The December issue of the Bulletin has now been published and is available. Below is the table of contents of this issue, which includes an Open Letter to the AAR on the challenges facing adjunct/contingent faculty with regard to the annual meeting, a set of papers responding to Caroline Schaffalitzky de Muckadell’s provocative JAAR article on essentialist definitions of religion (published in 2014), along with an article by Joseph Laycock analyzing the controversy in a high school in Texas over Ahmed Mohamed’s clock, a clock which was treated as a bomb threat by school officials. We also include an interview with the editors of the Practicum blog and an “Editor’s Corner” reflecting on the new subscription arrangement between the Bulletin and members of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR).
As always, we welcome submissions for future issues – including responses to published articles – from established scholars and graduate students engaged in the study of religion (regardless of discipline) for either publication in the Bulletin or for here on the Bulletin’s blog. Our guidelines for the journal are available online.
Table of Contents
Bulletin for the Study of Religion Volume 44, Issue 4 (December 2015)
“Who Gets to Play in the Sandbox? Debating Identities, Methodologies, and Theoretical Frameworks” Philip L. Tite (University of Washington) [Editorial introduction) – (pp. 2-3)
“For the Good or ‘the Guild’: An Open Letter to the American Academy of Religion.” Kate Daley-Bailey (University of Georgia) – (pp. 4-11)
PANEL ON ESSENTIALIST DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION
“When Is a Religion Like a Weed? Some Thoughts on Why and How We Define Things” Nathan Rein (Ursinus College) – (pp. 11-19)
“A Search for the ‘Really’ Real: Philosophically Approaching the Task of Defining Religion” J. Aaron Simmons (Furman University) – (pp. 19-26)
“Worlds Apart: The Essentials of Critical Thinking” K. Merinda Simmons (University of Alabama) – (pp. 26-33)
“A Deep-Seated Schism: Fundamental Discussions in the Study of Religions” Caroline Schaffalitzky de Muckadell (University of Southern Denmark) – (pp. 34-39)
OTHER ARTICLES
“Who Believed There Was A Bomb and When Did They Believe It? What Ahmed Mohamed’s Clock Says About Belief and Moral Panic” Joseph P. Laycock (Texas State University) – (pp. 39-44)
“‘Better Get to Know Practicum: Critical Theory, Religion, and Pedagogy’: An interview with Craig Martin and Brad Stoddard of Practicum Blog” Ipsita Chatterjea (Vanderbilt University) – (pp. 46-49)
“Editor’s Corner: NAASR Membership and the Bulletin for the Study of Religion: An Important Announcement and a Personal Reflection” Philip L. Tite (University of Washington) – (pp. 50-51)
