{"id":37161,"date":"2016-07-24T06:13:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T10:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=37161"},"modified":"2016-07-21T08:17:57","modified_gmt":"2016-07-21T12:17:57","slug":"fantastic-fan-cultures-and-the-sacred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2016\/07\/fantastic-fan-cultures-and-the-sacred.html","title":{"rendered":"Fantastic Fan Cultures and the Sacred"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

John Morehead shared<\/a> this exciting call for submissions:<\/p>\n

Call for Submissions for an anthology volume: Fantastic Fan Cultures and the Sacred<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

They ways in which people pursue religion has changed in America and the West. Traditional, institutional religions are in decline, and even among those who claim \u201cNone\u201d as their identity, an individualized spirituality of seeking is growing in popularity. As a part of this quest, the sacred often comes in seemingly nonreligious forms. Gary Laderman, a scholar of religion asks in light of this situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what if the sacred is not only, or even primarily, tied to theology or religious identity labels like more, less, and not religious? We might see how religious practices and commitments emanate from unlikely sources today\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those unlike sources of the sacred is fantastic fan cultures. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres are incredibly popular and have become multimillion dollar facets of the entertainment industry. But there is more here than meets the eye. Fantastic fandom has also spawned subcultures that include sacred aspects.<\/p>\n

Fantastic Fan Cultures and the Sacred<\/i> will be an edited anthology that explores the sacred aspects of fantastic fandom. \u00a0Its content will be academically informed, but accessible to average readers so that it appeals not only to scholars who wanting to learn more about pop culture and religion, but also to average fans who will expand their understanding of their fandom and culture.<\/p>\n

Possible topics for this volume include but are not limited to:<\/p>\n