Call for Proposals

Of Sacred Crossroads: Cultural Studies and the Sacred

A special issue of Open Cultural Studies

The seventh International Association for Cultural Studies Crossroads conference held at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) was themed “Of Sacred Crossroads”. The conference call for papers asked for a consideration of issues surrounding the dialogue between humanity and spirituality. In the face of increasing materialism and consumerism, as well as the prevailing emphasis on science and technology in contemporary society, participants contemplated the politics of the intersection between Cultural Studies and the sacred, while celebrating the intangible heritage of humankind--that found in religion, art, dance, song, oratory, healing, re-creation, performance, ritual, belief systems, ethics, globalization and communication, among others. 

Cultural Studies is not a discipline that immediately calls to mind reflection on matters of the sacred. However, since the 2008 iteration of the conference, issues of the sacred have continued to be a concern amongst a community of Cultural Studies scholars. Cultural Studies is known for identifying distinct, multi-disciplinary perspectives, and in this special issue the papers will demonstrate a willingness to critique the role of the sacred in daily life and an openness to thinking about its representation in everyday cultural expressions, from literature to music to food to politics and beyond.

The Special Issue

This is a call for proposals to be published as a special issue that concerns itself with offering new ways in which the sacred is represented in the popular realm or communicated at the intersection of the secularization of society and its inherent ideological, philosophical, existential and methodological crises.

The issue will present a variety of voices, some new, some experienced, all wrestling with ideas about and perspectives on the sacred. The special issue will have a truly international scope, both in subject and voice. Each essay will provide a different perspective on the sacred, revealing, through a Cultural Studies lens, diversity of practices, multifaceted nature of beliefs, ceremony, and ritual.

Details of Submission

Expressions of interest and submission of abstracts should be sent no later than March 15, 2018 to the Editor, Dr. Sonjah Stanley Niaah at [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
The final date for submission of full papers is April 30, 2018 via the following online submission system (http://www.editorialmanager.com/culture <http://www.editorialmanager.com/culture>). On accessing the online submission system authors must select "Special Issue:  Of Sacred Crossroads—Cultural Studies and the Sacred."


Sonjah Stanley Niaah | Ph.D. 
Senior Lecturer, Cultural Studies 
& Head, Institute of Caribbean Studies
University of the West Indies at Mona
  


Sonjah N. Stanley Niaah | Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer, Cultural Studies
& Head, Institute of Caribbean Studies & Reggae Studies Unit, UWI Mona Campus

Member, International Scientific Committee
UNESCO, Slave Route Project

Senior Research Associate
Department of Fine Art
Rhodes University, South Africa

Blog: http://www.dancehallgeographies.wordpress.com