Call for Paper

In December 2025, Federation University Australia invites scholars from across the world to join us in the historic city of Ballarat for the 50th annual conference of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion.

In this golden anniversary conference, hosted on Wadawurrung country by Federation University’s Future Regions Research Centre, we welcome papers and panels on all aspects of the academic study of religion, especially on the topics of rural religion and religious heritage.

We particularly welcome papers and panels on the following topics:

• Rural religious communities and histories across the world

• Religion, rural migration and rural cosmopolitanism

• National and international recognition and legal protection of religious heritage

• Religious communities preserving religious heritage

• Religious heritage in rural spaces

• As the golden anniversary conference of the AASR, hosted on the site of a significant gold rush, we also welcome papers and panels on the relationship between religion and gold across eras and cultures.

All individual papers and panel submissions relevant to the worldwide academic study of religion are also welcome. We particularly welcome proposals from PhD students. Special sessions are planned for higher degree students.

Open Call for Papers – Due 31 September 2025

Proposals for individual or co-authored papers should include:

• author name(s);

• institutional affiliation;

• contact information;

• an abstract of 250-300 words, including a brief discussion of research method and/or theoretical approach.

For more information, please click here.