What the Canadian doctoral programs tell us about the academic study of religion in Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 505-515
Author(s):  
Michel Desjardins
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Half Century ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Religion In Canada ◽  
Academic Study

Two new Canadian doctoral programs in Religious Studies opened their doors in September 2004. The Laurier-Waterloo and University of British Columbia programs provide the springboard for this paper to look at the full range of Canadian doctoral programs in our field: their distinctive characteristics, and the requirements they impose on students. This paper also uses the results to reflect on the nature of Religious Studies in this country: what has changed and what has remained the same over the last half century? In closing, it suggests ways in which the doctoral programs and the field itself could be made stronger.

Responding to the Wendy Doniger Controversy

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-39
Author(s):  
Steven Ramey
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Robust Analysis ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Academic Study

The controversy over Penguin India withdrawing Wendy Doniger's book, announced in February 2014, provides an occasion to consider the problems and possibilities within the academic study of religion. As the controversy centered on representations of what both Doniger and her opponents termed Hinduism, the problems with adjudicating contested definitions of religions or the category religions becomes apparent. Rather than assuming that we can present a normative definition of any of these terms, I argue that scholars should avoid applying these contested labels themselves and recognize instead whose application of contested labels that they use. This approach facilitates a more robust analysis of the ways these terms enter the negotiation of various conflicts and the interests and assumptions behind them, making religious studies more relevant to contemporary society.

Editor’s Corner: Critics or Caretakers?

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-39
Author(s):  
Philip Tite
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Short Piece ◽  
Short Essay ◽  
Academic Study

A short essay, in responding to an online roundtable (the Religious Studies Project), explores the role of progressive ideology in the academic study of religion, specifically with a focus on debates over Russell McCutcheon's distinction between scholars functioning as cultural critics or caretakers of religious traditions. This short piece is part of the "Editor's Corner" (an occasional section of the Bulletin where the editors offer provocative musings on theoretical challenges facing the discipline).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document