Catholic Studies Unit

The Catholic Studies Unit invites submissions on diverse subjects in the study of Catholics and Catholicism across time and place. We are interested in proposals that are attentive to the ways in which history and theory relate to one another within the field of Catholic Studies. Co-chairs are happy to consult with those who are developing individual papers, paper sessions, roundtable proposals, or other creative formats.

The Unit encourages proposals on the following topics for the 2025 meeting in Boston, MA.

Teaching with Catholic Objects

What makes an object “Catholic” and “pedagogical”?  This session will feature 8-10 panelists, each offering a short (5 minute) presentation featuring a single Catholic object with which they have had special success in a pedagogical setting. Proposals should describe the object and offer a summary of its power as a tool for teaching about Catholics and Catholicism. 

Catholics and Boston Busing, 50 Years Later

2025 marks approximately fifty years since Boston’s most intense period of protest and controversy around the state’s plan for school integration, commonly known as “busing.” Catholics were deeply enmeshed in the controversy. With a half-century’s distance, Catholic Studies calls for proposals that revisit this history, with an eye on Catholics’ involvement and influence, both official and lay, both overt and subtle. Topics might include: lay Catholic anti-busing activism; lay Catholic pro-integration activism (for example, the Interracial Council); Black Catholics’ voice and activity; official archdiocesan policies around Catholic schools as segregated “havens”; consequences and lingering effects of the events for Catholics and Catholicism in the city, etc. 

The Global Politics of the New “Counter-Cultural” Catholicism 

Recent decades have witnessed the rise, in many countries around the world, of a Catholic political class presenting themselves as “counter-cultural.” Drawing on the examples of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI as well as a certain interpretation of Catholic Social Teaching advanced by the likes of Patrick J. Deneen, these leaders have built successful coalitions by aligning themselves with ideals formerly labeled “conservative,” such as “family,” “community,” and “tradition.” At the same time, they position themselves as a haven, a safe harbor for those alienated by a wider culture of wokeness, open borders, sexual libertinism, abortion on demand, and gender fluidity. Catholic Studies seeks proposals exploring this rising Catholic political class in various locales around the world. 

Catholicism in Asia

The Catholic Studies Unit seeks proposals that will continue its recent series of sessions on Catholicism in Asia. We invite full session proposals in addition to individual papers. Creative proposals–experiments with method, topic, comparison, etc.--are welcome. 

Medieval Catholicism 

The Catholic Studies Unit seeks proposals in the area of medieval Catholic history and theology. We especially welcome considerations of medieval studies’ relation to Catholic Studies. Are Medievalists doing Catholic Studies? What should Catholic Studies scholars know about the Middle Ages? For example, medieval ideas about “self” and “other” were far more “fluid” with medieval communities shaped by an understanding that human bodies were a microcosm of the universe (the cosmos) while also concretely permeable by blood, breast milk, semen, and the body and blood of Christ. How do historical, literary, and theological explorations of medieval connectivity and fragmentation offer new directions for the field of Catholic Studies?

Religion and Reproductive Politics 

Catholic Studies, in potential collaboration with the North American Religions Unit, seeks proposals for a session on religion and access to healthcare, including access to reproductive care in light of the U.S. election of 2024.