NWO – Invitation Conference: Gestures – Religion qua Performance
NWO – Invitation Conference: Gestures – Religion qua Performance
Gestures – Religion qua Performance
On Monday June 9 and Tuesday June 10, 2008, an international conference on religion as present-day phenomenon will be held in Utrecht, The Netherlands. This will be the fourth profiling conference of the NWO research programme ‘The Future of the Religious Past’ (2002-2009). It is organized by the programme committee in co-operation with national and local partners, a.o. the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM), the Reseacrh School INTEGON (Utrecht University) and the Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER). The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Gestures – Religion Qua Performance.’ (Previous conferences focused on ‘Conceptualizing Religion,’ ‘Powers – Sovereignty, Media and Beyond’ and ‘Things – Material Religion and the Topography of Divine Spaces.’)
The focus in this multidisciplinary conference is on the performative aspects of religious phenomena, from ritual and liturgical acts to dramatic expressions and various forms of embodiment. Pilgrimage, sacrifice and martyrdom are among the gestures that will be critically discussed, as are theatrical and musical performances, blasphemy, religious fashion, and spirit possession. Theoretical and conceptual papers will be juxtaposed with rich empirical descriptions based on recent or ongoing research in many different cultural contexts, with an emphasis on newly emerging forms of religious expression. The first day of the conference in particular focuses on the study of religion qua performance, while the second day concentrates on embodiment as generative theme in religious studies and theological reflection.
Key note lectures will be given by John Bowen, Kim Knott, Brent Plate and Regina Schwartz. Speakers and discussants further include Peter Clarke, Michael Lambek, Yvonne Sherwood, Ward Blanton, Meerten ter Borg, Annelies Moors, Christoph Baumgartner, Thomas Quartier and Stephan van Erp, besides scholars involved in the research projects of the ‘Future of the Religious Past’ programme.
