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Graduate Student Workshop Series | Série d'Atelier : Études Supérieures

Workshop 1, Session 1 |  Atelier 1, Séance 1

Research directions in the social sciences on religion and diversity

 Les orientations de recherche dans les sciences humaines et sociales sur la religion et la diversité

November 2-3, 2011, University of Ottawa, Ontario

Le 2-3 novembre, 2011,  l'Université d'Ottawa, Ontario

We are proud to be hosting a series of graduate student workshops for students affiliated with The Religion and Diversity Project. To participate students must be supervised by a team member or working as a research assistant on an MCRI funded project. The workshop will be composed of three time spaced thematic components: intellectual directions and research design, knowledge transfer (teaching and community), and results dissemination (conference and publication).


Nous sommes fiers d’acceuillir les doctorants affiliés au projet Religion et Diversité à une série d’ateliers. Ces ateliers sont  offerts aux doctorants affiliés au projet Religion et Diversité et supervisés par un membre de l'équipe ou travaillant comme auxiliaire de recherche pour un projet financé par la GTRC. Les ateliers de doctorants portent sur trois thèmes interreliés présentés à des moments différents (novembre 2011, printemps et automne 2012): les orientations intellectuelles et la conception de la recherche, le transfert de connaissances (l'enseignement et la communauté) et la diffusion des résultats (la conférence et la publication).

Applications are due August 15, 2011

Date limite de soumission, le 15 août 2011.

Workshop 1 Session 1 Call for Applications 2011.pdf

atelier 1 séance 1 religion et diversité 2011.pdf

  • Click here to download a pdf of the report for the Sexual Diversity and Religious Diversity workshop, which took place on March 31 – April 2, 2011, at Queen’s University.  The report is by team member and workshop organizer Pamela Dickey Young.
  • Lori Beaman and the Religion and Diversity Project have been featured on the Innovation Canada website. Click here for more information.
  • Click here to download a pdf of The Religion and Diversity Newsletter, Volume 1 Issue 1, Spring 2011.
  • Congratulations to William Hoverd who has been awarded a DFAIT post-doctoral fellowship to work at the University of Ottawa with Lori Beaman. His project is entitled Changes in Religious Diversity in Canada and New Zealand, 1980-2010. He will be in Ottawa from September 2011 to August 2012.
  • Congratulations to team member Susan Palmer who is the recipient of a SSHRC Standard Research Grant for the project “Exploring government raids on unconventional religious communities.”
  • Congratulations to Project Director Lori Beaman on the renewal of her Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada.
  • Congratulations/Félicitations!  Amélie Barras has been awarded a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, which will commence at the Université de Montréal with Solange Lefebvre in the fall of 2011.  Please click here to read Dr. Barras' project description (English/Francais).
  • We are pleased to announce that Dr. Lene van der Aa Kühle of Aarhus University will be coming to the University of Ottawa as part of a visiting fellowship. Dr. van der Aa Kühle will be staying in Ottawa from May to December, 2011. This fellowship will give her the opportunity to make connections with Religion and Diversity team members in and around the Ottawa area as well as to attend related events and conferences. 
  • Congratulations to student team member Charlotte Baines who has received sponsorship from the Victoria Multicultural Commission for her project titled “The State of Victoria: A Leader in Multi-Faith Achievements”!
  • Professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd (Northwestern), Professor Saba Mahmood (UC-Berkeley), Professor Winnifred Fallers Sullivan (SUNY-Buffalo  Law) and Professor Peter Danchin (University of Maryland Law) have received a grant from the Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion and International Affairs for a new project entitled “Politics of Religious Freedom.” This three-year project (2011-2014) will be jointly based at the University of California, Berkeley’s new Institute for Integrative Social Sciences and Northwestern University’s Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies, and affiliated with law schools at the University of Maryland and the University at Buffalo.  Click here for more details.
  • Congratulations to Team Member James A. Beckford who has become the president of the SSSR (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion). He will be organizing next year’s Annual Meeting in Milwaukee which will be held between October 28th and 30th.
  • Congratulations to Rukhsana Ahmed, University of Ottawa, Donald Boisvert, Concordia University, Avigail Eisenberg, University of Victoria, Anver Emon, University of Toronto and Rubina Ramji, Cape Breton University on their successful applications to The Religion and Diversity Project "Grants to Co-investigators 2010-2011."  Please click here for brief research project summaries.
  • The Religion and Diversity Project congratulates Arlene Macdonald on being awarded a MITACS Elevate Strategic Fellowship to conduct research within the parameters of the MCRI project.   Please click here for a brief description of the proposed postdoctoral fellowship research for 2010-2011.
  • Team member Linda Woodhead will be giving the Feminist Review Annual Public Lecture on June 16, 2011, in the Khalili Lecture Theatre at SOAS, London, UK. The lecture will begin at 7p.m. Click here for more information.
  • Congratulations to Rubina Ramji and Paul Bowlby who will be keynote speakers at the Spiritual Diversity Conference and Fair in Halifax, NS on June 3, 2011. Paul Bowlby’s talk is titled “Religion and Public Policyin Pluralistic Socieities.” Rubina Ramji’s talk is titled “Can a pluralism model that accommodates religious diversity be shaped for Canada?” Click here for more information.
  • John Garratt Publishers and The Australasian Theological Forum are hosting a book launch, including a lecture and discussion, for team member Gary D. Bouma’s new book Being Faithful in Diversity:  Religions and Social Policy in MultiFaith Societies on May 26, 2011, at Monash University.  Click here for more information.
  • Jeff Spinner-Halev presented the paper “Religiously Justified Discrimination” as part of the Critical Thinkers Speakers series at the University of Ottawa on March 4, 2011.  Click here to see pictures from the event.
  • Team member Kim Knott presented the paper “Spaces of Religious Diversity and Encounter: Research, agenda-setting and policy intervention”, as part of the Critical Thinkers Speakers series at the University of Ottawa on February 11, 2011.  Click here to see pictures from the event.  Click here to watch video from the event.
  • Team member Patrice Brodeur gave a lecture at the University of Ottawa on February 18, 2011, titled “Dynamique de pouvoir en transition dans le monde arabo-musulman”.  Click here for more information.
  • On the 15th of March the Université de Montréal will host Mathias Rohe for a talk titled “L’islam et la loi en Occident – traitement égal pour les religions ou hiérarchie culturelle?” Click here for more information.  Click here for a flyer in French; click here for a flyer in English.
  • Team Member Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse, have edited a new book, Winds from the North: Canadian Contributions to the Pentecostal Movement, Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2010.  Click here for more information.
  • Team Member Michael Wilkinson and Steven M. Studebaker have edited a new book, A Liberating Spirit: Pentecostals and Social Action in North America, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010.  Click here for more information.
  • Team Member Rebecca Johnson was interviewed for Radio-Canada, November 22 2010, regarding polygamy in Canada.  Click here for more information.
  • Priority Research Areas for the MCRI Project Year One.  Research projects for each strands priority research area have been determined for the inaugural year of The Religion and Diversity Project.  Please click here for brief summaries.
  • The Video section is now live.  Click here to watch videos from the 2009-2010 Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory Series.
  • Université de Montréal is welcoming Antoni Matabosch for a series of public lectures March 8-9, 2011. Click here for more information.
  • Team members Patrice Brodeaur and Barbara Thériault are hosting a discussion of L. Bilsky’s article “Muslim headscarves in France and army uniforms in Israel: a comparative study of citizenship as mask” at the University of Montreal April 14th at 2pm. Click here for more information.
  • Team member Michael Wilkinson has organised a symposium at the Society for Pentecostal Studies in Memphis, March 10-12, 2011. The symposium is titled “Canadian Pentecostalism” and features papers by Michael Wilkinson, Michael Di Giacomo, Graham Gibson, Adam Stewart and Nestor Medina.   Click here for more information.
  • Leila Ahmed will be presenting the paper “Contemporary Trends in Muslim Women’s Activism” as part of the Critical Thinkers Speakers series at the University of Ottawa on April 8, 2011.  Click here for more information.  Update: We regret to inform you that Dr. Leila Ahmed's public lecture as part of the Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory lecture series, scheduled for April 8 2011 at 4pm, has been canceled.  We hope to reschedule Dr. Ahmed's presentation at the University of Ottawa in the near future.
  • Team Member Susan Palmer will be launching her new book, The Nuwaubian Nation: Black Spirituality and State Control, on Monday February 7, 2011, at 5:30pm in Concordia University’s Hall building room 767.  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Valérie Amiraux had organized a conference, ‘Pluralisme et radicalisations : regards croisés sur les expériences canadiennes et françaises’, which took place at Université de Montréal on January 7-8, 2011. Click here for more information. 
  • Danièle Hervieu-Léger presented the paper “La fabrique des identités religieuses dans des sociétés de haute modernité,” as part of the Critical Thinkers Speakers series at the University of Ottawa on November 26, 2010.  Click here to watch video from the event.  Click here to see pictures from the event.
  • A public session on Secularism with Rajeev Bhargava and Team Member Peter Beyer took place on Thursday September 23, 2010, at the University of Ottawa.  Click here to hear the audio from the event.  Click here to see images from the event.
  • Team member Pascale Fournier has given three new interviews to RADIO-CANADA, on the subject ‘La decision R. v. N.S., Cour d’appel de l’Ontario (la constitutionnalité du port du nikab lors d’un procès en matière d’agression sexuelle)’, October 13, 2010. Click here for more information and links to the interviews.
  • Gurpreet Mahajan (Jawaharlal Nehru University) presented a paper, “Religious Diversity and Multicultural Accommodation”, Friday September 24, 2010, at the University of Ottawa as part of the Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory Lecture Series. Click here to see pictures from the event. Click here to watch videos of the event.
  • Team member Susan Palmer has a new book coming out titled Nuwaubian Nation: Black Spirituality and State Control.  Click here for more information.
  • Allison Dundas Renteln, of USC, is giving a lecture at the university of Montreal in the salon des profs at the Faculty of Law Monday January 31, 2011, at 11:30 am.  The talk is titled “The Law of Names:  An Analysis of the Politics of Nomenclature.”  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Pascale Fournier is participating in a meet the author session for her new book Muslim Marriage in Western Courts: Lost in Translation at the University of Ottawa January 31, 2011. Click here for more information.
  • Team Member Pascale Fournier will be giving a lecture titled ‘The Distributive Family: Dismantling Law's Secular Impulse and Religion's Sacred Aspiration’, on December 9, 2010, at the University of Ottawa.  Click here for more information.
  • Team Member Pascale Fournier will be presenting ‘The Role of Women in Muslim Legal Institutions’ at the University of Oxford on November 26, 2010. Click here for more information.
  • Team Member Pascale Fournier will be having a launch for her new book, ‘Muslim Marriage in Western Courts: Lost in Transplantation’ on November 24, 2010, at the University of London. Click here to read about the book. Click here and here for information on the book launch.
  • On November 12, 2010, St. Thomas University will be hosting a public session on the ‘Varieties of Religious Establishment’, which will feature Peter Danchin and Team Member Peter Beyer. Click here for more information.
  • The Shirley E. Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession presents: “Calculating Claims: Jewish and Muslim Women Navigating Religion, Economic and Law in Canada”, at the University of Ottawa on November 10, 2010, which features Team Member Pascale Fournier. Click here for more information.
  • Danièle Hervieu-Léger will be presenting the paper “La fabrique des identités religieuses dans des sociétés de haute modernité,” as part of the Critical Thinkers Speakers series at the University of Ottawa on November 26, 2010. Click here for more information.

Call for Applications: Post Doctoral Fellowship (PDRF) 2011-12 (DFAIT)

The Religion and Diversity Project Team is interested in hosting a DFAIT Post Doctoral Fellowship beginning in 2011 for a duration of one (1) year.  Applications should propose projects that fit fully within the MCRI project as it appears on www.religionanddiversity.ca/about-project/ (in the grant application available for download). Expressions of interest, including a 2 page description of project and up to date CV, are due no later than 15 October 2010 to Heather Shipley, Project Manager, hshipley@uottawa.ca  Applicants should be aware that the invitation is contingent on the successful securing of a Post Doctoral Fellowship.  Team members and the Project Manager at the University of Ottawa will work with the successful applicant in the 1 October competition to prepare the full application, which is due 15 November 2010.

Please make sure you review eligibility criteria and guidelines in the attached documents through www.scholarships.gc.ca

Documents:  Please click here for Guidelines (English), here for Flyer (English), here for Directives (Francais), and here for Prospectus (Francais).

Urgent: Applications Welcomed for the 2011 BANTING Postdoctoral Fellowship Competition

The Religion and Diversity Project Team is interested in hosting a BANTING Postdoctoral Fellowship beginning in 2011 for a duration of two (2) years.  Applications should propose projects that fit fully within the MCRI project as it appears on www.religionanddiversity.ca/about-project/ (in the grant application available for download). Expressions of interest, including a 2 page description of project and up to date CV, are due no later than 27 September 2010 to Heather Shipley, Project Manager, hshipley@uottawa.ca  Applicants should be aware that the invitation is contingent on the successful securing of a BANTING fellowship, and that each application is subject to approval and the promise of support from the University of Ottawa.  Team members and the Project Manager at the University of Ottawa will work with the successful applicant in the 27 September competition to prepare the full application, which is due 3 November 2010.

Please see http://banting.fellowships-bourses.gc.ca/home-accueil-eng.html for further details on the program, eligibility requirements and process.

  • On October 7, 2010, the University of Ottawa will host James K.A. Smith for the presentations Post-Secular and Beyond Atheism: Postmodernism and the Future of God. Click here to see the poster for Post-Secular, and click here to see the poster for Beyond Atheism.
  • Team Member André Laliberté has presented a paper entitled: “Religion and the Changing Welfare Regime of China: Buddhist philanthropy as a Case Study”, at the 7th Conference on the Social Scientific Study of Religion in China, in Beijing, July 26-27. The event was organized by Yang Fenggang (Purdue University) and Wei Dedong (Renmin University).
  • Team member Anver Emon will be presenting at the Global Conference on Human Rights and Diverse Societies which takes place at McGill University, October 7-9, 2010.  Click here for more information about this conference.  
  • Dalhousie News ran a story about the Religion and Diversity Project that features Team Member Christopher Helland.  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Winnifred Sullivan of the University at Buffalo will be presenting at a forthcoming conference, “Enjeux de la pluralisation religieuse de la population carcérale: Perspectives croisées sur les usages du religieux en milieu carcéral”, resulting from the Programme national de recherche PNR58.  Click here for more information.
  • This years Critical Thinkers Speakers series begins on Friday September 24, 2010, at the University of Ottawa with Melissa Williams (University of Toronto) presenting the paper “Multiculturalism in Retreat: From Democratic Inclusion to the Security State,” followed by Gurpreet Mahajan’s (Jawaharlal Nehru University) paper “Religious Diversity and Multicultural Accommodation.” Click here to see the poster.
  • The public is invited to a session on Secularism with Rajeev Bhargava and Team Member Peter Beyer on Thursday September 23, 2010, at the University of Ottawa. Click here to view the poster for more information.
  • As part of the Radical Readers’ series Jocelyn Maclure (Université Laval, département de philosophie) will be speaking on the topic “A conversation with Charles Taylor” at the University of Ottawa on Monday September 20, 2010, at 11: 30 am. Click here to see the poster.
  • Membre de l’équipe Pascale Fournier a pris part, les 3 et 4 juin 2010, à un atelier de l’Institut international de sociologie juridique, qui s’est déroulé à Oñati en Espagne. L’événement avait pour thème : « la pratique juridique et les accommodements dans une Europe multiculturelle ».  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Pascale Fournier has given two new television interviews; one concerning the Asqa Parvez case, and one concerning the Loyola High School case. Click here for more information and links to the interviews.
  • Team Member André Laliberté has become an affiliated research fellow at the Center on Religion and Chinese Society, at Purdue University.  Click here for more information.
  • Team Member Anver Emon has written an article for LEAF’s latest newsletter.  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Benjamin Berger has won the 2010 CALT Scholarly Paper award: “This prestigious honour is presented annually by the Canadian Association of Law Teachers to recognize an academic paper that makes a substantial contribution to legal literature and that was written in the first seven years of a professor's teaching career at a Canadian university.”  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Paul Bowlby has chaired the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion roundtable discussion on the topic of research directions on religious diversity in Canada for the next decade.  Discussants included David Seljak, and team members Paul Bramadat,  Paul Bowlby, and Solange Lefebvre.
  • Team member Pascale Fournier has given several television and radio interviews concerning the issue of wearing a niqab during court testimony (this is in regards to the Ontario case involving a Muslim woman known only as N.S.).  Click here for links to the interviews.
  • On May 26-27 2010, the first team meeting of The Religion and Diversity Project was held at the University of Ottawa.  The theme for the meeting was “Taking Stock: The Nature and Shape of Religion.”  This meeting provided the starting point for developing research projects and subthemes across strands, and included presentations by team members and members of partner and stakeholder organizations.  Click here to see pictures from the event.
  • Team Member Donald Boisvert received the 2010 Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching at Concordia University.  Click here for details.
  • Team Member Sam Reimer has a publication forthcoming in Sociology of Religion called “Higher education and theological Liberalism: Revisiting the Old Issue.” 
  •  Team Member Donald Boisvert has a forthcoming article (July 2010): "Piety, Purity and Pain: Gérard Raymond and Ideal of French Canadian Catholic Manhood," in HISTORICAL STUDIES, journal of the Canadian Catholic Historical Association, volume 76, 2010, as well as a book chapter: “Échos d'une révolution moins que tranquille: identité et catholicisme québécois,” in MODERNITÉ ET RELIGION AU QUÉBEC: OÙ EN SOMMES-NOUS? Robert Mager & Serge Cantin, eds., Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2010, 55-66.
  • Team Member Donald Boisvert presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Concordia University, May 2010: “The Reverend Edmund Wood: Sex and the Bachelor Anglican Saint,” and he was part of a five-person panel on veiling in historical and comparative perspectives in Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
  • Team Member Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, University at Buffalo Law School, has been named a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation.  The Guggenheim Fellowship grants “provide support to exceptional scholars, scientists and artists, giving them the opportunity to work on projects with complete creative freedom anywhere in the world.”  Click here for more Information.
  • Team Member Anver M. Emon, University of Toronto, has published Islamic Natural Law Theories (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).  Click here for more information.
  • Team member Rukhsana Ahmed, University of Ottawa, has co-edited with Dr. Isaac Nahón-Serfaty the Proceedings of the International Workshop: “Cultural Dialogues, Religion &Communication” that took place at the University of Ottawa on October 21. The website of the Workshop (http://artsites.uottawa.ca/culturaldialogues) contains videos of the presentations, including the presentation of Lori Beaman as a conference participant.
  • Team member Solange Lefebvre was interviewed on CBC Radio-Canada, Radio-Réveil, with Marc Babin.  Click here for more information and the link.
  • Team Member Gary Bouma, along with Rod Ling (Manchester University), and Douglas Pratt (Waikato University), have published “Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific,” National Case Studies (Springer, 2010).
  • Professor James Tully presented a lecture, “On Responsible Citizenship,” Friday, April 9th, 2010 at the University of Ottawa as part of the Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory Lecture Series.  Click here to watch the video.
  • Team Member Rebecca Johnson was interviewed on Radio Canada International’s The Link, April 5, 2010.  Click here for more information and the link.
  • St. Thomas University in Fredericton New Brunswick will be hosting a workshop for invited participants titled “Varieties of Religious Establishments” on November 12 and 13, 2010.  This workshop focuses on the social, cultural and legal contexts in which religious freedom develops with a specific focus on exploring how the legal framework within which “church-state” relations are imagined impacts on the ways in which religion is worked out institutionally.
  • Delaine of Interfaithing.com has written an article (March 31, 2010) about the Religion and Diversity Project.  Click here to read the article.
  • Mohammed Adam of The Ottawa Citizen has written an article (March 24, 2010) about the SSHRC announcement.  Click here to read the article, which is titled “U of O researcher given $2.5 M to probe religious diversity”.
  • Professor Lori Beaman of the Univerity of Ottawa receives $2.5 million to study religious diversity/La professeure Lori Beaman reçoit 2,5 millions de dollars pour étudier la diversité religieuse.  Click here to read the press release.
  • Lori Beaman, University of Ottawa, has participated in a plenary session titled “Autobiographical Reflections on Method,” at the Innovative Methods in the Study of Religion conference, co-sponsored by AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme and NORFACE Re-emergence of Religion as a Social Force in Europe, held in London, U.K. March 29 – April 1, 2010.
  • Team member Prema Ann Kurien, Maxwell School (Syracuse University), has been awarded a two year grant (2009-2011) from the Carnegie Corporation for a research project on Indian American political engagement.
  • Team member Anver M. Emon, University of Toronto, has been collaborating with the International Bar Association, Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Center of Theological Inquiry, to develop a research project on Islamic law and International Law. 
  • Team Members Natasha Bakht, Pascale Fourniér, and Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens have been invited to participate in the “Legal Practice and Accommodation in Multicultural Europe”  Workshop, which is to take place at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL) at Oñati on June 3-4 2010.