Fasting and Beyond - Ramadan as a Multidimentional Phenomenon, Umraniye Municipality, Istanbul, 13th-15th July 2012‏

Ramadan appears as one of the most
dynamic social phenomena of our age, whether it is considered as a time period,
a realm of religious experience, a cultural practice or an area of social
interaction. Its dynamism, growing out of historical, cultural and religious
sources, has extended to take on a much broader social significance by
nourishing new practices of communication, interaction, solidarity and
purification.

The objectives of the symposium are: to
evaluate Ramadan as a modern social practice flourishing through the
experiences of different cultures; to portray how Ramadan works as a social
network; to make a critical analysis of the ways in which Ramadan is being
Orientalized through its historicization and exclusion from daily life; to
comparatively explore the experience of fasting with the practices in different
religions; to examine the visual, auditory and textual representations of
Ramadan as a scientific phenomenon from the perspectives of different
disciplines; to study the political, psychological, and spiritual impacts of
Ramadan on different social classes and groups; to question Ramadan’s effect on
identity formation of individuals; to distinguish constants and variables by
means of comparing the Ramadan experiences of traditional and modern Islamic
communities; and to compare the perspectives of different disciplines on the
meanings of fasting.

We
welcome articles or proposals in Turkish and/or English from all perspectives and
on all subjects in social sciences, humanities and theology.

Abstracts Deadline:15th October
2011
The Assessments of Abstracts and Announcements: 30th November 2011
Submissions Deadline:15th February 2012
The Assessments of Texts
and Announcements:15th March 2012

For the symposium organizers:
Assist. Prof. Fahrettin Altun
Assist Prof. Berat Açıl
Dr. Mustafa Demiray
Halis Kaya
Zeynep Merve Uygun

            Please
submit your abstracts and address all inquiries to        
            info@ramadansymposium.com