PhD workshops

There will be three PhD and early scholars workshops during the IAHR 2025!

The PhD students are asked to apply to the workshops of their choice by contacting the workshop hosts directly. Please note that the deadline for applying for workshops is March 15th.

This workshop explores the role of theory in the study of religion, focusing on how we can develop theorizing as a form of academic praxis. The session aims to engage PhD students in reflective discussions about the ways in which scholars create, apply, test, and refine theories in response to empirical data and existing theoretical frameworks.

As preparation, students should expect to read the selected literature on various aspects of theorizing and produce a short summary (c. 3 pages) outlining their own research project and the role of theory/theorizing within it. The workshop will be split into two parts. In the first half, we will discuss the shared readings, providing a common frame of reference. In the second half, we will focus on individual projects, shaping our perspectives and building towards a fuller integration of theorizing within the PhD projects.

Through these discussions, the panel encourages PhD students to think critically about their own research practices, emphasizing how theoretical development can be both a methodological tool and a means of contributing to broader scholarly conversations. Ultimately, this workshop seeks to provide practical insights into how PhD students can contribute to the advancement of the discipline by engaging in rigorous and creative theorizing that builds on existing frameworks while pushing the boundaries of academic inquiry in the study of religion.

Registration before 15th of March 2025 at: m.davidsen@hum.leidenuniv.nl. Include your name, position, PhD topic, and a 200 word statement on your questions and ideas about theorizing. We will get back to you before 15th of April.

Team includes: dr. Markus A. Davidsen (Leiden University), dr. Indrek Peedu (University of Tartu), dr. Mattias Brand (University of Zurich)

Scholars in the study of religion(s) regularly make use of and generate a broad variety of research data types: in addition to texts these include interview transcripts, audio and video recordings as well as (object-related) images. Other types of research data are also emerging from the relatively new study of digital religion, e.g. from social media contexts. According to a survey conducted by the Specialized Information Service for the Study of Religion in the German-speaking countries in 2019[1], research data is of great interest to the community for subsequent use both for their own research and by other researchers. Open science is also increasingly being demanded by funding organisations, which for example require a research data management plan as a prerequisite for funding a project. Research data management (RDM) can help scholars to carry out their research in a more efficient way and make their research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR principles).

Following a general introduction into the “vocabulary” of RDM we will tackle practical topics with a subject-specific focus in this workshop, such as the structure of a RDM plan, choosing a repository for your data, or how to curate the metadata for easier findability. We will also discuss legal and ethical issues, again focussing on questions arising from the study of religion(s). The workshop is aimed both at PhD students as well as scholars who plan to run a research project in the near future or just started one.

For participation please contact the RelBib team: relbib@ub.uni-tuebingen.de

[1] https://relbib.de/Content/survey_results#content (12-11-2024, in German only).

NVMEN is the flagship journal of the IAHR, currently in its eighth decade, and one of the most prestigious journals in the field of the academic study of religion. In this workshop, Ph.D. students and early scholars will have the opportunity to discuss with the managing editors of the journal as well as Q&A with scholars who have previously published in the journal, thereby receiving feedback and guidelines on how to prepare a solid scholarly paper for a journal of NVMEN’s standing. The workshop will include examples of good practice, how to pay attention to details regarding preparation and submission of one’s research article, the importance of book reviews as a first step in getting into academic publishing, how to deal with feedback by the anonymous reviewers, the role and importance of double-blind review to academic publishing, and more. 

Chair:
Dr. Nickolas Roubekas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, editor of NVMEN)
Prof. Ulo Valk (University of Tartu, Estonia, editor of NVMEN)
Dr. Jenny Butler (University College Cork, Ireland, book reviews editor of NVMEN)

Participants/Discussants:
Prof. Laura Feldt (University of Southern Denmark, previous editor of NVMEN)
Prof. Gregory Alles (McDaniel College, USA, previous editor of NVMEN)
Prof. Esther Eidinow (University of Bristol, UK). Thematic area: History and Religion 
Prof. Rosalind I. J. Hackett (University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA, previous IAHR president). Thematic area: African Religions, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion
Dr. Lee-Shae Salma Scharnick-Udemans (University of the Western Cape, South Africa): Thematic area: Religious Diversity, Global South

For participation please contact Dr. Nickolas Roubekas: nroubekas@icloud.com