New perspectives in the multidisciplinary study of religion
An ESRC Research Seminar Series in 2004 and 2005 on new perspectives in the multidisciplinary study of religion
Geography and Religion
Wednesday 16 June 2004 at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Information on Geography and Religion seminar
Politics and Religion
Monday 13 September 2004 in the New Social Sciences Building, Manor Road, Oxford.
Information on Politics and Religion Seminar
Demography and Religion
Thursday 14 April 2005 at Lancaster University.
Economics and Religion
Thursday 26 May 2005 in Oxford
Information on Economics and Religion Seminar
Evolutionary Biology and Religion
Monday 10 October 2005 in London
Information on Evolutionary Biology and Religion seminar
Psychology and Religion
Monday 3 April - Wednesday 5 April 2006 in Manchester
The Series
One of the original challenges faced by the founders of sociology was to understand how religion developed and what would become of it in the modern world. Although religion has since gone through of period of relative neglect, it has recently become once again a matter for serious attention by theorists and policy-makers. It is viewed as an important source of cultural divisions, not only internationally but also domestically.
Sociologists (broadly defined to include social anthropologists) see religion as belonging to their domain. Sociology has no monopoly on the scientific study of religion, however. Other disciplines bring perspectives that may compete with, but also contribute to, the sociological approach. The relevant literature in psychology also dates to its inception (e.g. William James, Freud), but some of the most important work is very recent. During the past decade rational choice theories grounded in economics have swept through the sociology of religion in the United States. Evolutionary biologists have also entered the field in the last few years. Furthermore, important contributions are being made in demography, geography, and politics and international relations. Relatively little of this work, however, has yet had an impact on the sociology of religion as practiced in the UK, and the amount of attention paid to religion by other social scientists here is still quite limited.
The aims of the seminar series are thus:
- to introduce sociologists of religion in the UK to relevant work in other disciplines
- to encourage other social scientists to investigate issues related to religion
- to increase awareness of advances that have been made by scholars from other countries.
Specifically, the plan is to organise seminars on fundamental new work related to religion and society being conducted in evolutionary biology, psychology, demography and epidemiology, geography, economics, and politics and international relations.
Within each session the objective will be to bring key practitioners from outside and inside the country together before an audience that includes not only sociologists of religion but also other social scientists with an interest in the field. Speakers will be invited to frame discussion of specific results within a broad vision of their research programmes. Debate on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches is expected, though the intention is to encourage cross-fertilisation rather than disciplinary defensiveness.