Sociology of Religion: Foundations and Futures

Sociology of Religion Study Group (Socrel) Annual Conference
www.socrel.org.uk

Tuesday 7 – Thursday 9 July 2015 hosted by Kingston University London 
High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK
http://www.cct.org.uk/high-leigh/introduction 

Keynote Speakers:
Professor Nancy T. Ammerman (Boston University)
Professor James Beckford (University of Warwick)
Professor Grace Davie (University of Exeter)
Professor David Martin (London School of Economics)
Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University)

Since its foundation in 1975, the Sociology of Religion Study Group has become one of the largest in the British Sociological Association (BSA). Its membership includes educators and researchers from across the UK and internationally, and in 2015 the Sociology of Religion Study Group will be celebrating 40 years!

Given this occasion, it is an opportune moment to reflect on religion in society, and religion in sociology. From its foundation, Socrel has foregrounded research on secularisation, gender, spiritualities, embodied and lived accounts, materiality, generational innovations, atheism, social difference, migration, institutions, politicised expressions and methodologies in the study of religion. While this list does not account for all the many ways scholars have been investigating religion in social life – its various forms, intersections and spaces – it does speak to how religions continue to be important subjective and collective experiences that are stable and continuous, resistant and shifting. This conference will bring together scholars who have shaped and are shaping the discipline. It will be an opportunity to pay heed, not only to the Study Group’s and discipline’s accomplishments, but also an opportunity to address questions that still need answering, and questions that are emerging to inform future agendas and areas of concern and study, such as:
 
- What are the key points of continuity and innovation in theorising religion? 
- How are methodologies emerging and informing research on religion? 
- How are new approaches adapting and transforming old practices? 
- What are the key controversies that will occupy sociologists of religion? 
- What are the pedagogical challenges and innovations in teaching the sociology of religion? 

We invite you to celebrate with us by engaging in the conference questions from your particular area of research in the Sociology of Religion. 

Abstracts for individual papers (250 words max.) and panel proposals (500 words max.) are invited by 1 December 2014. Panels may take a standard 20-minute paper format or take alternative modes such as pre-circulated papers/work in progress/or ‘points of view’ that are 10-minutes long. Submissions should be made in Word format and include in the following order: Name, institutional affiliation, email address and paper title.

**All presenters must be members of Socrel.
Abstracts will be subject to peer review. Please note, presenters will be limited to one paper per person at the conference, but you may also organise a panel. 

-Abstract submissions open: 1 September 2014 
-Early bird registration opens: 1 September 2014
-Abstract submissions close: 1 December 2014
-Decision notification: 15 January 2015
-Presenter registration closes: 16 March 2015
-Draft programme online: 16 April 2015
-Early bird registration closes:  11 May 2015
-Registration closes: 15 June 2015 

Please send abstracts to the attention of the conference organisers:
Dr Sylvie Collins-Mayo (Kingston University London) and
Dr Sonya Sharma (Kingston University London) at: [log in to unmask]     

Should you have other questions about the conference please also contact the conference organisers at the above email address.

Online Registration: http://portal.britsoc.co.uk/public/event/eventBooking.aspx?id=EVT10391 

A limited number of bursaries are available to support postgraduate, early career, low income or unwaged Socrel members to present at the conference. Please visit www.socrel.org.uk for instructions, and to download an application form, and submit your bursary application along with your abstract by 1 December 2014.

Socrel is the British Sociological Association’s study group on Religion. For more details about the study group and conference please visit www.socrel.org.uk.