The Immanent Frame has been a leading platform for groundbreaking public scholarship on secularism and religion since its founding in 2007.
This call invites essays that address US politics and religion, broadly construed, in contemporary or historical perspective. Essays need not address phenomena that occur specifically in the territorial United States. Global and comparative perspectives are especially encouraged. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the role of religious ideas, practices, and organizations in the 2024 presidential race and its outcome; changing views on migrants, borders, and territory or land; moral refusal, political abstention, and the ethics of abandonment; deferral of responsibilities in governance and environmental crisis; war, militarization, and/or humanitarianism; and protest or activist ambivalence.
Scholars of any academic discipline and methodological orientation are invited to submit 1500-2000-word essays for consideration. Applicants are requested to articulate alongside their submission 1) the main question the essay addresses and 2) the significance of the question to the academic study and public understanding of secularism and/or religion.
Essays that foreground questions that have not received significant coverage on TIF or that suggest innovative approaches to enduring questions in the social sciences and/or the humanities will be considered favorably. TIF seeks submissions from a diverse pool of potential contributors, including with regard to institutional affiliation, rank, and research expertise.
The deadline for submissions is January 6, 2025. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The TIF Editor will liaise with applicants whose essays are selected. Only essays submitted through the online application form will be considered. Please direct any questions to ifblog@ssrc.org.