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[Image] Professor Mary Jo Neitz

Sacred Practices of Everyday Life

09 May 12

10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 9th May to 3.30 p.m. on Friday 11th May 2012 at the John McIntyre Conference Centre, University of Edinburgh

Roadside shrines; divorce parties; tattoos made with ink containing a loved one’s ashes; spiritual retreats; prayer cairns; naming ceremonies; healing rituals; contacts with the dead: however ‘disenchanted’ the world may be, there is plenty of evidence of enchantment and re-enchantment all around. Life and death are still rendered meaningful through ancient and reinvented practices, rituals, beliefs and symbols which attach sacredness and significance to what would otherwise be merely mundane.

The purpose of the conference is to explore new evidence, analysis and theory concerning the sacred practices of everyday life. There is a particular focus on the varied ways in which the life course is being re-enchanted in the 21st century, but papers looking at other eras and/or larger forms of sacred practice (e.g. civic rituals) are also welcome. The scope is global.

The conference will showcase thirty or so projects funded by the Religion and Society Programme which have new findings in this area. These will be supplemented by the papers received through this open call. 

The conference streams are:

  • Formation and Cultivation
  • Life-styles and (After)Death-styles
  • Sex, Life and Love
  • Gods, Spirits and the Sacred
  • Fate, Destiny and the Future
  • Identity, Solidarity and Conflict
  • Suffering, Healing and Well Being
  • Objects, Language, Rituals and Consumption

There will also be plenary sessions with David Morgan (Duke), Mary Jo Neitz (Missouri) and Robert Orsi (Northwestern).

Submitting an Abstract

Individual paper proposals (max. 200 words) should be submitted to: Peta Ainsworth:  p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk by 29th February 2012.

Registration

The conference is subsidised by the sponsors and costs £95 per delegate, £60 for postgraduates/unwaged (for the entire conference) or £45 per day, £30 for postgraduates/unwaged.  The conference fee excludes accommodation and conference dinner. Registration now open. Deadline 9th March.

*A limited number of bursaries are available for people in the UK who need to travel some distance to Edinburgh. Please send an email with your registration form to Peta Ainsworth stating in one paragraph why you require assistance and how much your travel costs will be.*

Associated file:
Registration form SPEL.doc

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