Call for Papers
SCIENTOLOGY IN SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVE
First
International Conference on the Study of Scientology (and Antoinism)
24-25 January 2014
Venue:
Faculty of Comparative Studies of Religions (FVG) - Wilrijk (Antwerpen) Belgium
Sponsor: Observatoire Européen des religions et de la Laïcité
(The
European Observatory of Religion and Secularism)
Compared with other New
Religious Movements, Scientology was largely ignored by religious studies
scholars for decades. Following the groundbreaking work of Roy Wallis, The Road to Total Freedom (1976), and
Harriet Whitehead, Renunciation and
Reformulation (1987), one had to wait more than two decades for the next academic
volumes on the Church to appear, Scientology
(2009), edited by James R. Lewis, and The
Church of Scientology (2011), by Hugh B. Urban. There are now positive
signs that more and more researchers are involved in researching issues raised
by various aspects of Scientology.
The Observatory thus
feels it is time to hold a major international conference to bring this new
scholarship to light. We seek to bring together researchers working on
Scientology in the fields of theology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology,
literature, film et cetera, whether established academicians, doctoral students
or master’s students. This will be the first academic conference devoted exclusively
to Scientology.
The topics listed below are meant to be
suggestive rather than exhaustive:
- Doctrinal characteristics
- Healing and therapy
- Sociological status: where does
Scientology fits into the typology of religious groups?
- Judicial issues addressing Scientology’s
religious status and ex-member lawsuits
- Membership: numbers, growth,
sociological profile
- Recruitment, missions
- Organization of the Church and its
networks
- Social and political conflict and
exposés
- Media coverage
- Human rights and humanitarian
programs run by the Church, etc.
The language of the conference will
be English.
Organizing Committee: Chris Vonck, Professor
of Religious Studies and Dean of the faculty of Comparative Studies of Religion
at the University of Antwerp (Belgium); Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor of
North American Studies and Director of the Master’s Program in Religious
Studies at the Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3 (France); James R. Lewis,
Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø (Norway); Regis
Dericquebourg, Université de Lille-France, Group on the Sociology of Religion
and Secularism-CNRS-Paris (France).
The committee will select papers based
on their scholarly quality and non-partisan approach.
Papers will be considered for
publication, with editorial details provided during the conference.
Keynote Speakers will be announced
at a later date.
Additionally, Information on
housing, transportation and tours will be provided later.
Deadline for proposal submissions: 30 September 2013.
Send a 10
line abstract, with a 5 line résumé of your previous work to:
[Antoinism - In order to benefit
from the meeting of international scholars in Antwerp, the local organizers
also plan a workshop on a major therapeutic new religion, Antoinism, which
originated in Belgium at the beginning of the 20th century. To submit
a proposal for the workshop, follow the same guidelines as set forth above.]