Past events

NSRN Annual Lecture: Dena Abbott

“Nonreligious Health in a Christian-Normative Nation: Intersectionality, Power, and the Case for Culturally-Responsive Psychotherapy”

Decades of research have studied the psychological health of believers, typically highlighting the benefits of religion and muddying the waters on nonreligious health through misunderstanding, stigma, and poor measurement. By contrast, little psychological science has investigated how nonreligiousness and nonspirituality influence well-being. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research grounded in critical perspectives and over 15 years of practice as a psychotherapist working with nonbelievers, this lecture addresses that gap. It examines the mechanisms by which nonreligion benefits psychological health, as well as the external and structurally-based health challenges faced by nonbelievers as a result of Christian-normativity in the US. As nonbelievers are the fastest growing religious identity group in the early 21st century, now comprising 29% of the US population, and are increasingly diverse, implications for culturally responsive mental health care that acknowledges the intersections of power at play will be discussed.

11am ET

Wishful Thinking? Is There a Religious Revival?

Recent media stories in a number of countries suggest that there is a religious revival taking place, with increased worship attendance and young people expressing renewed interest in religion. But is this just wishful thinking? Is there really a religious revival? This panel explores the evidence – or lack thereof – for a religious revival, and why this issue has attracted persistent attention in the media.

Featuring: Conrad Hackett (Pew Research Center), Kati Tervo-Niemelä (University of Eastern Finland), Joel Thiessen (Ambrose University), Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme (University of Waterloo), David Voas (University College London)

12:30pm-2pm ET

Book Launch: Religion and Nonreligion in Same-Sex Marriage Debates: Emerging Imaginaries 

In this webinar, the NCF’s Law team will present on their new open-access book, Religion and Nonreligion in Same-Sex Marriage Debates: Emerging Imaginaries (De Gruyter, 2026).

1pm ET

Book Launch: Unearthing Lifestances: What Community Gardens Tell Us About Nonreligion

In this webinar, the NCF’s Community Gardens team will present on their new open-access book, Unearthing Lifestances: What Community Gardens Tell Us About Nonreligion (De Gruyter, 2025).

4pm ET

EVENT POSTPONED: DATE TBD

Meet the Author: Ben Laws

In this webinar, Ben Laws will present his new book, Asylum and Nonreligion: Emotions, Evidence-making and Credibility (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)

Co-hosted with the Association for Canadian Studies / Metropolis

11:00 am ET

Nonreligion, Past and Present: Interdisciplinary Conversations on Science and Nonreligion      

In this webinar, Renny Thomas, Stephen Weldon, Bernard Lightman, and Lauren Strumos will engage in interdisciplinary conversations on science and nonreligion.

Co-hosted with the International Society for Historians of Atheism, Secularism, and Humanism (ISHASH)

1:00 pm ET

Meet the Author: Sarah Kathleen Johnson

In this webinar, Sarah Kathleen Johnson will present her new book Occasional Religious Practice: Valuing a Very Ordinary Religious Experience (Oxford University Press, 2025).

12:00 pm ET

“Researching School Values” Workshop

The Department of Theology and Religious Studies at KCL and the Social Studies of Ethics, Morality and Values Network are pleased to host a networking symposium on values in schools at KCL on Friday, 27 June, 11am – 5pm.

Particular attention will be given to the way in which values have become increasingly prominent on school websites, in disciplinary and reward structures, in the curriculum (formal and informal), and in inspection regimes (e.g. FBVs). Current and historic practices, use and reception, wider pressures and causes, the content and application of school values are all of interest.