I cordially invite all ASR members and other scholars of religion to the sixty-third annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, which will be held at the Sheraton Anaheim, in Anaheim, California, August 17-19, 2001, concurrently with the nearby American Sociological Association convention. Although we will not be immediately adjacent to their site, our hotel will provide shuttle service. This year we have four joint ASR/ASA sessions—a record as far as we know. Our meeting dates immediately precede the meeting of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR/SISR) near Mexico City by a few days, so that scholars from overseas will be able to attend both conferences more readily. North Americans can avail themselves of the same opportunity. The ambience of the meeting will undoubtedly be as cosmopolitan as California itself.

Our meeting theme, Religion and Societal Marginality is related to the same large-scale processes that have made California and much of the world so diverse. It is inspired by the fact that we live in an age in which high-technology multinational capitalism appears to be hegemonic, but in which nonhegemonic institutions such as the family, the local school, and religion occupy prominent places on the political stage. It is from the institutional margins that people resist and articulate their critiques of hegemonic forces. Our theme calls attention to the role of religion in this counter-structural activity, whether in the form of familism in conservative religions, quests for social justice in the liberal ones, or counter-cultural expressions in new religious movements. We hope you can take part in the analysis of this and other important features associated with the social positioning of religion in our time.

The meeting program will also feature author-meets-critics sessions on some of the recent books in our field, including ones on Mexican-American religious phenomena and immigrant religions in America, as well as paper sessions on, inter alia, Mexican religion, urban religiosity, and the history of the sociology of religion. Luigi Tomasi’s Furfey Lecture will portray the remarkable reemergence of Cambodian religion. In addition, we expect a sizable publishers’ book exhibit.

So, this old Californian asks you to join us. Program Chair Patricia Wittberg is receiving session proposals up to January 15, and paper abstracts up to February 15 pwittber@iupui.edu.

Cordially,
Anthony J. Blasi
blasi3610@cs.com

ASR GRANTS AND AWARDS
Each year the ASR offers three grant/award programs, all of which require ASR membership either at the time of application or previously. The following list details the 2001 procedures, which supersede any previously published submission guidelines:

Robert J. McNamara Award
The McNamara Award in the amount of at least $500 is given annually to recognize an outstanding student paper in the sociology of religion, although the award committee is always free to withhold the award in the event that no papers of distinction are received (as it did in 1998). This year’s committee members are Kevin Christiano, Cathy Faver, and Peter Kivisto. Ronald Lawson is the chair. Authors must be currently enrolled students who have not defended the Ph.D. when the paper is submitted. Submission for McNamara consideration is separate from program participation; students who wish their papers considered for the program must submit paper abstracts to the Program Chair following the guidelines of all standard paper submissions. Sociology of Religion has the right of first review of award-winning papers.

Submissions must be received by 15 June 2001 to be eligible for the 2001 awards. Submission should be in the form of articles with a maximum length of 40 single-sided pages inclusive of all material: text, titles, notes, tables, figures, etc. The title page should include an abstract of no more than 200 words. Text should not exceed 12,000 words, i.e., approximately 36 double-spaced pages of 12 point (or 10 cpi) type.

Submissions should be by one of the following methods: (a) IBM-formatted virus-free disk, with the text in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or plain ASCII; (b) Four (4) paper copies, typed double-spaced and single-sided. Responsibility for the timely submission of useable materials to the proper address rests entirely with the applicant. Send submissions to: Ronald Lawson, 722 King Avenue, City Island, NY 10464. Questions? Email Ron at rlawson@cloud9.net.

Joseph H. Fichter Research Grants
A total of $10,000 is available to fund promising research on women and religion, gender issues, and work using feminist theory and methods. The allocation of the total amount is entirely at the committee’s discretion; historically, however, the money has been divided among several proposals. The competition is open to all categories of members at all levels of their careers, including those seeking funding for dissertation research. This year’s committee consists of Lori Beaman (chair), Jim Spickard, and Manuel Vasquez.

A proposal of not more than five double-spaced pages should outline the rationale and plan of research. A detailed budget and vita should be attached. Simultaneous submissions to other grant competitions are permissible only if the applicant is explicit about which budgetary aspects the Fichter grant will cover that do not overlap with other submissions. Send four copies of the application packet to Lori at Department of Sociology, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 (Canada). All submissions must be postmarked by 1 March 2001; awards will be announced 1 May 2001, at which time the moneys will also become available. Questions? Phone Lori at 403-329-2552 or e-mail beamlg@uleth.ca.

Ralph A. Gallagher Travel Grants
Gallagher grants to assist with travel to attend the ASR annual meeting are offered annually by the Council to graduate students and non-US/Canadian scholars whose papers are accepted for inclusion on the program. Note that these are assistance grants, and participation cannot be made contingent upon their receipt. A total of $6,500 is available for the 2001 meeting. Grants have never exceeded $800 for foreign colleagues or $300 for domestic graduate students. Application must be made to the Program Chair (Patricia Wittberg), and final grants are determined by an ad hoc committee composed of the Program Chair, President, and Executive Officer. Persons in need of travel assistance should indicate their circumstances at the time they submit their program proposal or abstract.

OTHER GRANTS
The Religious Research Association (RRA) will make $8,000 available in the spring of 2001 through its Constant H. Jacquet Research Awards program. One-year-advance RRA membership is required for Constituent members, but students may join at the time they apply for a grant. An official RRA grant application form is required. Preference is given to applied (client-centered) research, but basic research proposals are also considered and the majority of actual awards are normally in this category. Individual awards are usually limited to $2,000. Contact: James W. Wellman, Jr., 8527 Hansen Road, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110; jkwamw@uswest.net. Also check the RRA website: http://rra.hartsem.edu. Applications must be received by 1 April 2001.

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion will make several thousand dollars available in research grants, a minimum of one-fourth of which is available to junior scholars. Membership in SSSR for one year prior to application is required. Individual awards will not exceed $2,000. Contact: Robert Wuthnow, Department of Sociology, 2-C-10 Green Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544; wuthnow@princeton.edu. Applications must be submitted prior to 5 February 2001.

MEETINGS
INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements), UK, and CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions), Italy, in cooperation with a group of other related societies, principally in Europe, announce a 2001 International Conference, The Spiritual Supermarket: Religious Pluralism and Globalisation in the 21st Century—The Expanding European Union and Beyond, to be held at the London School of Economics, 19-22 April 2001. Persons interested in presenting papers need to have abstracts and a short c.v. submitted as soon as possible and in no case later than 31 December 2000. For further information: inform@lse.ac.uk.

The 24nd annual Implicit Religion consultation at Denton Hall, Yorkshire, 11-13 May. The conference is residential, with participation limited to about 30. All sessions are plenary, with ample time for feedback. Openings remain for about six more papers within the schedule. Contact Edward Bailey, Winterbourne Rectory, Bristol BS36 1JQ, UK; eibailey@csircs.freeserve.co.uk.

The 2001 meeting of the British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group is tentatively scheduled to be held at Plater College, Oxford, in the second week of April. Check the web site for updates: www. socrel.org.uk.

The theme of the SISR meeting mentioned earlier in this issue is Interpreting Religion Today: Competing Processes and Paradigms. The conference begins at 4 p.m. on 20 August, and the last session ends at the same hour on Friday, the 24th. For further information contact the SISR secretariat: lfontaine@ustanne.ednet.ns.ca.

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association meet 18-21 October at the Adams Mark Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. The SSSR program theme is Mainstreaming the Scientific Study of Religion. Contact: Mark Chaves, Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, P.O.B. 210027, Tucson, AZ 85721-0027; mchaves@u.arizona.edu. The RRA program theme is Interorganizational Relations in Religious Research. Contact: Robert E. Beckley, Department of Behavioral Sciences—Sociology, West Texas A&M University, WTAMU Box 60826, Canyon, TX 79016-0001; rbeckley@mail.wtamu.edu. Deadlines are 15 January for session proposals, 15 March for paper abstracts.

CONTRIBUTIONS
Some of you will be receiving dues notices with this newsletter. Regardless of whether or not you have dues due at this time, please consider a tax-deductible, year-end contribution to assist with either the ASR’s designated funds—Fichter, Furfey, and McNamara. These can be included with your dues, or if your dues are already paid, room has also conveniently been made on directory information sheet.

You can also make an important contribution to the welfare of the ASR by using influence at any point you can to effect a new library subscription to our journal. Library subscriptions are crucial to the ASR’s organi-zational health. At least do your utmost to ensure that library subscriptions are not canceled. Assignments for students and pulling the journal off the shelves yourself when you go to the library help a lot and cost little.

COPUBLICATION OF THE "PROMISE KEEPERS" ISSUE
A copublication contract for the "Promise Keepers" issue of Sociology of Religion, edited by Rhys Williams, been signed with Rowman & Littlefield, under their Lexington Books imprint, and affordable paperback issues should be available for spring adoptions. The title is Promise Keepers and the New Masculinity. It will contain all of the articles, with only editorial corrections, as they appeared in 61/1, less the book reviews, plus an epilogue, written by Rhys’s sister, Gwyenth, a political scientist, that places the Promise Keepers into the larger context of men’s movements. Try to draw this work to the attention of your colleagues in gender studies and social movements.

OPPORTUNITIES
Penny Becker and Mary Jo Neitz are inaugurating a new book series that they will be editing for NYU Press. The series is called "Qualitative Studies in Religion," and it will showcase studies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including sociology, history, and religious studies. The idea behind the series is to provide a showcase for work that not only uses qualitative methodology, but is also reflexive about the link between methodology and the kind of knowledge that is generated. They are looking for studies that use qualitative methods to recast important questions or debates in the study of religion, explore new territory (new questions, studies of neglected groups or practices), and that are theoretically engaged. You can contact them, respectively, at peb4@cornell.edu or neitzm@missouri.edu.

The Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida will offer residential fellowships under the auspices of a Rockefeller Foundation program this year on the topic Religion in the Americas: Constructing Self, Community, and Nation in the Age of Globalization. Application deadline is February 15. More information is available on the ASR web site, or you can go directly to theirs: www.latam.ufl.edu/rrf.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research web site—www.hartfordinstitute.org —will host summaries of scholarly research which have direct application for clergy, denominational executives, and other religious leaders. The goal is clearly focused, one-page, single-spaced reports, with accompanying materials. A $200 honorarium will be paid for any accepted submission. Contact Scott Thumma—sthumma@hartsem.edu —for further information