Calls for Papers:

International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion (IJIDI) – Special Issue

“Pilgrimage and Diversity in the Information Age”

Guest Editors:

Dr. Nadia Caidi (University of Toronto, Canada) – nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca

Dr. Perla Innocenti (Northumbria University, UK) – perla.innocenti@northumbria.ac.uk

Religious and secular pilgrimages have been part of human history since the beginning of time and remain very much alive today, whether it is the Holy Land, the Hajj, Lhasa, Kumbh Mela, Char Dham, or else the Camino de Santiago, Kumano Kodo, Glastonbury Tor, Elvis’s Graceland, national parks, or war memorials. Pilgrimage has been an object of study across disciplines: in art, architecture, and heritage, history, literature, social anthropology, religious studies, and tourism, among others. Yet, as a research context in information science, pilgrimage has been surprisingly overlooked. Similarly, while a body of work investigated religious tolerance and pluralism, few scholars explicitly addressed contemporary questions of diversity and inclusion in pilgrimage studies. There seems to be an intrinsic tension between the message of oneness, unity, equality, and personal self-abnegation advocated by some religious pilgrimages and the actual representation and expression of diversity in pilgrimages. At the same time, the phenomena of religious tourism and secular pilgrimages—from music-themed to political—may be conducive to expanding the diversity and inclusion repertoires of pilgrimage scholars.

This Special Issue of IJIDI will address this gap by offering a combined information and diversity perspective to the study of pilgrimage; shedding light on the approaches and concepts that can enrich our understanding of the pilgrim’s journey and it complexities through the lens of information and media practices, embodied experiences, memory work, discourses and practices around diversity, curation practices, and community building in a global and digital world. This holistic approach will pave the way for a broader conversation on social phenomenology and the diversity of human information behaviours and religious/spiritual practices in the context of pilgrimage.

IJIDI welcomes a broad spectrum of submissions on any topics related to information, diversity, and pilgrimage, on the topic that include but not limited to the following questions:

• What research approaches are most suitable for exploring pilgrimage from the standpoint of diversity and inclusion in a global, networked environment?
• What framework would best account for the diverse informational rituals related to pilgrimage (including material, symbolic, affective dimensions)?
• What is the current and future role of cultural and memory institutions as resources on, and sites for, the documentation and curation of experiences and rituals in our networked world?
• How can we best understand the role played by meaning-making, authenticity, value-making, and performativity in the context of a diverse set of pilgrimages?
• How are pilgrimage traditions evolving in an age of migration and displacement? For example, what is the role of secondary shrines and new pilgrimage sites?

We invite full papers, as well as shorter submissions for our special section; these may include work in progress, reports from the field, doctoral projects, and theory-to-practice pieces.

Submission Process – Important Dates

• August 1, 2018: Full paper submission

• August 21, ۲۰۱۸: Peer review notification

• October 1, 2018: Revised paper submission

• January 2019: Special issue published

Author Guidelines and Peer Review Process

Please consult IJIDI Author Guidelines at https://publish.lib.umd.edu/IJIDI/about/submissions#authorGuidelines and IJIDI Peer Review Process at https://publish.lib.umd.edu/IJIDI/about/editorialPolicies#peerReviewProcess.