CFP: The Agency of the Dead in the Lives of Individuals: Experience and Conceptualisation

Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia invites folklorists, ethnologists and anthropologists, sociologists, historians, psychologists, but also other scholars who study contemporary individuals’ experiences of the dead to submit the abstract and participate in the conference. This conference aims towards gaining insight into how individuals in contemporary society experience the dead and are affected by them. 

The conference will strive to understand the following (but not limited to them) questions: In what ways do the dead affect people’s thoughts, values, emotions and behaviour? How are they involved in their social relations with others? What impact may the dead have on individuals in a wider social, cultural, and political context? How do people identify, conceptualise, and interpret the agency of the dead? What influences individuals’ ideas about the dead and their possible agency? What sources do they draw upon in conceptualising the experience – is it tradition, dominant religion, alternative spirituality, popular culture, media, internet, political narratives, science, etc.?

Papers can be based on various sources – ethnographic, archival, internet, etc. The language of the conference will be English; the expected length of talks is 20 minutes. There will be no registration fee, but travel costs and costs of accommodation and meals will have to be covered individually. Please submit the application form with the abstract by email to Ms. Marja Kovanda (Marja.Kovanda@ff.uni-lj.si) by February 29, 2024. The acceptance of the papers will be confirmed by March 31, 2024.

This conference is the first in a series of international conferences on the dead in contemporary society that the ERC project DEAGENCY is planning to organise annually, from 2024 to 2027. If you would like to be informed about the forthcoming conferences, please contact Ms. Marja Kovanda (Marja.Kovanda@ff.uni-lj.si).

Learn about the conference here.

Learn more about the project DEAGENCY here.