Workshop II of the Academic Network
‘Social Sites – Oeffentliche Raeume – Lieux d’échanges’
30 November – 2 December 2006, Technical University of Dresden (Germany)

I. Summary
The workshop intends to investigate the relationship between religious culture and space over the period of 1300-1800. Apart from the question of the extent to which religious culture relies on a clearly defined space, it will focus on the development of church space as a characteristic of Christianity as well as on its design, use, representation and perception to gain insights into changes and continuities in the long-term relationship between space and religion.

II. Workshop Format
The workshop ‘Social Space and Religious Culture’ has a deliberately open structure, which allows a combination of research papers, methodical reflections, conceptual presentations, interpretation of sources (texts or images), and critical commentaries. Participants are free to choose the most appropriate format for their particular contribution. ‘Heretical’ challenges of the spatial turn are equally welcome. There will be plenty of time for discussion, and to identify opportunities and priorities for future research.

- Duration: three days (Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon, 30 November – 2 December 2006)
- Participants: 4 core network members, 2 network postgraduates, 1 network facilitator, max. 14 speakers and one commentator for each session
- Presentations: 20 minutes each (research, methods, concepts, comments …)
- Plenary discussion on Saturday afternoon
- Geographical and thematical scope: European Latin Christianity including other religious communities present in Europe (Judaism, Islam); papers on non-European religious cultures (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and cohabitation in Asia) are welcome for reasons of comparison
- Chronological range: c. 1300-1800
- Workshop languages: English, French, German
- Funding: thanks to the generous support of the Leverhulme Trust, the network will reimburse participants for (budget) travel and provide accommodation and catering at Dresden (Thursday to Sunday)

Deadlines:
1. Title of contribution and a short abstract (200-300 words, including draft of your conceptual approach): 30 January 2006. Please include a one-page CV as requested by the Leverhulme Trust from all participants (includes title, positions (current & previous), institution, degrees, awards, main publications).
2. 800-word abstract (in electronic format) to be circulated among the participants and for dissemination on the network website: 1 November 2006

Please check the network website for bibliographical and other workshop-related information:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/researchcentres/socialsites/
For information about the Sonderforschungsbereich 537 ‘Institutionalitaet und Geschichtlichkeit’ go to:
http://rcswww.urz.tu-dresden.de/~sfb537/index.html (then click on Teilprojekte/ Fruehe Neuzeit)