CFP: 3rd Conference on DEAGENCY (The Roles of the Agency of the Dead in the Lives of Individuals in Contemporary Society)

DEAGENCY is an ERC-funded project that seeks to provide a broad understanding of the role of the agency of the dead in individuals’ lives. Instead of treating the dead as mere expressions of “folk belief”, or symbols and metaphors of larger cultural and social problems and changes, they will be treated from the perspective of their agency, affecting the body, ideas, and actions of individuals (and vice versa), actively involved in the intricate relationships between individuals and larger social and cultural processes.

The third conference of the DEAGENCY project will focus on the theme of communication with the dead. The conference will be held between 1–3 July 2026 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The organizers invite folklorists, ethnologists and anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, thanatologists, scholars of bereavement and media studies, as well as scholars from other disciplines concerned with the dead in contemporary society, to submit an abstract and participate in the conference. Papers may draw on a variety of sources—ethnographic, archival, digital, media, etc. The conference language is English; the expected length of papers is 20 minutes. There is no conference fee, but participants will need to cover their own travel, accommodation and meals.

The deadline for the submission of applications is 15 December 2025. Acceptance of papers will be confirmed by 31 January 2026. In case of questions, please contact Ms. Marja Kovanda, Chair of the Organising Committee: Marja.Kovanda@ff.uni-lj.si.