This Unit analyzes the interface between philosophy and religion, including both philosophical positions and arguments within various specific religious traditions and more generalized philosophical theories about religion. We include in our purview not only traditional topics of Western philosophy of religion but also those arising from non-Western traditions and from the study of religion more broadly.
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Philosophy of Religion Unit
Call for Proposals
In order to foster rich, innovative, and challenging intellectual conversations, the Philosophy of Religion Unit is committed to inclusion. Our Unit expects pre-arranged sessions or panel proposals to incorporate diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, and rank.
The steering committee invites proposals on (but not limited to) the following topics:
- Expanding the canon and/or unconventional sources for the philosophy of religion
- Bruno Latour: In the year of his passing and 10 years after the publication of his lectures on natural religion, we welcome explorations of Bruno Latour's legacy for the study of religion, ecology, and/or science (for a possible co-sponsorship with the Religion and Ecology unit)
- Literature, poetry, and philosophy of religion, especially in relation to those religious traditions, texts, and thinkers that often philosophize about religions via literary and poetic methods, that expand our understanding of philosophical methodologies.
- Frantz Fanon and Aime Cesaire as resources for philosophy of religion
- Queer theory and philosophy of religion: How would queer theory be framed by philosophy of religion? Could philosophy of religion be transformed into a type of queer discipline? If so, how? Which new theorists beyond the established ones (Foucault, Butler, Kosofsky Sedgwick, etc.) could help shape how we think about or even theorize the value of "queer theory" within the context of philosophy of religion?
- New and critical approaches to phenomenology
- Hope and/or pessimism
- Responses to Keri Day’s book, Azusa Reimagined: A Radical Vision of Religious and Democratic Belonging (Stanford, 2022)
- Geertz’s Interpretation of Cultures 50 years later
In addition to individual papers, we welcome proposals for prearranged sessions (i.e., an entire session with a designated group of presenters) on these or other topics that will be of interest to philosophers of religion. Proposals have a much greater chance of acceptance if they are written so as to be accessible to philosophers with no expertise on the particular topics or figures dealt with in the proposed paper, and they make very clear the central thesis and main line(s) of argument of the proposed paper.
Statement of Purpose
Chairs
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Stephen Bush, Brown University1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027
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Lori K. Pearson, Carleton College1/1/2020 - 12/31/2025
Steering Committee Members
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Danube Johnson, Harvard University1/1/2018 - 12/31/2023
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Leah Kalmanson, University of North Texas1/1/2020 - 12/31/2025
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Cyril Uy, James Madison University1/1/2023 - 12/31/2028
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Carol Wayne White, Bucknell University1/1/2020 - 12/31/2025
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Joseph Winters, Duke University1/1/2023 - 12/31/2028
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An Yountae, California State University, Northridge1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027