Just in time for the NSRN Conference, Lorna Mumford – one of the new members of the NSRN Online Team – has added a new page to the website which provides links to press articles relating to the NSRN or the work of network members. It is available here: http://nsrn.net/news/nsrn-in-the-news-2/
We hope that you enjoy have the opportunity to check out the latest ‘splashes’ that the NSRN has been making in the popular press, and that you will join us in thanking Lorna very much for her hard work.
The Religious Studies Project have published a half hour podcast with Professor Tariq Modood on the Crisis of European Secularism, recorded at this year’s SOCREL Conference in Chester:
You can download this interview on iTunes.
Tariq Modood is Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy at the University of Bristol. He is founding Director of the University Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, and co-founding editor of the international journal, Ethnicities. As a regular contributor to the media and policy debates in Britain, he was awarded a MBE for services to social sciences and ethnic relations in 2001 and elected a member of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2004. He also served on the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, the IPPR Commission on National Security and on the National Equality Panel, which reported to the UK Deputy Prime Minister in 2010.
His recent publications include Multicultural Politics: Racism, Ethnicity and Muslims in Britain (Edinburgh University Press, 2005), Multiculturalism: A Civic Idea (Polity, 2007) and Still Not Easy Being British: Struggles for a Multicultural Citizenship (Trentham Books, 2010); and as co-editor, Secularism, Religion and Multicultural Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
Is There a Crisis of Secularism in Western Europe?, which expands considerably upon the issues in this interview, is now available at http://www.bris.ac.uk/ethnicity/news/2012/36.html.
NSRN subscribers might also be interested in Linda Woodhead’s podcast on the Secularisation Thesis, and Bjoern Mastiaux’s essay on the same topic.
A series of debates on religion in public life, running from February to May 2012 at RUSI, 61 Whitehall, SW1A 2ET, Wednesdays fortnightly, 5.30-7pm.
Between 2007-2012 £12m was invested by two research councils, the AHRC and ESRC, in the largest-ever funded research programme on ‘Religion and Society’. In this series leading academics will present findings arising from that research, for response by public figures. Together they will open up debate about the place of religion in public life today.
The series is organised by the Rt Hon Charles Clarke, Professor Linda Woodhead and Dr Rebecca Catto, in co-operation with Theos.
1. Religious Identity in ‘Superdiverse’ Societies – 8th Feb
2. What’s the Place of Faith in Schools? – 22nd Feb
3. What have we Learned about Radicalisation? – 7th March
4. What role for Religious Organisations in an era of Shrinking Welfare? – 21st March
5. What Limits to Religious Freedom? – 18th April
6. What are the main Trends in Religion and Values in Britain? – 2nd May
Please email p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk to register for the debates you would like to attend, and visit http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates for further details.
Now that things are slowly getting back to normal after the holiday season, we thought some extra reading might be in order.
The following items have been added to the NSRN’s bibliography today, and are mostly the result of suggestions from visitors to the website. A huge thanks to everyone who suggested items – please keep them coming.
The complete bibliography can be viewed in a list organised by author surname or publication date.
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The draft programme for the 2012 Sociology of Religion Study Group of the British Sociological Association (SOCREL) – Religion and (In)Equalities – has recently been announced, and is available here.
The conference dates are 28-30 March 2012 at the University of Chester, UK. The entire programme looks thoroughly stimulating, and contains a number of papers which should be of interest to NSRN researchers.
Of particular relevance is the ‘Atheism and Non-Religion’ panel on 29 March at 09.00:
Spencer Bullivant
Atheist summer camps: Transitioning away from conceptions of disbelief to belief
Christopher R. Cotter
The inherent inequalities of the religion-nonreligion dichotomy: A narrative approach to individual (non-)religiosity
Lydia Reid
Religion and modernity
Janet Eccles & Rebecca Catto
Countercultural or mainstream? Some reflections from the Young Atheist Project
http://www.sociologyofreligion.com/annual-meeting/
The 2012 annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion will take place August 17-18 in Denver, Colorado at the Grand Hyatt. The Grant Hyatt is a Four Diamond hotel in the heart of downtown Denver, close to restaurants, shopping and entertainment, including the world famous Tattered Cover bookstore.
Our 2012 meeting will take place immediately prior to the meetings of
the ASA’s religion section, but will not overlap with those sessions. This will allow members to attend sessions at both meetings in a shorter window than previous years. The Grant Hyatt is a block away from the ASA conference hotel, the Hyatt Regency.
The theme of this year’s meeting is religion and social change. Most religions traditions are predicated upon the idea that conversion transforms the individual and widespread acceptance of religious principles results in a utopian society. Some religions attempt to produce or prevent change by influencing the wider discourse surrounding key moral and political debates; others promote programs at the local level; and still others, viewing society as beyond repair, attempt to produce their own utopian sub-societies. Yet, religion is also the product of social changes that mold beliefs and transform religious institutions.
While we welcome papers on all subjects, we expect many presentations to explore the complex relationship between religion and social change. Further, this year’s meeting will have a strong focus on professional development with special sessions on funding and disseminating research, navigating the tenure process, publishing and writing, and resources available for research. These sessions will include a panel with the editors of Sociology of Religion and Review of Religious Research.
LCD projectors and screens will be available for all presentations.
DEADLINES:
-Session Proposals are due by 31 March 2012
-Paper Proposals and Abstracts are due by 30 April 2012
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: (1) Email your proposal to ASR2012@augustana.edu as a Word attachment. Place the title of your proposal first, then names, affiliations, and email addresses of all authors, then your abstract/proposal, all on one sheet of paper. (2) Limit paper abstracts to a maximum of 100 words. (3) 2012 membership in ASR is required for program consideration (one author, for multiauthored papers). Do not submit proposals prior to 1 January.
PROGRAM CHAIR: Christopher Bader, Chapman University.
The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) are proud to announce the launch of their new website – nsrn.net!
The NSRN website has been going from strength to strength since its relaunch in November 2009 at the co.uk site – but wide-interest in and growing membership of the NSRN means we’ve needed to expand our services. After weeks and months of development with the new online editorial team, the next generation NSRN website is here!
Visit http://www.nsrn.net to take a look.
*Although the old . co.uk address will still be around for a while, we’d be extremely grateful for anyone linking to the site to amend their records, citations, links and so forth. The NSRN is truly international, in membership and audiences, and we felt it was important to reflect this in the web address – and we appreciate your help in implementing this change*
A preview of some of the new things we provide on the site:
We’ve also updated and expanded our existing services and resources. The new site boasts,
And we now have a range of new Thoroughly Modern features, including:
… and which will enable users to keep up to date with NSRN news and resources in whatever way suits you:
New features and older material are now fully archived and easily searchable.
We hope you like it. As ever, comments and suggestions are always encouraged.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could circulate this information around any individuals or groups that you think might be interested. As a research network, we rely upon the input of our members and friends in the collation and dissemination of information. If you notice any errors or omissions, or are aware of any events, resources, articles etc that we should be promoting, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
With kind regards from,
To coincide with the launching of our new website, the NSRN are proud to announce the publication of a new Events Report by Lorna Mumford, on the recent ‘Atheism and Anthropology’ Workshop in London.
Please see the details and link to the document below:
Atheism and Anthropology: Researching Atheism and Self-Searching Belief and Experience Workshop
University College, London, 21 September 2011
Report by Lorna Mumford, University College London
Published by the NSRN, 14 December 2011
The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion
Edited by Michael Stausberg, Steven Engler
Published November 16th 2011 by Routledge – 546 pages
This is the first comprehensive survey in English of research methods in the field of religious studies. It is designed to enable non-specialists and students at upper undergraduate and graduate levels to understand the variety of research methods used in the field. The aim is to create awareness of the relevant methods currently available and to stimulate an active interest in exploring unfamiliar methods, encouraging their use in research and enabling students and scholars to evaluate academic work with reference to methodological issues. A distinguished team of contributors cover a broad spectrum of topics, from research ethics, hermeneutics and interviewing, to Internet research and video-analysis. Each chapter covers practical issues and challenges, the theoretical basis of the respective method, and the way it has been used in religious studies, illustrated by case studies.
The Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies, Santa Barbara
presents
Rethinking Secularism – A Seminar Discussion
Friday, November 18, 2011 – 12:00 noon, Orfalea Center seminar room – 1005 Robertson Gym
With:
Craig Calhoun, President, Social Science Research Council, and Prof of Sociology, NYU
Jonathan Van Antwerpen, Editor-in-Chief, The Immanent Frame, SSRC online magazine
Mark Juergensmeyer, Director, Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies
Comments by:
Benjamin (Jerry) Cohen, UCSB Political Science
Wade Clark Roof, UCSB Religious Studies
Giles Gunn, UCSB Global & International Studies
The speakers will discuss the background and content of the multi-year project of the Social Science Research Council on the crisis of secularism that resulted in their recently published, co-edited volume Rethinking Secularism (2011 Oxford UP). The project (and the volume) involved an interdisciplinary group of leading theorists and scholars, including the philosopher Charles Taylor, the literary theorist Talal Asad, the political scientist Peter Katzenstein, the sociologist Jose Casanova, and many more. The project focused on the central issues of how ”the secular” emerged historically, how it is now constituted and understood in different ways around the global, and how it has presented an analytic challenge for the social sciences, the humanities, and international affairs.
NSRN Online 