October 2013 Publicity
Given that the RSP has been running for nearly 2 years now, and in light of the website redesign, David and Chris thought it was about time to have another major publicity push. The email below has already been circulated around the DOLMEN, BASR, and NSRN lists. If you are a member of any other […]
Religion and Cultural Production
“It is a truth generally acknowledged that religions have been the earliest and perhaps the chief progenitors of cultural products in human societies…” Clearly there is no shortage of data for scholars wishing to delve into this broad topic. But what do we actually mean by ‘cultural product’? How can we claim that ‘religion’ is producing these things in any meaningful way?
John Wolffe and Ronald Hutton on Historical Approaches
“History can be of tremendous value for a society that is looking for roots… and can sometimes be a bit uncritical in its search for roots. People want an identity and may be clutching at something that can be a bit confrontational, for example, Muslims looking for an identity rooted in current conflicts in the Middle East, rather than reflecting on what is quite a long-standing presence in British society and culture.”
Outtakes and Review of the Year
A very special episode of the podcast this week, to mark the beginning of our annual summer hiatus. For the past year, I (David) have kept a file where all the little amusing bits that didn’t make it into the weekly episodes got put. Sometimes, this was because of restraints of time, but more often they were simply too ‘scandalous’. I broadcast them here with that proviso.
Material Religion Roundtable
What exactly does Material Religion bring to Religious Studies? Is it a potentially revolutionary phenomenon, or merely a passing fad? How might one apply the theoretical perspectives and methodologies developed in this growing field to some of the defining debates of our subject area? To discuss these issues, and reflect on the conference in general,…
Peter Collins on Religion and the Built Environment
Buildings dominate our skylines, they shape the nature, size, sound and smell of events within their walls, they provide a connection to the recent and distant past, and they serve as a physical, material instantiation of any number of contextual discourses. But what about the relationship between ‘religion’ and these (generally) human-made structures?
A Brief Re-Examination of the Concept of Belief in the Study of Religion
“Belief […] can be used as a concept to bridge […] frameworks, to allow scholars to understand and appreciate the framework within which religious actors presume to act without using it themselves (or necessarily having to adopt it).”
The work of Professor Martin Stringer is a breath of fresh air for all those who reject both the simplistic belief-centred approach to religion and its attendant backlash.
An Astrology (and Spiritualities) for the Modern
“Campion’s suggestion of Theosophical astrology being an astrology for the modern, in the context of a revision of the Enlightenment and ‘modernity’, sheds light on the place of alternative, holistic, and esoteric spiritualities in the modern world.”
[Theosophical astrology] is an astrology of modernity’, suggests Nick Campion in his interview with the Religious Studies Project. However, before even coming to this suggestion,
Roundtable: Building an Academic Career
During her recent trip to the UK, the Religious Studies Project managed (with the promise of copious Pink Gin) to persuade Professor Carole Cusack to take part in a roundtable discussion. She suggested that we discuss how to build an academic career – advice which she has been generous with to many people in the past. That having been agreed, …
Roundtable: Critics or Caretakers?
This discussion brings together a number of aspiring academics to reflect on some of the issues brought up in a recent podcast in a friendly and hilarious manner. The question cuts to the core of what academics who study religion are doing… are they taking care of religion? Are they antagonising it? What should they be doing? And judging by the various long tangents through which discussion meanders, the question certainly sparked our interest.
Nuancing the Qual-Quan Divide: The Vitality of Research Methods in the Academic Study of Religion
By using “vitality” in the title above, I mean to point to two aspects of the same urgent call. First, I simply mean that research methods are vital to the academic study of religion. As Stausberg and Engler suggest, “it is through methods that data and theory speak to each other and become part of a shared horizon” (2011: 11), and indeed it is still not a platitude to recall that theory, method and data can be considered three sides of that triangle we conjure, whether implicitly or explicitly,
In Saecula Saeculorum: Reflecting on the Age/Aeon in light of the Cappadocian Fathers
Drawing on my own research and interdisciplinary interests, the following response to Professor Tariq Modood’s podcast entitled ‘The Crisis of European Secularism’ will consist in a summary of his main thesis, followed by a statement of the challenge I seek to address, namely the anthropocentrism inherent in (some forms of) contemporary secularism; particularly its neglect of religion/God and the cosmos.
Roundtable: What is the Future of Religious Studies?
After this week’s podcast, which involved eight scholars giving their views on the future of Religious Studies, there was really only one way we could create a suitably collective and varied response – six postgrads sitting around a table, accompanied by pink gin and our trusty dictaphone. Conversation ranges from the public perception of what Religious Studies does, …
Weekly Opportunities Digest (13 March 2012): Calls for Papers/Participants, Jobs, Studentships & Journals
The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent has two vacancies for lecturer posts; one an on-going contract, and the other a fixed-term lectureship until the end of August 2014. Candidates would ideally be able to take up their posts in September 2012.
The posts are open to applicants in any area of Religious Studies,
Religious Studies Project Digest – November 16, 2022
Welcome to the Religious Studies Opportunities Digest! This week you will find multiple full-time job listings, a Call for Papers, and upcoming conferences. Everyone at RSP says thank you to all who have generously supported the RSP through our Patreon and PayPal donation options! Our goal is to have 100 patrons (currently at 36!) to support all of our […]