Religion Call for Papers | @relcfp

Conveners

The call is issued by the Johns Hopkins University-Pompeu Fabra University Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF PPC), alongside the Research Center for Planetary Well-being and the Departments and Faculties of Political and Social Sciences, Humanities, and Medicine and Life Sciences at UPF.

Other institutions and research groups are also joining the call: the Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI), the Institute for the History of Science (IHC-UAB), and, in connection with RHECO, the Ecological Humanities Research Group (GHECO) and the Ecological Humanities and Technology Research Group (THECO-UC3M) — both through the Speak4Nature project — as well as the Ekopol research group. The project “Post-fossil Culture: Socio-Cultural Imaginaries, Global Warming, and Energy Transition (KULTUR(P)FOSSIL)” from the Institute of History at CSIC also joins the call.

Institutional Motivation

Our motivation is to link ideas between the various groups interested in Ecological Humanities. Hundreds of people have participated in meetings on the role of humanities in the socio-ecological crisis, which have been organized by the convening institutions in recent years (e.g., the first Congress, the STREAMS digital conference, and various symposiums promoted by RHECO members). We aim for this Congress edition to foster new encounters and bring more international groups into the conversation, further strengthening RHECO.

The Congress will be bilingual (English/Spanish). In addition to the established international connections, UPF will promote the Congress among interested communities within the EUTOPIA university alliance. In this spirit, the inclusion of young talent — undergraduate and graduate students — in the field of Ecological Humanities and planetary well-being is a key motivation for this edition’s organization.

Intellectual Motivation

The 2nd Congress is convened by UPF, a university that has made planetary well-being a central intellectual and educational challenge. Thus, the main conceptual anchor of this edition is the exploration of connections between Ecological Humanities and the Planetary Well-being paradigm. Ecological Humanities seek to build necessary bridges between disciplines to address eco-social crises through system and worldview transformations. Likewise, the Planetary Well-being paradigm transcends technical approaches in the search for solutions to these crises. From this perspective, the collective reflection on planetary boundaries is conceived as inseparably linked to equity, justice, diversity, and relationality in present and past societies. Thus, this edition embraces the political and moral nature of conversations about social metabolism, as a pathway to a non-anthropocentric humanism.

Six Pathways to Planetary Well-being

Ecological Humanities provide an inter- and transdisciplinary framework between scientific fields, politics, and ethics. In this spirit, the 2nd Congress organically connects the specific areas of work in the convening organizations, opening them to interested researchers and allowing them to thrive through interaction.

The six pathways of the 2nd Congress invite participants to strengthen connections around central themes that actively engage political and intellectual discourses in today’s world. At the same time, the Congress will also embrace elements of surprise and the exploration of the unconventional as a creative force for transformation. You can explore the description of the pathways in the “Themes” Tab.

Participation Modalities

Oral Presentations

• We are calling for in-person presentations during sessions organized by the organizing committee within the scope of the steering questions presented above.  
• Panel proposals that fit within the six outlined pathways are welcome. The organizing committee will consider panels outside these areas only if the proposing group can convincingly justify their relevance to the Congress’s overall theme.

Artistic Expressions

• The conference welcomes proposals for artistic and experimental sessions/interventions, including but not limited to: photography and art exhibitions, video screenings, performances, and theatrical presentations. By “experimental sessions” we refer to any proposal that goes beyond the traditional roundtable/panel format. If you are submitting in this category, please provide a detailed description of your proposal and specify the technical requirements, such as room type and time needed. 
• A dedicated space will be provided at the Congress for the inclusion of artistic expressions produced by researchers, fostering an interdisciplinary approach that integrates academic research with artistic creation.

Will there be virtual sessions?

• There will be no hybrid sessions; however, to broaden the reach of the Congress, efforts will be made to offer live streaming and organize exclusively virtual sessions. Check the conference website for updates.

Learn More