Symposia 2011 (3) | i
General Editors:
Rebekka King ([email protected])
Nicholas Dion ([email protected])
Review Editors:
Simon Appolloni
David Belfon
Bonnie de Bruijn
Jenny Bright
Arun Brahmbhatt
Callie Callon
Omar Edeibat
Barb Greenberg
David Kaden
Smita Kothari
Nathalie Lacoste
Tim Langille
Shanifa Nasser
Madison Robins
Edith Szanto
Erin Vearncombe
Jade Weimer
Brigidda Zapata
Copy Editors:
Bonnie de Bruijn
Barbara Greenberg
Rebekka King
Tim Langille
Justin Stein
Symposia is an official publication of the University of Toronto’s Centre for the Study of Religion Graduate Student’s
Association. Jackman Humanities Building, 170 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2M8.
Symposia 2011 (3) | ii
Symposia - Religion and Space/Place
LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.
- T.S. Elliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917)
Recent re-turns to the study and religion and space motivated and inspired our current edition of
Symposia. In T.S. Elliot’s poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the sheer physicality of
space and one’s existence within it propels the protagonist to ask, and fail to ask, the basic and
complicated questions of life. It points to the ambiguities with which modern agents position
themselves in relation to physical, metaphorical and symbolic spaces.
Not only does everything occur in space, but also where things happen has been recognised as
key to understanding how and why they happen. We are pleased that the articles in this issue
explore both long-established categories within the study of religion, such as sacred space and
pilgrimage, as well those which are relevant to the modern world evoking the socio-political
realities of transnationalism, diaspora and globalisation.
The third issue of Symposia, like those that came before it, reflects the high calibre and diverse
research of graduate students working in the study of religion and related fields. As the editors of
this journal we would like to thank the members of our editorial board and the authors for their
thoughtful contributions. As always we would like to offer special thanks to our faculty advisor,
Amira Mittermaier. Finally we would like to thank our readers for their valuable feedback and
constant encouragement.
Rebekka King and Nicholas Dion
Symposia General Editors
Symposia is an official publication of the University of Toronto’s Centre for the Study of Religion Graduate Student’s
Association. Jackman Humanities Building, 170 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2M8.