Religion

In an increasingly interconnected world, religion continues to play a critical role in the lives of individuals and their relations to society. Processes of colonialism, migration, and globalization have shaped and have been shaped by religion, leading scholars and public

intellectuals to rethink traditions, beliefs, and practices and how they mediate power relations within the political, scientific, and secular spheres of society. The Department of Religion at the University of Florida invites both graduate and undergraduates studying religion to submit papers focusing on the relationship between religion and power. Graduate student papers will be organized in a series of panels in order to facilitate discussion and to allow speakers to field questions from their peers. Additionally, there will be one panel dedicated to undergraduate papers.

Interested scholars should submit a 200-300 word abstract to ufreligiondept@gmail.com by January 9, 2017. Please include in your abstract submission a preferred email address and your

university and department affiliation. If selected, authors will be informed of their acceptance in late January. Of special interest are papers that develop cross- disciplinary connections, methods, and theoretical approaches to the study of religion. Some possible questions/themes this conference seeks to engage are:

• • What is the role of religion in negotiating unequal power relations based on differences in politics, race, gender, class etc.?
• • How does religion aid/hinder the construction of borders between lands and people?
• • What is the relationship between religion and power in determining truth?