The Uses of Religion

 Armstrong Browning Library • March 16-19, 2016 • Baylor University

In 2016 the Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor University is hosting a special conference on “Uses of ‘Religion’ in 19th C. Studies.” Work on the invention and history of the category “religion” by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, political philosophers, theologians, and scholars of religious studies has begun to influence scholarship on nineteenth-century literature and culture. Literary scholars of the nineteenth century have thereby increasingly recognized that the modern category of “religion” is a uniquely Western construction generated and reinvented in mutually constitutive dialogue with “the secular” and forms of secularism, and never in neutral ways—being, for example, deeply entangled with the formation of state power, imperial expansion, and discriminatory portrayals of non-Europeans. Within the last five years, scholars such as Michael Warner, Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, Jonathan VanAntwerpen, and Philip Gorski have edited important interdisciplinary collections on the religious, the secular and secularism, their historical constructions, and their (troubled) applications to European and global contexts. Comparable interdisciplinary discussions are still needed in nineteenth-century studies, in particular between scholars of nineteenth-century literature and scholars from other disciplines. This conference is designed to address the need. 

The Armstrong Browning Library (ABL) is a world-renowned research center and rare-collections library devoted to the study of nineteenth-century literature and culture, located on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. In keeping with the ABL’s holdings and areas of scholarly focus, proposals on nineteenth-century authors and texts in some way linked to Europe and North America will be given priority, though the committee is open to proposals on all subjects related to the conference theme. Furthermore, although this conference will critically interrogate Western conceptions of “religion,” it does not promote, and indeed aspires to resist, confining attention to “Western” forms of religious belief and practice. The conference will highlight literature, but scholars of every discipline interested in reconsidering uses of “religion” in nineteenth-century studies are strongly encouraged to submit proposals for papers. 

Proposals might address, but are not limited to, the following broad topics:

The causes and consequences—literary, socio-economic, theological, political—of the dominantly epistemological view of religion in nineteenth-century Western societies

Constructions of the secular and forms of secularism vis-à-vis religion through literary texts, and how disciplines other than literary studies might approach this subject

Constructions of the category “literature” vis-à-vis religion and forms of secularism through literary texts, and how disciplines other than literary studies might approach this subject

Renderings of religion and religious experience in nineteenth-century poetry and poetics—in discussions of poetics and prosody; in the practice of verse; in the construction of the category “poetry”; or in related debates about the “poetics” of worship, devotion, and church architecture

Formation of religion and religious experience through the interaction of nineteenth-century music, visual art, literature, and other arts, both secular and sacred

The degree to which the categories of religion and religions are specific to the history of Western Christianity, and the(mis)representations that result when nineteenth-century Western writers apply them to geographically diverse beliefs, rituals,and practices

Relationships among imperialism, orientalism, constructions of race, the comparative study of religion, and representation of religion in nineteenth-century literature 

Representations of religion in scholarship on nineteenth-century literature and culture, and how this scholarship is itself historically conditioned and in need of critique

How religion is defined and experienced as a result of the rapid growth of print culture, mass media, mass communications, and new communications technologies

How constructions of religion and narratives of secularization are entangled with portrayals of class and class tensions, particularly as these are mediated through literature

Gendered constructions of religion, religious experience, the secular, and secularism in nineteenth-century literature and culture

Deployments of religion as a category in representations of science and scientific authority in nineteenth-century literary texts 

The Armstrong Browning Library serves as a library of record of research materials relating to Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. We acquire, preserve, and provide access for effective use of these materials and our other collections, and promote opportunities for the study, appreciation, and understanding of the Brownings and the wider field of 19th-century literature and culture. Visit us online at browninglibrary.org.

Proposals should be for paper presentations of 20-25 minutes. Fifteen will be selected for the conference. Two of these fifteen spaces will be reserved for PhD candidates or those who have received their PhD within the last three years. All fifteen invited participants will receive generous travel funding (up to $1,250 for participants outside of North America; up to $750 for participants within North America but outside the U.S.; up to $400 for participants within the U.S.); coverage of all conference meals; and fully funded lodging in apartments near the Armstrong Browning Library (ABL). 

Participants will present their papers at the ABL in sessions open to the public, and all speakers will be expected to attend every session. The ABL will also coordinate sessions with rare materials specialized to participants’ interests. The long-term hope is to revise papers from this conference for an edited collection on “The Uses of ‘Religion’ in Nineteenth-Century Studies.”

A 300-500 word proposal, and a one-page CV with primary publications and research achievements, should be emailed to ablconferences@baylor.edu. 

Deadline for Proposals: 5:00 p.m. Friday, September 18, 2015 

Further details will be available on the ABL’s website in due course. Any queries should be sent to the lead organizer, Joshua King, at ablconferences@baylor.edu.

INCS 2014 Essay Prize

Guidelines and Eligibility

Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies (INCS) invites nominations and submissions for its annual essay prize. The $500 award recognizes excellence in interdisciplinary scholarship on any nineteenth-century topic.

Articles that appeared in print in a journal or an edited collection in 2014 are eligible; if the date of publication is not 2014, but the essay appeared in 2014, it is eligible. Essays published in online, peer-reviewed journals are considered to be “in print” and are thus eligible.

We encourage INCS members to nominate essays written by other INCS members or to submit their own work. To be eligible for the prize, authors must be current members of INCS. Potential contestants may join INCS for the purpose of competing. Current and recent INCS board members are not eligible for this contest.

The winning essay will be announced at the 2015 INCS conference, sponsored by Georgia Tech University in Atlanta, from April 16-19, 2015. The winner will be invited to assemble a panel for the 2016 INCS conference.

Please send an electronic copy of the nominated essay (PDF preferred) to Professor Lynn Voskuil, University of Houston, at incsprize2014@gmail.com no later than January 20, 2015; in the case of an essay that appeared only online, a durable link is acceptable in lieu of a PDF. For more details about the essay competition, the conference, or the organization, we invite you to visit the INCS website: http://www3.nd.edu/~incshp/. Specific questions about the 2014 essay contest may be directed to Lynn Voskuil at lvoskuil@uh.edu.

British Women Writers 2015 Conference

The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, June 25th -27th, 2015. The conference theme is “Relations” in British women's writing of the long 18th- to 19th-centuries. The submission deadline is January 5th, 2015. The CFP can be accessed at https://britishwomenwriters2015.wordpress.com/call-for-papers/. 

NCSA 2015 Article Prize

The Nineteenth Century Studies Association (NCSA) is pleased to announce the 2015 Article Prize, which recognizes excellence in scholarly studies from any discipline focusing on any aspect of the long 19th century (French Revolution to World War I). The winner will receive a cash award of $500 to be presented at the Thirty-sixth Annual NCSA Conference, “Material Cultures/Material Worlds” in Boston, MA (March 26-28, 2015).
Articles published between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2014 are eligible for consideration for the 2015 prize and may be submitted by the author or the publisher of a journal, anthology, or volume containing independent essays. The submission of essays that take an interdisciplinary approach is especially encouraged. The winning article will be selected by a committee of nineteenth-century scholars representing diverse disciplines. Applicants are encouraged to attend the conference at which the prize will be awarded.
Send one PDF file electronically of published articles/essays, including the publication’s name/volume/date etc. to the chair of the committee at the following email address: jmhill@unr.edu. All submissions via email will be acknowledged; queries should be addresses to Professor Jen Hill at the same email address. Applicants must verify date of actual publication for eligibility, and one entry per scholar or publisher is allowed annually. Essays written in part or entirely in a language other than English must be accompanied by English translations. Deadline for submission is September 30, 2014. 

The NCSA 2015 Emerging Scholars Award

The Nineteenth Century Studies Association (NCSA) is pleased to announce the 2015 Emerging Scholars Award. The work of emerging scholars represents the promise and long-term future of interdisciplinary scholarship in 19th-century studies. In recognition of the excellent publications of this constituency of emerging scholars, this award will be given to an outstanding article or essay published within five years of the author's doctorate. Entries can be from any discipline focusing on any aspect of the long 19th century (the French Revolution to World War I); they must be published in English or be accompanied by an English translation, and must be by a single author. Submission of essays that are interdisciplinary is especially encouraged.

Entrants must be within five years of having received a doctorate or other terminal professional degree, and must have less than seven years of experience either in an academic career, or as a post-terminal-degree independent scholar or practicing professional.

Only articles physically published between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2014 (even if the citation date of the journal is different) are eligible for the 2015 Emerging Scholar Award. Articles published in any scholarly journal, including on-line journals, or in edited volumes of essays are eligible and may be submitted either by the author or the publisher of a journal, anthology, or volume containing independent essays. In any given year, an applicant may submit more than one article for this award.

The winning article will be selected by a committee of nineteenth-century scholars representing diverse disciplines. Articles submitted to the NCSA Article Prize competition are ineligible for the Emerging Scholars Award.

The winner will receive $500 to be presented at the annual NCSA Conference in Boston, MA March 26-28, 2015. Prize recipients need not be members of the NCSA but are encouraged to attend the conference to receive the award.

Deadline for submission is September 30, 2014.

Send electronic PDF submissions to: pcroce@stetson.edu, Chair of the Emerging Scholars Award, Professor Paul Croce, Department of History, Stetson University.  If necessary, three off-prints or photocopies of published articles/essays may be mailed to the committee chair. Please note that applicants must verify date of actual publication for eligibility and provide an email address so that receipt of their submissions may be acknowledged.

Call for Papers

36^th Annual Conference of the Nineteenth Century Studies Association

March 26-28, 2015 – Boston, MA

Material Cultures/Material Worlds

"What would happen to our thinking about politics if we took more seriously the idea that technological and natural materialities were

themselves actors alongside and within us - were vitalities, trajectories, and powers irreducible to the meanings, intentions, or

symbolic values humans invest in them?" -- Jane Bennett

We seek papers and panels that investigate elements of the material world belonging to the long nineteenthcentury. Topics may include collecting, possession(s), things and thing theories, realism, hoarding, bric-a­brac, souvenirs, historic houses (interiors and rooms), buildings and “truth to materials,” collecting folkloreand songs, Atlantic trade, colonial objects, commodity fetishism, animals as things (taxidermy, zoos, taxonomies), people as things (slavery, human zoos, relics, death masks), cabinets of curiosity, closets,antiquities, museum displays, theatrical stages and sets, textures, books and manuscripts as objects, themateriality of texts, art materials, food, fraudulent items or the luxury trade. We invite alternate interpretations of the theme as well.

Please email 250-word abstracts for 20-minute papers along with one-page CVs to the program chairs by September 30, 2014 to ncsaboston2015@gmail.com. Paper abstracts should include author's name, institutional affiliation, and paper title in the heading. We welcome panel proposals with three panelists and amoderator or alternative formats with pre-circulated papers and discussion.

Please note that submission of a proposal constitutes a commitment to attend the conference if the proposal isaccepted. All proposals received will be acknowledged, and presenters will be notified in November 2014.Graduate students whose proposals are accepted may, at that point, submit complete papers in competitionfor a travel grant to help cover transportation and lodging expenses. Scholars who live outside the NorthAmerican continent, whose proposals have been accepted, may submit a full paper to be considered for theInternational Scholar Travel Grant (see NCSA website for additional requirements http://www.ncsaweb.net).