CFP: Political Theology Network Conference, April 2022, deadline extended!

The Political Theology Network invites proposals for its third conference to be held in Tempe, Arizona on April 7^th-9^th, 2022, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University. 

In response to the changing conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we aim to experiment with the conference format and structure. To this end, we will seek proposals (250-400 words) for individual papers exploring political theology (understood broadly as an interdisciplinary conversation about intersections of religious and political ideas and practices) in four distinct seminar streams:

1. Indigeneity and (Im)migration: Dispossession, Borders, and the State, led by Dana Lloyd ([email protected]) and Eleanor Craig ([email protected])
2. Climate Change and Apocalypticism, led by Kyle Lambelet ([email protected]) and Beatrice Marovich ([email protected])
3. Truth, Post-Truth, and Democracy, led by Tracy Fessenden ([email protected]), John Carlson ([email protected]), and Sarah Riccardi-Swartz ([email protected])
4. Beyond Secularization, led by Hanna Reichel ([email protected]) and Rafael Vizcaíno ([email protected])

The conference will be held seminar-style with each seminar stream (10-20 participants each) physically meeting April 8^th and 9^th, with an optional keynote panel the evening of April 7^th. In addition, as an attempt to grow the intellectual community among the members of the Political Theology Network, we will continue the seminar streams with two or three virtual meetings in the weeks following the conference. To this end, we also seek proposals for individual papers (250-400 words) for each of the streams above to be delivered online, after the in-person conference. We hope these virtual extensions of the conference will allow members of PTN who may not be able to make it physically to Arizona to be full participants in the on-going conversations.

In your proposal, please indicate which stream you would like your proposal sent to, and whether you are applying for an in-person slot (April 8^th or 9^th) or a virtual/online slot (in subsequent weeks). In addition, if you are applying for an in-person slot, please indicate whether you are open to delivering your work in a virtual format if that is the only available one. With your proposals, please include a short biographical statement (who are you?) and, for in person proposals, any tech requirements.

We especially welcome proposals that engage non-Christian and/or non-Western traditions as well those working with feminist theory, queer theory, decolonial theory, Latinx studies, indigenous studies, and/or Black studies.

Limited funding is available to cover travel and registration costs of a select number of contingent faculty or graduate student participants with exceptional proposals. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for this funding opportunity. Please, likewise, indicate whether there are ways that we can help you receive the necessary funding from your home institution. 

Deadline for proposals: 12/15; the deadline has been extended to 12/31. Notification: 1/7

To submit a proposal please email [email protected] with “PTN Conference Proposal” in the subject line. With questions, reach out to the stream leaders listed above or the PTN conference organizing committee: Brandy Daniels (chair), [email protected]; Alex Dubilet, [email protected]; and Vincent Lloyd, [email protected].

This conference is supported by the Political Theology Network, the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University, and grants from the Henry Luce Foundation.