**Note: Please reply to Prof. Cook, NOT to Sabina!**
Dear SAR colleagues:
I am soliciting expressions of interest in contributing to a potential
panel at the April 2007 SAR meetings in Phoenix. It will respond to the
third orienting question in the call for papers: What do contemporary
developments tell us about the relationship between religion, science,
and nature?
The panel's focus will be what have been termed "technospiritualities,"
groups or movements usually categorized as "religious" that are actively
integrating "scientific" symbols, methods, and actors. Examples of this
could be
- Specific new religious movements, such as Scientology or any of the
so-called UFO cults
- Large-scale trends, like the common New Age attempt to square
supposedly ancient religious or philosophical insights with supposedly
cutting-edge scientific research (N.b. I prefer to avoid the quite
fascinating topic of intelligent design/creationism so as to not to
preempt or overlap other panels, because I'm certain it will come up)
- Contexts for interaction, what Colin Campell called the "cultic
milieu," or what Peter Galison called "trading zones"
Presenters are encouraged to contextualize, problematize, and otherwise
interrogate each of the key terms in the question--"religion(s),"
"science(s)," "nature"--and all of the phenomena they examine. They are
further encouraged, if at all possible, to indicate through their
presentations how social-scientific studies of sciences and of religions
can be brought into constructive, fruitful dialogue in ways they are not
regularly.
I look forward to hearing from and working with those whose interest is
piqued by such an invitation.
Sincerely,
Ryan J. Cook, Ph.D.
visiting assistant professor
Department of Anthropology
Damen Hall 825D
Loyola University Chicago
6525 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago IL 60626
ofc 773-508-3447
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