Call for Papers| 19-20 November 2014, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA

EXPLAINING NONRELIGION AND SECULARITY IN THE U.S. AND BEYOND

Conveners: Ryan Cragun (ryantcragun@gmail.com), Christel Manning (manningc@sacredheart.edu), and Phil Zuckerman (phil_zuckerman@pitzer.edu)

Keynote speakers: Professor Darren Sherkat (Sociology, Southern Illinois University), Professor Lori Beaman (Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottowa)

The study of nonreligion and secularity, long neglected by religion researchers, has recently become a growing field of inquiry.  The NSRN is an international, interdisciplinary association of scholars from various fields (religious studies, sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, history, etc.) who are interested in nonreligion, atheism, secularity, secularism, secularization – and related issues.  Since the NSRN convened its first international conference in 2009 at the University of Oxford, UK, research and publications dealing with nonreligion and secularity have continued to increase and diversify.  The third NSRN conference will reflect upon accumulated and newly emerging empirical work and focus attention on how these diverse phenomena can be explained. To what extent do they fit into existing theoretical frameworks, such as secularization theories, ‘desecularization’ theories and pluralist or ‘postsecular’ models? Do we need to refine these models, or even generate new theories altogether in order to understand the occurrence and nature of contemporary secular populations and nonreligious cultures?

The conference welcomes papers that further expand our understanding of nonreligion and secularity, including topics such as:

· Theoretical development in the study of secularity and nonreligion

· The explosion of the so-called “Nones” in the United States in the last two decades

· Nonreligion and secularity in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East

· Cross-cultural comparisons/contrasts of nonreligion and secularity

· Secularism and politics in the USA and around the world

· Intersections of non-religion and secularity with race, class, and gender

· The varieties of nonreligious experience

· Typological development in the analysis of secular people and secular movements

· Neurological and emotional aspects of secularity

· Secularity and sexuality

· Prospects for the further development of secular studies

· Ritual and community within secular culture

· Secular-religious conflict and cooperation

· Apostasy and religious rejection

Abstracts for panels and presentations should be submitted to Ryan Cragun at ryantcragun@gmail.com by 1 June 2014. Abstracts should be 250 words long and accompanied by a short biographical note.

Registration will open in April 2014. Full conference (includes all meals, does not include accommodations) is $155.

For hotel options, go to: https://www.pitzer.edu/about/visiting/lodging.asp