[Air-l] Call for papers - special issue of JCMC

[Charles Ess]

Dear Aoir-ists

with apologies for duplications and cross-postings - please distribute the
following to interested colleagues and appropriate lists.
Thanks!
-- charles ess
==
Call for Papers, special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication: 
 
RELIGION ON THE INTERNET: CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACHES TO CONFLICT, DIALOGUE,
AND TRANSFORMATION
 
Guest editors:
 
Charles Ess (cmess at drury.edu)
Interdisciplinary Studies Center, Drury University
 
Akira KAWABATA <kawabata at hus.osaka-u.ac.jp>
Osaka University, Japan
 
Hiroyuki KUROSAKI <hkuro at kokugakuin.ac.jp>
Kokugakuin University, Japan
 
IMPORTANT DATES
 
Proposals due: October 15, 2005
Full papers due: April 15, 2006
Anticipated publication: October 2006 or January 2007
 
As with most other dimensions of contemporary life in industrialized
societies, the emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web has deeply
impacted religious life, and vice-versa.  Indeed, based on the number of
Google hits (on August 28, 2005), "religion" (89,700,000 hits) is even more
ubiquitous on the web than "sex" (75,200,000 hits).  In the U.S. context,
religion on the Internet has inspired a number of important treatments and
studies, but as yet, relatively little scholarship has examined the
interactions between religious life and the Internet from comparative,
cross-cultural perspectives. Such perspectives are of compelling interest,
precisely because the global reach of the Internet and the Web means that
the interactions between religious life and CMC are not restricted to
national/cultural boundaries. At the same time, this global reach means that
scholars and researchers around the world also enjoy new opportunities for
cross-cultural collaboration and research.
 
This special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication invites
analyses of the interactions between religious life and CMC technologies,
with an emphasis on cultural dimensions and cross-cultural comparisons of
those interactions.
 
Suggested submission topics include:
 
* The sacred online?  Are experiences of the sacred (e.g., in Christian
communion, Jewish and Muslim prayer, mediation with kami in Japanese
religion, etc.), restricted to the embodied community offline, and/or are
there ways of facilitating these experiences online that are recognized as
legitimate by traditional authorities and communities?
 
* Broadcast and/or interaction?
There is some evidence in both the U.S. and Japan to suggest that more
evangelical traditions adopt the more interactive features of CMC as part of
their strategy for attracting and converting new members, while less
evangelical traditions develop more static websites that archive
authoritative texts and resources. Are there correlations between the
"style" of faith and use of CMC?  How far do these hold - or not hold -
across cultures?
 
* Religion and the Generations
Religious institutions in both the U.S. and abroad consciously use the
Internet to "target" young people, who are generally more comfortable with
new media, while older people are often resistant to the new technologies,
and may even see new media as corrupting traditional religious authority,
practices, and beliefs. Are such generation gaps apparent in diverse
cultures? What are the implications of such generation gaps for online
religion and traditional religion?
 
* The Generation of Religion
New media offer multiple possibilities for communities of faith to construct
new approaches to traditional religious practices and authorities - some of
which may be seen as not simply reformist, but as revolutionary, if not
"heretical." How do new media promise/threaten to construct and generate new
religious practices, beliefs, etc.? Are these possibilities realized in
different ways, depending on religious tradition and/or culture?
 
* Gender and Religion: Liberation in Cyberspace?
Western cyber-feminists have hoped for new forms of liberation and gender
equality in cyberspace. At the same time, contemporary world religions
remain largely patriarchal or masculinist. How do CMC environments
facilitate and/or inhibit these processes of preservation and transformation
in religious life?  Are there notable differences among cultures, given that
some national/cultural traditions are more gender equal than others?
 
* Preservation and/or Transformation of Religious Authorities, Practices,
Traditions?
What roles do CMC technologies play in preserving and/or transforming
religious authorities, practices, and traditions? How do these roles vary,
if they do, from culture to culture?
 
* Other issues
The above list does not include all possible questions and approaches to
cross-cultural analyses of religion online.  We encourage and invite other
topics appropriate to this theme.
 
 
SUBMISSION PROCEDURES
 
Potential authors should submit a preliminary proposal of 500 words by
October 15, 2005, to the Charles Ess (cmess at drury.edu) and Hiroyuki KUROSAKI
<hkuro at kokugakuin.ac.jp>.
 
The proposal should indicate (a) the specific issues, topics, and/or themes
that will be explored, including the specific religious traditions and
culture(s) at the focus of analysis, (b) strong awareness of relevant
studies and literature to be drawn upon, and (c) at least a preliminary
sketch of what claims, hypotheses, etc. that the author(s) expect to confirm
or disconfirm in their work.
     
Since JCMC is an interdisciplinary journal, authors should plan for papers
that will be accessible to non-specialists, and should make their papers
relevant to an interdisciplinary audience. In addition, judicious use of the
multimedia possibilities of web publication is encouraged, e.g., screen
shots, photos, etc.
 
Earlier submissions and questions are welcome.
 
Authors whose proposals are accepted for inclusion will be invited to submit
a full paper of roughly 7,000-10,000 words by April 15, 2006
 
Anticipated publication date for the special issue is October 2006 or
January 2007.
 
Proposals and final submissions should be e-mailed to the special issue
editors Charles Ess (cmess at drury.edu) and Hiroyuki KUROSAKI
<hkuro at kokugakuin.ac.jp>.