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The world will never be the same again. Armageddon is upon us. The Final Crusade has commenced. You are either with us or against us. Not, of course, that any of this has to do with either Islam or Christianity—let alone with cults or sects. . . .

If we had begun to wonder whether the sociology of religion was really worth pursuing in a secularizing age of glocalizing postmodernity, 11 September 2001 has stopped us in our tracks. Suddenly our world has become full of new theories and of old theories resurrected in the light of new events that none of us had really predicted any more than we had predicted the collapse of the Wall in 1989 or the spectacular failure of the prophecies of Y2K. Whatever next?

We have plenty to think about—plenty of questions to ask, ideas to exchange, data to compare, and hypotheses to expound. Where better to do all this than in Chicago? The Essex Inn has been refurbished in anticipation of our return. The Windy City promises us more glimpses of both elementary and sophisticated forms of religious life; the ASR offers us the opportunity of greeting old friends, making new acquaintances, sharing our burgeoning inspirations—and battling yet again with those of our colleagues whom we consider somewhat less erudite than ourselves.

A wonderful program on the timely topic of Freedom and Control is being put together by Grace Davie. You will have the opportunity to be engrossed by Michael Sells’s Furfey lecture, amazed by PhD students, enlightened by scholars from around the world, and stimulated by the challenge of presenting your own thoughts to attentive peers. And then, of course, we shall be right next door to ASA, able to take advantage of all the wares that it can offer—not to mention the opera, the art galleries, the Sears Tower, the Lake, the el, the architecture, Grant Park, and all those weird and wonderful religions. Chicago in August is, in fact, the place to be if you are, or even closely resemble, a sociologist of religion.

See you there! 

Eileen Barke 

London School of Economics

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 2002 procedures, which supersede any previously published submission guidelines:

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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 Catherine Faver, Peter Kivisto, and David Sikkink. Marion Goldman 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 2002 to be eligible for the 2002 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: Prof. Marion Goldman, Sociology, 1291 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1291. Questions: Mgoldman@oregon.uoregon.edu.

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A total of $13,000 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, but funding for already completed research or the publication of research is excluded. This year’s committee is composed of Jim Spickard (chair), Manuel Vásquez, and Paula Nesbitt.

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 Jim at 30545 Bridlegate Drive, Bulverde, TX 78163. All submissions must be received by 1 March 2002; awards will be announced 1 May 2002, at which time the moneys will also begin to be available. Questions? Phone Jim at 830-980-4390 or e-mail spickard@mcguire-spickard.com.

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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 $7,500 is available for the 2002 meeting. Grants have never exceeded $1,000 for foreign colleagues or $300 for domestic graduate students. Application must be made to the Program Chair (Grace Davie), 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. This should take the form of a letter in which the applicant indicates a specific dollar request, states the reason for the request, and provides reasonable evidence that funds to cover the balance of the trip are in hand.

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The Religious Research Association (RRA) will make $10,000 available in the spring of 2002 through its Constant H. Jacquet Research Awards program. One-year-advance RRA membership is normally expected of applicants, 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. The Committee especially welcomes proposals from scholars who are in the early stages of their careers, as well as from students. Contact: Jerome R. Koch, SASW Box 41012, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 49409; jkoch@ttacs.ttu.edu. Also check the RRA website: http://rra.hartsem.edu. Applications must be received by 1 April 2002.

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: Rodney Stark, 170 Camino Rayo del Sol, Corrales, NM 87048; socstark@aol.com. Applications must be submitted prior to 5 February 2002. 

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Some of you will be receiving dues notices with this newsletter. Regardless of whether or not you have dues now owing, please consider a tax-deductible, year-end contribution to assist with one of the ASR’s designated funds—Fichter, Furfey, and McNamara. Although the ASR is still financially very secure, this year has hardly been a good one for our investments. Contributions can be included with your dues, or if your dues are already paid, room has also conveniently been made on the reverse of your green directory information sheet. Please be attentive both to paying your dues on time and to keeping your directory information up to date. Each year the association spends the better part of $1,000 collecting late dues and paying for postal address corrections. "It’s your money."

You can also make an important contribution to 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 organizational 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. This year we will be contacting members whose institutions are not library subscribers in the hope that you will take the necessary steps to get a journal subscription from your library.

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