The Religion and American Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association promotes engagement with scholarship on American religion by organizing and supporting submissions to the Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association, which will next meet November 6-9, 2014, in Los Angeles.

RACC invites scholars, activists, librarians, artists, and others to submit proposals on “The Fun and the Fury: New Dialectics of Pleasure and Pain In the Post-American Century,” the conference theme. Potential topics may include, for example, religion and tourism, leisure, sex, the arts, religion, sports, entertainment, supernatural experiences, emotion, food, beauty, body modification, body mortification, physical denial, pain, ritual, rites, death and dying, illness and health, drug use, and more. Scholarship from a variety of fields, including art, architecture, law, history, political science, media studies, sociology, women’s studies, gender studies, sexuality studies, ethnic studies, religious studies, and more is encouraged, and research addressing religion other than Christianity is especially encouraged, as is scholarship on transnational topics.

In addition to presenters, participants willing to serve as chair and/or respondent are needed.

Proposals that are innovative in format are especially welcome. Options may include interactive presentations, performances, roundtables, film showings, local tours, acts of activism or service, and more. Proposals should include a title of no more than 15 words; an abstract of no more than 500 words; contact information including first and last name, affiliation, email address, and a biographical statement of no more than 350 words See the example here: http://www.theasa.net/example_of_a_biographical_statement  an indication of whether the writer is currently an active member of ASA; and a CV. Those interested in serving as chair and/or respondent need only send the 350 word biography and CV.

Proposals and CVs should be submitted to Rebecca Barrett-Fox, RACC co-chair, at rbarrettfox@astate.edu by January 2, 2014.