Context of Religious Research

Vol. XVII, No. 1, December  2006

FROM THE PRESIDENT

As has been the case for several years now, one of the highlights of our annual meeting was the keynote address, in this case the Presidential Address by Daniel V.A. Olson, our outgoing president. Using a creative mixture of data sources, Dan's lecture, “Do Local Contexts Matter?” shed great light on the complex relationship between religious pluralism at the community level and religious mobility. I anticipate its publication in the Review of Religious Research and presume that we will see even more from this line of research.

The annual meeting in Portland was extremely well attended—registration was 547, up 85 over 2005. That does not count the many nonregistered spouses (and in my case, a mother-in-law). The change in the meeting schedule from our usual Friday-Sunday to Thursday-Saturday was welcomed by some, but not by others, and it is unclear whether or not the change helped or hurt actual participation in the meeting. But clearly, the Portland setting was an attraction to all.

The program, organized around the theme, “Diversity within Religious Organizations” by Michael Emerson included 18 regular RRA sessions as well as Dan's lecture. The program included several sessions well within the theme, dealing with multiracial and multicultural churches, ethnicity in American religion, and social diversity. Other sessions considered megachurches, religious growth and decline, clergy leadership, and Pentecostalism. Several books were presented by their authors and discussed by panels. Sessions were well attended and lively, despite the lure of the Oregon coast, Mount Hood, and the roses of Portland.

Next year our meeting will be in Tampa, Florida at the Hyatt Regency, November 2-4. Mark it on your calendar to attend. And also note that the deadline for session proposals is January 15 and paper proposals, March 15. The program theme, Changing Religious Forms and Connections, was developed by Scott Thumma, program chair for 2007. The call for papers includes many topics around the theme—dealing with emerging religious forms, authority structures, conflict, mobility and networks.

The Review of Religious Research continues to thrive under the editorship of Pat Wittberg. Send her your manuscripts. Sadly, Pat's tenure as editor will come to a close in 2008. Our Publication Committee will begin the evaluation and selection process that will enable the Board to choose a successor. If you are interested in being the editor of RRR or would like to suggest a candidate, please see the following page for the procedures.

The finances of RRA continue to look good, and I thank Bill Swatos, our Executive Officer, and David Roozen, our Treasurer, for the work they do to keep us on track and in the black.

C. Kirk Hadaway
The Episcopal Church Center

EDITOR SEARCH

Far and away the most important item on the 2007 agenda of RRA is the selection of a new editor for the Review of Religious Research. The Review is our public face, and the work of the editor is crucial to how that is seen. Pat Wittberg has filled this role with distinction for two terms, but also has an agenda of her own to pursue. We seek a new editor to begin with the 2008 cycle (volume 50). The Publication Committee (Joe Tamney, chair, Nancy Nason-Clark, and Jack Carroll) is charged to bring a recommendation to the 2007 Board meeting. A prospectus detailing the requirements for and benefits of the editor's position may be obtained by contacting the Executive Office—bill4329@hotmail.com. If you are at all interested in this role or know someone whom you believe would be, write in for this document. We would like to have the applicant pool defined by the beginning of March.

FUNDING

Constant H. Jacquet Research Awards

The RRA will again make $17,000 available this year for applied and basic research. Priority is given to applied projects, and funding over $3,000 to any one proposal is granted only in cases of exceptional significance. In this competition, applied research is defined as a project that has an identifiable organizational or institutional client who will use the research results for specific goal-centered activities. The Committee especially encourages proposal submissions from scholars who are in the early stages of their careers, as well as proposals from students.

Funding may be used for research expenses and release time, but not for supplemental income or capital equipment. Because funds are limited, applicants are also encouraged to seek support from alternative sources of funding. Applicants are required to be members of the RRA. Full-time students may join the Association at the time of their application. All others must hold membership in the RRA for at least one full year prior to the application deadline.

Applications must include four copies of: (a) an Awards Application Form, completed and signed; (b) a narrative summary of the proposed project, no longer than five double-spaced, typed pages; and (c) a one-page detailed budget. Materials will not be returned.

The required Application Form can be obtained from the RRA website. The site also provides the address information for submitting your materials. Your application must be received by 1 April 2007.

Applicants will be notified of the disposition of their applications within 60 days and will be asked to submit a written acceptance of their awards within two weeks of notification. Recipients should plan to expend the grant within one year after accepting the award and should note RRA support in all reports of the research for which they received the grant. Award recipients are encouraged to submit their research reports for possible publication in the Review of Religious Research, subject to editorial review. If an article is not submitted to the RRR, a narrative of the research and its findings will be expected instead.

The 2006 awardees were Gary Adler, Joanne Marshall, Nancy Martin, Stephen Offutt, Shane Sharp, and Jacqueline Wenger. Of the twenty-four applications that were received in 2006, half were immediately excluded for failure to meet the criteria of the program. If you are interested in applying for a Jacquet award, it is important that you read these carefully both to ensure that you are eligible and that your application is both in order and timely.

Joseph H. Fichter Research Awards

The Association for the Sociology of Religion will make available $20,000 this year for promising research in either of two areas, prioritized as follows: (1) gender issues, women and religion, and feminist perspectives on religion; (2) sociology of the parish. Applicants must have been members of the ASR in 2006 and be current members at the time of application. (Thus if you are not a member of ASR as you read this, you may not apply in the 2007 cycle. This announcement is included here for information purposes in respect to future applications—i.e., if you want to apply in the future, you need to join now.) Gender-related research is consistently the first priority within the Fichter program; for 2008 the secondary priority is religion and disaster. The ASR Web site address is www.sociologyofreligion.com.

SSSR Research Awards

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion has authorized several thousand dollars for its 2007 research awards competition. At least one-fourth of the grants will go to persons who are graduate students or have held the doctorate for less than five years. Awards are intended to cover research expenses, travel, student assistance, and up to $1,500 in stipend. Again, applicants must have been SSSR members for at least one year at the time they submit their proposals, hence this listing is also futuritive in nature. The SSSR Web site is www.sssrweb.org.

ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIONS

Results of the 2006 RRA general elections are: Chair of the Nominating Committee, Adair Lummis; Directors-at-Large, Mary Gautier and Cynthia Woolever; Nominating Committee, Marjorie Royle and Martin Smith. The terms of David Roozen and Bill Swatos as Treasurer and Executive Officer expired in 2006. These positions are filled through a Board election. Both were reelected, to terms of two and four years, respectively.

The 2007 Nominating Committee seeks member input. This year a President-elect, Secretary, two board members, and two nominating committee members will be elected. If you wish to offer a name (including your own), contact Adair Lummis, 98 Girard Ave., Hartford, CT 06105; alummis@hartsem.edu. The remaining members of the committee in addition to those just elected are Ida Smith-Williams and Charles Zech. The Committee will be happiest to hear from you as close after the start of 2007 as possible.

MEETINGS

The BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group conference, Religion, Media, and Culture, jointly sponsored this year by the Research Network for Theology, Religion, and Popular Culture, will be held 4-6 April at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. Contact convener Peter Gee for further information, p.gee@odi.org.uk.

The 30th Anniversary Implicit Religion Consultation at Denton Hall, Yorkshire, will be held 11-13 May. Contact Edward Bailey at eibailey@csircs.freeserve.co.uk.

The Association for the Sociology of Religion will meet 10-12 August in the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. The theme is Striving for a Better World: Religion and Social Change. The session proposal deadline is 31 January; papers proposals must be in by 28 February. ASR membership is required for program participation. Contact Program Chair Rachel Kraus at ASR2007@bsu.edu. RRA colleague Jim Davidson will deliver the 2007 ASR Presidential Address.

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