CALL. 30.04.2017: International conference SENSORIUM: Sensory Perceptions in the Roman Religion - Ma
FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 30/04/2017
FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 16-17-18/11/2017
LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: The University of Carlos III of Madrid
ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Jaime Alvar Ezquerra (UC3M, IHJCB) ; Greg Woolf (Institute of Classical Studies, University of London); Antón Alvar Nuño (ARYS); José Carlos López Gómez (PhD. candidate) Beatriz Pañeda Murcia (PhD. candidate). The Institute of Historiography “Julio Caro Baroja” (University of Carlos III of Madrid) and the Institute of Classical Studies (University of London).
INFO: SENSORIUM@uc3m.es
The “SENSORIUM: Sensory Perceptions in the Roman Religion” conference will direct special attention to the physiological receptors that allow for the exchange of information between the individual and the external world within a specific historicalcultural context: Roman religion.
For a time, studies about embodiment and religion provoked a methodological excision in between the materiality of the body and ritual action, on one hand, and the concept of “belief” on the other. It was a problem that, while it resulted relatively new in anthropology and the history of religions (Godlove 2 2002, Bell 2002), was an old intellectual conflict about Roman religion that has now been vigorously renewed thanks to the paradigm of Lived Ancient Religion. Even so, the anthropological debate can allow for new approaches of analysis of the body in Roman religion. An ideal point of departure are "sensory studies" (Hamilakis 2013; Toner 2016), which have shown that senses and sensory perception are not exclusively biological or psychological issues, but have other social, political, and modal dimensions. That is, socially, the sensory experiences are culturally learned, identified, and recognized. Politically, these sensory experiences are shared collectively and, therefore, can be an object of ideological instrumentalization. Or, in modal terms, the senses cannot be a Cartesian object of analysis, but attention must be paid to flows of continuities and discontinuities within the sensory experience.
Therefore, the issues to be addressed in the SENSORIUM conference are not limited to a formal description of the senses in the Roman religion, but should investigate the processes and manifestations through which the senses articulate the individual experience of religious phenomena. For example: How do sensory perceptions stimulate the formation of beliefs? How and with what intention are some senses stimulated more than others in certain situations? In what manner are senses exploited in the collective processes of constructing differentiated religious identities? The senses play a primordial role in the socialization of individuals, in cognitive processes, and in the recognition of cultural spaces. Consequently, the senses are identity and cultural markers of integration or segregation that allow a huge variety of analysis, which is the objective of this academic meeting.
Researchers of ancient history, religious history, archeology, anthropology, classical literature, and other related disciplines, are invited to present their research relating to the poly-sensorial practice of religion in the Roman world.
Paper presentations should be approximately 20 minutes in length and can be delivered in Spanish, English, German, French, or Italian. We encourage the use of English to make easier the communication. All the papers will be published in English. The contributions must be original works not previously published. Interested speakers should send an abstract of their proposal (200-300 words), a short curriculum vitae, and contact information before April 31, 2017, to the following address: SENSORIUM@uc3m.es
Accepted participants will pay a registration fee of 50 euros. The papers presented in the colloquium will be published in a monographic volume that summarizes the conclusions of the meeting and authors will receive a copy of the volume, as well as certification that they presented their paper at the colloquium.