Call for Participants: NCA Seminar – Rhetoric, Religion, and Freedom

Call for Participants: NCA Seminar – Rhetoric, Religion, and Freedom

We invite submissions to participate in the NCA preconference seminar, “Rhetoric, Religion, and Freedom.” The seminar will take place all day on Wednesday, November 9, and promises to bring together scholars interested in the variety of forms that free, public religiosity may assume, and the opportunities and liabilities that arise in a public square populated by a diversity of religious-political actors. We hope to include a diverse set of scholars who consider different American religions, historical periods, and legal, political, or social contexts. Participants may address questions such as:

~What is the relationship between religious freedom and American civic identity? How does the discourse of religious freedom open and limit space for public belonging and engagement?

~How might religious citizens make constructive contributions to public policy? Conversely, how might public policy influence religiosity and its relationship to citizenship?

~How have rhetors and movements performed religious freedom? How have rhetors engaged arguments concerning the separation of church and state?

~How has the discourse of religious freedom emerged as a contested terrain? Who can claim religious freedom and to what end?

~How do these arguments protect religious and racial minorities, such as Muslims who face intimidation and violence, or black churches subject to burnings?

In the morning, we will feature three fully developed research presentations from Jonathan J. Edwards, Leslie J. Harris, and Andre E. Johnson. In the afternoon, we will follow with three thematically focused panels. All will receive a brief response and time for general discussion. Respondents will include Stephen H. Browne, Kristina Davis, Steven Goldzwig, Michael J. Lee, Martin J. Medhurst, and Isaac West.

We invite submissions to (1) present research on an afternoon panel AND (2) participate in the seminar.

Those interested in presenting research on a panel should submit an abstract to Eric C. Miller (emiller@bloomu.edu) by Friday, August 12. To participate in the seminar, please send a short statement of interest by Wednesday, October 5th.