Dear colleagues,


Please accept my apologies for cross-posting, and see below (and widely
circulate!) the Call for Papers for 'Gender, Religion and the Atlantic
World,' to be held at Newcastle University on May 15, 2014.

CfP also attached




*Gender, Religion and the Atlantic World Newcastle University May 15, 2014*


 The relationship between religious experience and gender remains
underexplored in academic scholarship. While it is largely held that the
‘victims’ of religion, in all its manifestations, are female, and the
‘perpetrators’ male, the reality is clearly less straightforward. This
assumption does, however, beg further investigation into the dynamics
attendant upon religious experience and/or practice, and gender.


Religion, generally, as a mode of identity production, is currently
understudied in postcolonial studies (not least in its intersection with
gender), and is richly varied in its manifestations in the formerly
colonised – and colonising – Atlantic World. This symposium seeks to
address this critical lacuna.


In 1937, Jamaican feminist journalist, poet and playwright Una Marson
argued that religion appealed more to women than to men; at the same time,
a male colleague lamented that Jamaican manhood was “not progressing as it
should.” This symposium will ask: is there is a connection between a
perceived ‘crisis of masculinity,’ ‘feminisation of culture,’ and religion?
What is the nature of the intersection between religious practice and
gender identification? Furthermore, this symposium hopes to explore how
religion has been and continues to be used in processes of masculinisation
and feminisation, and in discourses of intimacy, sexuality and affectivity,
which have gained critical currency in recent postcolonial scholarship.


The dynamic between men and women, gender and sexuality, is often fluid and
unstable in religious expression. Often, praxis and doctrine are not
equally aligned. This symposium will explore the religiosity of everyday
public and private life by re-evaluating the role religion (in all its
forms, canonical or otherwise) has in cultural discourses of the
once-colonised world, particularly highlighting its role in gender identity
production. It will encourage researchers from all disciplines and levels
to discuss questions raised by their own research in an informal
atmosphere, suggest best practices and foster networks of communication for
further research.

Researchers are invited to present papers, not to exceed 20 minutes, on
(but not limited to) the following topics:

-          Masculinity and/or femininity and religion

-          Religion and postcoloniality

-          Religious syncretism

-          Evolution of religious doctrine

-          ‘Cult’ vs. ‘Religion’

-          Histories of particular religious practices

-          Afro-religions/religious practices

-          Religion and gender(ed) identity

-          Religious affiliation and sexual expression

-          Queer religiosity/ies.

Please send short abstracts of no more than 250 words, plus a short bio of
no more than 100 words to Janelle Rodriques at
[log in to unmask] February 17, 2014.


For more information, please see
http://genderreligionatlantic.wordpress.com/



With support from the Newcastle University Postcolonial Research Group,
Newcastle University Gender Research Group, and the Postcolonial Studies
Association.