EHS Post-Graduate Online Symposium Call for Papers New Directions for Church History: Theories, Frameworks and Concepts
Date: Monday 30 March 2026
Location: Online only
Abstract deadline: 19 December 2025
Conference organisers: Michael Fraser (University of St Andrews) Aude de Mézerac-Zanetti
(Université de Lille/ Institut Universitaire de France)
Emails: mcf24@st-andrews.ac.uk AND aude.de-mezerac@univ-lille.fr
The Ecclesiastical History Society have pleasure in inviting proposals for the third online
postgraduate conference on the theme: ‘New Directions for Church History’. This international
event aims to provide a forum for new and path-forging research, conducted by postgraduate
students.
The first EHS PG conference was held in December 2023 and brought together a diverse
group of international postgraduates to consider topics in the flourishing field of church and
ecclesiastical history. In 2023, the sub-theme was ‘Opportunities and Challenges’ while in
2025, speakers reflected on ‘Methods and Sources’. In 2026, we would like to invite postgraduates
who work in the field of the History of Religion to reflect on how they are using,
revisiting and elaborating theoretical frameworks and concepts in their research.
The 2026 Post-Graduate Symposium will conclude with a plenary lecture by Professor Miri
Rubin (Queen Mary University London and Vice-President of the EHS). The lecture is entitled
“From Ecclesiastical History to the Study of Religious Cultures: How We Now Study Religion”
and will be followed by a Q & A session.
The lecture and Q&A session is open to all. Questions may be asked during the session or
sent in advance, if you wish to do so please write to Michael Fraser (mcf24@st-andrews.ac.uk)
by 20 March.
Proposals may focus on any period of the past and any country or field of church or
ecclesiastical history. The number of proposals we can accept is limited by the time
available, which will be over a single day arranged to allow participants from various timezones
to join the conference.
Please submit proposals for:
- A traditional paper (20 minutes)
- A two-person panel (20+20 minutes)
- We are open to proposals offering other formats (such as a scripted conversation
between two speakers, 30 minutes)
All proposals should include your name, degree status and year, and institutional affiliation,
together with an abstract of up to 200 words and a very short biography. These should be sent
via email to the organisers by 19 December 2025. Please specify the preferred format of
your submission. - Priority Themes and Topics:
● Which theoretical or methodological frameworks and concepts have you found most
useful for your work?
● How have you mobilized and/or criticized existing theories and concepts used in
religious studies and/or in other disciplines, such as anthropology or sociology?
● How can contemporary theoretical frameworks and concepts enrich/limit our
understanding of the past?
● Has your empirical work led you to create new concepts and theories?
Selection criteria will include: - Alignment with the themes and topics
- Originality of the proposal
- Depth and quality of the research
Preference may also be given to candidates who are existing student members of the
Ecclesiastical History Society. For information on the benefits of joining the society, please
click here.
Proposals should aim to communicate to a wide general rather than a specialised
audience, bearing in mind the generous time and geographical frame of the call for proposals.
All proposals must be in English, recognising that not all participants will have the same level
of academic spoken and written English.
The online conference aims to provide an opportunity to showcase research on the frontiers
of church history. As such, we intend to publish a selection of papers on our website as
long blog posts.
If you have any questions, please contact the conference organisers.