Announcement – Political Theology Network Interdisciplinary Outreach, Schedule For 2017-2018

In an effort to promote the Political Theology Network across a variety of academic institutions, organizations, and associations, we have put together some exciting interdisciplinary outreach projects over the next few months. The goals of this interdisciplinary outreach initiative are:

(1) to increase the exposure of the Political Theology Network at interdisciplinary conferences and institutions;

(2) to support political theologians whose work require inter-/cross-/anti-disciplinary methods;

(3) to honor and support scholars outside the traditional fields of religion and theology whose work will have a significant impact for the way political theologians think about today’s complex moral and political questions; and

(4) to creates spaces for collaborations between academics, intellectuals, and community leaders of various disciplines.

 Here’s what we have in store for 2017-2018…

Interdisciplinary Conferences:

 National Women’s Studies Association (Baltimore, MD): November 15 – 19^th, 2017.

 The Political Theology Network is supporting the work of Tiffany Jeanette King,

Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University.

Dr. King will moderate four panel sessions and organize a workshop around her book which explores intersections of settler colonialism and anti-blackness. For more details on her book project, please check out the “Political Theology Today” blog in the spring for a special guest post from Dr. King herself.

American Philosophical Association – Pacific Division (San Diego, CA): March 28 – April 1, 2018

Jamie Aroosi of Yeshiva University will organize two panels under the already-established Political Theology group of the APA-Pacific. He will also host two dinners with APA members to discuss what sorts of creative collaborations can occur between the fields of philosophy and political theology.

 American Comparative Literature Association (Los Angeles, CA): March 30 – April 1st, 2018.

 The Political Theology Network is proud to support Alex Dubilet, Senior Lecturer at Vanderbilt University, as he organizes a seminar on Political Theology and Literature at the ACLA conference. The accepted seminar involves ten scholars and will consist of three days of discussion. Dr. Dubilet will also organize a dinner for all seminar participants and will also evaluate the submitted papers for a possible special issue of the Political Theology journal.

 American Association of Geographers Conference (New Orleans, LA): April 10 – April 14, 2018.  

 Tiffany Jeanette King will present an overview of her book project on settler colonialism and anti-blackness at this annual meeting of geographers. She will also use her time at the conference to promote the Political Theology ,Network and collaborate with other colleagues working on related topics.

Caribbean Philosophical Association Meeting (Dakar, Sénégal): June 19-22, 2018.

 An Yountae of California State University Northridge will be organizing a panel on “Political Theology and Decolonial Thought” and will facilitate various conversations and meetings about bridging the two disciplines. He will also organize a manuscript-writing workshop on one of his current projects.

Critical Ethnic Studies Association Conference (Vancouver, Canada): June 21-24, 2018.

 The Political Theology Network also plans to have a presence at the Critical Ethnic Studies Association Conference in Vancouver. Wonhee Anne Joh of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary will present a paper and organize a dinner to promote the Political Theology Network among colleagues in the field of critical ethnic studies.

Other Interdisciplinary Outreach Projects and Collaborations:

Sponsored Lectures

In October, The Political Theology Network sponsored a group of public lectures by Pooja Rangan, Assistant Professor of English in Film and Media Studies at Amherst College, and author of the book Immediations: The Humanitarian Impulse in Documentary (Duke University Press, 2017). Public lectures were held in October at:

•  UC Santa Cruz Visual and Media Cultures Colloquium
•  UC Santa Barbara, Film and Media Studies Department
•  Pomona College, Politics Department
•  California State Fullerton, Department of Radio/TV/Film

Dr. Rangan will also be a distinguished guest at the 2017 Mentoring Initiative dinner in Boston on Monday, November 20^th, where we will give away copies of her book to the nine PhD students selected for our mentoring program. She will be contributing a blog post to “Political Theology Today” within the next few months, so please check back to learn more about her amazing work!

Distinguished Scholar in the Humanities and Book Talk

The Political Theology Network is honored to have Lisa Lowe, Distinguished Professor and
Director of the Center for the Humanities at Tufts University, as our guest at the 2017 Mentoring Initiative dinner in Boston, where we will give away copies of her book, The Intimacies of Four Continents, to the nine PhD students selected for our mentoring program. Dr. Lowe’s work will be invaluable to the Mentoring Initiative participants, as her writings have profoundly shaped the way anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and anti-imperial scholars engage with the study of history and its archives.