
post-graduate students or early career scholars in the Humanities, Social
Sciences or Sciences or early career practitioners from charities,
business, professional networks, media, galleries, museums, government,
and NGOs. A particular focus will be on recent events in Egypt and Tunisia
with students, scholars, and practitioners attending.
Belief is construed here as an inclusive, far reaching-term that changes
meaning through time and across cultural context, encompassing for
example, faith, trust, values, identity  and emotional attachment.
Political or religious convictions, ideologies and cultural identities,
for example, are all sub-sets and different manifestations of belief. 
Belief can be the glue that holds cultures and groups together, and also
marks the boundaries between groups to set them apart. How is belief used
to promote cohesion or discord in pluralistic cultures of diversity, and
what can we learn from those experiences?

This symposium will be led by Dr Abby Day, AHRC British Council Fellow,
Senior Research Fellow, University of Kent. Keynote and plenary speakers
include Prof. Eileen Barker, London School of Economics, UK; Dr Sylvia
Collins-Mayo, Kingston University, UK; Dr Ariela Keysar, Institute for the
Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, USA; Prof. Gordon Lynch,
Director, Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, University of
Kent, UK; Dr Marat Shterin, King’s College London, UK; Prof. Hakan Yilmaz,
Bogazici University, Turkey.

Fifteen session presenters will explore aspects of belief viewed through a
holistic model incorporating seven dimensions or perspectives of time,
place, content, sources, practice, salience and function.  Symposium
participants will be invited to engage throughout with session presenters,
key notes and plenary speakers to consider perceptions and behaviours that
guide, both explicitly and implicitly, our understanding of what it means
to believe: what does this mean to me in my practice/position? What are
implications for inter-cultural relations, teaching, research, practice,
policy?  What needs to be done and what can we do about that?

Applications to attend as participants should be sent by 10 February 2012.
Include name, address, affiliation (university or other organisation) and
a brief statement (no more than 200 words) covering reasons for attendance
to: Dr Abby Day:  [log in to unmask]

--
Job list

Senior Research Analyst
Tony Blair Faith Foundation
http://jobs.ac.uk/job/ADW502/

Lectureships
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
http://jobs.ac.uk/job/ADW546/

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Arts
University of Leeds
http://jobs.ac.uk/job/ADW682/

Postdoctoral Fellowship
University College London
http://jobs.ac.uk/job/ADW784/

Part-time Research Assistant
University of Oxford - Department of Sociology
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ADV753/

Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds is currently
advertising 4 academic posts. Further details and
information about how to apply can be obtained by following the  links below.

Chair in the Study of Religion
http://www.universityofleedschairs.co.uk/humanities-study-of-religion.php

Chair in Philosophy and Religion (joint appointment in the School of
Humanities)
http://www.universityofleedschairs.co.uk/philosophy-and-religion.php

Closing Date: 23 March 2012

Senior Lecturer / Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies (2 posts /
area of expertise open)
With a view to complementing our existing staff team, we particularly wish
to encourage applicants with research expertise in:
• New Testament, ethics and theology / New Testament and society
• religion / theology in global / postcolonial contexts (e.g. Africa, the
Americas, the Middle East, South Asia, South-East Asia,
China)
• religion and society
• the interaction of religion / theology with politics, ethics or science
• the study of contemporary Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Indian
religions, indigenous religions
http://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/fe/tpl_universityofleeds01.asp?s=PyAxDIfSqHTyVvHqn&jobid=78819,2102541272&key=76758745&c=619898347621&pagestamp=seinbpfrmxxtwfucep

Closing Date: 3 March 2012

Further Information:
The University of Leeds is one of the UK’s foremost research- intensive
institutions of Higher Education, and a leading member of the Russell
Group. The University is committed to providing a world-class standard of
student education, and achieving world-leading levels of research
performance, in the context of a commitment to internationalisation,
innovation and impact on a local to global scale.

Theology and Religious Studies (TRS) at Leeds is part of the School of
Humanities, which has an annual turnover of around £8 million, generating
strong surpluses. Support for all these and other appointments reflects
the University of Leeds’ strong endorsement of the School’s strategy and
trajectory. With a large staff and student body, and a strong commitment
to disciplinary and cross-disciplinary excellence, as well as a burgeoning
international profile, we offer one of the best contexts for world-class
academics to develop their careers.

Ten academic staff in TRS work across historical, theological and
philosophical, as well as sociological and anthropological
approaches to the study of religion. The Institute for Religion and Public
Life provides a common focus for our internationally-renowned research on
religion and public life in late modern globalised societies. Recent
externally-funded research projects have been concerned with the
interdisciplinary intersections of religion/theology and development,
diaspora, cities, policing, terrorism, the media and sexuality.
Research-led learning and teaching ensures that this expertise is
translated into outstanding opportunities for undergraduates as well as
postgraduates.

Theology and Religious Studies as an academic field has vital
contributions to offer the contemporary world, and at Leeds we are well
placed to make such contributions in the future. Our key priorities are to
continue our track record of internationally excellent publications; to
develop ambitious research projects and grow our research income, building
on outstanding success in the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society and AHRC
Diasporas, Migration and Identities programmes; to strengthen and enhance
our extensive international partnerships in research and teaching; to
offer undergraduate and postgraduate students an outstanding learning
experience, and to attract students of high potential to study with us;
and to engage creatively and collaboratively with a broad range of local
and global partners.

-- 
Dr Matthew Francis
Researcher, Religious Literacy Project
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross, London SE14 6NW

t: +44 (0)20 7717 2535
e: [log in to unmask]
w: www.religiousliteracyHE.org

Editor,
RadicalisationResearch.org

Postgraduate Officer,
British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Study Group
www.socrel.org.uk

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