Context of Religious Research

Vol. XVIV, No. 1, December 2008

FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Religious Research Association is ending another successful year. We had a stimulating annual meeting—an excellent Presidential Address by Kirk Hadaway, and full and well-organized sessions thanks to Kirk and Adair Lummis. Dave Roozen, treasurer, and Bill Swatos, executive officer, have made sure we are fiscally sound and efficiently and helpfully run. Thanks.

Financially, the organizations future, as is true for my retirement account, may not be as bright as in the recent past, but our next meeting will be as intellectually stimulating as ever. Robert Wuthnow will be presenting the H. Paul Douglas Lecture in Denver, the site of our 2009 Annual Meeting. Our 2009 program chair, Jack Marcum, has chosen “Religion and Relations: Linking Faith with Marriage and the Family” as our theme. I hope you will want to be a part of our program. Submit your papers or session ideas to Jack at jack.marcum@pcusa.org.

Do you know about our list serve RRX? If not go to our web page http://rra.hartsem.edu and read how you can join. You do know about our journal, Review of Religious Research. Anthony Blasi, our editor, is doing an excellent job. I would like personally to thank him and his staff, Al Herzog, book review editor, and Adair Lummis, denominational research notes editor, for excellent work. Continue to support them by sending Tony your articles for publication and agreeing to review articles when you are asked.

In the last year we lost a good friend and former president of RRA—Dean Hoge. This organization was important to Dean. In the early 1980s he personally lent RRA money so it could continue to operate. I remember a conversation I had with Dean in the early 1990s. He asked me if I didn’t think it was time that I started getting involved in the RRA. He then suggested things for which I should volunteer.

With that in mind, I thought in this letter I should emphasize that this is a voluntary organization and that it exists to help its members. It is a given that we would like you to send us names of people you think should be nominated for positions, including yourself. Details concerning this are given later in the newsletter. Equally important, think about what you would like this organization to do for you. Send me your suggestions keithwulff@insightbb.com. I am hoping that I will be swamped with suggestions. I am not worried about my inbox becoming crowded.

Remember sometimes it takes time for good ideas to be accepted, and those who may not immediately accept your ideas are in office for only a short time. Hopefully, you will be members for a long time. We want you to be satisfied with your membership.

Keith M. Wulff

FUNDING

 Constant H. Jacquet Research Awards
                
       The RRA will make $18,000 available this year for applied and basic research. Priority is given to applied projects, and funding over $4,000 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 hard 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 Grant Application and Membership Application Forms can be obtained from the RRA website—http://rra.hartsem.edu. The site also provides the address information for submitting your materials. Your application must be received by 1 April 2009.
         
       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 2008 awardees were Christy Bohl (University of Kentucky), Michael Evans (University of California San Diego), Michele Garred (University of Lancaster), Emily McKendry-Smith (University of North Carolina), Melissa Mokel (University of Connecticut), and Mandy Robbins (University of Warwick).

       Of the 22 applications that were received in 2008, three 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 the criteria carefully to ensure that you are eligible to apply and that your application is in order, complete, and timely. The chair of the Jacquet Committee this year is Michael Cieslak, of the Diocese of Rockford (mcieslak@rockforddiocese.org), 816 Green Meadow Ave., Rockford, IL 61107.  Other members of the Committee are Robert Woodberry and Deborah Kapp.

Joseph H. Fichter Research Awards

          The Association for the Sociology of Religion will make available $24,000 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) religion and poverty. Applicants must have been members of the ASR in 2008 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 2009 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.) The ASR Web site address is www.sociologyofreligion.com. Fichter Grant proposals may be in any amount at or below the annual total available.
                
SSSR Awards and Grants
                
          The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion has authorized several thousand dollars for its 2009 research awards competition. These separate grant and awards programs for students and for those who already hold the doctorate and for foreign scholars to attend the RRA/SSSR annual meeting. As with RRA and ASR awards, applicants must in all cases be SSSR members and in some cases there is a one-year advance membership requirement. The SSSR Web site is www.sssrweb.org.

ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIONS

          Results of the 2008 RRA general elections are: Nominating Committee Chair, Patricia Wittberg; Directors-at-Large, D. Paul Johnson and Katie Day; Nominating Committee, Michael Cieslak and Jack Marcum.
         
          The 2009 Nominating Committee seeks member input. This year a President-elect, Secretary, two members of the Board of Directors, and two Nominating Committee members will be elected. If you wish to offer a name (including your own), contact Pat at Department of Sociology, IUPUI, 425 University Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202; pwittber@iupui.edu. The remaining members of the committee in addition to those just elected are Kevin Daugherty and Christopher Ellison. The Committee needs to hear from you by 1 April for your suggestions to get fullest consideration. Suggestions should include a brief biographical statement for the candidate and provide his or her email address.

CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

February 5, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, preconference on Psychology of Religion/Spirituality, Tampa. Contact: wade_rowatt@baylor.edu.

May 8-10, Denton Consultation on Implicit Religion, Ilkley, Yorkshire. Residential conference, ₤ 130 including room and board. See www.implicitreligion.org. Contact: edward.bailey@implicitreligion. org.

August 8-10, Association for the Sociology of Religion, San Francisco. Membership and sub-mission information: www.sociologyofreligion.com. Program theme: Religion, Culture, Politics.        

October 23-25, RRA/SSSR, Denver. Program submissions: jack.marcum@pcusa.org. General information: www.sssrweb.org.

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