Volume 32, Number 4 Summer 1998
CROSSING THE GOLDEN GATE: THE 1998 ANNUAL MEETING AND BEYOND
The San Francisco ASR meeting was another great success. Over 200 people
registered, matching last year, hence exceeding all other meetings except
1996, when our numbers were supplemented by the NEICP sessions added onto
our own. We did not see any adverse effects on our numbers from the ASA
religion session being scheduled at the end of their meeting, while we
met at the beginning. This issue of News & Announcements will
summarize the major reports presented to and actions taken by Council,
provide a list of our committees, as charged in the by-laws, and try to
give you some sense of where we have been and where we are headed.
Highlights of the meeting included the Paul Hanly Furfey lecture by
John A. Coleman, Jim Kelly's Presidential Address, and a session of wisdom
reflections by senior scholars Robert Bellah, David Moberg, and Marie Augusta
Neal. This year we had 40 sessions, with almost 180 program participants.
At the business meeting we were able to recognize Steve Warner as he completed
the three-year term of service that comes with election to the ASR presidency.
We are happy to report that the decline in our library subscriptions
which has plagued us since 1994 has stopped. This year a turnaround began
with an increase of slightly over one percent. Our membership remains stable,
and through a foresighted investment program begun by Ted Long, we continue
to be in excellent financial health. Indeed, our sound financial position
makes for one of the most important announcements from our Council meeting;
namely, additional moneys from our general reserve account will be moved
to the Fichter fund to increase the funds available for Fichter grants
to $10,000, beginning in 1999. Joy Charlton will chair the Fichter
Grant Committee this year. Persons interested in the Fichter competition
may contact her at Swarthmore College. Recipients of this year's Fichter
grants were Lori Beaman, "Religion, Patriarchal Relations and Women's
Agency: Mormons in Southern Alberta," Patricia M.Y. Chang, "Too
Many Pastors: A Study of the Clergy Labor Supply in Protestant Denominations,"
Madeleine Cousineau, "Grassroots Catholic Groups and Changing Gender
Attitudes," Paula Nesbitt, "Leading on the Margin: Women Denominational
Elites in Third World Countries," Susan Palmer, "Millennial Girls:
The Socialization of Female Children in New Religious Movements,"
and Mandy Robbins and Leslie Francis, "The Different Voice Hypothesis:
The Perceived Competencies of Anglican Clergywomen."
Your election ballots were counted, and the tallies were reported by
nominations Committee chair, Steve Warner. José Casanova
was elected 2000 President, and began his term as President-elect in San
Francisco. He has named Randy Hepner to serve as Program Chair for the
Washington meeting. Three council members were also elected for three-year
terms. They are Jim Cavendish, Michele Dillon, and Milagros Peña.
Jim Kelly will chair the nominations committee for the coming year, serving
along with Nancy Eiesland and Otto Maduro. Each year we elect a President-elect
and three Council members; persons with suggestions for nominees should
contact Jim quickly. Nominees should be able to attend the Chicago, Washington,
Anaheim, and Chicago meetings, 1999-2002. The person elected to the presidency
this year will deliver his or her Presidential Address at the Anaheim meeting
in 2001.
Along with increasing the amount available for Fichter awards, Council
also made additional moneys available to the Robert J. McNamara Award Committee
for subsequent years. This is a designated fund award that may be given
annually to an outstanding student paper. Unfortunately, this year's submissions
were few in number and did not yield a paper of sufficient quality to merit
making the award. Chair of the McNamara Award Committee for the 1999 selection
will be Bill Stahl, joined by Milly Peña, Fenggang Yang, and Tony
Blasi. The McNamara Committee has been asked by Council to adopt a 1 July
submission deadline for 1999 and also to propose alternative ways of budgeting
and timing the award that may encourage further submissions.
From its operating budget the ASR makes funds available in the form
of Ralph A. Gallagher grants to assist graduate student as well as foreign
scholar members with meeting expenses. Recipients who attended this year
were Pedro Arrieta, Emily Barman, Grace Davie, Kieran Flanagan, Paula Gallagher
(no relation!), Henri Gooren, Brian Lowe, Melinda Lundquist, Tomoe Moriya,
Soyoung Park, Mark Regnerus, María Teresa Rodrí-guez, Felipe
Vázquez, and Andrew Yip. Council appropriated $4,500 for this purpose
in 1999. Applications for this funding are properly directed to the 1999
program chair, Lori Beaman. Ralph Gallagher was not only the first president
of the ASR (then the ACSS), but also the first chair of the sociology department
at Loyola University Chicago (for almost 30 years!). We hope to be able
to mark that association in some way during our meeting this coming August.
An important initiative on the part of the Council during the past year
was to commit to the process of developing an ASR web site. That project
is now up and running at www.sociologyofreligion.com. The
web site is our own. It is based in Florida with the uploading work being
done under Bryan Froehle's supervision at CARA in Washington. Check it
out!
We are continuing to work at the Executive Office on the creation of
a more sophisticated database for the ASR. You have had new labels for
almost a year now. If all goes well over the next several months, you will
be getting a questionnaire that will lead to a new membership directory
by this time next year, if not sooner.
One of the things we hope our membership questionnaire will enable us
to do is reduce our mailing expenses by putting more and more of our communications
on the web. We can save considerable money by being able to put things
like the preliminary program, candidates' biographies, constitutional revisions,
and even issues of News & Announcements onto the web. At the
same time, we want to make clear that we do not intend to use technology
to disenfranchise anyone from full membership benefits. We will continue
to create hard copy editions of our communications. Your questionnaires
will let us know whether or not you need a copy mailed to you.
At ballot time this year, you will also be receiving Constitution and
By-law revisions that will create isomorphism between our rules and our
practice. We devoted a special Council meeting to this in San Francisco
and came up with a version that seems to get the job done efficiently,
without making us rulebound.
Another significant agenda item for the coming year is the selection
of a new editor for Sociology of Religion. Joe Tamney's second term
will expire with the issues of the year 2000, and because of the amount
of lead time necessary to keep our publication operating in the timely
fashion that is one of its hallmarks, the decision on a new editor will
have to be made by Council at its August 1999 meeting. Peter Beyer is chair
of the Publications Committee, into whose hands this important responsibility
falls. If you are interested in the position or wish to nominate someone
for the position, contact Peter as soon as possible. The stature of the
ASR is in many ways bound up with the editorial quality of Sociology
of Religion.
BLOWING INTO TOWN
You are reminded that in 1999 the ASR will meet in Chicago, 5-7
August. The venue is the Essex Inn on Grant Park, which is directly
across the street from the Chicago Hilton and Towers, the main ASA venue,
and where we have a good rate, with only the hotel's actual maximum room
count as our block limit. The fall issue of News & Announcements
will provide the call for papers on the theme "Religion, Gender and
the 21st Century," a letter of invitation from President Nancy Nason-Clark,
as well as other information. But you can mark your calendar now
to make sure you will be there next August! (A sneak preview of the program
call is available on the web site.)
AREA CODE CHANGE
Please note that the area code for the Executive Office is now 727.
Hence the numbers are: 727-844-5990 (voice) and 727-844-7332 (fax). However,
because we are also serviced by GTE the new numbers don't always work.
(If you've had GTE, you under-stand.) If this happens to you, the old area
code is 813. (We have moved to Galva, Ill. April 2004..new number is
309-932-2727...fax is now 309-932-2282)
RUTH WALLACE HONORED
Former ASR president Ruth Wallace (George Washington University) was
presented with the ASA's Jessie Bernard award at its meeting his year.
At the Executive Council meeting of ASR, the following resolution was unanimously
adopted with applause:
Whereas Ruth A. Wallace, Past President of ASR, who has contributed
substan-tively to both the discipline and the building of professional
relations between ASR and other professional organizations, has been recognized
by the American Sociological Association through the 1998 Jessie Bernard
Award for her career contributions to "the inclusion of women"
and to "the way sociologists view reli-gious institutions," with
explicit reference to her "pathbreaking book" They Call Her
Pastor,
Therefore, be it resolved that the ASR Council offers its congratulations
and its affirmation of Ruth Wallace's many invaluable contributions to
the discipline and the sociological profession over the years.
(The quoted material in the ASR resolution comes from the Bernard Award
citation.)
JIM RICHARDSON ELECTED
Past ASR president Jim Richardson (University of Nevada, Reno) has been
elected and is now serving as president of the American Association of
University Professors (AAUP). This position gives unique prominence to
a sociologist of religion in the larger academic world.
POSITIONS OPEN
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a two-year renewable
research position open at its Louisville headquarters. This position requires
a minimum of a master's degree, research experience, and familiarity with
or openness to learning about the Presbyterian tradition. The salary will
be in the $35k range. Application deadline is 18 September. Contact: Research
Services, Room 2625, PCUSA, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202.
Iliff School of Theology is offering a position in Religion
and the Social Sciences. The position seeks a social scientist with competence
in social theory, expertise in quantitative or qualitative methods (and
the ability to teach both), and a readiness to help ministry students reflect
on the relationships between churches and their communities. The Ph.D.
is expected by appointment. Application deadline is 2 November. Contact:
Prof. Jeffrey H. Mahan, Iliff School of Theology, 2201 S University Blvd.,
Denver, CO 80210.
The National Survey of Latino Parishes and Congregations is
seeking 12 post-doctoral or ABD graduate students to work in the area of
Latino religion. A training program will be undertaken 28-31 January 1999
at Princeton University. Competency in Spanish and English is required;
life experience familiarity with Latinos and their religious practices
is desirable. Upon completion of their training, fellows will be eligi-ble
for positions in six 18-month community study projects at sites nationwide,
each of which carries a $18,000 stipend for 2001-2002. All doctoral coursework
must be completed by June 2000. Application deadline is 1 November. Contact
Prof. Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, RISC, 1106 Ingersoll Hall, Brooklyn College,
2900 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11210 (phone 718-951-3121).
MEMBER PUBLICATIONS
Jim Beckford and Sophie Gilliat, Religion in Prison: "Equal Rites" in a Multi-Faith Society (Cambridge University Press), an in-depth examination of relations between the Church of England and other faiths in the Prison Service Chaplaincy, with comparative data from the United States.
Lutz Kaelber, Schools of Asceticism: Ideology and Organization in
Medieval Religious Communities (Penn State University Press), an extension
of Weber's contention that medieval religious movements were an important
source for the distinctive rationality of Western civilization, Kaelber
presents a fresh analysis of asceticism in orthodox and heretical religious
groups in the Middle Ages.
A UNIQUE PRIZE
In celebration of the 500th anniversary of Johannes a Lasco's birth
in 1999, the library that bears his name is offering prizes for either
scholarly articles (c. 30 pp) or book length studies of general
themes or more specific questions on the topic "Johannes a Lasco and
His Times." The first prize is 10,000 German marks; second prize,
4,000 marks. Additional book grants of 1,000 marks may be awarded. Submissions
may be in English, French, or German, and must be postmarked on or before
1 June 1999. The prize will be presented at a conference 14-17 October
1999 in Emden. Contact: The JAL Library, Kirchst. 22, D-26721 Emden <lasco@pergamon.fho-emden.de>;
web site: www.jalb.de.
MEETINGS
The joint RRA/SSSR meeting is scheduled for 6-8 November at the Hotel
du Parc in Montréal. The SSSR theme is "Voyager Savants: Following
Religions Across Space and Time"; RRA, "Reaching Across Boundaries:
Religious Research that Makes a Practical Difference." At the time
of this writing, the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar makes this a
particularly attractive meeting for expenses. For registration information
contact the SSSR business office at <sssr@sri.soc.purdue.edu>.
The BSA Sociology of Religion study group will hold a meeting on "Religion
and Identity" at the University of Durham in April, 1999. Look for
more details in the next issue of N & A.
ASR COUNCIL MEMBERS, OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS, 1998-1999
Officers
President Nancy Nason-Clark, University of New Brunswick (1999)
President-elect José Casanova, New School for Social Research (1999)
Executive Officer William H. Swatos, Jr., Holiday, Florida (1999)
Council
Past-president James R. Kelly, Fordham University (1999)
Editor Joseph B. Tamney, Ball State University (2000)
Book Review Editor Fred Kniss, Loyola University Chicago (2000)
1999 Program Chair Lori G. Beaman, University of Lethbridge (1999)
2000 Program Chair Randal L. Hepner, Michigan State University (2000)
José Casanova, New School for Social Research (1999)
Lynn Davidman, Brown University (1999)
Paula Nesbitt, University of Denver (1999)
Nancy L. Eiesland, Candler School of Theology, Emory University (2000)
Fred Kniss, Loyola University Chicago (2000)
Daniel V.A. Olson, Indiana University South Bend (2000)
James Cavendish, University of South Florida (2001)
Michele Dillon, Yale University (2001)
Milagros Peña, New Mexico State University (2001)
Committees*
Development: Fred Kniss, Loyola University Chicago (chair)
Bryan Froehle (2000), Loretta Morris (2001)
Fichter Grant: Joy Charlton, Swarthmore College (chair)
Ralph Lane (1999), Lori G. Beaman (1999)
International Coordination: Grace Davie, University of Exeter (chair)
Mark Mullins (1999), Grace Davie (2000), Luigi Tomasi (2001)
McNamara Award: William Stahl, University of Regina (chair)
Milagros Peña (1999), Fenggang Yang (2000), Anthony Blasi (2001)
Membership: Paula Nesbitt, University of Denver (chair)
Rhys Williams (1999), Shoshanah Feher (2000), Esther Heffernan (2001)
Nominations: James R. Kelly, Fordham University (chair)
Nancy Eiesland (1999), Otto Maduro (1999)
Publications: Peter Beyer, University of Ottawa (chair)
Christopher Ellison (1999), Edward Lehman (2000), Mary Johnson (2001)
*Committee chairs serve annual terms, subject to reappointment.
PAY NOW, AVOID THE HOLIDAY RUSH
You could save the ASR a lot of effort and a little money if you would pay your 1999 dues now, if you haven't done so already. Dues are $28 for constituent members; $14 for student and low-income members. (Low income is defined as under $10,000 US, including persons from countries with soft currencies [generally speaking ISA III].) Please note that both student and low-income dues are more than 100% subsidized and restrict your use to genuine need.
Send a check to the ASR Executive Office or fax your VISA or MasterCard
number, expiration date, and signature to us. If you don't know whether
your 1999 dues are paid, an e-mail inquiry to <swatos@microd.com>
will get you the answer. Constituent dues may also be paid as many years
in advance as you wish (2002 is the record right now), whereas student
and low-income dues should be paid on a year-by-year basis.
Speaking of the holidays: Why not consider giving an ASR membership
to a colleague or student? Or a library subscription ($51.50) to a needy
institution you know could use it?
We are also always happy to receive contributions to our designated funds. All contributions above the annual dues are tax deductible. When you think about it, we have managed our funds amazingly well. The Fichter Fund started a decade ago with a contribution of $5,000 in principal funds: today we give away $10,000 in income! When the Furfey lectureship was handed over by Catholic University of America twenty-five years ago, we also had less money than we now give away in income, which will be $2,000 next year. When you look around at funds management, few organizations can show a better record than the ASR.