[Air-L] CFP: Chapters on the Internet and Apocalyptic Belief

[RGH]

DEADLINE May 1, 2009

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTER PROPOSALS
(Please distribute widely, and my apologies for any cross-posting.)

Network Apocalypse:  Visions of the End in an Age of Internet Media

This edited collection of work by international scholars would  
document how Internet communication is creating, adapting, and  
recreating beliefs about an imminent mass transformation resulting in  
the end of human history.  How are ancient prophetic beliefs faring  
in our everyday lives as they have become technologized by network  
communication?  How do religious communities sharing these beliefs  
use the Internet?  Are everyday religious believers empowered or  
disempowered by Internet technologies?  Are gender, ethic, and racial  
divisions being broken down or reinforced?  How are text-based  
prophetic traditions adapting to the more dynamic and fluid  
understanding of the Word in our digital age?

The answers to these questions are important for scholars from a wide  
range of disciplines working on questions about how the Internet is  
changing some of our most powerful and recurring religious beliefs.

Each chapter of this book will focus on a specific sample of  
discourse that features apocalyptic beliefs.  Comparative and  
theoretical chapters are also welcomed.  Methods may be quantitative,  
qualitative, or a combination of both.

Chapter topics might include by are not limited to:
Christian, Islamic, Jewish, or other traditional apocalyptic  
expression online;

specific apocalyptic groups using the Internet;

online prophecy and/or prayer practices;

apocalyptic games, gamers, or gaming;

apocalyptic expression in virtual worlds;

apocalyptic communication via mobile communication technologies;

new apocalyptic religious movements using the Internet;

apocalyptic ideas or discourses that rely on theories of technology  
including concepts of “Gaia-mind,” “singularity,” and etc.


Please submit the following documents via email to Rob Howard  
(rgh at rghoward.com) by May 1, 2009:

             1) a preliminary title for the proposed chapter
             2) a 100-250 word abstract of the proposed chapter
             3) a current CV

The successful abstracts will form part of a book proposal submitted  
in response to a request from Sheffield Phoenix Press for a series  
titled “The Apocalypse in Popular Culture.”  Full texts will be  
requested at a later date.  Sheffield Phoenix Press is an academic  
press specializing in topics of religion that is seeking to expand  
its catalog on apocalyptic belief in contemporary society.




Robert Glenn Howard          http://rghoward.com
_______________________________
University of Wisconsin -- Madison
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Arts
Associate Chair, Folklore Program
Affiliated Faculty, Religious Studies and the Center for the Study of  
Upper Midwestern Culture
Editor, Western Folklore