2005 Call for Proposals
closed

Religious Education for Peace and Justice
November 4-6, 2005
Delta Chelsea Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

ELIGIBILITY: In order to be eligible to submit a proposal, persons must have their membership fees up to date. Renewal can accompany one’s proposal. If selected, presenters must renew for upcoming membership year as well and register for the meeting.

PROPOSAL RELATION TO THEME AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Because the annual theme serves as a focus for conversations during a meeting, proposals are encouraged to address the theme. Approaches to the theme might address the following topics (among others):

• religious education for peace and justice
• assessments of the current state of the field and profession of religious education
• kinds of religious literacy needed in today's (global) context
• the meaning of peace and justice in a variety of national contexts (e.g. Ireland, Canada, US, Netherlands)
• peace, justice and religious education from different religious perspectives (e.g., Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, or Quaker)
• peace, justice, religious education and topical issues (eg. gay marriage, AIDS, electoral politics)
• strategies for teaching peace and justice in religious education or theology
• resources used in educating for peace and justice

However, authors should not force their research to fit the mold of the theme. Papers may be proposed on any theme contributing to religious education. Papers related to the theme of the annual meeting may receive preferential consideration for publication in the conference issue of Religious Education. All proposals and presentations must make clear connection between their topic and the theory or practice of religious education.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: REA members in good standing are invited to submit a proposal for a presentation in a Research Interest Group, a Colloquium, or a Resourcing Workshop. See directions below. One presentation per person, please.

Collaborative/interfaith/interdisciplinary proposals may receive preferential consideration for single or extended time slots. A chair will be appointed to all presentations to help organize the discussion around issues raised by the presenter(s) and participants.

Participants are reminded that we have three forums that serve as a guide for our organization. These are (a) Religious Education in Faith Communities, (B) Religious Education in Public Life & Global Community, and (C) Religious Education in Academic Disciplines & Institutions. The varied formats for presentation of research and reflection at our annual meeting attempt to reflect these formats. They are:

RESEARCH INTEREST GROUPS (RIG) discuss publishable papers among a group of up to 25 members. All research papers will be posted in a protected area of the REA website prior to the meeting, and included in the REA Annual Meeting Proceedings, distributed at registration.

COLLOQUIA are less formal than Research Interest Groups but provide a very important arena for sharing emerging research, research-in-progress, or practices and programs that do not readily lend themselves to formal papers. An outline of ideas or sharing of practices is appropriate in this format.

RESOURCING WORKSHOPS are presentations of scholarly and practical resources or approaches supporting the multiple practices of religious education. These sessions may seek to increase awareness or enhance performance of specific religious education practices. The context for these practices may be settings such as faith communities, higher education, wider public settings, schools, etc.

INFORMATION ON SUBMITTING PROPOSALS

Applicants must send an abstract of approximately one page (it may be single-spaced) to the Executive Secretary and the members of the Call for Proposals Committee. Abstracts must be received by June 1, 2005. Submission by e-mail preferred. Include the following:

1. Title of paper, colloquium, or resourcing workshop
2. Name of author/presenter(s), position and institution
3. The category for which the proposal is submitted (RIG, Colloquia, Workshop)
4. The specific or intended audience, such as grade school teachers, adult educators, congregational directors of religious education, or seminary faculty
5. Statement regarding the significance of the presentation for religious education
6. Indication of whether this presentation addresses the theme Religious Education for Peace and Justice (other proposals will be accepted).
7. Names of persons who might chair your session.
8. Three to four line (maximum) description for use in the meeting program
9. Abstract

   For papers, include main points, methodology (e.g. literature-based paper, qualitative or quantitative research, historical, or insights from our community of practice), generally the sources grounding the paper, and the status of the research at the time of the proposal.

   For colloquia, include main concepts/issues, methodology for addressing the topic, generally the sources grounding the presentation, and the status of the research at the time of the proposal.

   For resourcing workshops, include context, main concepts/issues, practice(s) being addressed, context of those practices (e.g. faith community, higher education, wider community, schools), outline of the workshop (sequence of topics and methods), resources presented and used.

Each proposal will be reviewed by the Call for Proposals Committee. Presenters selected will be notified on or by June 30, 2005. Proposals may be paired according to interest and topical relation.

E-mail one copy of proposal to the following five people: Drs. English, Groome, O’Brien, Smith, and Vrame

Dr. Leona English
lenglish@stfx.ca [preferred]
902/867-3765 (fax)
or
Adult Education Dept.,
St. Francis Xavier University
Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5
Canada

Dr. Thomas Groome
groomet@bc.edu [preferred]
617 552-0811 (fax)
or
IREPM, Boston College
31 Lawrence Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02167-3931
USA

Dr. Maureen R. O'Brien
obrien@duq.edu [preferred]
412.396.4904 (fax)
or
Duquesne Univ. - Dept. of Theology
600 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15282-2260
USA

Dr. Anton Vrame
tonyvrame@mac.com [preferred]
510-841-6605 (fax)
or
Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute
2311 Hearst Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
USA

Dr. Lawanda Smith
rea-apprre@cox.net [preferred]
318.442.4327 (fax)
or
REA Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 12576
Alexandria, LA 71315

Please follow these procedures and deadlines! Your submission of an abstract is your agreement that you will complete the paper, will abide by these deadlines, and will personally present it for discussion at the 2005 Annual Meeting. Failing to follow through with a presentation significantly detracts from the overall program!

Important Additional Information Regarding Research Interest Group Papers

Research Interest Group presenters will receive a copy of the Guidelines for Contributors for the journal Religious Education, and directions for Proceedings layout for the final copy of your paper. (Presenters of Colloquia and Resourcing Workshops are not required to contribute a paper although they may wish to submit material for posting on the website for participants in their group.)

Completed Research Interest Group papers for the program must be received in both hard copy and in electronic format (“rtf” or “pdf”) by the Executive Secretary no later than September 16, 2005. Papers not received by that date will not be included in the Proceedings and may be canceled from the Annual Meeting program. Do not count on extensions! Unless otherwise requested, all papers will be posted on the website prior to the meeting. Proceedings will be distributed to participants as they register at the meeting.

By January 13, 2006, Research Interest Group papers that were presented at the meeting may be revised and submitted to the Call for Papers Committee who will act as a peer review jury for the conference issue of Religious Education. Selected papers are recommended for possible publication and sent to the editor of the journal, who then makes the final selection.