Call for Proposals

We welcome proposals for individual papers, papers sessions, and roundtables dealing with a number of related themes in religion, film, and visual culture:

• Cities


• Travel


• Borders, tunnels, and ports


• Fear and the unknown


• For a cosponsored session with the Religion and Cities Group, immigration and diaspora


• For a cosponsored session with the Music and Religion Group, belief, theology, and musical expression (i.e., the aural and visual in conversation)


• For a cosponsored session with the Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture Group, Tillich and film. What is the significance of Tillich’s theology of culture for work in film and theology? How does Tillich’s approach inform theological interpretation of film? What is meant by the claim that Tillich suggests the “possibility of revelation through film”?


• Papers and sessions with a global focus, although this could include global manifestations of a single religion or of the ways that different religions intersect. In particular, we are interested in international film and visual culture, such as Bollywood, Latino cinema, and/or Asian cinema


• For a cosponsored session with the Yoga in Theory and Practice Group, art, visual culture, and yoga (in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution’s “Yoga: the Art of Transformation” exhibition at the Sackler Gallery)


• Thoughtful interpretations of recent and/or particularly well-known films that play a defining role in the study of religion and film


• Furthering foundational issues in methods and theories of religion and film


• Addressing in some meaningful way the geographical area in which our current meeting is situated, in this case Baltimore and its harbors

Mission

This Group offers a forum for theory and methodology of the visual for those interested in the serious interdisciplinary study of religion, film, and visual culture. There is no single way to study religion and the visual, and we expect scholars to provide new perspectives on the way we understand visual culture and to provide this understanding through traditional and emerging methodologies.

Anonymity of Review Process

Proposer names are anonymous to Chairs and Steering Committee members during review, but visible to Chairs prior to final acceptance or rejection.

Questions?

Ken Derry
University of Toronto
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Rachel Wagner
Ithaca College
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Method of Submission