The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is an international and interdisciplinary network of researchers; the network was founded in 2008 to centralise existing research on the topic of nonreligion and secularity and to facilitate discussion in this area.

 What we do

NSRN Blog

Nonreligion and Secularity is the official blog of the Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network. Its purpose is to provide a platform for the publication of short articles on a broad range of topical issues relevant to the academic study of nonreligion and secularism.

By combining the high professional standards associated with academic publishing with the more conversational tone of a blog, Nonreligion and Secularity aims to deliver an informative resource for both scholars and professionals working within this field, and also offers a space for the dissemination of research related information to a wider audience with an interest in the academic study of these topics.

NSRN Events and Conference

NSRN organizes and sponsors various scholarly events with its partners.

The 2022 NSRN Annual Lecture, titled “Studying Nonreligion in a Nonreligious Environment”, was given by Atko Remmel on April 13, 2022 as a free online event. Click here to see the poster for more information. To view a recording of the lecture click here.

The 2021 NSRN conference, hosted by the University of Ottawa, Canada, took place virtually from 16-18 June, 2021. Thank you to everyone who participated. The Conference Programme is available here.

The 2020 NSRN Annual Lecture, titled “Going Godless: Black Feminism, Humanism, and Anti-Racism”, was given by Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson on 10 December, 2020 as a free online event. See here for more information. A recording of the lecture can be viewed here.

The 2019 NSRN conference, Cultures of Unbelief, was held 28-30 May, 2019 in Rome. The conference was run in conjunction with the Understanding Unbelief programme. You can find a report on the conference here.

The NSRN Annual Lecture 2018, titled “Secular Powers and Heretic Undercurrents in a God-fearing World “, was given in July 2018 at King’s College London by Dr. Samuli Schielke (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient and Freie Universitaet Berlin). See here for more information.

Book Series

NSRN and De Gruyter publish a book series Religion and Its Others: Studies in Religion, Nonreligion and Secularity (RIO). It considers the multiple relations between religion, nonreligion, and secularity. The series explores apparently nonreligious or ‘irreligious’ phenomena that are significantly related to religion as well as modes of differentiation between religion and its various others, often institutionalized in cultural, legal, and political orders. For more information, see book series website.

Secularism and Nonreligion Journal

The journal Secularism and Nonreligion is produced in partnership with the NSRN. This is an interdisciplinary journal published with the aim of advancing research on various aspects of ‘the secular.’ The journal is interested in contributions from primarily social scientific disciplines, including: psychology, sociology, political science, women’s studies, economics, geography, demography, anthropology, public health, and religious studies. Contributions from history, neuroscience, computer science, biology, philosophy, and medicine will also be considered. Articles published in the journal focus on the secular at one of three levels: the micro or individual level, the meso or institutional level, or the macro or national and international levels. Articles explore all aspects of what it means to be secular at any of the above levels, what the lives of nonreligious individuals are like, and the interactions between secularity and other aspects of the world. Articles also explore the ideology and philosophy of the secular or secularism.

Secularism and Nonreligion was founded in 2012 as a collaboration between the Non-religion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) and the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC), under the leadership of Barry Kosmin, Lois Lee and Ryan Cragun. In 2018, with Barry’s retirement and the closure of the ISSSC, Secularism and Nonreligion became the journal of the NSRN, with new co-editors Jesse Smith, Chris Cotter and Serawit Debele. Full details for how to submit and author guidelines are available at the journal’s dedicated website, www.secularismandnonreligion.org.

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