CFP: Pilgrimage and Sacred Places in Eastern Europe

[Monique Ingalls]

Pilgrimage and Sacred Places in Eastern Europe: Place, Politics and
Religious Tourism
University of Zadar, Croatia

27-30 September 2012

John Eade (University College London and University of Roehampton),
Mario Katić (University of Zadar, Department of Ethnology and Cultural
Anthropology) and Božena Krce Miočić (University of Zadar, Department
of Tourism and Communication Sciences)

Call for Papers

With the global expansion of travel and tourism more and more people
are engaged in what can be broadly described as religious tourism.
According to the UNWTO, for example, in 2008 300 million tourists
claimed that their trips were motivated in one way or another by
religion. Pilgrimage plays a key role in such religious tourism and it
is now attracting the attention of a wide variety of experts, e.g.
religious leaders, those involved in the travel and tourism industry
and academic researchers. Theoretical debates are moving beyond
earlier communitas and contestation models and a more global reach is
emerging as researchers explore beyond W. Europe and the Americas,
examine the increasing religious diversity caused by global migration
and investigate the intimate, historic links between pilgrimage,
sacred places, politics and tourism.

In this conference we want to contribute to this widening focus by
bringing together academics from different disciplines and travel and
tourism professionals to explore pilgrimage across Eastern Europe
broadly conceived as extending beyond W. Europe. In this way we seek
to look at different religious traditions, e.g. Orthodox, Catholic and
Muslim, and territorial ties (local, national, transnational,
global).
We invite papers which will explore:

* Construction and deconstruction of sacred places
* Embodied spaces and body as a mediator
* Pilgrimage as a form of religious tourism
* Relationship between travel and tourism industry
* Pilgrimage and territorial boundaries
* Politics and Pilgrimage in the past and today
* Pilgrimage in memories and narratives
* Tourist ab/use of pilgrimage and sacred places
* Tourist perspectives on the pilgrimage journey
* Secular pilgrimage and tourism
* The realm of pilgrimage / tourism experience

Keynote speakers:

Josef Langer, University of Klagenfurt
Glenn Bowman, University of Kent
John Eade, University College London/University of Roehampton

Program committee:

Josef Langer (University of Klagenfurt), Glenn Bowman (University of
Kent), John Eade (University College London/University of Roehampton),
Jurica Pavičić (Faculty of Economics and Business, University of
Zagreb), Nikša Alfirević (Faculty of Economics, University of Split),
Marijana Belaj (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University
of Zagreb), Božena Krce Miočić (Department of Tourism and
Communication Sciences, University of Zadar), Mario Katić (Department
of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Zadar).

Submission details:
Abstracts (up to 350-words in Word doc.), with contact details and
affiliation, should be sent to the conference E-mail address
(pilgrimag...@gmail.com), or to Božena Krce Miočić
(kr...@unizd.hr) or Mario Katić (mak...@unizd.hr) by 1th May 2012.
You will be informed about acceptance or non-acceptance of your
proposal by 15th May 2012.

Conference participation fees
Participation fee is - EURO 50
The participation fee includes all symposium proceedings, daytime
refreshments, excursions to the Croatian royal city and a pilgrimage
place of Nin, and tourist guidance through Zadar.

Accommodation
Accommodation is not included in the conference fee. Further
information about travel and accommodation will be available on the
conference website.
We look forward to seeing you in Zadar in September 2012!