The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama will host "The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion" -- a conference devoted to the work of advanced graduate and early career scholars. The conference will take place on April 7 and 8, 2005, in Tuscaloosa. The conference will focus on the location of the religious heritages of Africa within the academic study of religion -- including, but not limited to: indigenous African religions, African Christianities, African forms of Islam, religions of African-Americans, Afro-Caribbean religions, and Afro-Brazilian religions. In what ways has the academic study of religion contributed to the understanding of the religious traditions of Africa? In what ways has the academy neglected Africa -- and at what cost, socially, epistemologically, politically, racially, and culturally? What contribution to our knowledge of religion as a general human phenomenon can the study of African religious influences make? How do current studies of African religions reflect and contest issues of contemporary concern in the social sciences and the humanities more broadly?

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Dr. Wilson J. Moses, Ferree Professor in American History at Pennsylvania State University. Concluding remarks will be made by Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., Professor in the Religion Department at Princeton University.

We seek papers that address the above concerns through specific area studies as well as papers that address the history of the field of religious studies more directly. A modest stipend in addition to all travel and housing expenses will be granted to those conference participants whose proposals are selected by the review committee. Early career scholars and ABDs should submit (preferably by e-mail as Word or RTF attachments) a proposal of approximately 1,000 words and a CV by September 30, 2004, to the address below.