2024 Call for Papers
Religion: Past, Present, and Future


2024 Call for Papers

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion + Religious Research Association Annual Meeting

Religion: Past, Present, and Future

October 18–20, 2024 | Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

The social scientific study of religion has a rich past, examining various communities and societal shifts, and much work now is unpacking present realities, including the workings of class, gender, race, and sexuality across the globe. While we cannot collect data in the future, we benefit from concepts and frameworks that provide us handles for whatever comes next – while preparing us to capture changes as they are discerned. 

As interpreters and investigators of religion, we reshape our understanding of the past and grasp newly emergent dynamics in the present. We also cultivate provocative speculations about the future, near and far, as a means to stimulate both action and theory. Ideas once seen as obsolete can become newly relevant. Thoughtful possibilities for strategic activity can be stimulated. With so many relevant topics to explore, the social sciences continue to be vital for resourcing our families and faith communities, business enterprises and governmental policies, personal behavior and world-spanning initiatives, informing and inspiring the broader public.

The 2024 joint SSSR+RRA call for papers encourages proposals that productively draw us to revisit the past, insightfully engage the present, or provocatively consider the future on matters both intimate and global. We are interested in proposals building on basic research (SSSR) that employ a range of methodologies and a range of scale as well as draw on established and novel data. We also welcome data-grounded theorizing that forward heuristic concepts and frameworks. We also seek proposals that are not only relevant for the scholarly community, but also those that have an applied research focus (RRA). And we welcome proposals on any topic within the social scientific study of religion that examines how religious denominations, groups, or traditions relate to these topics, and, for RRA, work that is especially relevant to religious leaders.

The SSSR+RRA annual meeting will feature paper sessions and book panels (formerly known as “author-meets-critics” sessions). Submit complete paper sessions—consisting of three to four presentations—or individual proposals (which the program chairs will thematically organize). Proposals for book panels should contain the author of a recent book and three to four panelists.

All submissions will be made through the online portal at www.sssreligion.org. Please indicate the type of submission (e.g., individual paper or book panel) and whether it is a better fit for SSSR or RRA. Please contact SSSR program chairs, Oneya Okuwobi (okuwobof@ucmail.uc.edu) and Meredith Whitnah (mwhitnah@westmont.edu) or RRA program chair Brenton Kalinowski (bdk6@rice.edu) with any questions.

 

Submissions open: February 1, 2024

Submissions close: March 31, 2024

Decisions made: April 30, 2024

 

 

 


Submit Your Proposal


Submit an Individual Paper Proposal      Submit a Session Proposal      Submit a Book Panel Proposal



ANNUAL MEETING PRESENTATION FORMATS

The annual meeting will include paper sessions and book panels. Paper sessions comprise three to four papers and may be proposed as a complete session. Individual paper proposals are built into sessions by the program chairs. Book panels include the author(s) of a recent book and three to four panelists.