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Call for Papers "The Re-Enchantment of Nature across Disciplines: Critical Intersections of Science, Ethics, and Metaphysics" 2nd International Meeting International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture National Autonomous University of Mexico, Campus Morelia Morelia, Mich. (Mexico) 17-20 January 2008 __________________________________________________ Scholars from diverse disciplines, members of the Society and those not-yet members, are cordially invited to submit papers, panels, or special workshops on this theme, or any other subjects pertinent to the intersection of and relationships among what can be understood in various ways as "religion," "nature," and "culture " (for further information on the Society, and the affiliated peer-reviewed journal, which will publish high-quality work presented at this conference (see www.religionandnature.com/journal/). The theme of this conference provides focused opportunities to explore and evaluate both new and established links among increasingly specialized areas within this emerging and exciting interdisciplinary field. We seek to critically evaluate the notions of scientific disenchantment and religious or spiritual re-enchantment of nature, addressing the intersections between science, ethics, and metaphysics in environmental thought and behavior, religious worldviews, and spirituality. We are pleased to announce the featured keynote speakers: Dr. Vandana Shiva (Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy, India) Dr. David Carrasco (Harvard University, USA) Dr. Victor Toledo (UNAM-Morelia, Mexico) Dr. Holmes Rolston III (Colorado State University, USA) We invite papers that demonstrate interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts to analyze pressing issues of biological, anthropological, religious, ethical, historical, philosophical, environmental, medical, linguistic, and political concern by producing new intersections of knowledge production. We also invite explicit critiques and evaluations of such interdisciplinary collaborations that identify the potential dangers and problems that may arise when crossing disciplinary, religious, and political boundaries. Over the past thirty years, scholars have observed a potential paradigm shift from the disenchantment to a re-enchantment of nature, as scientists and humanists from diverse disciplines apprehend or construct values in nature, including those they construe as religious or spiritual. Contrary to the modernist idea of a secularized, disenchanted, and (often)meaningless world, contemporary environmentalisms have found in nature ultimate value and meaning. It may be that the Western (re)discovery of ethical and moral principles in environmental thought and behavior may generate a greater respect for nature, eventually leading to sustainable subsistence and conservation practices, a possibility about which we invite critical reflection and research. At the 2008 meeting of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture in Morelia, Mexico, we seek to critically explore and evaluate the notions of disenchantment and re-enchantment of nature, asking questions such as: - Does the moral story of the "spiritual," "the intangible," and "the sacred "in contemporary environmentalisms present particular opportunities and/or dilemmas for the critical inquiry of religion, nature, and culture? - What do current developments tell us about the relationship between science, religion, and environmentalism in the contemporary world? - To what extent is the quest to save nature also a quest to save individual subjectivities from the presumed meaningless of the modern condition? - Are we witnessing a renewal of eco-centric and/or religious worldviews, or did they ever decline? - What is the role of indigenous traditional knowledge and indigenous religions in the Western re-enchantment of nature? - Does the re-enchantment of nature provide an answer to the problem of meaning? - Can we and -if so-how can we conceptualize emergent relations between the ethical, the religious and the political in ways that do not fit the paradigms of disenchantment/re-enchantment? Abstract Submission: Both individual papers (15 minutes)and full panels (1 hour and forty-five minutes)on these and related topics are welcome. Please also send suggestions you may have for less formal sessions involving workshops, roundtable discussions, film screenings, or other events. Younger scholars are particularly encouraged to suggest papers. The format for individual paper abstracts and session abstract is no more than 250 words. We suggest that session organizers provide their panelists with a list of questions to address in order to encourage integrated discussion. All paper and panel abstracts should provide three keywords. Deadline: The deadline for submitting papers and panel suggestions is July1,2007 but earlier submissions are helpful. Please send abstracts and panel proposals to: [email protected] Conference website: http://www.religionandnature.com/society/ Contact: Kristina Tiedje PhD Faculté d'Anthropologie Université Lumière Lyon 2 Campus Porte des Alpes, Bâtiment K 5, avenue Pierre-Mendès-France 69676 Bron Cedex France [email protected] Dra. Anuschka van't Hooft Coordinación de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí Av. Industrias 101-A Fracc. Talleres 78494 San Luis Potosí, SLP Mexico [email protected] __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
