Current Call for Submissions

In addition to its regular content explaining and commenting on a wide range of topics, Canopy Forum also publishes thematic series addressing issues at the intersection of law and religion from a range of perspectives. These series explore important current concerns through a series of essays or other multimedia content published over the course of several days or weeks, and aim to spark further conversations among our readers about how best to think about and deliberate on these questions.

New Topics in Law and Religion

Canopy Forum seeks short articles and multimedia submissions that introduce our readers to new and emerging topics in law and religion. We are currently accepting submissions that address the following:

• Relationships between law and religion in global perspective with topics including but not limited to immigration, education, policy-making, religious freedom or persecution, voting rights, family law, military conflict, the environment, or other issues pertaining to law, religion, and public policy
• Other matters – historical or contemporary – that shed light on the intersections of law and religion 

Submissions will be considered for publication on a rolling basis. Submit your essay at canopyforum@emory.edu.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at Thirty Essay Series and Online Symposium

Submit by 9/25/2023

The Center for the Study of Law and Religion and Canopy Forum are inviting contributions to “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at Thirty,” an essay series and accompanying online symposium to take place on Thursday, October 19, 9:00am-5:00pm EST.

Thirty years ago this November, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). RFRA was birthed from a popular bipartisan effort in Congress to respond to Employment Division v. Smith, a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld as constitutional under the Free Exercise Clause facially neutral and generally applicable laws. Soon after its enactment, RFRA’s scope came under dispute. Today, the contours of the federal statute—and its state law progeny—continue to be a source of litigation and scholarly discussion. This one-day symposium will look back at RFRA’s origins and evolution and look forward to its new frontiers.

We invite essay contributions that:

• Shed light on the circumstances surrounding the passage of RFRA, including (but not limited to) the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Employment Division v. Smith, civic activity for and against RFRA’s adoption, and Congressional debates about the proposed legislation; 
• Discuss the evolution of RFRA and its scope, including (but not limited to), U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting RFRA, conceptions of RFRA as a “super statute,” legislative and executive responses to RFRA, and efforts to pass state RFRAs;
• Examine the impact of RFRA on different areas of law, public policy, and/or jurisdictions, including (but not limited to) First Amendment (Free Exercise and/or Establishment Clause) jurisprudence, healthcare, employment, administrative law, international law, and influence on the laws of other nation-states, among others; and
• Offer any additional scholarly insights into RFRA’s past, present, and future.

We are accepting submissions until September 25th. If selected, essays will be published as part of this series on Canopy Forum (www.canopyforum.org). In addition, some contributors will be invited to participate in panel discussions during the symposium to take place on October 19, 2023. Please indicate in your submission that you are responding to this call for papers, and whether or not you would like to be considered for participation in the accompanying symposium. Submit your essay at canopyforum@emory.edu.

Free Speech, Religious Accommodation, and Affirmative Action in the U.S Supreme Court

Submit by 8/28/2023

Canopy Forum is inviting contributions to our upcoming series, “Free Speech, Religious Accommodation, and Affirmative Action in the U.S Supreme Court.” 

The nation kept a trained eye on the U.S. Supreme Court during its most recent term as it released decisions on cases with potential far-reaching implications for religious, public, and private life. Among these decisions were 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, case in which the court ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the state of Colorado from enforcing a state public accommodations law against a designer who refused to create a website conveying a message with which she disagrees, Groff v. DeJoy, weighing in on Title VII religious accommodations the workplace, and Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, a ruling that race-conscious admissions in private and public institutions are unlawful. We are inviting scholars and researchers to submit essays responding to these latest decisions and exploring their potential impact on the field of law and religion. For an example of last year’s series on important U.S. Supreme Court decisions, check out our 2022 series Kennedy, Carson, and Dobbs: Law and Religion in Pressing Supreme Court Cases.

Submissions should address legal and/or religious issues, cases, laws, or other phenomena related to one or multiple recent Supreme Court cases as related to law and religion. We invite essay contributions that:

• Shed light on the arguments put forth by both parties in each case, the outcome, and/or the consequences of the recent rulings pertaining to free speech, religious accommodation, and affirmative action.
• Explore tensions and/or intersections between the First Amendment’s Free Speech and Religion Clauses, public accommodations laws, and/or protections for the rights of LGBTQ persons raised by 303 Creative
• Engage with the history of religious accommodations and/or contemporary issues affecting law and policy relating to employment and religious accommodations as related to Groff
• Examine religious perspectives on the Harvard and North Carolina affirmative action cases and their potential impact including on private religious universities where commitment to racial diversity may be part of their institutional mission
• Other matters – historical or contemporary – that shed light on the intersections of law and religion as related to these recent Supreme Court decisions 

We will accept submissions on a rolling basis, with submissions received before August 28, 2023 preferred. Submit your essay at canopyforum@emory.edu.

Please send general inquires and submit contributions to
canopyforum@emory.edu

Canopy Forum welcomes submissions from experts in the field(s) of law and religion, as well as other relevant disciplines, such as theology, ethics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, political science, history, and other fields. Submissions should be between 1,500-2,500 words (though longer pieces may be considered) and written in a generally accessible style, with embedded links rather than footnotes for supporting materials. When referencing sources, we encourage contributors to use hyperlinks. Additionally, court decisions should be linked once to the first reference to that case, using the full case name (i.e., “In its recent ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the Supreme Court held …”), and, whenever possible, link to the case’s page on the SCOTUS Religion Cases database. Academic papers and presentations should be adapted or rewritten accordingly.