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Religious Reflections on Friendship Seminar

Call for Proposals

The Religious Reflections on Friendship Seminar invites proposals for papers and panel presentations that address the intersection of religion and friendship from any scholarly perspective and religious tradition. We welcome papers that broaden contemporary perspectives on friendship and challenge dominant perspectives on friendship, as they bring friendship and religion into dialogue with contemporary issues, needs, and challenges. The following themes, amongst others, may be engaged from the perspective of one or more religious traditions:

• Friendship within religious texts and/or historic time periods
• Theological and/or mystical perspectives on friendship
• Friendship and religious/theological ethics
• Friendship and interreligious/interfaith studies
• Indigenous perspectives on relationality and friendship
• Civic friendship and the common good
• Friendship practices amid current crises (climate, health, economic, political)
• Friendship and BLM (race-relations dialogue, liberation, solidarity)
• Friendship-informed pedagogies for the teaching of religion

Echoing 2021’s presidential theme "Religion, Poverty and Inequality: Contemplating Our Collective Futures" we most specifically invite papers that interrogate ways in which religious reflections on friendship may contribute to transformative thought and practices in charting anew our collective futures.

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this Seminar is to provide a broad forum in which the important but under-studied relationship of friendship can be studied, discussed, challenged, and ultimately enriched – from a variety of religious perspectives. Friendship is a relationship that is essential for flourishing. In times ripe with division and conflict, we assert that the study of friendship contributes towards furthering religious understanding and dialogue. Friendship as a religious topic, broadly and creatively defined, touches on matters of faith, ecclesiology, anthropology, history, politics, philosophy, ethics, race, gender, sex, class, and economics among others.

We welcome papers that explore friendship from different disciplines and theological/religious perspectives, and are open to a variety of methodological approaches. Papers from the Seminar are eligible to be considered for inclusion in two published volumes, the first focused on multireligious reflections and the second based on interreligious reflections. The volumes are expected to be published in the Religion and Borders Series (Fortress/Lexington Books).

Chairs

Steering Committee Members

Method

PAPERS
E-mail with Attachment (proposal is in attachment, not in body of e-mail)

Review Process

Proposer names are visible to chairs and steering committee members at all times