S - International Society for the Sociology of Religion

S
I S S R
S Network 34
R
Réseau December 2008
Published by: Karel Dobbelaere
| |
| |
|Jean-Paul Willaime, Peter Beyer, Karel Dobbelaere, Jean-Pierre Hiernaux, |
|Juan-Luis Pintos, the Members of the Council, the Conveners of the Sessions, |
|Hilde Van Meerbeeck-Cravillon and the Secretaries send you their Season's |
|Greetings and their best wishes for good health, happiness and success for you |
|and your loved ones in the Year 2009. We are all looking forward to meet you |
|at the 30th ISSR-Conference in Santiago de Compostela ! | |Your responsibility: |
|- The Conveners of the Sessions should check if all information |
|concerning their programme is correct, see pp. |
|- The members proposing a paper should check all information concerning|
|themselves, see pp |
|- And all should verify that they are not, according to the programme, |
|expected to be at the same time in two simultaneous sessions. See the |
|program-table p. |
|All remarks should be sent before January 15th 2009 to the General |
|Secretary karel.dobbelaere@soc.kuleuven.be | Contents: - Letter from the President
- Time table of the Conference
- The preliminary programme of the 30th ISSR-Conference
- Time table of the sessons
- News of the members
- Elections
- Information Letter from the President
As you will see in this edition of Network 34, the planning is well
under way for the 30th Conference of the ISSR in Santiago de Compostela
(July 27-31, 2009), whose theme will be The Challenges of Religious
Diversity. I went there with the General Secretary last November, and we
came to the conclusion that the University of Santiago de Compostela offers
hospitality, as well as pleasant and practical working and living
conditions for our next conference. I would really like to thank Juan-Luis
Pintos and his team for the work they've already done (and for what's to
come!), making sure that our next conference takes place under ideal
circumstances. Dear friends of the ISSR, let me tell you that many
surprises are in store for you in the administrative and cultural capital
of Galicia. As a city recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,
Santiago de Compostela has a number of assets that not only attract
pilgrims, but also tourists, travellers, writers, artists and scientists.
This city is shaped in many ways by its multicultural outlook and its
openness to the rest of the world, making it just as suitable for welcoming
a conference of sociologists - including those who study religion! - as it
is for traditional pilgrims. And for a group comprised of French and
English speakers like us, what better way of making our way there than to
do as the pilgrims do: take the English route from the north or the French
route from the east? Not to forget the Portuguese and Spanish routes from
the south and southeast. Spanish will of course be spoken, alongside
English and French, during the opening session (with a translation), and
will also be used with English and French in some of the thematic sessions.
In Santiago de Compostela, there will be as many of us, perhaps even
more, than there were at Leipzig, which already beat the previous record.
Judge for yourself: the programme that Karel Dobbelaere has drawn up, with
his usual attention to detail - many thanks go out to him! - counts more
than 500 presentations spread over 180 sessions, and most of the 78
thematic sessions will have two or three work sessions. In addition to
these 78 thematic sessions, our 30th Conference will include 4 working
groups, 5 sessions for New Researchers and 7 sessions of "authors meet
critics".
For the first time, colleagues from some African countries (Algeria,
Cameroon, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe...) and Asian countries (Bangladesh,
China, Malaysia, Vietnam...) will participate in a conference of the ISSR,
which is increasingly establishing itself as a worldwide organisation. Of
course, colleagues from the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America will be
well represented; after all, we will be in Santiago de Compostela.
Among the many thematic sessions, let me first mention the one on
walking pilgrimages, and the one on religious pilgrimage destinations and
the tourism involved (an obvious choice!). Next, several sessions are
directly connected with the theme of the conference, The Challenges of
Religious Diversity, using various cultural spheres as their frames of
reference. Finally, there will be sessions covering new fields of study,
or those worthy of greater recognition, as the sociological research which
is devoted to them is in my view not yet sufficiently developed: religions
and the Internet, the world of Orthodox Christianity, religions and laïcité
in Vietnam... The programme at Santiago de Compostela will also include
joint sessions between the ISSR and other scientific organisations (ISA,
AISLF, RRA, ACSRM, ISORECEA, ...)[1].
In conclusion, I would like to ask everyone to respect the deadlines
for paying the fees for your subscription and for the conference. This
will simplify the work of our Treasurer, Jean-Pierre Hiernaux, who is, as
always, devoted to his job, which is not always an easy one. In July 2009,
our Treasurer and our General Secretary will come to the end of their terms
of office. Karel Dobbelaere, who for many years has served the ISSR with
intelligence, efficiency and devotion, wishes to step down. Make him happy
by respecting his guidelines in every detail: this is the last ISSR
conference that he will be organising as General Secretary! Let him say
that the 30th was the best, and everyone cooperated both with the big
things and the little ones! When the time comes, I will tell him for all
of us how deeply grateful we are for everything he has done for the ISSR.
But for now, your president is busy finding his successor, who will be
elected in Santiago de Compostela. As I am writing this, all I can tell
you is that a solution is in sight. Hope to see you again in Santiago de Compostela! Jean-Paul Willaime
ELECTIONS WILL BE ORGANISED IN MARCH 2009 FOR
VACANT POSITIONS ON THE COUNCIL | |
|WHO IS GOING TO BE INVITED TO VOTE FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS IN MARCH NEXT |
|YEAR? |
| |
|MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING |
|According to art. 11 b of the present Statutes, membership shall be |
|forfeited: |
|a) by resignation in writing to the General Secretary; |
|b) subsequent to non-payment of the annual dues at the end of the |
|second year; |
| |
|Consequently, ballots will be sent only to members in good standing: |
|this means those who have paid their membership dues for 2008-2009 |
| |
|WE CALL UPON MEMBERS TO PAY THEIR MEMBERSHIP FEES |
| |
|DOCUMENTS ARE ON OUR WEB SITE www.sisr.org : |
|under Membership you will find the rubric how to join |
|where you will find: |
|application forms and payment options |
30th ISSR-Conference
THE CHALLENGES OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
Santiago de Compostela (Spain) 27-31 July 2009 Time Table of the Sessions
| | | | | | |
|Hours |Monday |uesday |Wednesday |Thursday |Friday |
| | | | | | |
|09:00 - | |Plenary |Thematic |Plenary |Thematic |
|11:00 | |Session 1|Sessions 4 |Session 2 |Sessions |
| | | | | |8 |
| | | | | | |
|11:30 - |Free |Thematic |Thematic |Linguistic|Thematic |
|13:30 |Networking |Sessions |Session 5 |Groups |Sessions |
| | |1 | | |9 |
| | | |Cultural | | |
|15:30 - |16.00 |Thematic |Afternoon |Thematic |Thematic |
|17:30 |Opening |Sessions | |Sessions7 |Sessions |
| | |2 |and | |10 |
| |Plenary | | | | |
| |Session | |Free | | |
| |[Local | |Networking | | |
| |Committee] | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|18:00 - | |Thematic | |Thematic | |
|20:00