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Dear friends and colleagues,

The calendar year 2022 is slowly coming to an end. Nevertheless, our Wednesday Weekly is as packed as ever with lots of information for you.

We have a Call for Papers for a KFG workshop in June 2023. We would also like to draw your attention to a new publication by a KFG member, as well as to a new entry in our Bulletin and a job advertisement. Last but not least, we have recommendations for a conference and an online seminar for you. The last colloquium of this year will take place in 2 weeks and we will tell you more about it in the next newsletter.

As the Advent season is in full swing, we would like to recommend a visit to one or the other special Christmas market in Leipzig.

Enjoy and have a good week!

Anja & Lucy

Call for Papers: KFG-Workshop on “Muslim Minorities and Questions of Secularity in China and Beyond”, 9–10 June 2023

We would like to draw your attention to a Call for Papers for our KFG workshop “Muslim Minorities and Questions of Secularity in China and Beyond” from 9 to 10 June 2023. Convened by KFG Members Yee Lak Elliot Lee, Markus Dreßler, Hubert Seiwert as well as James D. Frankel from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the two-day interdisciplinary workshop investigates the role of secularity in the formation and normalization of Muslim minorities, with a focus on China.

Deadline for abstract and short biography: 16 January 2023

Notification of acceptance: Early February 2023

Deadline for full paper drafts: 28 April 2023

Workshop Date: 9–10 June 2023

New Bulletin Entry: Podcast with Sushmita Nath on her book “The Secular Imaginary”

After presenting her book “The Secular Imaginary: Gandhi, Nehru and the Idea(s) of India” at a book launch in September here in Leipzig, our Senior Research Fellow Sushmita Nath was recently invited to present it in a talk with host Tiatemsu Longkumer for the New Books Network Podcast. In roughly 60 minutes, Sushmita and her host take the audience through the main theses of the book, its academic, political and personal context and Sushmita’s current research interests.

Our Bulletin gives the opportunity to comment on current political, social or cultural events and developments from the perspective of Multiple Secularities, to place them in a broader context through our expertise or to present alternative perspectives. If you wish to make short, journalistic style contributions to the Bulletin, please contact Johannes Duschka.

Job Opportunity: Postdoctoral position in social science research on religion/sustainability at University of Basel/Switzerland

We would like to share a job opportunity with you, recommended by our Senior Research Fellow Jens Köhrsen, who will function as the supervisor of the announced position and related project: The Centre for Religion, Economics and Politics at the University of Basel welcomes applications for the position of a postdoctoral researcher for the project “Are Religions becoming Green? Faith-Based Environmentalism in Switzerland”, beginning 1 February 2023. Based on survey data from the National Congregations Study Switzerland II, the project analyses the environmental engagement of religious communities.

Conference on “Poetics and Politics of Imagination: Causes and Obstacles to Prosperity”, 2–3 December at UCL – Institute for Global Prosperity, London

Our Associate Member Markus Dreßler points to this conference on “Poetics and Politics of Imagination: Causes and Obstacles to Prosperity”, the first conference of the ERC-funded project “TAKHAYYUL: Imaginative Landscapes of Islamist Politics Across Balkan-to-Bengal Complex”.

While a growing consensus emerges on the multiplicity of paths to modernity, the relationship of modernity with disenchantment and secularization is being hotly debated. In the West, scholars note that disenchantment caused by the retreat of religion in public life is replaced by the rise of ‘secular magic’ through charisma, myth, revelation. This conference seeks to contribute to the scholarship on contemporary forms of populist politics through a focus on the mystical, charismatic, dreams, and the affective. It aims to develop a discussion around various theoretical approaches on which to delineate the ways Islamist movements forge imaginative landscapes. You can register here.

2–3 December | UCL Institute for Global Prosperity, London AND online via zoom

Online Seminar on “New Religious Responses to the Climate Crisis - Radical Environmentalism and Protest”, 7 December

This online seminar will consider the range of new religious responses to the uncertainty and crisis precipitated by climate change. It will look at responses by minority religions, but also consider a range of ways in which the current environment of crisis has impacted religious thinking and behaviour in new ways more broadly. Speakers include, among others, Maria Nita, Lecturer in Religious Studies at The Open University and Olivia Fuchs, Coordinator of the Eco Dharma Network.

To register, please make a donation. A link to the seminar will then be sent to your email address. If you are unable to make a donation at this time, please send an e-mail to register.  

7 December | 6.30–8.30 pm (CET)

Online

Leipzig Christmas markets with a special touch

The Christmas market in Leipzig’s city centre with its numerous treats and gift ideas cannot be overlooked. Maybe you have already met there for a Glühwein or some gingerbread. Yet, the city has plenty of other markets to offer during the Advent season – some of them with very special charm and offers:

With “Weihnachtsduft und Lichterglanz” (“Christmas scent and glittering lights”), the baroque garden of the Gohlis Palace beckons you to linger. It is open from Wednesdays to Saturdays from 3–7 pm and on Sundays from 12–6 pm.

The Christmas market in the unique ambience of the Feinkost in Leipzig’s Südvorstadt focuses on originality, regionality and family-friendliness. This year, the market takes place on all Advent weekends, and the offer changes every weekend. Opening hours are Saturday 11am–8pm and Sunday 11am–7pm.

On 9 December, the alternative Christmas market “Weihnachten am Kreuz” (Christmas at the Crossroads”) at Werk 2 in the Connewitz district opens its doors again. Besides numerous offers from local artists and actors as well as a cosy atmosphere, many participatory offers and events await the visitors. The market is open until 18 December from 1–9 pm.

If you have any content that you think suits the purpose of the weekly, please feel free to send it to us at multiple-secularities@uni-leipzig.de.