PTNCON25: Call for Seminar Streams

The Political Theology Network invites proposals for seminar streams to be featured at our fifth in-person conference, which will be held in Nashville, TN, from October 23-26, 2025. 

As part of our ongoing effort to experiment with conference structure and format, we will accept proposals in two stages: proposals for seminar streams (deadline: April 1, 2025) and proposals for individual papers to be included within the selected streams (anticipated deadline: May 9, 2025).

A seminar stream is a thematic cluster area that structures discussion and engagement during the conference. The themes are broad enough to invite interdisciplinary engagement but specific enough to focus conversation among 10-20 participants. Examples of past streams include: “Indigeneity and (Im)migration: Dispossession, Borders, and the State,” “Climate Change and Apocalypticism,” “Willing Slaves? Theology, Law, Race,” and “Global Assemblages: Religion and the Far Right.” 

Each stream proposal should include at least two, and no more than three, facilitators. Facilitators take leadership in reviewing and accepting individual paper proposals and facilitating group programming. Facilitators have access to a modest programming budget that can be used to purchase books for their groups, provide travel scholarships to participants, schedule speakers, etc. We anticipate the budget will be around $500, with a possibility for larger streams to request additional funding. Stream leaders will receive waived conference registration fees and subsidized accommodations. 

SEMINAR STREAM PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

To propose a stream, please email [email protected] with “PTNCON25 Stream Proposal” in the subject line. Please include the following information:

• Title of seminar stream + names of facilitators
• 250-350 word proposal + rationale. This might include questions or problems your stream seeks to address, discussion of the stakes of this focus, or reflections on method. All proposals should spend some time addressing how the stream relates to broader themes in political theology (conceived very broadly as an interdisciplinary conversation on the intersection between religious and political ideas and practices)
• 150-word draft abstract for a potential CFP for individual paper proposals (you can see examples of these abstracts in the 2023 conference CFP here).
• Short biographical statement for each co-facilitator

We especially welcome proposals that engage non-Christian and/or non-Western contexts as well those engaged with feminist/queer theory, anti-colonial frameworks, Black studies, critical ethnic studies, Native studies, and critical pedagogy. Committed to supporting knowledge production both within and beyond the formal academy, PTN welcomes contributions and participation from scholars, critics, and organizers situated across institutional contexts.

Once streams have been determined, we will release an open call for individual papers. We anticipate releasing this call in the first week of April with an expected deadline of May 9. All prospective participants will be notified of their acceptance or rejection by early June.

The conference itself will include both stream-specific breakout sessions, plenaries, opportunities to engage with the local Nashville context, and social events. There will also be general programming geared toward members who are not affiliated with a specific stream. Anyone may propose a stream or paper, but current membership in PTN is required for conference registration. Become a member here!

Questions? Email the organizing committee–led by Lucia Hulsether (chair) with Vincent Lloyd, Andrew Krinks, and Alex Dubilet–at [email protected].