Book Review – A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion (Craig Martin)
A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION Craig Martin. Sheffield: Equinox, 2012, ISBN 978-1-84553-992-4, 192 pp. Reviewed for The Religious Studies Project (RSP) by David G. Robertson. Published 30 November 2012. This review also forms part of book review podcast, recorded by the RSP, available here. A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion by Craig Martin, […]
American Millennialism
Why is it that millennialism – the belief in an immanent return of Christ to Earth – has had such a particular fascination for the American people? In this wide-ranging episode, J. Gordon Melton joins David G. Robertson to discuss the history of minority religious groups in the US.
Reflections on the 1st International Conference on Contemporary Esotericism
“What is important to remember is that esotericism cannot be essentialised – it is an emerging and expanding phenomenon and field of study. What one scholar does not investigate or consider becomes the domain of another as our scope progressively widens and diversifies.”
Roundtable: Can We Trust the Social Sciences?
In another roundtable gathering, conversation ranges from the strengths and weaknesses of such data, whether there is more to the social sciences than quantitative methods, and the place of the social sciences within a multi-disciplinary Religious Studies field. Can we trust social sciences when we study religion? Is a social scientific approach the future of religious studies?
The Secularisation Thesis
What is the secularisation thesis? And how does it relate to the category of ‘religion’? Join Linda Woodhead and David G. Robertson as they explore the development and ideas of the secularisation thesis.
Ethnographic Fieldwork: Falling in Love or Keeping your Distance?
An anthropologist who has conducted fieldwork in Puerto Rico and in New York, examining, among other things, the lived experiences of possession and trance and as found among practitioners of Santería, Spiritism and other Afro-Cuban religious movements, Schmidt is well equipped to discuss the reality of undertaking ethnographic fieldwork on the topic of religion.
Weekly Opportunities Digest (6 Mar 2012): Calls for Papers/Participants, Jobs, Studentships & Journals
This two-day symposium will explore material cultures of religious belief and faith in modern Britain. As Birgit Meyer, David Morgan, Crispin Paine and S. Brent Plate have recently pointed out, studying material objects provides us with an alternative evidence base in the study of modern religious belief (Birgit Meyer et al; 2011). Yet few attempts have yet been made to do so. While many scholars now concede that Britain’s religious
About Us
ABOUT THE RSP What is the RSP? The Religious Studies Project (RSP) is an international collaborative enterprise producing weekly podcasts and resources on the social-scientific study of religion. Since January 2012 we have released over 330 podcasts with religious studies scholars on cutting-edge theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues. You can find them here on our […]