Past events

Start date: March 9, 2023 - End date: March 10, 2023
All-day event
Location: Leipzig University
NCF Generic Event (2)

Who is ‘Us’: Our Culture, Our Values, Our Heritage and the Reconfiguration of Religion

On March 9-10, the Nonreligion in a Complex Future Project co-hosted a workshop with the “Multiple Secularities – Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities” Project at Leipzig University. The workshop was organized by Lori Beaman (University of Ottawa), Christoph Kleine (Leipzig University), and Monika Wohlrab-Sahr (Leipzig University). For the full conference program, click here.

Date: February 24, 2023
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Meet the Author Joseph Blankholm

Meet the Author – Joseph Blankholm

In this instalment of our Meet the Author series, co-hosted with the Secularism on the Move Project, Joseph Blankholm discusses his recent book, The Secular Paradox: On the Religiosity of the Not Religious (NYU Press, 2022).
12pm ET

(more…)

Date: February 1, 2023
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Meet the Author Justine Ellis
Meet the Author – Justine Ellis
In this installment of our Meet the Author series, Justine Ellis discusses her recent book, The Politics of Religious Literacy: Education and Emotion in a Secular Age (Brill, 2022).
12pm ET

(more…)

Start date: January 27, 2023 - End date: January 28, 2023
All-day event
Location: Leipzig University
NCF Generic Event (2)

Religion and its History in Turkey: New Approaches, Alternative Perspectives

Institute for the Study of Religions at Leipzig University. Co-sponsors: Centre for Advanced Studies “Multiple Secularities –Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities” at Leipzig University and the Nonreligion in a Complex Future Project.

For the full conference program, click here.

Date: November 29, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Meet the Author Leo Igwe (4)

Meet the Author – Leo Igwe

In this instalment of our Meet the Author series, Leo Igwe discusses his recent chapter, “Atheism in Southern Africa,” in The Cambridge History of Atheism (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

12pm ET

(more…)

Date: November 28, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Follow-Up Panel Poster (1)

A Decade of Decline: What are the Implications?

The newly released 2021 Canadian census data on (non)religion contained some surprises. While religious affiliation continued to decline and non-Christian religions continued to grow, the magnitude of change was unexpected. In this virtual event, panelists Al Hay (Hay Research International), Rick Hiemstra (Evangelical Fellowship of Canada), Stuart Macdonald (Knox College, University of Toronto), and Kati Tervo-Niemelä (University of Eastern Finland) explore the implications of these findings for the present and future of (non)religion in Canada. 

12pm ET

Date: November 16, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Lecture Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme (3)

A Decade of Decline?: Exploring the 2021 Canadian Census Data on (Non)Religion

Is religion continuing to decline in Canada? This question will be answered when the 2021 Canadian Census data is released on October 26th of this year. This comprehensive data set is released every 10 years and offers a reliable measure of trends in the Canadian population, including (non)religious identification. Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, sociologist and expert on (non)religion from the University of Waterloo, will lead an overview of the data. She will identify surprises, review results, and answer questions. 

12pm ET

Date: October 18, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Meet the Author Christel Manning (4)

Meet the Author – Christel Manning

In this instalment of our Meet the Author series, Christel Manning discusses her recent chapter, “Meaning Making Narratives among Non-Religious Individuals Facing the End of Life,” in New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging (Routledge).

(more…)

Date: October 4, 2022
Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Virtual - Zoom
_Meet the Author Anna Strhan Rachael Shillitoe (3)
Meet the Author – Anna Strhan and Rachael Shillitoe
In this instalment of our Meet the Author series, Anna Strhan and Rachael Shillitoe discuss their recent article, “The Stickiness of Non-Religion? Intergenerational Transmission and the Formation of Non-Religious Identities in Childhood.” Sociology 53, no. 6 (December 2019): 1094–1110.

(more…)

Date: September 29, 2022
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: University of Ottawa, Desmarais Hall, Room 12102 (In-Person Only)
Critical Thinkers Sept 2022

Appropriation Revisited: The Potential and Challenges of a Critical Term of Historical Research

Marian Füssel (University of Göttingen)

Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory Lecture Series

Abstract: Appropriation is one of the key concepts in cultural history, media research and the history of everyday life. Consuming, reading, walking – in short, the many ways of using something – encourage a fundamental change of perspective on human agency in both past and present. The lecture first reconstructs the theoretical foundations of the approach following Michel de Certeau and Alf Lüdtke. With terms like strategies and tactics, resistant practices of everyday life became visible as an ‘art of the weak’. In the meantime, however, the term ‘cultural appropriation’ has also been used to describe hegemonic power mechanisms. Both readings of appropriation are confronted with each other and questioned for their potential for empirical historical research.

This lecture will be followed by a wine and cheese reception offered by the German Embassy.