The DFG-funded Centre for Advanced Studies (Kollegforschungsgruppe) ‘Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective’ at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) is seeking to appoint several

Junior and Senior Fellowships for 3-12 Months

The preferred starting date is October 1, 2024.

Project description

The main goal of the Centre for Advanced Studies – Erlangen (CAS-E) is to compare the interpretation, rationalisation and legimitisation strategies of esoteric practices and their practitioners from a global perspective, and to carve out why and in which ways they are successful, resilient and creative in different cultural and regional contexts. A mid-term goal is the development of a cultural theory of esoteric practices, which seeks to explain their resilience, their typological family resemblances across a large number of cases, and their different culture-bound and politically shaped evaluations. CAS-E has a decidedly global and contemporary research focus and adopts a broad heuristic working definition of ‘esoteric practices’ which includes a variety of aspects such as contingency management, specialisation and the formation of expert systems, secrecy, the reliance on opaque efficacy as well as social dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. Simultaneously, the Centre also comparatively investigates creative reinventions of traditional ‘esoteric practices’ that acquire new hybridising forms in fields of tension with competing cultural registers (e.g. science, new technologies/media, political regimes, religious orthodoxies) which may contribute to their (re-) legitimation.

DFG-funded Centres for Advanced Studies are interdisciplinary research groups with exceptional funding conditions and an outstanding international reputation. They have an initial funding period of four years, with the possibility of prolongation for a second funding period, and combine an international fellowship programme with local high profile research, whereby a large number of leading experts have the possibility to convene and explore an innovative research topic over a long period of time.

CAS-E is seeking to appoint its third cohort of several Junior and Senior Research Fellows for the academic year 2024-2025, i.e., for the period from October 2024 to September 2025. Fellowships are awarded for 3 to12 months, depending on the scope and duration of the proposed research project. The fellowships should start either in October 2024 or April 2025, aligned to the German semester periods. The remuneration of the fellowship depends on the scholar’s current status. The fellowships are dedicated to individual research on ‘alternative rationalities and esoteric practices from a global perspective’. Applicants are required to engage in the weekly activities of the Centre (lectures series, colloquia, workshops, etc.) and engage with the research agenda of CAS-E.

Requirements

• Applicants should have a degree and a PhD in Cultural or Social Anthropology, Religious Studies, Theology, Sociology of Religion, (cross-)regional /-cultural Studies or in a related interdisciplinary field. We also encourage applications from the field of Natural Sciences.

• The Centre has a decidedly contemporary research focus, hence applicants are required to pursue a project on present-day esoteric practices, based on appropriate research methodologies (e.g., fieldwork, interviews, participant observation).

• The Centre also invites historically oriented projects that touch upon contemporary esoteric practices (e.g., by focusing on transfer or entangled history), yet going back to no more than the 19th century.

• The Centre has a decidedly global research focus, hence fellowship proposals may focus on esoteric practices from all world regions and cultural or religious contexts.

The working language of the Centre is English, therefore excellent spoken and written English is required. Furthermore, regular presence at the Centre is required.

We offer

• Participation in an interdisciplinary, innovative und prestigious DFG-funded joint research project.

• Access to extensive international networks of high-profile researchers in the social sciences and humanities.

• An open-minded, cooperative team.

• Flexible working hours and family-friendly working time schemes. • Professional support with travel, visa, and accommodation arrangements. • Travel costs to and from Erlangen at the beginning and end of the stay. • Travel costs for trips and conferences that are related to the research within the Centre.

Applications

Applications should include:

- Cover letter describing the applicant’s career path and current research interests. - CV including list of publications.

- Outline of the planned research project and how it relates to the agenda of the Centre (max. 5 pages).

- One related publication.

- Names and contact details of two potential referees.

The latest submission date for applications is April 15, 2024. The preferred starting date is October 1, 2024.

In its pursuit of academic excellence, FAU is committed to equality of opportunity and to a proactive and inclusive approach, which supports and encourages all under represented groups, promotes an inclusive culture and values diversity. FAU is a family friendly employer and is also responsive to the needs of dual career couples.

Please note that costs arising in connection with your application (travel expenses, etc.) cannot be reimbursed.

For further details about the position, please contact one of CAS-E’s Research Coordinators Dr. Lina Aschenbrenner (lina.aschenbrenner@fau.de), Dr. Stefanie Bukhardt (stefanie.burkhardt@fau.de) or Dr. Rachel Romberg (raquel.romberg@fau.de).

Applications must be sent in one PDF file to CAS-E’s Adminstrative Manager Sandra Losch (sandra.losch@fau.de).

Call for paper proposals for SNASWE panels at the EASR conference 2024 and individual submissions for an open SNASWE panel at the IAHR 2025:

EASR

If you would like to be a part of a SNASWE panel (Scandinavian Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism) at the August 2024 EASR conference in Gothenburg Sweden, please send the following information to the head of the SNASWE network, Tim Rudbøg timrudboeg@hum.ku.dk no later than by noon 5 February 2024.

1. see the details below for the EASR conference. Your proposal should match the conference theme)
2. a title of your paper proposal
3. a short abstract (max 150 words)
4. short bio

SNASWE represents Nordic scholarship on esotericism and/or deals with esotericism in Nordic contexts. Rudbøg will see if there is potential to create one or more panels for each of the two conferences along these lines.

You will receive a message by the end of 8 February about your proposal: if it can become a part of a panel and what the possible panel theme will be. If your proposal is accepted for a SNASWE panel, it is expected that you will reply quickly to any emails as the deadline for submitting panels 15 February.

EASR details:

https://easr2024.se/

https://easr2024.se/submission/

IAHR

The head of the SNASWE network, Tim Rudbøg will submit an open panel proposal for the The XXIII Quinquennial World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), hosted by Jagiellonian University and the Polish Society for the Study of Religions, will take place in Kraków, Poland, August 24–30, 2025. (deadline for open panels 28.1.2024)

Here is how it works

"In short, an open panel is like an empty box with a label on it, into which others may put their individual papers. If your panel is accepted by the reviewers, it will be listed in the call for individual papers and other researchers will be able to submit proposals to it. If those proposals are reviewed positively, you will be able to decide if they are a good fit for your panel."

Please read these links and submit an individual proposal for the individual call for the panel!

https://iahr2025.org/registration/important-dates/

https://iahr2025.org/call-for-panels-papers/

https://iahr2025.org/should-you-submit-an-open-panel-proposal-spoiler-yes-you-should/

Our latest newsletter is out, please click the below link to open or download: https://esswe.org/resources/pdf/newsletter/ESSWE-Newsletter-Vol-14-SummerWinter-2023.pdf

We invite you to the Happy Hour VIII conference - an international interdisciplinary conference focused on research on esotericism and alternative religious movements, which will be held from 27 to 29 October 2023 in Brno at the Jiří Mahen Memorial.

We sincerely invite all historians, religious scholars, ethnologists, librarians and others who are interested in:

• Hermeticism and occultism
• history of religion and religious movements
• Freemasons, Martinists, Rosicrucians and other secret societies
• The Unity of the Brethren, Theosophical Society, Universalia and other public societies;
• witch trials, alchemy, astrology, etc.

We would like to point out that the conference is primarily a scientific affair. We welcome also representatives of societies and organizations who can contribute to the topics discussed.

The conference will be newly streamed online with the possibility of an online presentation

The supporting programme will offer cultural and tourist events, especially the exhibition "Contemporary Czech Hermetica in photographs and artefacts".

If you are interested in participating as a speaker or as an participant, you can submit a presentation proposal from 12 June to 6 September 2023 or register as a participant from 15 August to 30 September 2023. The registration form will be available during this time.

Speakers are exempt from the conference fee.

The conference program will be posted prior to the opening of participant registration.

For more information visit http://www.stastna-hodina.cz/home/.

To launch the research program for the newly formed Dark Arts Research Group: Studies in Gothic, Horror and the Occult, 1750-Present in the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen, there will be a two-day hybrid conference between 22 November and 23 November 2023 titled: ‘Occultism and Popular Culture in Europe.’

The aim is to explore the many ways that horror, gothic and occult topics have been communicated, presented, and packaged for broad audiences from the late eighteenth century to today. We are especially interested in the ways different kinds of media technology, ranging from print and woodcut illustrations to photography and film have shaped conceptions of horror, gothic and the occult.

We are delighted to have two fantastic keynote speakers lined up for the event: Mathias Clasen, Aarhus University; and Richard Noakes, University of Exeter.

For more information please click here:

https://engerom.ku.dk/english/calendar/2023/occultism-and-popular-culture-in-europe/

CALL FOR PAPERS 

Devil 2024 Conference

15-18 May 2024

University of King’s College,

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Keynote Speakers

Francesca Stavrakopoulou  University of Exeter, UK

W. Scott Poole College of Charleston, US

 

Keynote Panel, “the Satanic Renaissance”

Joseph Laycock, Texas State University

Ross Blotcher, co-host of “Oh No, Ross and Carrie”

Julie Exline, Case Western University

Michelle Brock, Washington and Lee University

 The Devil 2024 explores the nature, significance, and operation of demonism and demonization across the western tradition. The conference will bring together scholars interested in the social and cultural construction of the devil and the impact of demonism across different chronological periods and from diverse methodological backgrounds. It aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue that addresses challenging questions about how notions of the demonic are shaped by cultural priorities and anxieties, by professional discerners and the media, and by discourses of fear and safety.

“The Devil 2024” will investigate why these images repeat through the ages and why they continue to have still have resonance in the modern world.

The Programme Committee welcomes proposals for 20-minute papers, for panels (generally consisting of three papers), and workshops or round-tables dealing with any aspect of demonism and its manifestation in the western tradition.

Themes may include but are not limited to:

• Binaries and contrarieties
• Colonialism and demonism
• Constructions and reconstructions of the demonic
• Demonic and authority
• Demonisation and its application
• Demonism and the pursuit of knowledge
• Demon possession
• Demons and panics
• Demons and the environment
• Devil, exclusion and social cohesion
• Devil, perception and cognition
• Devil in the media and popular culture
• Diagnosing, engaging and challenging the demonic
• Gender, power and social order
• Inversions and subversions
• Representations of the devil

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be submitted through our online submission portal at https://devil2024.co/ by 15 October 2023.

 

Halifax (pop. 500,000) is the largest city in Atlantic Canada and is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia. It is serviced by direct flights from Boston, New York, London, Montreal, and a number of other major North American and European cities. It has a range of services and attractions and has become a leading regional centre for dining and entertainment. The temperature in May generally ranges from 7C (44F) to 15C (59F).

 

Programme Committee: Michelle D. Brock (W&L Univ.), Peter Dendle (Penn State, Mont Alto), Sarah Hughes (Temple), Vera Kirk (Univ. of Malta), Kathryn Morris (Univ. of King’s College), Richard Raiswell (Univ. of Prince Edward Island), David R. Winter (Brandon Univ.).

For more information, please visit us at https://devil2024.co/ or contact us at devil2024conference@gmail.com

Richard Raiswell

Dept. of History,

Univ. of PEI

550 University Ave.,

Charlottetown, PEI

C1A 4P3

 

Fellow, Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies,

Victoria University in the Univ. of Toronto.

Dear ESSWE Members,

This is a friendly reminder that early bird registration for ESSWE9 at Malmö University closes at 23.59 CET on April 15th.

https://sv-se.eu.invajo.com/event/departmentofsociety,cultureandidentity/esswe9

Visit lit.ethz.ch/unseen

Organised by Chloë Sugden, Jonas Stähelin and Andreas Kilcher

The Simulations of the Unseen Conference will investigate the shifting meanings of “simulation” from an interdisciplinary perspective with contributions from the histories of art, religion, philosophy, science, and technology. The key theme the event explores is how unseen worlds are modelled and proliferated. The basic format consists of lectures by senior scholars, followed by question-and-answer sessions led by doctoral student respondents. Please visit the conference websites for lecture abstract and further information.

Registration is mandatory. Register before May 1, 2023.

After the registration deadline, all registered conference participants will receive information on the venues and the book of abstracts, including the full conference schedule, by e-mail.

If you have any question write us.

The conference is supported by Swiss National Science Foundation as part of the SNSF project "Scientification and Aestheticization of 'Esotericism' in the long 19th century".

Program

Thursday, May 11

18:15 – 18:30 Welcome & Introduction by Andreas Kilcher

18:30 – 19:45 John Tresch (Warburg Institute): Mapping the Modern Cosmos, Seen and Unseen

19:45 Apéro

Friday, May 12

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome & Introduction by Chloë Sugden and Jonas Stähelin

9:15 – 10:45 Maria Avxentevskaya (MPIWG Berlin)
Simulation for Proof and Persuasion in the Experimental Practices of the Early Royal Society

10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break

11:15 – 12:45 Jeremy Stolow (Concordia University)
Thelma Moss, Aura Photographer

12:45 – 14:15 Lunch break

14:15 – 15:45 Philip Ursprung (ETH Zurich)
Simulations of the “Inner Design”: Franz Junghuhn’s Volcanoes in the mid 19th century

15:45 – 16:15 Coffee break

16:15 – 17:45 Judith Siegmund (Zurich University of the Arts)
Simulation as a General Form of Knowledge and its Relationship to Artistic Action Today

Saturday, May 13

9:00 – 10:30 Simone Natale (University of Turin)

Simulating Sociality in Machines

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break

11:11 – 12:30 Isabel Millar (Newcastle University)

Post-Conceptual Art: A Pataphysical Object

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break

13:30 – 15:00 Katrin Solhdju (University of Mons)

Simulation of Disease: Pathology, Delinquency, or an Act of Contestation?

15:00 – 15:15 Coffee break

15:15 – 16:45 Monika Dommann (University of Zurich)
Simulation in the TV Age. “Die Welt am Draht” by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1973)

16:45 Closing remarks by Chloë Sugden, Jonas Stähelin and Andreas Kilcher

Outline

The meaning of both the term and the concept of “simulation” is bound up in an oscillating tension between depiction and deception. Contemporary scientific practice relies on models and simulations to stage realities beyond the limits of our ordinary senses. Scientific simulations enable the prediction of future events and the perception of their trajectories, such as viral spreads, economic upheavals and changes in climate. Yet simulations, spanning from simple graphic illustrations to highly complex computer-generated environments, should also be met with suspicion. Jean Baudrillard famously cautioned against the destabilizing effects that simulations can have on reality. In a world oversaturated by simulacra and mass spectacle, separating fact from fiction, the signs of the real from the real, is a precarious pursuit. Simulation, he writes, entails the generation of hyperreality: the production by models of a real without origin.

This conference is not, however, premised on Baudrillard’s diagnosis. Nor do we wish to praise simulations as instances of linear technical progress, or approach them as products of the digital era alone. Rather, we believe that the simulation, both theoretically and historically, is best understood as an ambivalent tool for revelation, yet also riddle and ruse. We seek to engage with, rather than eliminate or unmask this duality, expanding discussions to include the long nineteenth century, where simulation as a term took on manifold often conflicting meanings.

Two pivotal nineteenth-century scientific developments contributed to destabilizing the real. First, aided by various technical apparatuses, areas such as chemistry and physics envisioned an invisible world of ethereal undulations, electrical discharges, magnetic forces and subatomic particles. Second, sense physiology showed that human sense perception had little to do with the objective world, but was rather determined by internal physiological processes. These two factors contributed to a growing distrust in the accuracy of human vision, as mechanical recording and measurement devices that registered ever subtler spheres of reality were privileged. The reality to which these devices allowed access was increasingly mediated. This process raises a series of interesting epistemological questions regarding the problem of simulation: How are hypotheses derived from a plurality of technically produced images, representing sections of the world invisible to the human eye? Crucially, how are facts distinguished from artifacts in the absence of a visible referent? How does one translate measurable facts, which are at the same time technical artifacts, into scientific fictions or robust theories?

The epistemic uncertainties arising from this multiplication of the invisible become strikingly apparent when one considers the emergence of occultism that ran parallel to this process. While many contemporaries viewed science’s venture into the unseen with despair, occultists reveled in the new possibilities that increasingly simulated worlds invited. Accessing the invisible scientifically held the promise that invisible objects which had hitherto belonged to a speculative, transcendental beyond could now be naturalized and made visible. They could be simulated as “occult knowledge” with the newly acquired methods and techniques of science.

Fin de siècle discourses on hypnosis reveal another instance in which the epistemological implications of simulations were investigated. Known as the “simulation problem,” psychologists and physicians working with hypnosis struggled to determine whether the hypnotic state could be separated from a simulated one. Psychologists questioned whether a subject could convincingly feign hypnosis, deceiving even the most experienced hypnotists. Although generally acknowledged in treatises on hypnotism of the period, the emergence and consequences of this problem were mostly downplayed, as the matter exposed the limits of the male “medical gaze,” threatening psychology’s claim to scientific objectivity.

Investigations into the simulation of hidden phenomena also interweave with art history. Art objects have historically interacted with occult paradigms to generate productive ambivalences and enchantments. Occultism has cultivated an experimental epistemic uncertainty in art – a visual vocabulary of claimed occult knowledge has continued to circulate through certain image-objects. Modern artists and esotericists have experimented with various aesthetic approaches, attempting to positivize the occult cosmologies otherwise locked in one’s mind. Occult paradigms participated in the development of art movements of the fin de siècle, for example, Belgian symbolist painting. Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921), Jean Delville (1867-1953), and Félicen Rops (1833-1898) sought to aestheticize hidden realms of experience through mystical imagery replete with arcane iconography. They rejected realism in painting, portraying a syncretic, intuitive inner life. Their works transcend the mundane to depict higher spiritual realities and incite visionary states in viewers. Aligning with the epistemological dilemmas that scientists face, artist-esotericists seek to simulate and thus enact the experience of occult illumination.

As this sweeping history reveals, the topic of simulation traverses historical subdisciplines, foregoing clear-cut boundaries between science and non-science. Scientists, artists, and occultists alike possess relevant knowledge of the ambiguity, treachery and duplicity involved in simulation; of the devices and deceptions involved in sensitive visual description. Simulations lie between the visible and the invisible, representation and the irrepresentable, idea and image, form and matter. They can be sites of illuminating microcosmic and macrocosmic visualisation, yet also beguilement, error and betrayal, which we look forward to exploring through the Simulations of the Unseen conference.

The application for travel bursaries for this year's ESSWE conference in Malmö is now open. The first deadline is March 31. If funds are still available after applications for the first deadline have been assessed, a second call will be announced for April.

Please find the application form and information on how to apply on the Bursaries page.

Please read the full call for papers here: https://theosophicalhistoryconference.eu/?page_id=3344

Modern Theosophy is renowned for its reception of ancient Asian traditions, but the Theosophical movement and related esoteric currents have also enthusiastically reinvented ancient Egyptian, Ptolemaic, and Hellenistic traditions. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Theosophical interest in the ancient world was part of a larger movement. Egypt was eagerly embraced as a powerful topic in art, fashion, and literature, and Egyptology emerged as an academic discipline. Theosophy and related esoteric traditions did not stand on the outskirts of these expressions; but formulated their perspectives in a dialectical relationship with broader trends and vice-versa. Occasionally, the receptions, conceptions, relationships, and entanglements were so pronounced that it was difficult to clearly distinguish between Egyptology, Egyptomania, and Egyptosophy. During the same period of time, there was a renewed and continued interest in the ancient world, ancient philosophies, ancient mythology, and ancient religious traditions, which constituted an integral aspect of both Theosophy and the ‘occult revival’ at large.

Key-Note Speakers:

– Professor Henrik Bogdan

The Lure and Romance of Ancient Egypt: John Yarker, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Freemasonry

– Professor Eleanor Dobson

Egyptians on Mars: Science, Science Fiction and the Theosophical Imagination at the Fin de Siècle (online key-note lecture)

Conference Committee:

– Conference Chair: Prof. Tim Rudbøg (Associate professor, Science of Religion, director of the Copenhagen Centre for the Study of Theosophy and Esotericism, University of Copenhagen);

– Prof. James Santucci (Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at California State University, Fullerton);

– Paulina Gruffman (PhD candidate in History of Religions, Lund University, Sweden);

– Erica Georgiades (MRes Religious Experience Cand, University of Wales Trinity Saint David; PgD Merit Ancient Religions UWTSD; BA, Hons, Philosophy and Psychological Studies OU).

Please read the full call for papers here: https://theosophicalhistoryconference.eu/?page_id=3344