Seminar on Methodology and Theory in Research on Religion
Santos, May 20 - 22, 2002
Brazil - Center of Imagination and Memory - University of São Paulo

Dear Colleague,

The Center of Imagination and Memory Studies at the University of São Paulo (USP) will be convening a seminar on Methodology and Theory in Research on Religion. We would like to invite you to be part of a selected group of fifteen participants from different parts of the world to discuss the subject.
The seminar will be held in Santos, a town near São Paulo, lasting two and a half days, after which we will participate in a major congress for the rest of the week in São Paulo hosted by the Associacão Brasileira de História das Religiões (ABHR), which is affiliated to the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR). We can offer to cover your flight fare and room and board in Santos for those who those who send a paper beforehand. In São Paulo we can only cover your meals.

About the Seminar on Methodology and Theory in Research on Religion

This seminar is very important for us because theory and methodology are central concerns in contemporary academic discussion. Faced with the multiplicity of representations, we wish to discuss approaches to understanding various cultural manifestations. Religion will be the focus of our discussion in which to explore symbolic universes through concepts such as cultural representations, cultural diversity, hybridism, neo-colonialism, gender, literature, myth, ritual and so on. We believe that only an inter-disciplinary focus will help us understand these questions.


Date: 20 to 22 May 2002
Dead line: All participants must send a paper no later than 15 March 2001 (appr. 10 pp.)
Organization: Two sessions a day (morning and afternoon) with two participants and a mediator, followed by an open discussion.

Program Committee:
Center of Imaginary and Memory- Psychology Institute, University of São Paulo.
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo-PUC-SP

Dr.Maria Regina Toledo Sader- Departamento de Geografia, Universidade de São Paulo
Dr.Maria Luisa Sandoval Schmidt, Instituto de Psicologia-Universidade de São Paulo
Dr.Maria de Lourdes Beldi de Alcântara- Núcleo e Laboratório do Imaginário, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo.
Dr.Paulo Sierpienski - Deptº de História, Universidade Federal da Paraíba
Dr.Silas Guerreiro- Deptº de Teologia e Ciências da Religião, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo