50th Annual Conference of the AASR
Rural Religion and Religious Heritage

4 - 5 December 2025
Federation University Australia
Ballarat

Keynote speaker: Professor Lori G. Beaman (University of Ottawa)
Further keynote speakers to be announced

Call for Papers

In December 2025, Federation University Australia invites scholars from across the world to join us in the historic city of Ballarat for the 50th annual conference of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion.

In this golden anniversary conference, hosted on Wadawurrung country by Federation University’s Future Regions Research Centre, we welcome papers and panels on all aspects of the academic study of religion, especially on the topics of rural religion and religious heritage.

We particularly welcome papers and panels on the following topics:

  • Rural religious communities and histories across the world

  • Religion, rural migration and rural cosmopolitanism

  • National and international recognition and legal protection of religious heritage

  • Religious communities preserving religious heritage

  • Religious heritage in rural spaces

  • As the golden anniversary conference of the AASR, hosted on the site of a significant gold rush, we also welcome papers and panels on the relationship between religion and gold across eras and cultures.

All individual papers and panel submissions relevant to the worldwide academic study of religion are also welcome. We particularly welcome proposals from PhD students. Special sessions are planned for higher degree students.

A conference publication on the topic of rural religion and religious heritage in global perspective is planned.

Open Call for Papers – Due 31 September 2025

Proposals for individual or co-authored papers should include:

  • author name(s);

  • institutional affiliation;

  • contact information;

  • an abstract of 250-300 words, including a brief discussion of research method and/or theoretical approach

Use the button below to submit your paper.

Panel sessions – Due 31 September 2025.

Proposals for 90 or 120 minute panels should include a 50-100 word abstract for the panel as well as individual abstracts and author information, as above.

Note:

  • All presenters will be required to be members of the AASR by 28 November 2025. Members of the New Zealand Association for the Study of Religion are exempt from this requirement.

  • Registration fees will be posted on this website closer to the event and will include morning tea, afternoon tea and lunch. All efforts will be made to keep costs low.

  • A conference dinner is planned for the evening of December 4. The cost of the dinner will be in addition to conference registration.

  • Tours of Ballarat will be conducted by Federation University students. Dates and details will be available closer to the conference.

  • This is primarily an in-person conference, held at the SMB Campus of Federation University Australia, in central Ballarat, approximately 100km from the city of Melbourne and Melbourne International Airport and 5-minutes walk from Ballarat railway station. We have limited capacity for hybrid panels and online presentations.

  • Accommodation will be available at Federation University’s Ballarat CBD student residences, with the option of private ensuite single and double rooms with kitchens, and private bedrooms with shared kitchens and bathrooms. Booking links will be available on this website in closer to the conference date.

  • All inquiries can be directed to the conference committee at AASR2025@federation.edu.au.

 

Since 1976, the Australian Association for the Study of Religion (AASR) has been fostering the development of high-quality scholarship on religion, creating community and mutual opportunity for established and emerging voices.

Federation University Australia started as The School of Mines in Ballarat in 1870. Today, Federation is regional Victoria’s largest education institution, with campuses in Ballarat, Berwick, Gippsland and the Wimmera.

 

Federation University Australia acknowledges the Custodians of the lands and waters where our campuses are located and recognise their continuing responsibilities to care for country at these sites of teaching and learning. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations Peoples. This conference takes place on the lands of the Wadawurrung People.