I wasn’t aware until just recently about this conference in the summer here in Indiana, on a topic that I know will interest many blog readers as much as it interests me: religion in the anthropocene. The deadline has been extended, and so this is a good time to share the call for papers!
RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES AND ALTERNATIVE FUTURES IN AN AGE OF HUMANS
MAY 17-20 2018
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
BLOOMINGTON, IN.
CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAPER PROPOSALS
Deadline for submission: February 11, 2018
Conference Theme:
The Anthropocene, a proposed term for a geological epoch characterized by unprecedented human transformation of the planet, originated in earth systems science and has since captured the imagination of many humanists. Discourse on the Anthropocene, which probes the meaning of humanity’s role and agency within deep time and planetary evolution, raises religious and ethical questions about how to understand humanity’s place within planetary evolution, and how to envision the future trajectory of humans and human societies.
This conference is part of a multi-year, multi-university project, “Being Human in the Age of Humans: Perspectives from Religion and Ethics,” funded by Humanities Without Walls. More information on the project is available here.
We, the conveners of the conference, do not assume that the Anthropocene is a given. Instead, we welcome critical engagement with the language, concepts, and social imaginaries of the Anthropocene. To foster such research and dialogue, we especially seek proposals that do the following:
- Critically analyze religious presuppositions of Anthropocene concepts and narratives (how, for example, are these narratives functioning like religion?)
- Challenge the presumed neutrality of Anthropocene narratives and futures (for example, analyses of how science is deployed or even distorted in Anthropocene discourse)
- Propose alternative approaches to understanding agency in the Anthropocene (e.g. alternatives to the anthropos of the Anthropocene as an undifferentiated human “species” or aggregate entity)
- Actively engage with indigenous perspectives, including alternative cosmological, narrative, and ethical frameworks for action.
- Develop feminist approaches to conceiving temporal aspects of environmental change, technology and religion.
- Create intellectual space for conceiving of environmental change in different ways, temporally, experientially, or otherwise (e.g. critical animal studies, multispecies approaches, extinction studies, evolutionary anthropology)
Click through to the conference website for more information as well as details of how to submit a paper proposal or register for the conference.
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