Childhood Studies and Religion Unit

The Childhood Studies and Religion Unit welcomes proposals for individual papers, sessions, and roundtables  that engage the intersection of religion and childhood or children, broadly construed. We are especially interested in proposals from non-Euro-American and non-Christian perspectives, and we welcome a range of methodologies from across the humanities and the social sciences.

This year,  we hope to organize sessions around one or more of the following topics:

The Future: Moving Past Paternalist Child Protection Approaches

This call invites a dialogue on critiquing neoliberal and paternalistic approaches to child protection, which often view children from an individualist perspective that overlooks social and political contexts. This call aims to envision a future beyond paternalist child development models, urging religious educators, scholars, and faith communities to critically reflect on contemporary issues facing children—such as immigration, poverty, child abuse, and gender and sexual discrimination—moving beyond paternalism to build a future where all children experience safe belonging.

The conversation for the call focuses on, but is not limited to

•  The colonial concept of child protection and its relationship with religion and impact on faith communities' initiatives and programs.
• The child protection views and the level of awareness in religion and religious studies programs and departments.
• The role of faith communities in creating child protection policies in public and political spaces and their impact on the lives of children locally and globally.
• Case studies of faith-based initiatives and child protection strategies.
• Practical approaches for integrating child protection into religious education and community programs.

We encourage scholars, educators, faith practitioners, children's ministry programs, policymakers, and community members to share their views, papers, and practices to help shape a future in which children are loved and recognized. For more information, please contact Dr. Rode Molla at rmolla@vts.edu. 

Childhood and Resilience

Historically, and even today, childhood is generally regarded as a period of learning and receiving, with little emphasis on children’s spiritual agency. Yet, the future requires societies to learn from children's resilience. Children raised in diverse cultures, religions, political systems, and communities face many daily challenges, shaping childhoods that demonstrate resilience through both survival and thriving. This call aims to spark a dialogue to shape a future rooted in children and their childhoods, to resist 21st-century polarization, and to harness embodied resilience, with a primary focus on children and their childhood experiences.

Suggested paper topics include, but are not limited to:

• Psychological and religious concepts, theories, and methods for studying children’s resilience and the role of religion in supporting or hindering it.
• The role of faith communities in nurturing or silencing children’s resilience.
• What is the future of religion and religious studies in framing religious education, not only to teach children but also to serve as a means for communities to learn from children's resilience in a rapidly changing, data-driven world?
• Ultimately, what kind of future can be shaped through children’s resilience?

We welcome interdisciplinary approaches from scholars in religion, psychology, child advocacy, education, and social studies. For more information, please contact Dr. Rode Molla at rmolla@vts.edu. 

Safeguarding our Children: Critical Dialogue on Childhood Protection Policies & Initiatives

In recent years, faith communities, religious organizations, and non-profits have wrestled with the notion of childhood rights along with proactive policies, procedures, and initiatives for protecting children in society such as the “Zero Abuse Project,” the Aleinu’s campaign (“Safeguarding our Children”), the Lutheran “Child Protection” initiatives, among many others. In most of these cases, the aim of these protections is often to protect or shape our future. This call invites critical discussion, reflections, and perspectives on such policies and initiatives and asks: how/why do childhood protections matter for our future?

Together, we might also explore:

• What is meant by “childhood protections” and who gets “protected”?
• What are the responsibilities of faith and spiritual communities when it comes to protecting or safeguarding children? How do we hold spiritual and faith communities accountable for protecting children?
• Who is responsible for safeguarding our children?
• How do we assess childhood protection policies and initiatives in religious and theological studies?
• What methodological approaches in religious and theological studies are necessary for grappling with the nuances of childhood protections?

For more information, please contact Dr. Kishundra King at kking@uts.columbia.edu. 

“Do we have a theological future?” Lessons to be learnt from Children & Adolescents Co-Sponsored Session with the Practical Theology Unit

The 2026 Presidential theme; “Future/s,” reminds us of Nelson Mandela’s often quoted remark, “The future belongs to our youth.” Children and youth ministry have been largely positioned within the discipline of practical theology internationally and in many local contexts of theological education. Ironically, there is still much theological reflection required through the lived realities and experiences of these youth. Perhaps the call for more interdisciplinary engagement among and with practical theologians is overdue? The 2026 Presidential theme calls for a re-visioning and imagining the future of practical theologies that take the place and voice of children and young people seriously.

This call invites participants to consider: Are we able to critically assess and help build futures for which we hope? What do these futures look like when we prophetically listen to children and young people? How are children and young people themselves envisioning their futures; might they be asking simply, “Do we have a future?” How do practical theologians and practitioners envision and live into the futures that they might imagine for younger generations, including childhood, (as active participants or protagonists of the present moment)?  How are sub-disciplines of practical theology (religious education, spirituality, pastoral care/ministry, homiletics, empirical theology, congregational studies, et al.) and faith practices engaging these questions? What do we know about children and young people and their beliefs in the future? This has numerous implications for theology, political engagement, mental health, activism, and more. We invite proposals from both scholars and practitioners.

The Practical Theology Unit regards practical theology – a discipline committed to bridging theological reflection and lived reality – uniquely positioned to offer critical insights and transformative practices to these important questions, and the Childhood Studies & Religion Unit aims to investigate the complex and multifaceted relation between religion and childhood functions as a forum for focused interdisciplinary and interreligious dialogue about the diverse relations of children and religion. As a co-sponsored session, we invite proposals for brief presentations that integrate these topics.

Session Format

The session will be designed to allow for interaction and shared reflection. We welcome formats that are not purely linear presentations — for example, short inputs combined with discussion, practice-based elements, or small experimental components. We will consider empirical work with and among children and young people. We also invite research that engages positive frameworks of children and young people and not merely deficit approaches to these. Submissions from a range of practical-theological and interdisciplinary contexts are encouraged.

Open Call - Panel or Roundtable Proposals 

If you are interested in proposing a session that is not listed above, we welcome panel and roundtable proposals. We are especially interested in sessions that are centered around the following:

• Newly published book projects involving children or childhood (author-meets critics).
• A roundtable of emerging scholars that explore the future of childhood studies & religion.
• Reflections from grant recipients who received the Lilly Endowment Inc’s “Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiatives” grant  or the “Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiatives" grant.

In your submission, please indicate the type of session you are proposing (panel or roundtable) along with the confirmed participants. Innovative and interactive sessions are especially welcome, and our co-chairs are happy to discuss what category might best fit any given proposal. In keeping with our commitment to presenting diverse perspectives and voices in each of our sessions, we also urge you to indicate what types of diversity your proposal or participants might represent. For more information, please contact Dr. Kishundra King at kking@uts.columbia.edu.