Men, Masculinities, and Religions Unit

The Men, Masculinities, and Religion seeks panel proposals and experimental panels that use short, or creative presentation formats. We are particularly interested in roundtables, and brief remarks and provocations that open up conversation between panelists and audience members, and/or presentations that creatively use and present objects, media, art, music, sounds etc. We encourage proposals of full panels/roundtables and paper proposals on the following topics:

Religion, Violence, and 21st Century Warmaking

The Men, Masculinities, and Religion unit invites proposals related to global masculinities and violence. Potential topics include:

• Buddhist masculinities and violence
• Masculinity & Zionism
• Muslim nationalisms
• sexual violence and masculinities that reflect on the experiences and histories of perpetrators and victims
• Masculinities and war
• Masculinities and fascism
• Practices of healing that address histories of violence
• Media, representations of war, and contemporary religious violence

Masculinities, Religion, and Media

We seek proposals for a roundtable on media and masculinities that explore the circulation and production of (gendered) religious identities, communities, rituals, narratives. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Religious masculinities on social media (influencers, social media platforms, subcultural communities etc.)
• Religious masculinities and music (What sounds, songs, and artists might open up conversations about gender, religion, and music?)
• Religion, racialization, and masculinities on TV/in film
• Religious masculinities on reality TV
• Celebrity Masculinities & religion in the making of public personas
• “Heroes,” “Villains,” & Masculinity

New Books on Religion, Men, and Masculinities: 

The Men, Masculinities, and Religion unit invite full panel proposals that respond to new books related to gender, masculinities, and religion. Panels may center on a single book or put multiple new books in conversation and feature authors and respondents. Panels may creatively combine books across subfields and disciplines to spark conversations on methodology. 

Kierkegaard and the Construction of Masculinities

Potential Co-sponsored session with the Kierkegaard, Religion, and Culture Unit: 

The Men, Masculinities, and Religion unit and Kierkegaard, Religion, and Culture Unit invite proposals for a co-sponsored panel. This joint session invites papers exploring themes related to masculinity in Kierkegaard's writings, including how depictions of masculinity vary among his pseudonyms and the authorial voices in his signed works, as well as the understanding of masculinity implied by his authorship as a whole. Proposals exploring the general construction of masculinities in nineteenth century northern Europe will be welcomed to provide an overview of the intellectual and cultural background of Kierkegaard’s writings. Proposals will also be appreciated concerning the ways that Kierkegaard’s constructions of masculinity and spirituality may inform, critique, expand, or reinforce conceptions of masculinity in present times.