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*** Apologies for cross posting.*** Dear colleagues, Please note that the deadline for our Call for Papers has been extended to Friday 12th January 2018. To access the call for papers and to download the conference bursary application form, please visit: https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/socrel-annual-conference/ Call for papers: Sociology of Religion Study Group (SocRel) Annual Conference Tuesday 10th – Thursday 12th July 2018 University of Strathclyde Theme: Religion and Education Keynote speakers: Professor Mary Lou Rasmussen, Australian National University Dr Anna Strhan, University of Kent Professor Yvette Taylor, University of Strathclyde Associate Professor Liam Gearon, University of Oxford Dr Mathew Guest, Durham University Contemporary geopolitics has shone a light on the extent to which religious identity is used, and abused, as a marker of social identity in the face of fracturing publics. Education is increasingly expected to carry the load, traditionally ascribed to religions, of providing social contexts that bind communities. Because education is both formative and informative, it is often regarded as a key mechanism through which identities and publics can be shaped, and where subversive tendencies, often framed in terms of extremism, can be monitored. How should we understand the role of education in forming religious identities (and communities) alongside other complex dimensions of identity formation? Questions of indoctrination, or of competing rights (between parents, children, religious groups and state authorities) are relevant in the current educational landscape, especially schooling. These questions frame religious identity in particular ways, displacing or excluding certain marginal religious voices. Beyond schooling, education entails formative processes from pre-school parenting to lifelong learning, from formal educational spaces, to more progressive and informal spaces. It is among these complex and contested settings that certain questions come to the fore: Are religious identities in tension with other aspects of identity, such as gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, etc? How do forms of social change affect the ways religious identities shape, and are shaped by, education? How do children and young people situate themselves in relation to religion? How can we best mediate the competing rights of children, parents, religious groups, and state authorities? In what ways do secularism and ‘postsecularism’ relate to education? What are the places for humanism, atheism, or non-religion within these debates? What opportunities are there for the inclusion of diversity of religious practice and identity in public schooling? How does the way we frame religion and education affect the social problems that emerge from their relations? The conference welcomes a wide range of topics exploring religion and education in society. Possible topics could include (but are not limited to) the following: • Religious education in the curriculum • Religious upbringing and parenting • Religious educational institutions • Religious education, identity and visibility • Intersections with class, gender, sexuality, race • Rights and citizenship • Religious literacy and pluralism • Religious identity (trans)formation and migration • Global insecurity and geopolitics • Philosophy, science and religion in education • Religious observance and collective worship To propose a paper, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, alongside a biographical note of no more than 50 words. We will also be accepting a limited number of panel proposals. To propose a panel, please send an abstract of no more than 500 words alongside a biographical note of no more than 50 words for each contributor. Please send abstracts to the conference organizer, Dr David Lewin, using the following email address: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> A limited number of bursaries are available to support postgraduate, early career, retired, low income or unwaged SocRel members to present at the conference. Please https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/socrel-annual-conference/ for instructions, and to download an application form, and submit your bursary application along with your abstract by 12th January 2018 All presenters must be members of SocRel. Selected authors will be invited to contribute to an edited volume. Key Dates: • Abstract submission closes: 12 January 2018 • Decision notification: 26 January 2018 • Presenter registration closes: 26 March 2018 • Early bird registration closes: 3 June 2018 • Registration closes: 25 June 2018 Please note that from Monday, 4 June 2018, a £50 late registration fee will apply to all bookings. For further details, visit https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/socrel-annual-conference/ Rachael Shillitoe Research Student – Faith on the Air SocRel Conference and Events Officer University of Worcester Research School Jenny Lind Building Farrier Street Worcester WR1 3BB SOCREL-PG is the Postgraduate e-mail list of the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group. To join SOCREL-PG, send the following one-line message: join socrel-pg YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME to: <[log in to unmask]> Send contributions to the list by sending messages to: [log in to unmask] To leave SOCREL-PG, send the following one-line message: leave socrel-pg YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME to: <[log in to unmask]>