Religion and Cities Unit

The Religion and Cities Unit welcomes paper and panel proposals for the 2026 annual meeting in Denver. In addition to the specific calls described below, we welcome submissions that explore the practice of religion in the city, including papers that cover urban design, infrastructure, and architecture; religious approaches to issues of justice, interfaith encounters, and community collaborations; and the practice of religion in public space.

We especially invite submissions that showcase examples of pedagogical interactions with religion and cities; examine case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America; and engage the religious landscape of Denver and surrounding communities. In response to the 2026 Presidential theme, we welcome proposals exploring cities as crucibles of religious encounter, innovation, and contestation, where communities forge visions of what is yet possible.

Religion, Urban Ecology, and Environmental Humanities. We invite papers that explore the intersection of religion, urban ecology, and environmental humanities. Proposals might explore religious responses to urban environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, urban wildlife, and reforestation. Papers might also explore local landscapes and ecosystems (especially in Denver), indigenous perspectives on urban land and ecology, the relationship between human beings and other species, and understandings of cities as ecosystems or as in opposition to “the natural world.”

Urban Spaces of Healing. Although rhetoric about cities often focuses on instances of injustice and suffering, urban communities also host spaces of healing and flourishing. We invite papers that consider such spaces, especially as they relate to religious practice, community, and interfaith collaboration. Spaces of healing might include community gardens and parks, gatherings of belonging and mutual support, and examples of activism that strives for local justice and peace.

The Contested City. We seek proposals that examine the contestation of power and meaning within the city and how religious communities navigate or resist these dynamics. Papers might explore the financialization of urban design, the militarization and occupation of cities, and rhetoric about the city in terms of nationalism and national identity. Furthermore, we encourage submissions that engage the relationship between images of the city and religious visions of the future.