Dear members of ESSWE, the Summer / Winter 2019 issue of the Newsletter is available for download from the following link: ESSWE Newsletter Summer / Winter 2019 (Volume 10, Number 1&2).

Esotericism in a global context: centres, margins, and everything in between

Call for papers for a panel for the 22nd Quinquennial World Congress of the IAHR at the University of Otago, NZ.

Organised by Marco Pasi, Henrik Bogdan, and Mriganka Mukhopadhyay.

The study of Western Esotericism has been established as a field for more than two decades. Recently, a debate about boundaries has emerged: why should esotericism be qualified as “Western” in the first place? Could we think of non-Western “esoteric” traditions? And, in that case, would it be because of historical influences and transmissions (however entangled) or because of structural similarities? In the first case, one could think of a historical development of esotericism moving from a supposed centre (first Europe, and then the “West”) towards the “peripheries” in other parts of the world (Latin America, South Asia, East Asia, Africa), through the effects of colonisation and globalisation. In the second case, neither centre nor peripheries would be relevant, but patterns occurring in different cultural contexts and calling for comparative analysis. The papers in this panel will discuss these problems and challenge current assumptions in the study of Western Esotericism.

Please send your paper abstract (150 words max.) and a short bio to the following email addresses:

m.pasi@uva.nl; henrik.bogdan@lir.gu.se; and mrigankamukhopadhyay@gmail.com.

Abstracts will have to reach us before 30 November 2019. We won’t be able to accommodate papers in our panel whose abstract has been sent after that date

Please click below for more information (in German):

https://www.jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOPG_ethz_1FtjFspOUCvPUvD27L

ESSWE Members are hereby invited to submit nominations for a new ESSWE Board Member. The nominees need to be affiliated with a European university and we are especially looking for female scholars. Please submit your nominations to the ESSWE Secretary Henrik Bogdan (henrik.bogdan@lir.gu.se) together with a brief motivation for the nomination. The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1, 2019.

Call for Papers: Forschungsstand Anthroposophie

An der Universität Freiburg in der Schweiz findet am 18./19. Oktober 2019 eine Fachtagung zum Stand der Erforschung der Anthroposophie statt. Sie richtet sich an wissenschaftlich, in der Regel an einer Hochschule arbeitende Forscherinnen und Forscher. Gegenstände der Vorträge können historische und gegenwartsbezogene Themen sein: etwa Personen, Gruppen, Konzepte, Praktiken, Vernetzungen. – Die Arbeitssprache wird Deutsch sein.

Bitte senden Sie ein Abstrakt mit einem Themenvorschlag von einer, maximal zwei Seiten und kurzen Angaben zum CV bis 8. Juli an Regula Gschwend (regula.gschwend@unifr.ch) und an Helmut Zander (helmut.zander@unifr.ch).

Helmut Zander

The registration for the ESSWE7 conference has already begun. While the early bird registration will be available from 15 January-31 March 2019, the normal conference fees will be applicable from 1 April-25 June 2019. Please visit the website of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents to register before the deadlines: https://www.amsterdamhermetica.nl/esswe-2-4-july-2019/registration/

Dear members of ESSWE, the Winter 2018 issue of the Newsletter is available for download from the following link: ESSWE Newsletter Winter 2018 (Volume 9, Number 2).

Announcing Project Awe’s partnership
with The Representational Art Conference

Project Awe has formed an exciting partnership with The Representational Art Conference 2019, taking place in Ventura, California 31st March – 4th April 2019.

Project Awe is sponsoring a session of academic papers at the conference with a focus upon esoteric art. The papers may be on any aspect of esoteric art including allegorical symbolism, alchemical symbolism, magical art, esoteric art history, tarot, and so on.

The principle theme of this year’s TRAC is the relationship between imagination and representational art.

In esoteric art the imaginative decisions of the artist guide viewers toward secrets or private meanings. Allegorical imagery is both an imaginative and practical solution to conveying hidden meaning. Consequently, we are especially interested in papers that examine esoteric imagery within representational art. Project Awe’s presence as a partner with The Representational Art Conference 2019 (TRAC) helps to bring us deeper into the academic art world. TRAC is the premier international scholarly event focused on cutting-edge representational art in the 21st century.

There are very few academic venues providing space for the discussion of esoteric art. TRAC seeks to address this lack and to provide a place where papers examining this fertile and exciting area are treated with respect and encouragement.

Scholars who are interested in submitting a paper may find more information at The Representational Art Conference website.

Deadline for submissions: January 15th 2019

Between 30 August - 1 September 2019
Tampere University (Finland) is hosting a conference
on the history of Western esotericism entitled

Edges of Freemasonry II:
Lived Esotericism and the Western Modernity

The conference is organized by University of Tampere faculty of social sciences/history in association with Research Lodge Minerva n:o 27 of the Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. of Finland. The event will be a continuation for the first Edges of Freemasonry conference held in Tampere University in 2012.

The conference call for papers has now been opened. For further information considering the conference and the CfP, please see the conference website: https://events.uta.fi/edges2/ or follow the conference on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edges-of-Freemasonry-II-2404568779572403/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Please download the program of the upcoming 3rd conference of CEENASWE (The Central and Eastern European Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism, associated with ESSWE) on Esotericism-inspired artistic visions in Central- and Eastern Europe:

Download CEENASWE 3 program

The conference will be held on 16-17 November, 2018, at the University of Szeged, Hungary.