The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is an international and interdisciplinary network of researchers founded in 2008. The NSRN aims to centralise existing research on the topic of nonreligion and secularity and to facilitate discussion in this area.
The two concepts of nonreligion and secularity are intended to summarise all positions which are necessarily defined in reference to religion but which are considered to be other than religious (see Lee, 2012). Thus, the NSRN’s research agenda is inclusive of a range of perspectives and experiences, including the atheistic, agnostic, religiously indifferent or areligious, as well as most forms of secularism, humanism and, indeed, aspects of religion itself. It also addresses theoretical and empirical relationships between nonreligion, religion and secularity.
The network was set up in November 2008 to publicise the increasing volume of research being conducted in this field, both for the use of fellow researchers conducting NSRN-related research and for a range of other users. Since 2008, the NSRN has expanded with the field. Its work now has several branches:
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Its advisory board members manage the network and its events series (including the biennial conference, annual lecture series and research methods workshop series). The editorial team manage NSRN Online, the network’s online resource for academics, students and anyone interested in nonreligion and secularity.
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The website features the following resources: an extensive bibliography of academic research published in the field; directories of researchers and postgraduates; listings of academic events; the NSRN’s Events Reports series; NSRN publications; and an extensive collection of resources for teachers and students working in the area Nonreligion and Secularism Studies.
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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.
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In partnership with the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC), the NSRN launched its journal, Secularism and Nonreligion, in July 2011. The first issue was published in January 2012.
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The first volumes in our book series Religion and its Others: Studies in Religion, Nonreligion and Secularity were published in 2015. The series is a joint project of NSRN and De Gruyter.
- The NSRN also runs a monthly newsletter for the announcement of relevant events and publications, and for anyone requiring specialist advice or discussion. To subscribe to the newsletter, please complete the subscription form available on the NSRN newsletter page.
Cited work:
- Lee, Lois. 2012. Research Note: Talking About a Revolution for the New Field of Non-religion Studies. Journal of Contemporary Religion. 27(1): 129-139.
NSRN Online 