Call for Proposals

The Religious Studies program at Knox College and the Knight Fund for Religion and Culture invite proposals for participation in our second Undergraduate Religious Studies Conference, “Religions In/and/Out/of Time” to be held Friday, October 24th and Saturday, October 25th, 2025 at Knox College in Galesburg, IL.

Religion is a social, cultural and historical phenomenon and is thus bound to time: the past, the present, and the future. The study of religion is grounded in historical work, social scientific inquiry, creative work, and speculation about the future. The question of how religion exists within time and also transcends the boundaries of historical time extends beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. This conference invites presentations that examine religion as the product of particular time(s), as informing our understanding of the present, or as existing outside the confines of history in the unknown future. We also welcome papers that use religion to interrogate human experiences of or assumptions about time (e.g., the divine might be considered to be outside of time as we understand it).

We welcome undergraduate student papers, paper panels, and “un-papers” that engage with any of the ways that religion intersects with and resists notions of time. This may include, but is not limited to:

• Religion and politics (contemporary or historical)
• Religion and popular culture (literature, film, television, music, games, etc.)
• History of religion, religious practices, or religious texts (ex. changes over time, interpretations in different eras, survival of practices in new contexts)
• Psychological, economic or social scientific analyses of religion
• Education and religion (ex. debates on school curricula, religious initiatives toward mass education)
• Religion and science (ex. healthcare, end-of-life considerations, climate change, conservation, ecology, human evolution)
• Religion and technology (ex. digital media, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, cryonics, spaceflight, transhumanism)
• Speculative and/or fictional religions

• Presenter name and email address
• Institutional affiliation (school name and graduation year)
• The name and email address for a faculty mentor associated with the paper* 
• Title of paper or presentation
• An abstract for the paper or presentation, no more than 250 words

All students must submit their paper title, an abstract of 250 words and name and email address for a faculty mentor using this Google Form. Proposals must be submitted by October 3, 2025. Students selected to present will be asked to submit their presentations in full by October 20, 2025.

Faculty mentors are invited, but not required, to attend the conference.

All participants will be asked to register for this conference. Registration is free of charge. Breakfast and lunch will be included on Saturday, October 25 for all registered attendees. 

All student presentations will be eligible for one of three paper prizes, awarded by the planning committee:

• 1st Prize $150
• 2nd Prize $100
• 3rd Prize $50

Students may present work in the following formats:

• Individual paper. Students will offer 10- to 12-minute presentations (4-5 pages, double-spaced) thematically organized into panels of 3-4 presenters and facilitated by a faculty moderator. 
• Pre-arranged panel. Faculty mentors may submit pre-arranged student panels of 3-4 individual presentations. This is ideal for student work originating from the same course that is already thematically aligned. These panels must be submitted by faculty mentors to Scott Harris at saharris@knox.edu with a short panel description and individual abstracts included.
• “Un-paper” presentation. Students may submit non-traditional “papers,” including visual art, creative writing, and performance art that reflect the theme of the conference. This work will be presented in a 10- to 12-minute presentation, if possible. See the FAQs for more information.