FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We are pleased to announce a new Sacred Writes media partnership for scholars of religion, gender, and sexuality to write for Religion Dispatches, funded by the Carpenter Foundation. In consultation with Sacred Writes, Religion Dispatches’ Senior Editor Evan Derkacz will select up to two scholars to serve as “correspondents.” Applicants must have some graduate training in religious studies, theology, biblical studies, or a related field. This partnership is open to faculty, independent scholars, and graduate students.
Although RD is especially interested in trans rights issues, the most important criterion for selection is your ability to put your academic work in direct conversation with current events in a way that is fresh and engaging to read. To apply, please pitch your first story using this Google form. Be sure to articulate why this story is important now, why RD readers should care, and why you are the person to write it, including links to any relevant non-academic writing you’ve done. You will also be asked to list three more story ideas, and to upload your C.V. Deadline for applications is September 18, 2023.
ABOUT RELIGION DISPATCHES
Religion Dispatches is an independent, award-winning online source for writing on critical and timely issues at the intersection of religion, politics, and culture. Publishing daily since 2008, Religion Dispatches draws over a quarter of a million readers per month and has an active social media presence with nearly 30,000 followers on Twitter. With deep roots in both the academy and journalism, Religion Dispatches appeals to experts and general readers alike.
SCOPE
Religion Dispatches will host up to two partnerships. Each scholar selected will write two (approximately 1,500 words each) articles on any topic related to gender and sexuality. Articles will be developed under the direction of Senior Editor Evan Derkacz. Sacred Writes will compensate each scholar with a $2000 stipend for their time and labor. Schedule will account for pre-existing commitments, but all articles should be completed by December 31, 2024.
TO APPLY
Please apply by filling out this Google form. It will ask you for:
• A complete pitch for your first article (specifying why now, why RD, why you)
• A brief list of at least three more article ideas (no more than one sentence each)
• CV, including any relevant public scholarship experience
Past media partnership fellows (2021)
Mihee Kim-Kort
Mihee Kim-Kort is a 4th year PhD student in Religious Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington. Her research interests broadly include race and religion, especially as it pertains to the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islanders.
Dr. Max Thornton
Max Thornton earned his PhD in Theological and Philosophical Studies in Religion from Drew University in 2021. His dissertation, titled "Cyborg Trans/Criptions: Gender, Disability, and the Image of God," was awarded the Rev. Robert W. Edgar Prize for Social Justice. His interests include queer and trans studies, disability and crip theory, science fiction, and tap dancing.
Dr. Natalie Avalos
Natalie Avalos is Assistant Professor in the Ethnic Studies department at University of Colorado Boulder. She is currently working on her manuscript titled The Metaphysics of Decoloniality: Transnational Indigeneities and Religious Refusal, which explores urban Native and Tibetan refugee religious life as decolonial praxis. She is a Chicana of Apache descent, born and raised in the Bay Area.
Dr. Ann Gleig
Ann Gleig is an associate professor of religion and cultural studies at the University of Central Florida. She is the author of American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity and is currently working on a collaborative book project on sexual abuse in American Buddhism with Amy Langenberg.
Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad
Rima Vesely-Flad is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Social Justice and Director of Peace and Justice Studies at Warren Wilson College. She is the author of Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017) and a forthcoming manuscript: Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022).