November 9-11, 2000, Albion College, Albion, MI

In Why I am Not a Secularist, political theorist William Connolly suggests that the secular/religious divide constructs a binary opposition between public reason and "irrational" morality. He argues that a dogmatic attachment to liberal secularism in late modernity effectively excludes the "visceral register" from the public sphere, constraining the cultivation of a democratic pluralism that can effectively engage moral and religious belief. It is clear, however, that late modernity has also been marked by a surge of discourses that urge a return to moral values to suture or renew the foundations of society. Whether the appeals are grounded in a foundationalist narrative that invokes God or nature, or in a secularist appeal to prudence or social utility, moral discourses often inspire individuals to discipline themselves in accordance with ethical norms. When these norms are articulated in a field of power, they often construct a moral/immoral binary which marginalize individuals, generate categories of behavioral and moral "deviance" and abnormality, effectively constructing morality's "other." Is "othering" an inevitable consequence of moral discourse ? When and how do moral norms become exclusionary ? What are the social, economic, historical, and political antecedents and consequences of these exclusions ? How have theologians, philosophers and others historically envisioned moral and ethical norms to be inclusive and express care for difference and particularity ?

The Morality and Its Other(s) conference invites scholars to participate in an interdisciplinary effort to address these questions and to critically examine how moral norms operate in domestic and international spheres. We seek empirical, historical, theoretical and theological explorations from a variety of disciplines including, but not limited to, Theology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Literary Criticism, Political Theory, Political Science, Sociology, Women's Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History, Visual Arts & Media Studies. We welcome proposals for papers, panels, roundtables and public debates between scholars on a range of themes including:

Moral Autonomy and Subjectivity · Family Values · Human Rights · Sexual Ethics · Virtue and Corruption · Moral Psychology · Postmodern Divinities · Ethics in Colonial and Post-colonial contexts · Jeremiads · Ethics of Justice/Care · International Ethics · The "Morality" of the Market · Theology and contemporary social movements · Toleration · Black Theology · Moral discourse and the construction of race, gender, sexuality · Moral norms and the politics of censorship · Just War theory · Welfare and economic dependency · Political obligation · Biomedical ethics · cultural pluralism · Women and nation · Legal norms and social justice · Secular/Religious · The role of confession in public life (or theology) · Historical or other critical works on individuals or groups that have strategically decentered moral or ethical norms · The Superego · The problem of "evil" · comparative moral/ethical theory · critical reflections on the politics of morality · comparative theology · Ethnography and Moral Diversity · Secular Humanism · Women & Theology · The Holocaust · Normalized Citizens

Selected papers and transcripts of public exchanges will be reviewed for publication in an edited volume. The closing date for all paper abstracts and panel proposals is June 30, 2000. Please submit your proposal by FAX : (517) 629 - 0991, or by mail to one of the addresses below :

Dr. Kathy Purnell, Political Science Department, Albion College, Albion, MI 49224

OR

Dr. Mimi Schippers, Anthropology/Sociology Department, Albion College, Albion, MI 49224

Albion College, through the development of Centers for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS), seeks to promote an integrated learning experience for students and scholars through the cultivation of critical inquiry and the promotion of research that contests the boundaries of academic disciplines.

This conference is sponsored by the Albion College CIS in Meaning and Value