A new grants program for journalists, sponsored by the Knight Program at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism: Knight Grants for Reporting on Religion and American Public Life, sponsored by the Knight Program at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, provides funding for projects that explore how religion -- morals, values, spirituality and the search for meaning -- shapes responses to social issues, including housing, health care, poverty, sexuality, immigration, economic equity, and civil rights in the US.
here & there
Announcements, events, and opportunities related to topics of interest to TIF readers are posted here. Additionally you may find round-ups of news items and brief commentary on current events.
For a listing of all of the events announcements, click here.
For a listing of announcements regarding books, click here.
Book Launch: Religion and International Relations Theory
by Joseph BlankholmThere will be a book launch and panel discussion at Columbia University tomorrow, April 20th, for a new volume entitled Religion and International Relation Theory.
Event: Islam in Europe and America, CUNY, May 4-6, 2011
by Grace YukichThe Committee for the Study of Religion at CUNY Graduate Center in New York is holding a conference on Islam in Europe and America, May 4-6, 2011. Conference papers and workshops include, "Can Muslims Live in a Liberal Society?" (Christian Joppke) and "Is Critique Secular?" (Saba Mahmood). Speakers will include Ulrich Beck, Saba Mahmood, and Bryan Turner. Social Science Research Council President Craig Calhoun will give a lecture entitled "The SSRC and The Study of Religion." Admission is free.
From exodus to immigration
by Charles GelmanAt Killing the Buddha: "Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists broke matzo with Jewish Israelis in a Tel Aviv basketball court before this year’s Passover began. The “Out of Egypt” seder, a thousand-strong gathering in a seedy park near the central bus station, was four days early; many of the guests—African refugees and Asian migrant workers—are busy cleaning Israeli homes during Passover proper. The Sudanese and Eritrean guests have literal Out-of-Egypt stories to tell: Most lived in Cairo for months or years before crossing the Sinai by foot to get to Israel. But there’s no Moses in their exodus stories. There are Bedouin smugglers who charge thousands of dollars to lead them through the desert. There are Egyptian border guards who shoot. There are barbed-wire fences to run and jump—if they make it, into another people’s Zion."
“The Malaise of Modernity”: a radio series on the work of Charles Taylor
by Charles GelmanThe CBC Radio program Ideas recently ran a five-part series on the life and work of Charles Taylor, "The Malaise of Modernity: Charles Taylor in Conversation," which is now available to stream or to download as a podcast. Listen here.
Mamdani on the African uprisings
by John D. BoyMahmood Mamdami places the Egyptian revolution and other protest movements in the historical context of popular struggle in Africa.
TIF interview with Jean Comaroff republished in Cultural Anthropology
by Charles GelmanDavid Kyuman Kim's conversation with Jean Comaroff for the "Rites and Responsibilities" dialogue series, which originally appeared on this website last January, has been republished in the May 2011 issue of the journal Cultural Anthropology.
Sea burial of Osama bin Laden prompts criticism from scholars, clerics
by Charles GelmanThe Guardian reports that some Islamic scholars and clerics are claiming that Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was in violation of shari'a law and may provoke calls for retaliation against the United States.
CFP: “Ethics, Religion, and Civil Discourse”
by Grace YukichHow might schools play a role in encouraging or discouraging civil discourse across religious and political lines? The National Endowment for the Humanities announces a two-year project designed to explore these issues, housed in the Philosophy Department at Fresno State. The department has issued a call for papers for an inaugural conference for the program, which will take place October 13-15, 2011, and will be followed by an edited volume and a workshop for teachers on how to cultivate civility in an increasingly religiously diverse classroom environment.
Angela Merkel chided for unchristlike comments
by Charles GelmanDer Spiegel reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel is under fire for her allegedly unduly celebratory comments about the assassination of Osama bin Laden.