2016 Events

Below is a list of events that will be hosted by the Religion and Diversity Project in 2016.

January 2016

Lecture – Critical Thinkers in Law, Religion and Social Theory

Date: January 28, 2016, 4:00 to 5:30pm

Title: Religion and Emotion: Advancing a New Framework for Understanding Religious Cultures
Speaker: Mary Jo Neitz (University of Missouri-Columbia)

Location: University of Ottawa, Simard Hall, Room 129, 60 University, Ottawa, Ontario

Abstract: Affect, feelings and emotion were central to the concerns of the founders of the sociology of religion. The organizing categories developed in this field have offered few tools for thinking about the role that emotion plays in the dynamics of religious organizations, including emergence, trajectory and internal conflict or conflict among groups, or for explaining individual practices or commitments to traditions or groups. I suggest it is time to reexamine these assumptions about emotion and religion, starting with those having to do with the separation of emotion from cognition and rationality. I propose that emotion is a significant category of analysis across religious traditions, groups and practices, although the ideal affective states and feeling rules vary enormously. I will discuss why emotion has been largely absent, and briefly survey current research on emotion. I argue that studying emotion is of considerable significance in understanding what is happens in religious gatherings, although the ideal affect, narrative structure, feeling rules and technologies of production are not the same.  Finally, I suggest other ways in which sociologists of religion would profit from looking seriously at emotion across religious settings.

Résumé: Les sentiments et les émotions ont été au cœur des préoccupations des fondateurs de la sociologie de la religion. Les catégories organisatrices élaborées dans ce domaine ont offert peu d’outils incitant la réflexion sur le rôle des émotions dans la dynamique d’organisations religieuses y compris l’émergence et la trajectoire de conflits internes ou entre groupes, ou afin d’expliquer les pratiques individuelles ou les obligations envers une tradition ou un groupe. Je suggère alors d’examiner de nouveau ces hypothèses sur les émotions et la religion, en commençant par celles liées à la séparation des émotions des connaissances et de la rationalité. Je suggère que l’émotion constitue une catégorie  importante dans l’analyse de traditions, groupes et pratiques religieuses, même si  les règlements sur les états affectifs idéaux et les sentiments varient grandement. J’examine pourquoi l’émotion est d’une importance considérable dans la compréhension de ce qui se déroule lors de rassemblements religieux, même si l’émotion idéale, la structure narrative, les règlements relatifs aux sentiments et les technologies de production ne sont pas les mêmes. Finalement, je propose d’autres façons dont les sociologues en religion bénéficieraient d’examiner sérieusement les émotions dans un contexte religieux.

Videos

February 2016

Religion and Diversity Project – Graduate Student Workshop, Series 3, Session 1

Date: February 2 to 3, 2016

Theme: Intellectual directions and research design
Facilitator: 
Mary Jo Neitz (University of Missouri-Columbia)
Participants: 
Maria Alekseevskaia, Zaheeda Alibhai, Zijad Delic, Samane Hemmat, Sara Ludin, Keelin Pringnitz, and Mathilde Vanasse-Pelletier

Location: University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario

To read Maria Alekseevskaia’s student testimonial, please click here.

To read the report, please click here.

The Graduate Student Workshop Series’ have been a terrific success, creating three engaged cohorts of graduate students within the Religion and Diversity Project, who had the pleasure of meeting between 2011 and 2016 to exchange ideas, network and develop research relationships. Each Graduate Student Workshop Series was composed of three time spaced thematic components centered around intellectual directions and research design, knowledge transfer and results dissemination.

A Best Practices Guide for Graduate Student Training has been created by Research Associate Cathy Holtmann and Team Member Nancy Nason-Clark and can be found here.

Lecture – Building Bridges: Lunch and Learn

Date: February 11, 2016, 12:00 to 2:00pm

Title: God’s Mechanics: The Religious Life of Techies
Speaker:
Guy Consolmango (Vatican Observatory)

Location: University of Ottawa, Arts Building, 70 Laurier Avenue East, Room 509, Ottawa, Ontario

Abstract: How does religion work in a society shaped by science and technology? How do scientists and engineers practice their religions? How in particular does a Jesuit brother, and an MIT graduate with a PhD in planetary science, make sense of his Catholicism? God’s Mechanics examines the personal religious life and theology of scientists and engineers — “Techies” — based on conversations with techies in California’s Silicon Valley and a first-person confession from a Jesuit scientist and astronomer at the Vatican Observatory.

Résumé: Comment la religion fonctionne-t-elle au sein d’une société façonnée par la science et la technologie ? Comme les scientifiques et les ingénieurs pratiquent-ils leurs religions ? Comment un frère jésuite, un diplômé du MIT possédant un doctorat en  sciences planétaires, donne-t-il un sens au catholicisme ? Cette conférence explorera la vie religieuse personnelle et la théologie des scientifiques et des ingénieurs « techies »  en s’appuyant sur des conversations avec des « techies » de la Silicon Valley en Californie et sur les confessions d’un  scientifique jésuite et astronome à l’Observatoire du Vatican.

March 2016

Workshop – New Religious Movements and Media

Date: March 17 to 18, 2016

Organiser: Chair for the Management of Cultural and Religious Diversity and the Religion and Diversity Project
Speakers: Massimo Introvigne, Christopher Helland, Susan Palmer, Donald Westbrook and Fabrizio Vecoli

Location: University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec

Theme: In recent years, collective anxiety surrounding religious identities seems mainly to be concerned with “world religions”, especially Islam. However, another religious issue is also catching public attention, causing concern and attracting the interest of scholars: new religious movements (NRMs), frequently labelled “cults”. With this framework in mind, the aim of the conference will be to explore the status of minority religious groups in the contemporary globalized context. More specifically, we will consider media treatment of small religious minorities, and the theoretical, methodological and conceptual issues surrounding the study of NRMs and varieties of media sources.

Problématique: Dernièrement, l’anxiété collective autour des identités religieuses semble concerner principalement les « grandes religions du monde », en particulier l’islam. Pourtant, un tout autre enjeu relatif au religieux a retenu l’attention et suscité des inquiétudes ainsi que l’intérêt de nombreux universitaires : les nouveaux mouvements religieux (NMR), ou « sectes ». Dans cette optique, la visée de ce colloque sera d’explorer la situation de ces groupes religieux minoritaires dans le monde contemporain de plus en plus globalisé. Plus particulièrement, sera considéré le traitement médiatique actuel des petites minorités religieuses, ainsi que les enjeux théoriques, méthodologiques et conceptuels se rattachant à l’étude des NMRs et les différents médias.

To read the report, please click here.

Event Poster | Affiche de l’évènement

Lecture – Conférence aux Belles Soirées

Date: March 21, 2016, 1:30 to 3:30pm

Title: Le Grand Spirituel. L’influence des nouveaux mouvements religieux et de l’ésotérisme sur l’art moderne
Organisers: The Chair for the Management of Cultural and Religious Diversity in collaboration with the Religion and Diversity Project
Speaker: Massimo Introvigne (Salesian Pontifical University)

Location: University of Montréal, Laval Campus, Laval, Québec

Abstract/Résumé: L’art moderne, souvent considéré à tort comme matérialiste, entretient des relations étroites avec la religion. En France et en Italie, l’art abstrait compte plusieurs catholiques parmi ses initiateurs. Mais ce sont surtout les spiritualités alternatives et ésotériques qui ont eu une grande influence sur la naissance de l’art moderne. Mondrian a fait partie de la Société Théosophique, tout comme Lawren Harris et des autres membres du Groupe des Sept au Canada. Des artistes très connus ont fait partie de l’Ordre de la Rose-Croix, de la Science Chrétienne, de l’anthroposophie…

Biography/Biographie: Massimo Introvigne est professeur de sociologie des religions à l’Université pontificale salésienne à Turin, Italie. Il est l’auteur de quelque 60 ouvrages sur les nouveaux mouvements religieux, l’ésotérisme et le pluralisme religieux. En 2011, il a été le représentant de l’Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe) (OSCE) vouée à la lutte contre le racisme, la xénophobie et la discrimination religieuse.

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April 2016

Lecture – Conférence aux Belles Soirées

Date: April 27, 2016, 7:30 to 9:30pm

Title: Le religieux et le social: contradiction ou tautologie?
Organisers: The Chair for the Management of Cultural and Religious Diversity in collaboration with the Religion and Diversity Project
Speaker: James A. Beckford (University of Warwick)

Location: Pavillon 3200, rue Jean-Brillant, University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec

Abstract/Résumé: Cette conférence abordera la question de savoir comment – et par quels moyens – la notion du social peut nous aider à mieux comprendre les phénomènes religieux. Tout en tenant compte des propositions qui cherchent à remettre en doute le social ou le religieux, force est de constater que les dimensions sociales du religieux se révèlent de plus en plus importantes sinon déroutantes. S’appuyant sur les résultats de recherches sociologiques, cet exposé examinera plusieurs questions que soulèvent les controverses religieuses, les aumôneries de prison et les migrations internationales.

Biography/Biographie: James A. Beckford, PhD, est sociologue britannique. Auteur de monographies sur les sectes religieuses, la théorie sociale et les aumôneries de prison en Grande-Bretagne et en France, il est professeur émérite à l’Université de Warwick au Royaume-Uni.

Event Poster | Affiche de l’évènement

May 2016

Religion and Diversity Project – Graduate Student Workshop, Series 3, Session 2

Date: May 3 to 4, 2016

Theme: Knowledge transfer (teaching and community)
Facilitator: Teemu Taira (University of Turku)
Participants: Maria Alekseevskaia, Zaheeda Alibhai, Zijad Delic, Samane Hemmat, Sara Ludin, Keelin Pringnitz, and Mathilde Vanasse-Pelletier

Location: Montréal, Québec

To read Mathilde Vanasse-Pelletier’s student testimonial, please click here.

To read the report, please click here.

The Graduate Student Workshop Series’ have been a terrific success, creating three engaged cohorts of graduate students within the Religion and Diversity Project, who had the pleasure of meeting between 2011 and 2016 to exchange ideas, network and develop research relationships. Each Graduate Student Workshop Series was composed of three time spaced thematic components centered around intellectual directions and research design, knowledge transfer and results dissemination.

A Best Practices Guide for Graduate Student Training has been created by Research Associate Cathy Holtmann and Team Member Nancy Nason-Clark and can be found here.

Religion and Diversity Project 2016 – Annual Team Meeting

Date: May 5 to 6, 2016

Location: Hôtel de l’Institut à Montréal, Québec

The 2016 Religion and Diversity Project 2016 Annual Team Meeting will be bringing together team members, student team members, postdoctoral fellows and selected guests.

La rencontre annuelle du Projet religion et diversité de 2016 rassemblera des membres de l’équipe, des membres étudiants, des boursiers postdoctoraux et des invités spéciaux.

September 2016

Workshop – When Prayers Are Not Enough: Religion, Gender and Family Violence

Date: September 13 to 14, 2016

Organisers: Nancy Nason-Clark (University of New Brunswick) and Cathy Holtmann (Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research)

Location: Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick

Religion and Diversity Project Team Member Nancy Nason-Clark and Research Associate Cathy Holtmann have a workshop entitled “When Prayers Are Not Enough: Religion, Gender and Family Violence.”  On September 13-14, 2016, scholars and practitioners came together at the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton for a workshop focused on issues arising at the intersection of religion, gender and family violence. The first day included a professional development session for social workers involved in field supervision with the School of Social Work at St. Thomas University on incorporating religion into public service delivery. Team Member Pascale Fournier delivered the public keynote address and shared insights from her research on Jewish and Muslim women’s experiences of religious divorce in Western nations. The second day included paper presentations on topics ranging from how Christian congregations respond to family violence to young Muslim women’s experiences of family violence to get-refusal and Jewish domestic violence. Team Member Susan J. Palmer presented on allegations of abuse aimed at “cult leaders”. Student team member, Yael C.B. Machtinger, presented a paper titled: “In the Name of God? Investigating an Overlooked Aspect of Get (Jewish Divorce) Refusal”, which was based on primary research featuring Jewish women’s narratives exploring the effects of legal regulation on social norms regarding Get refusal in New York and Toronto.

In addition to funding for the workshop from the Religion and Diversity Project, Cathy and Nancy have been successful in procuring a SSHRC Connection grant as well as financial support from the University of New Brunswick.

To read the report, please click here.

Lecture – Critical Thinkers in Law, Religion and Social Theory

Date: September 29, 2016, 5:00 to 6:30pm (reception from 6:30 to 7:30pm)

Title: What is Catholic About the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis?
Speaker: Robert Orsi (Northwestern University)

Location: Simard Hall, Room 125

For more information, please click here.

October 2016

Workshop – Kracauer: Film critique

Date: October 7 to 12, 2016

Organizers: Barbara Thériault (Montréal) and Thomas Schmidt-­‐Lux (Leipzig)

Location: Montréal, Québec

For more information, please click here.

Workshop – Regarder en sociologues: documentaires sur la religion vécue

Date: October 11, 2016

Speakers: Monica Grigore, Sophie Coulombe, Alexandre Legault, Maria Tagliente, Barbara Thériault, Yanick Noiseux, Élise Dumont-Lagacé and Julien Beaumien

Location: L’Université de Montréal

To read the report, please click here.

Lecture – Critical Thinkers in Law, Religion and Social Theory

Date: October 13, 2016, 4:00 to 5:30pm (reception from 5:30 to 6:30pm)

Title: India’s “Religious Suicides” and the Legal-Secular Question
Speaker: Shekhar Hattangadi

Location: University of Ottawa, Simard Hall, Room 129

For more information, please click here.

Videos

November 2016

Religion and Diversity Project – Graduate Student Workshop, Series 3, Session 3

Date: November 2 to 3, 2016

Theme: Results dissemination (conference and publication)
Facilitator: Sarah-Jane Page (Aston University, UK)
Participants: Maria Alekseevskaia, Zaheeda Alibhai, Zijad Delic, Samane Hemmat, Sara Ludin, Keelin Pringnitz, and Mathilde Vanasse-Pelletier

Location: University of Ottawa

To read the report, please click here.

The Graduate Student Workshop Series’ have been a terrific success, creating three engaged cohorts of graduate students within the Religion and Diversity Project, who had the pleasure of meeting between 2011 and 2016 to exchange ideas, network and develop research relationships. Each Graduate Student Workshop Series was composed of three time spaced thematic components centered around intellectual directions and research design, knowledge transfer and results dissemination.

A Best Practices Guide for Graduate Student Training has been created by Research Associate Cathy Holtmann and Team Member Nancy Nason-Clark and can be found here.