A professional seminar on the study of religion, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be held next summer at the University of Virginia. Directed by Charles Mathewes and Kurtis Schaeffer, the seminar is intended to introduce participants
to the enormously productive re-thinking of the idea of “religion” that has happened in recent years, in order to assist those interested in developing a richer and more nuanced understanding of the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and pitfalls, that come with using the category of “religion” to understand highly diverse manifestations of human practice and belief within the United States and around the world today.
“[R]eligion as a topic of humanistic inquiry,” the directors further explain,
has become recognized as both necessary and valuable. But too many of the scholars compelled or attracted to issues associated with religion lack any rich acquaintance with the tremendously exciting and innovative work done on these topics, historically, analytically, and conceptually, in recent years. So we face a situation in which many humanities teacher-scholars recognize the importance of studying religion, but lack the best tools available for doing so. This seminar aims to help rectify this problem.
The deadline for applications is March 1, 2011. For more information, or to apply, see here.