The COST Action PRAYTICIPATE hopes to organize several sessions and a roundtable at the IMC in Leeds next year to strengthen the exchange within the Action as well with scholars who are currently not part of the Action.
In line with the Action’s MoU, we invite proposals for a collaborative exploration of prayer as a multifaceted cultural practice shaped by sensory, social, and material realities, especially in relation to IMC’s 2026 theme of Temporalities (https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2026/).
Prayer is a deeply temporal practice, structured by rhythms, repetitions, and cycles that shape individual and communal experience. From the formal schedule of the Divine Office to the adapted routines found in vernacular books of hours, prayer organized daily, weekly, and seasonal life – not only for monastic communities but increasingly for the laity. Some adopted the canonical hours as a structure for meditation, others responded to specific moments or crises – before or after communion or in times of illness. These diverse practices reveal how prayer
mapped sacred time onto ordinary life, offering a means to inhabit time ritually, protectively, and meaningfully. We invite contributions that explore the temporalities of prayer: how devotional practices were shaped by – and in turn shaped – experiences of time, duration, rhythm, and repetition across languages, communities, and media. We also welcome papers that reflect on theories and techniques of prayer.
The roundtable will focus on the future of prayer studies by offering a sample of current research and new developments in the field, with a particular focus on theories and methodologies.
If you would like to present a paper and/or participate as a speaker during the roundtable, please send the following details to a.dlabacova@hum.leidenuniv.nl by 1 September 2025 at the latest:
- Name and affiliation
- Title of your paper (in case you wish to participate in one of the paper sessions)
- A short, 100-word abstract of your paper or contribution to the roundtable (note that this is not needed for the official submission of the sessions but is meant to help us put together meaningful combinations for the sessions).
Please note that we can propose a maximum of four paper sessions. If we need to make a selection, we will aim to ensure balanced representation within the Action, as well as geographical and thematic diversity. Participants may be eligible for grants that will become available within the COST-Action framework. Details will follow a.s.a.p. after 1 October 2025 (the start of the new funding year).
IMC also offers financial support for attending the conference. The deadline for applications is 1 October 2025. For details, please consult https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/about/bursary/ to see if this option is relevant for you