Paper proceedings from the conference will have the opportunity to be published, in collaboration with Arc: The Journal of the School of Religious Studies.
May 7^th^ - 10^th^, 2026 McGill University
Tiohtià :ke (Montreal), Quebec Deadline for submissions: February 1^rst^, 2026.
sites.google.com/view/srsgraduateconference/home.
The Organizing Committee of the American Academy of Religion - Eastern International Region and the Religious Studies Graduate Society of McGill University’s School of Religious Studies invites you to submit your paper proposal to our 2026 bilingual conference.
Over the last century, there has been much discussion regarding the relationship between religion and science. Like the notion of religion, science — and even the debate about how it co-exists with religion — has a conceptual history. Even when fully traced, these histories do not give us fully formed and eternally true conceptual identities. The focus of this conference is whether religion and science speak to each other. How do we think about this relationship in a deeper way than conflict? How can we move beyond this frame? What tools do we need to achieve this? We therefore seek submissions that treat the theme ‘Beyond Science and Religion.’ These include many variations or aspects, such as: What is religion? What is science? Are these compatible with one another? Is religious studies a science [Wissenschaft]? What relation is there, or should there be, between ontology and epistemology? Why do we conceptualize ‘thinking’ and ‘believing’ as two different processes? When we consider the state of the field of religious
studies and the way it understands itself and its relationship to other sciences and disciplines — or even its relationship to ‘Science’ as such &emdash; how can this debate be furthered and deepened? What is beyond the now?
We invite participants to submit individual papers or panels (groups of 3-5) that reflect their research and interests by situating their work with the goal of moving forward the discussion involving the concepts of ‘religion’ and ‘science,’ broadly conceived. This bilingual English/French conference will be a space where, together, scholars and graduate students from different universities and backgrounds gather in Tiohtià :ke (Montreal) and find a place to share their expertise with each other to build a lasting sense of academic community. Proposals that do not relate directly to these themes are also welcomed and will be seriously considered.
**Paper length: **Participants will have a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 20 minutes for their presentations, followed by a short period for questions.
Please submit, in one single .doc, .docx, or .pdf document:
(1) Your name, preferred pronouns, university affiliation, department, program, and contact information.
(2) A tentative title for your presentation.
(3) An abstract of your presentation (250-word limit).
(4) A short introduction of yourself (100-word limit).
(5) Indication of whether you want your paper to be considered for publication.
(6) Indication of whether you speak English, French, or both.
(7) Indication of the primary language of your presentation. Submissions should be sent to [email protected].
For those willing to submit their conference paper for publication, more details will be communicated to them at a later date.
We accept papers from graduate students from any discipline whose research is connected to the conference theme in religious studies and associated fields. As a general guideline but not exclusively, any of the following areas and fields of study are recommended:
Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern, and Contemporary Religions & Spiritualities
Western, Eastern, and Indigenous Religions & Spiritualities
Philosophy, Theology, Philosophy of Religion, Phenomenology of Religion, Ethics and Bioethics
Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology of Religion
Religion & Political theory, Religion in the Public Sphere, Secularization and Laïcité Religion in Pop Culture and the Arts
Modernity, Industrialization, Globalization, Communication and Media Studies, New Technologies, AI and Religion
Ritual Studies, Material and Sensory studies, Semiotics of Religion Gender, Race, Decolonial, Postcolonial, and Queer Critical Theories Magic, Mysticism, Myth, Ritual, Theopoetics
