“Discourses of Ritual and Power”
February 18-21, 2011
This year’s symposium will center on the theme: “Discourses of Ritual and Power.”
We have papers from all interdisciplinary fields with interests in the study of Religion and at all levels of graduate study. Topics include, but are not limited to: The Politics of Conflict, Ritual Practice and Community Identity, Issues of Empowerment and Subjugation, Creation and Preservation of Sacred Place or Time, Legitimization of Power, Divine Authority, and Roles of Lay Practice.
Dr. Matthew Kapstein, of the University of Chicago and Directeur d'études of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, will deliver this year’s keynote address. His lecture is entitled "'Spiritual Exercise' and the Interpretation of Buddhist Philosophy in India." Dr. Kathryn Lofton of Yale University will serve as a guest respondent on some of the panels.
Presentations are approximately 15 to 20 minutes in length followed by faculty responses at the conclusion of each panel. Every year, the faculty respondents select the best graduate paper to receive the Leo F. Sandon Award, an endowed award named for the Department’s former chair.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2011 Graduate Student Symposium at Florida State University. For more information, please send your email to: fsureligionsymposium@gmail.com.