The 2009 International Conference
Mainstreaming and Marginalization of Religious Movements
An International Conference organized by
CESNUR and The J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
in association with ISAR, The Office of Mayor - Salt Lake City Corporation, and The Suitter Axland Foundation.
Salt Lake City, Utah, 10-14 June 2009
CALL FOR PAPERS
Topics will include the relationship of old and new religions, societal responses to religious diversity and pluralism, and the emergence of issues involving marriage (gay marriages and plural marriages) in religious debate. The conference will assess the international, global-local, and local dimensions of religious pluralism, minority religions, new religious movements, new movements within Islam and Christianity, Esotericism and the new spirituality, survey the current situation, and consider the fate of religious and spiritual groups as they become either mainstream or marginalized in an increasingly multi-cultural and trans-national world. Papers will be accepted from a variety of perspectives (sociology, history, anthropology, psychology, law, religious studies).
Those who would like to present papers are invited to submit a 200-word abstract of their paper and a 200-word curriculum vitae to both cesnur_to@virgilio.it and mhomer@sautah.com before Friday 23 January 2009. Speakers will be allocated 20 minutes for their talks (but they can bring longer papers to give to interested participants or e-mail these later). Those who would like to arrange a full session should assume that they will have 2 hours, allowing time for 5 speakers or, if they prefer, 4 speakers and more time for discussion. The session organiser should, in turn, submit a 200-word synopsis of the whole session and 200-word CVs and abstracts for each speaker to both cesnur_to@virgilio.it and mhomer@sautah.com by 23 January 2009. The selection panel will be looking for empirical and theoretical contributions to the scholarly understanding of religious and spiritual pluralism, mainstreaming and marginalization of religious movements, and to the variety of societal and individual responses to them. Authors of papers that have been accepted will be notified before February 15, 2009.
The conference will begin in the late afternoon of Wednesday June 10 and it will end at midday Sunday June 14. The venues will include City Hall, Salt Lake City and The Salt Lake Public Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Guided tours of places of interest in and around Salt Lake City will be arranged. Participants will be responsible for arranging their own accommodation: there are plenty of good hotels in downtown Salt Lake City and you may want to consult your travel agent. Further details about the conference will be available in due course on the CESNUR (www.cesnur.org) website.
Unfortunately no scholarship will be available for participants. Each participant, including speakers, will be expected both to pay his or her travel and accommodation expenses, and to register before being included in the final programme.
