CALL FOR PROPOSALS
--Religion and Theatre Focus Group--
with the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Conference

DREAM ACTS: Performance as Refuge, Resistance, and Renewal
July 24-27, 2014
Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Hotel, Scottsdale, AZ

The Religion and Theatre Focus Group with the Association for Theatre in Higher Education invites you to submit a proposal for a session to the 2014 conference. The conference theme, “Dream Acts: Performance as Refuge, Resistance, and Renewal” is especially poignant for scholars at the intersections between religion, spirituality, theatre, and performance, since in many traditions the world over, the desert is a space for contemplation, often leading to social action. How is religion and spirituality necessary in our contemporary world for understanding the political and social import of aesthetic and cultural performance—especially on borders, those often-but-not-always liminal spaces for change and community? As ATHE’s Vice President Sonja Kuftinec reflects, “the geopolitical landscape of Arizona offers us a chance to reflect on our responsibilities as artists and educators to the land, to the multiple histories it harbors, and the next generation of artist/activist/citizens who have charged us with nurturing and shaping their dreams.” When scholars and artists approach their work from the stance of responsibility, what can we say about religion and spirituality in a world constantly troubled by the ethics of its politics?

Some possible session titles could be: “Deserts: Contemplation and Performance”; “Dreams and Nightmares”; “Dreaming Up Religion: How Performance is Used to Create New Religions”; “Justice and Discrimination”; “Performance, Ritual, and Dreaming of a Queer Wedding”; “Dreaming of the End: End Times Performances”; “Dreaming about the future of religion and theatre/performance studies.”  

This is only a small sample of possible directions. How would you add to this list? Engage the theme broadly. We encourage and welcome proposals in different formats, such as scholarly panels, discussion roundtables, performances, working groups, or any other creative format you would like to suggest!

The deadline for complete session proposals is 1 November 2013. Please submit to ATHE online here and also send a copy of your proposal to the R&T Conference Planner Claire Chambers at clairemariachambers@gmail.com.

The Religion and Theatre Focus Group will also accept individual paper proposals, and attempt to group papers together into sessions. Please submit individual paper proposals to the R&T Conference Planner, Claire Chambers, at clairemariachambers@gmail.com no later than 11 October 2013. Please include your contact information, any AV requirements, a brief bio, and an abstract of about 200-300 words.
Multidisciplinary Sessions:
Multidisciplinary (MD) panels must be sponsored by at least three different focus groups (or a combination of committees and focus groups). All MD session organizers must contact the conference planners of all three sponsoring groups before submitting their session directly to ATHE by 1 November.

To learn more about ATHE Focus Groups visit: http://athe.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=14.

For a list of the Focus Group Conference Planners visit:
http://athe.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=34