- Upcoming Events
- Birks Annual Lecture Series
- Birks Forum
- G. Campbell Wadsworth Lectures
- Islamic Encounters Lecture Series
- Miraly Pluralism Lecture Series
- Religion, Politics and Society Lecture Series
- ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion Lecture Series
- Seymour David Steinman Memorial Lecture Series
- South Asian Religions Distinguished Lectureship
- Past Events
2024 Upcoming Events
Reading Thessalonians
Ecclesially, Politically, Philosophically
Friday, April 5
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Birks Building, Room 100 (SCR)
3520 University Street, Montreal
For more information click the poster here 
reading_thessalonians.pdf
Colloquium on African Ecological Hermeneutics
Co-host by McGill School of Religious Studies and Presbyterian College
Wednesday, April 17
Presbyterian College
3495 University Street, Montreal
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Welcome to the Montreal Biblical Colloquium on African Ecological Hermeneutics, co-hosted by McGill School of Religious Studies and the Presbyterian College, Montreal. This event will take place on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, starting at 9:00 AM in the Presbyterian College chapel. Attendees can look forward to presentations in both English and French.
The colloquium will explore diverse topics, including, but not limited to, African religions; African hermeneutics; decolonization; climate change; African eco-theology; African indigenous knowledge, leadership, and environmental care, among others. The overarching objective is to critically examine and elucidate the core principles and distinctive attributes of African biblical hermeneutics, deeply rooted in African culture, religion, and tradition.
More information at this link
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/montreal-biblical-colloquium-on-african-ecol...
Third Annual Graduate Conference
Post-: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Practice and Study of Religions
May 10–12
Birks Building
3520 University Street, Montreal
The symbol-word “ post -” represents the ambiguity with which we often identify ourselves in relationto histories, to movements, and to schools of thought when positioning our research and ourengagement with the diversity of phenomena we call “religious”. Outside of the university’s walls,we see how the practices of religions, their places and roles in different societies, and the discoursesabout them, continue to change. Inside the university’s walls, our ways of asking questions, ofconducting research, and of situating our work within society at large, also continues to change.
Poster for the conference postergradconf2024_1.pdf
Troisième Conférence Annuelle pour les étudiants aux cycles supérieurs
Post-: Continuités et Discontinuitiés dan la Pratique et L'Etude des Religions
Mai 10–12
Birks Building
3520 University Street, Montreal
Le mot-symbole “post-” représente l'ambiguïté avec laquelle nous nous identifions souvent enrelation aux histoires, aux différents mouvements et écoles de pensée alors que nous positionnonsnotre recherche et notre réflexion sur la diversité de phénomènes que nous appelons “religieux”. Au-delà de l’université, nous observons à quel point les pratiques religieuses, leurs rôles dans différentessociétés et les discours qui se font à propos de celles-ci, continuent de changer. Au coeur même del’université, notre manière de poser des questions, de mener des recherches, et de situer nos travauxau sein de la société plus largement, évoluent tout autant.
Affiche pour la conférence postergradconf2024_1.pdf
Birks Annual Lecture Series
An annual series was established in 1950 through the generosity of the late William M. Birks. The lectures are given by distinguished visitors, usually in late September or early October. The first lecturer was the Right Reverend Leslie Hunter. More recent lecturers have included Huston Smith, Northrop Frye, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Gregory Baum, Jurgen Moltmann, Robert McFee Brown, Krister Stendahl, James Barr, Charles J. Adams, John H. Hick, Jon Levenson, David Little, Azim Nanji, Paul Griffiths, Bernadette J. Brooten, Harvey G. Cox, John S. Hawley, Gabriel Vahanian, Oliver O'Donovan, Jan Assmann, Donald Lopez, Rémi Brague, David Fergusson, John J. Collins, David Shulman, Talal Asad, Robert L. Wilken, Jens Schroter, Rachel Fell McDermott, Tomoko Masuzawa and Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
2023
Public lectures by Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
Rector Magnificus, Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Rome
On the Trinity: The Human Drive for Ultimate Explanations and the Intellectual Search for the Presence of God
Monday, September 18 at 5:30.
Chalcedonian Christology and Philosophical Metaphysics
Tuesday, September 19 at 5:30.
Poster for lectures birks_lectures2023_thomas-j-white_sept_18-19_revised_poster.pdf
Private graduate seminar, details TBA
Tuesday, September 19 at 2:30
2022
Queen in the Attic: Theology and the University.
What Was the University for?
Tuesday, October 11 at 16:30
Queen in the Attic: Theology and the University
Where Was Theology, and How Did We Get This Wrong?
Poster for lecture
Professor Tomoko Masuzawa
Wednesday, October 12 at 16:30
2019
Public lecture, The Worlds that Translation Opens, by Professor Rachel Fell McDermott, Professor and Chair of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College, Columbia University
Creating and Translating a Giant: The Curious Journeys of Omar Khayyam, Tuesday, October 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Translating and Creating a Genre: The Legacy of Muslim Devotional Singing in Two Bengals, Wednesday, October 9 at 5:30 p.m.
Poster
Public lecture, The Formation of the Christian Bible: Current Trends and New Perspectives, by Professor Jens Schröter, Chair of Exegesis and Theology of the New Testament and New Testament Apocrypha at the Humboldt-Universitat of Berlin
The Emergence of the New Testament Canon: "Canonical" and "Apocryphal" Writings in Early Christianity, Wednesday, September 26 at 5:30 p.m.
The Septuagint, Jewish Writings, and the 'Old Testament': Authoritative Writings in Second Temple Judaism and the Formation of the Christian Bible, Thursday, September 27 at 5:30 p.m.
Poster
2017
Public lecture, Christian Origins of Religious Freedom, by Professor Robert Louis Wilken, Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity, University of Virginia
Endowed with Freedom, Tuesday, October 3 at 5:30 p.m.
Liberty in the Things of God, Wednesday, October 4 at 5:30 p.m.
Poster
2016
Public lecture by Professor Talal Asad, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center
Reflections on Secularization and Christianity, Tuesday, November 1 at 5:30 p.m.
Thinking about Translation, Paideia and Secularization, Wednesday, November 2 at 3:30 p.m.
Poster
2015
Public lecture by Professor David Shulman, Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Kudiyattam: The Last Living Sanskrit Theater in the World, Tuesday, October 13
The Making of a Grisly Goddess, Wednesday, October 14
Poster; link to youtube video of October 13 lecture; link to youtube video of October 14 lecture.
2014
Public lecture by Professor John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation, Yale Divinity School
Torah and Jewish Identity in Second Temple Judaism, Tuesday, October 21
Non-Mosaid forms of Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Wednesday, October 22
Poster; link to youtube video of October 21 lecture; link to youtube video of October 22 lecture
2013
Public lecture by Professor David Fergusson, October 15 and 16
The Theology of Providence: Perspectives and Problems
View video recording of the two lectures: Providence in Christian Tradition: theoretical and practical challenges; Re-envisioning Providence Today
2012
Public lecture by Professor Rémi Brague, October 9
The Question Atheism Can't Answer; Remi Brague at McGill; youtube
2011
Public lecture series given by Professor Donald Lopez, September 26 and 27
Buddhism among the Religions
2010
Public lectures by Professor Jan Assmann, October 12 and 13
Lecture audio podcast: October 12; October 13
2009
Public Lecture by Dr. Olivier O'Donovan, October 14 and 15
Faith and Society
Birks Forum 2022
On the World's Religions and Public
Policy Indigeneity and Christianity in Global Context:
Troubled Histories and Unsettled Futures
The Birks Forum 2022 is pleased to announce a webinar series interrogating the history, current challenges, and opportunities at the intersection of Indigenous communities and Christianity. This series will explore specific issues in diverse global contexts: Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Australasia.
While there is significant range of issues that affect diverse Indigenous communities in their engagement with Christianity — education, environment, gender, reconciliation, peace-building — each webinar will highlight issues that have emerged as pivotal for the community under discussion. Keynote speakers are Indigenous leaders, scholars, and actors from diverse disciplinary perspectives, both within and beyond the academy.
For more information, and to register for the events in the series, please see www.birksforum.ca
Part two of lecture series: North East India
Decolonizing and Indigenizing Christianity:
An Indigenous People's Perspective
Thursday, 12 May at 20:00-21:30 ET
Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PaGK2WQzR8SMBLt3mhgu2A
G. Campbell Wadsworth Lectures
The G. Campbell Wadsworth memorial Lecture series was established in 1997 by the Estate of Dr. G. Campbell Wadsworth. A series of lectures on the life and works of John Calvin is organized on a bi-annual basis. The first G. Campbell Wadsworth memorial Lecture was presented by Professor Alan J. Torrance; the second, by Professor Colin Gunton; the third by Professor John Webster; the fourth by Professor Joan Lockwood O'Donovan.
Reverend Wadsworth was Minister of the Montreal West United Church for many years, a keen student of the history and doctrine of the Reformation, and an active member of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
2022
Dr. R. Ward Holder, Tuesday, October 4 at 16:30
John Calvin, the Christian Tradition, and Western Modernity
R. Ward Holder is a historical and political theologian, and professor of theology at Saint Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire. Across his career, he has examined the era of the Reformations, the work of John Calvin, how various faith communities interpret scripture, and modern political theology.
2019
Wadsworth Memorial Calvin Lecture by Dr. Richard Rex, September 9
The Reformation in England and France: Tales of the Unexpected
2017
Wadsworth Memorial Calvin Lecture by Dr. Elsie McKee, March 21
Calvin the Biblical Theologian
2012
Wadsworth Memorial Calvin Lecture by Professor Bruce Gordon, February 15
Scripture and Church: Calvin, Servetus and Castellio
2009
Public Lecture by Dr. Joan Lockwood O'Donovan, October 13
Faith and Society: Human Dignity and Human Justice
Islamic Encounters Series
2019
Repoliticizing the Silk Road: China in Islamic Political Thought Geographical Imagination, by Dr. Kaveh Hemmat, Benedictine University.
Women of the Empire from Zoroastrianism to Islam, by Dr. Fatemeh Sadeghi, McGill University.
The Problem of 'Human Natue' in Greek and Islamic Thought, by Dr. Michael Nafi, John Abbott College.
In the Aftermath of the Revolution: Islam, Translation, and the 'Outside', by Dr. Milad Odabaei, McGill University.
Dreaming at the Threshold of the Law: An Islamic Liturgy of of Healing, by Dr. Stefania Pandolfo, University of California, Berkeley.
Magic of Warlords: Imperial Occult Science in the Early Modern Persian Cosmopolis, by Dr. Matthew Melvin-Koushki, University of South Carolina.
Muslim Initiatives in International Interreligious Dialogue, Dr. Patrice Brodeur, Université de Montréal.
2018
Islam, Science and the Gender of Reason, by Dr. Alireza Doostdar, University of Chicago.
Rethinking the Jewish-Muslim Past in the Twentieth Century Maghrib through music, by Dr. Christopher Silver, McGill University.
For Love of the Prophet: The Art of Islamic State-Making in Sudan, by Dr. Noah Salomon, Carleton College.
New perspectives on Christian philosophers in medieval Islamic Baghdad, by Dr. Damien Janos, Université de Montréal and Dr. Robert Wisnovsky, McGill University.
Mawlana Rumi's Spiritual Legacy within World Civilizations, by Dr. Bilal Kuspinar, Necmettin Ebakan University, Turkey.
Miraly Pluralism Lecture Series
Established in 2019 in support of a Lecture Series to explore issues of pluralism and diversity in secular societies. It will provide an opportunity for international scholar to engage in and develop studies and dialogue in Religious Studies and Arts, and may also draw on other disciplines, such as Law, Medicine, as appropriate in the thematic of a given year.
Religion, Politics, and Society Lecture Series
Public lecture by Professor Ateş Altinordu, Sabanci University, Istanbul. Politics and Unbelief in Turkey. Friday, May 17, 2019 from 10:00–11:30.
Poster
Public lecture by Professor Ateş Altinordu, Sabanci University, Istanbul.
The Political Incorporation of Anti-System Religious Parties: The Case of Turkish Political Islam. Wednesday, November 16, 2016 from 11:30–13:00.
Poster
ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion
Thursday, November 18
9:00 AM – 11:45 AM (EST/UTC-5)
Chair: Armando Salvatore, McGill University
Syed Farid Alatas, National University of Singapore
"Ibn Khaldun and Autonomous Knowledge Production"
Abstract: In order for theory to be relevant to the Third World/Periphery/South it needs to be challenged. The nature of that challenge is the deparochialisation of theory. The discipline of sociology and other social sciences have been slow to do this. Recently, however, there have been efforts to address the problem by way of the critique of canons and foundational theories of the discipline. This paper is a contribution in the direction of such critique to render the disciplines less parochial. This paper is divided into three parts. First it introduces the theme of silencing that manifests itself in the recounting of the voyages of discovery that began mere decades after the death of Ibn Khaldun. The paper then turns to the reconstruction of Khaldunian theory in the context of modern historical and area studies. The idea here is to provide a structure that may be used to construct social theory from the works of those thinkers from the South that are considered to be potential sources of alternative, non-Eurocentric theory. The thinker under consideration here is Ibn Khaldun. The paper ends with a discussion on autonomous knowledge as a more productive and critical way of thinking about knowledge production as opposed to the decolonization of knowledge. Ibn Khaldun is seen to be relevant to the challenge of hegemonic orientations other than Eurocentrism.
10:30 AM – 11:45 Am (EST/UCT-5)
Chair: Armando Salvatore, McGill University
Heba Raouf Ezzat, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, Turkey
“The Tribe and the Nomos of the Earth: The Relevance of Ibn Khaldun”
Abstract: The work of Ibn Khaldun has been read in many ways, focusing often on his notion of ‘asabiyyah and the nature of the social bond in tribal societies that motivates power exercise, territorial expansion and the rise of dynasties. The spatial ordering of society plays a crucial role in this vision. This presentation attempts to explore the notion of order and its configurations in space in the Muqaddimah, and how Ibn Khaldun’s political imagination was based on an understanding of the nomos of the earth on three levels: the cosmic nomos, the material/spatial nomos and the sociological nomos. While a dominant approach to the reading of Ibn Khaldun was understanding tribal societies as hierarchical, or history as cyclical, I will try to examine heterarchy in the three levels of the nomos. To relate the above to contemporary debates in political theory, Carl Schmitt is invited to this discussion where his understanding of the nomos as the order of appropriation, distribution and production in every society is highlighted. I will also refer to Michel Maffesoli and his work on neo-tribalism.
Monday, September 13
12:00PM - 2:45PM (Montreal)
Chair: Dyala Hamzah, Université de Montréal
12:00-1:15PM (Montreal)
Ali Benmakhlouf, Professeur de philosophie à l’université de Paris Est Créteil
Ibn Khaldun: logique et grammaire de la civilisation
Résumé: La conférence vise à indiquer les dettes méthodologiques et épistémiques d’Ibn Khaldun à l’égard des philosophes-logiciens qui l’ont précédé (Averroès). Les modalités logiques du nécessaire et du possible sont investies dans l’ordre historique pour rendre compte de la société humaine (nécessaire) et du fait historique (possible). Il en va de même pour le statut de la rhétorique, qui passe du statut de partie de la logique, qu’elle avait chez Al Farabi et chez Averroès, à une composante sémantique de la notion de civilisation (circulation de signes dans l’efficace du pouvoir politique). Ces analyses épistémiques sont une base pour remettre en cause la réception coloniale d’Ibn Khaldun qui a attribué à l’historien une conception cyclique de l’histoire, absente de son œuvre.
1:30-2:45PM (Montreal)
Chair: Dyala Hamzah, Université de Montréal
Waseem El-Rayes, Associate Professor of Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, James Madison College, Michigan State University
Nothing Human is Forever: Ibn Khaldun and the Morals (‘ibar) of Cyclical History
Abstract: This paper argues that the notion of ‘nothing human is forever,’ as a product of both religious conviction and philosophical reflection, is a key moral (or ‘ibra) in Ibn Khaldun’s Kitab al-‘Ibar, one that informs his understanding of the material and psychological bases for the rise and fall of political regimes. The paper outlines: 1) what makes nothing human is forever a moral, 2) how it shapes the ancient and medieval view of cyclical history, and 3) how it informs Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history.
March 24, 2021, 1:30 PM EDT (UTC-4).
Hüseyin Yılmaz, George Mason University, Patron Saints of the Rum and their Chosen Dynasty: The Story of Ottomans in Sufi Hagiographies
The Keenan Chair of Interfaith Studies and the James McGill Professor of Islamic Philosophy are collaborating in a reflection on religion, Islam, and cosmopolitanism associated with McGill’s academic tradition of Islamic Studies, and epitomized by scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Fazlur Rahman, and Toshihiko Izutsu.
In preparation for the Keenan Conference on World Religions and Globalization, we are hosting an online lecture series titled ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion: History, Theory, and Society. While the study of the Islamosphere has stimulated a critical reconceptualization of the notion of religion, we would like to extend this reflection to how religious concepts have been embedded in broader views of history and society, including the Western colonial construction of the “Middle East” as the cradle not just of Islam but of all Abrahamic religions.
The seventh speaker in the series will be Prof. Hüseyin Yılmaz, George Mason University. The title of the lecture, which will be followed by a Q&A, is Patron Saints of the Rum and their Chosen Dynasty: The Story of Ottomans in Sufi Hagiographies. Professor Aslıhan Gürbüzel, McGill University, will serve as a discussant of the lecture.
Abstract: The post-Mongol Western Anatolia was a breeding ground for ambitious Turkic chieftains and charismatic saints competing for a new spiritual and political order. These rulers and dervishes, often clashing with each other, constantly negotiated the nature and boundaries of spiritual and temporal authorities. This talk will elaborate on how hagiographies reflected Sufistic visions of authority and portrayed the Ottomans from the 14th through the 16th centuries.
Hüseyin Yılmaz is currently an associate professor in Department of History and Art History, and research director at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University. He received his PhD in 2005 from Harvard University in History and Middle Eastern Studies. From 2005 to 2009 he taught at the Humanities Program and Department of History, Stanford University. From 2009 to 2012 he taught in Department of History, University of South Florida. As research fellow, he spent Spring 2010 at Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, Vienna. His research interests include political thought, geographic imageries, social movements, and cultural history of the Ottoman Empire and the broader Islamicate world of the early modern era. He is the author of Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2018). His recent publications include “The Eastern Question and the Ottoman Empire: The Genesis of the Near and Middle East in the Nineteenth Century” and “From Serbestiyet to Hürriyet: Ottoman Statesmen and the Question of Freedom During the Late Enlightenment.”
Video of lecture: Patron Saints of the Rum and their Chosen Dynasty: The Story of Ottomans in Sufi Hagiographies
Poster of lecture: Patron Saints of the Rum and their Chosen Dynasty: The Story of Ottomans in Sufi Hagiographies
March 10, 2021, 1:30 PM EST (UTC -5).
Professor Setrag Manoukian, McGill University, Towards a Poetic Sociology of Iran
The Keenan Chair of Interfaith Studies and the James McGill Professor of Islamic Philosophy are collaborating in a reflection on religion, Islam, and cosmopolitanism associated with McGill’s academic tradition of Islamic Studies, and epitomized by scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Fazlur Rahman, and Toshihiko Izutsu.
In preparation for the Keenan Conference on World Religions and Globalization, to be held in Montreal in May 2022, we are hosting an online lecture series titled ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion: History, Theory, and Society. While the study of the Islamosphere has stimulated a critical reconceptualization of the notion of religion, we would like to extend this reflection to how religious concepts have been embedded in broader views of history and society, including the Western colonial construction of the “Middle East” as the cradle not just of Islam but of all Abrahamic religions.
The sixth speaker in the series will be Prof. Setrag Manoukian, McGill University. The title of the lecture, which will be followed by a Q&A, is Towards a Poetic Sociology of Iran.
Abstract: Poetry occupies a specific place in Iran’s history, culture and everyday life. This is perhaps no different from other countries in the Middle East or the world at large; however, media and scholarly narratives often see an essential connection between Iranians and their poems, and use these texts to explain Iranian politics, morality, and the self. A variant of this approach considers poetry as a pivotal expression of political dissent and existential angst.
As a counterpoint to these narratives, this talk analyses the power of poetry in Iran by examining the constitutive relationship between poetry and social configurations in light of contemporary poetic practice in the city of Shiraz. Instead of a sociology of Iranian poetry, I propose a poetic sociology of Iran.
Prof. Setrag Manoukian is an anthropologist interested in knowledge and its relationship with power, understood both as existential and social force. He approaches cities, poems, videos and other technologies as forms of knowledge with specific existential trajectories and attends to their historicity. His special area is Iran. He is looking for ways to pursue Giambattista Vico’s combination of anthropology and philology.
Video of lecture: Towards a Poetic Sociology of Iran
Poster of lecture: Towards a Poetic Sociology of Iran
February 17, 2021, 2:00 PM EST (UTC-5).
Dr Benjamin Schewel, Duke University, Imagining the Islamic Ecumene: Marshall Hodgson as Philosopher of History
The Keenan Chair of Interfaith Studies and the James McGill Professor of Islamic Philosophy are collaborating in a reflection on religion, Islam, and cosmopolitanism associated with McGill’s academic tradition of Islamic Studies, and epitomized by scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Fazlur Rahman, and Toshihiko Izutsu.
In preparation for the Keenan Conference on World Religions and Globalization, to be held in Montreal in May 2022, we are hosting an online lecture series titled ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion: History, Theory, and Society. While the study of the Islamosphere has stimulated a critical reconceptualization of the notion of religion, we would like to extend this reflection to how religious concepts have been embedded in broader views of history and society, including the Western colonial construction of the “Middle East” as the cradle not just of Islam but of all Abrahamic religions.
The fifth speaker in the series will be Dr Benjamin Schewel, Duke University. The title of the lecture, which will be followed by a Q&A, is Imagining the Islamic Ecumene: Marshall Hodgson as Philosopher of History.
Abstract: Ibn Khaldun's studies of the rise and fall of Islamicate empires have proven to be of widespread and enduring relevance within broader fields of social scientific research.
In the same vein, this lecture argues, the insights that Marshall Hodgson derives from his far-reaching study of the origins and evolution of the Islamicate ecumene should figure centrally in the ongoing efforts of philosophers, social theorists, and humanistic scholars of various sorts to reconceptualize world history through a non-Western-centric and more spiritually sympathetic lens.
In order to advance this claim, the presentation situates Hodgson's major world-historical arguments within the discourse on the nature and implications of the Axial Age (800-200 BCE), an approach that he consciously utilizes to orient his analyses in The Venture of Islam.
Benjamin Schewel is a Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and Director of the Center on Modernity in Transition (COMIT). He additionally serves as an Affiliate Member of the School of Religious Studies at McGill University and as an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Seven Ways of Looking at Religion, published by Yale University Press in 2017, and is currently finishing a second book, also to be published by Yale University Press, entitled, Encountering the Axial Age.
Video of lecture: Imagining the Islamic Ecumene: Marshall Hodgson as Philosopher of History
Poster of lecture: Imagining the Islamic Ecumene: Marshall Hodgson as Philosopher of History
January 27, 2021, 1:30 PM EST (UTC -5).
Prof. Timur Hammond, Syracuse University, Religion In, Of, and From the City
The Keenan Chair of Interfaith Studies and the James McGill Professor of Islamic Philosophy are collaborating in a reflection on religion, Islam, and cosmopolitanism associated with McGill’s academic tradition of Islamic Studies, and epitomized by scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Fazlur Rahman, and Toshihiko Izutsu.
In preparation for the Keenan Conference on World Religions and Globalization, to be held in Montreal in Spring 2022, we are hosting an online lecture series titled ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion: History, Theory, and Society. While the study of the Islamosphere has stimulated a critical reconceptualization of the notion of religion, we would like to extend this reflection to how religious concepts have been embedded in broader views of history and society, including the Western colonial construction of the “Middle East” as the cradle not just of Islam but of all Abrahamic religions.
The fourth speaker in the series will be Prof. Timur Hammond, Syracuse University. The title of the lecture, which will be followed by a Q&A, is Religion In, Of, and From the City. The lecture is based on a chapter that Professor Hammond is contributing to The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East in course of publication (both online and in print) with Oxford University Press, edited by Armando Salvatore, Sari Hanafi, and Kieko Obuse: Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East - Oxford Handbooks
Abstract:
The ‘city’ and ‘religion’ have a long and rich history in scholarship in, of, and about the Middle East, ranging from early articulations of the ‘Islamic city’ to more recent engagements with questions of politics, urban life, everyday experience, and governance. Yet despite a shared interest in the place of religion in the city, scholars often operate from quite distinct methodological, conceptual, and epistemological positions. In this talk, I identify four meta-questions that underpin much of this scholarship: (1) How do we conceptualize ‘religion’ and the ‘city’ as linked objects of study? (2) How and why do we think about religious difference within and between cities? (3) Is there a single urban process? (4) And what are the advantages and disadvantages of framing our work as a regional analysis of the Middle East?
Paying greater attention to these questions provides an opportunity to revisit – and perhaps reframe – the unacknowledged assumptions that tend to structure our research questions, methods, disciplinary approaches, and findings. Indeed, I use the talk to suggest that beginning from these questions opens up new opportunities for an expanded interdisciplinary exchange. In the process, we might develop new opportunities for more responsive, reflexive, and responsible approaches to studying religion in, of, and from the city.
Timur Hammond is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University. Trained as a cultural and urban geographer, his research examines the practices and processes through which people encounter cities as meaningful places. His current book project focuses on the Istanbul district of Eyüp and uses that district’s 20th century transformations to show the changing geographies of Islam over the past century. He has also published on the relationship between geography and Middle East area studies and on the politics of memory following Turkey’s July 2016 coup attempt.
Video of lecture: Religion In, Of, and From the City
Poster of lecture: Religion In, Of, and From the City
January 7, 2021, 1:30 PM EST (UTC -5).
Dr Dyala Hamzah, Université de Montréal, (De)commissioning Ibn Khaldun? Sufis, Statesmen and Publicists during the Long Nineteenth century.
Abstract: The Ibn Khaldun of the long 19th century is usually either conjured as a theoretical framework in order to make sense of the venture of Islamic reform or broken down to a cluster of atomized concepts which then one attempts to trace in the thought of said Islamic reformers. Both these readings partake in the uneasy assumption of a “European discovery” of Ibn Khaldun, and both obfuscate the fact that while the 14th century historian did not advocate reform, reformists had no vested interest in the discipline of history.
Taking a step back from the usual genealogies of Islamic reform, this lecture explores the impact of such disjunctive readings on our reconstructions of individual trajectories that made up this long 19th century. It posits that the significance of their Khaldunian engagements by such Islamic entrepreneurs as the mystic Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Sanusi (1787-1859), the statesman Khayreddine Pasha (1822-1890) and the publicist Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865-1935) can only accrue if we problematize the extent to which Ibn Khaldun had become naturalized by the time of the Tanzimat and the Nahda, within the so-called Ottoman center and its peripheries, in sufi networks, bureaucratic practice and the public sphere.
Dyala Hamzah is Associate Professor of Arab History, Université de Montréal. She is the author of the forthcoming Muhammad Rashid Rida ou le tournant salafiste (CNRS Éditions, 2021) and editor of The Making of the Arab Intellectual (Routledge, 2013).
Video of lecture: (De)commissioning Ibn Khaldun? Sufis, Statesmen and Publicists during the Long Nineteenth century.
Poster of lecture: (De)commissioning Ibn Khaldun? Sufis, Statesmen and Publicists during the Long Nineteenth century.
November 26, 2020, 1:30 PM EST (UTC -5).
Dr Florian Zemmin, Leipzig University, The Secular in Middle East and Islamicate History
The Keenan Chair of Interfaith Studies and the James McGill Professor of Islamic Philosophy are collaborating in a reflection on religion, Islam, and cosmopolitanism associated with McGill’s academic tradition of Islamic Studies, and epitomized by scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Fazlur Rahman, and Toshihiko Izutsu. In preparation for the Keenan Conference on World Religions and Globalization, to be held in Montreal in Spring 2022, we are hosting an online lecture series titled ReOrienting the Global Study of Religion: History, Theory, and Society.
While the study of the Islamosphere has stimulated a critical reconceptualization of the notion of religion, we would like to extend this reflection to how religious concepts have been embedded in broader views of history and society, including the Western colonial construction of the “Middle East” as the cradle not just of Islam but of all Abrahamic religions. Some of the lectures will contribute to such reflections also through the foil of the interdisciplinary legacy of Ibn Khaldun, a champion of non-Western thought and precursor of social theory.
The second speaker in the series will be Florian Zemmin, Leipzig University. The title of the lecture, which will be followed by a Q&A, is The Secular in Middle East and Islamicate History. The lecture is based on a chapter that Dr Zemmin is contributing to The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East in course of publication (both online and in print) with Oxford University Press, edited by Armando Salvatore, Sari Hanafi, and Kieko Obuse. Sari Hanafi will serve as a discussant of the lecture.
Abstract: Islam is all too frequently regarded as the other of secular (Western) modernity. Sometimes this perception extends to Middle Eastern societies, for which Islam allegedly plays a constitutive role. However, secularity, the difference between religion and the secular, has been shaping modern societies in the Middle East too. Moreover, recent scholarship has highlighted patterns of secularity both within modern Islamic thought and in Islamicate history.
The lecture first establishes the factual secularity of modern Middle Eastern societies, focusing on the relation between religion and politics. Moving from structures to ideas, it then shows how modern Islamic thought conceptualized secularity. Examples from Islamicate history will make clear that secularity in the Middle East was not the exclusive product of colonial modernity, but drew also on earlier distinctions between religion and the secular.
Florian Zemmin is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences “Multiple Secularities - Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities,” Leipzig University. He is the author of Modernity in Islamic Tradition. The Concept of ‘Society’ in the Journal al-Manar (Cairo, 1898–1940) (De Gruyter, 2018) and co-editor of Working with A Secular Age: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Charles Taylor's Master Narrative (De Gruyter, 2016) and Islam in der Moderne, Moderne im Islam. Eine Festschrift für Reinhard Schulze zum 65. Geburtstag (Brill, 2018).
Video of lecture: The Secular in Middle East and Islamicate History
Poster of lecture: The Secular in Middle East and Islamicate History
October 28, 2020
01:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada
Speaker: Fitzroy Morrissey, All Souls College, University of Oxford, Ibn Khaldūn on Sufism: Mysticism through the Lens of History, Philosophy, and Law
Abstract:
The nature of Ibn Khaldun’s relationship to Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, is a complex and much-debated issue. The great North African historian and philosopher of history has variously been described as a critic of the Sufis, an admirer of Sufism, or even a Sufi himself. Through a close look at Ibn Khaldun’s discussion of Sufism in the Muqaddimah and other relevant sources, this talk aims to shed further light on the issue.
Placing Ibn Khaldun’s treatment of Sufism in the context of his wider intellectual project, we shall consider how his views on Sufism tie into his famous philosophy of history and other essential aspects of his thought. In this way, the talk aims to elucidate not only Ibn Khaldun’s relationship to mysticism, but also his thought more generally.
Fitzroy Morrissey is a Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford. A specialist in Sufism and Islamic intellectual history, he is the author of Sufism and the Perfect Human (Routledge, 2020) and Sufism and the Scriptures (I.B. Tauris, forthcoming).
Video of lecture: Ibn Khaldūn on Sufism: Mysticism through the Lens of History, Philosophy, and Law
Poster of lecture: Ibn Khaldūn on Sufism: Mysticism through the Lens of History, Philosophy, and Law
Seymour David Steinman Memorial Lecture
2019
Established in 2019, in memory of Seymour David Steinman, BA 1959, BCL 1964 to establish and annual lecture series. The annual lectures will focus on contemporary social and moral/ethical problems that fall within the intersection of the following disciplines and fields: religious studies, ethics, law, politics, and public policy.
The first lectures series took place in the Fall 2019, From Hate to Tolerance: The Prevention of Extremism, Violence, Anti-Semitism & Religious Discrimination; Video, Poster
South Asian Religions Distinguished Lectureship
The South Asian Religions Distinguished Lectureship was established in 2009 to complement the strong undergraduate and graduate programs on South Asia in the School of Religious Studies at McGill, and to encourage public understanding of South Asian religions. It has been made possible through the generosity of Professor Robert Stevenson, Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill from 1966 to 1991.
2018
Emilia Bachrach, Assistant Professor of Religion, Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, Oberlin Colgate and Conservatory, Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. Birks Heritage Chapel, 3520 University Street, 2nd Floor.
Religious Reading and Women's Leadership in Contemporary Western India
2015
Padma Kaimal, Professor of Art and Art History, Colgate University, Friday, March 20, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. Birks Heritage Chapel, 3520 University Street, 2nd Floor.
Scattered Goddesses: Travels with the Yoginis
2014
Rachel Dwyer, Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema, SOAS, University of London, Friday, March 28
Remover of Obstacles: The Persistence of the Mythological Genre in Hindi Cinema
2012
Joanne Punzo Waghorne, Professor of Religion, Syracuse University, Friday, March 9
Gods in the High-Rise: Hindu Gurus About it All
2011
Sumathi Ramaswamy, Professor of History, Duke University, Friday, March 11
A Historian Among the Goddesses of Modern India; Brochure
2010
Philip Lutgendorf Professor of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies, University of Iowa, Friday, March 5
Mira: Cinematic Citations of a Radical Woman Saint
2024
Talk by Ajay Rao: Historicizing Caste Exclusion
From McGill's School of Religious Studies and Institute of Islamic Studies
Thursday, March 21
Birks Building
Room 100 (Senior Common Room)
4:00 p.m.
The argument in Vedānta interpretations of the apaśūdrādhikaraṇa (1.3.34-38) for a rigid hierarchy of knowledge represents perhaps the most extensive evidence available to us of premodern theoretical justifications for caste exclusion and the cultural oppression of śūdras and Dalits. Taking these Sanskrit philosophical abstractions as socially symbolic acts, I examine how they give voice to brahminical anxieties about non-brahmin cultural power and knowledge at a time when "śūdra" had undergone radical transformation as a social category.
Jingiao Stele
Poster for the event luminous_stele_event_poster.pdf
The Jingjiao (‘luminous teaching”) Stele, also commonly known as the Xian Nestorian Stele, is a Tang limestone monument erected in 781. Its texts in Chinese and Syriac (side panels) document the arrival of Christian monks from Syria in China in 635 and the hospitality offered by the Emperor Taizong. It narrates the growth of Christianity in China during the 7th and 8th centuries. It also sheds light on the uniquely Chinese perspectives that shaped Jingjiao Christianity. A translation of the texts of the stele by Dr. L. Eccles and Prof Samuel Lieu (Macquarie University, Australia) can be found at: Xian Nestorian Monument.
The stele was buried in the 9th century during an imperial campaign of anti-Buddhist persecution that also targeted Christians. In the 1620s it was unearthed and is now located in the Stele Forest in Xi'an. Its discovery sparked academic discussion and debate that began shortly after its discovery and continues to this day.
In 1907, a Dutch adventurer, Frits Holm, went to China in an expedition aimed at bringing the stele to Europe. When Chinese authorities blocked this project, Holm commissioned an exact stone replica that eventually was donated to the Vatican. A plaster replica of the stele was cast in the Lateran museum with the permission of Pope Benedict XV. It was sent to McGill University as a gift to mark McGill’s first centenary in 1921. It was originally situated in Redpath Library facing the famous Gest Collection, a huge collection of rare Chinese manuscripts. The stele was moved to the Birks building after the collection was moved to Princeton University in 1937. The stele resided in a seminar room at Birks until its relocation (to the Birks Foyer) and restoration in 2024. We are very grateful for the support of the Montreal Chinese community in this restoration project.
Colloquium: Decolonization and the Study of
Religion: History, Pedagogy, Practice
We are pleased to extend an invitation to our upcoming “Explorations in Decolonization and the Study of Religion” colloquium. The event brings together scholars working across a wide range of religious-studies disciplines in a critical engagement with the epistemic and methodological challenges brought about by and through the decolonial present. The colloquium proceedings will be peer-reviewed for publication in a forthcoming volume of Arc: The Journal for the School of Religious Studies.
In addition to our panelists, the colloquium will feature a keynote lecture by Professor Miranda Crowdus (Concordia University) titled “Sounding and Listening Interventions for Decolonial Pedagogies in Religious Studies.” Further information on the presentations is included below.
The colloquium is open to the public, though capacity is limited. We kindly request those attending to RSVP via email at: jordan.molot [at] concordia.ca. Recipients of this message are further invited to share this event with contacts who may be interested in participating.
February 16, 1:00–5:00 p.m. ET
Birks Senior Common Room (Room 100)
3520 Rue University
Click this link for poster of lecture decolonization_and_the_study_of_religion_poster1.pdf
Click this link for more information dsrw_information_feb._16_2024.pdf
2023
Undoing Whiteness in American Buddhist
Modernism: Critical, Contextual, and
Collective Turns
by Ann Gleig, Numata Visiting Professor
Thursday, November 2, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
in Room 100, Birks Building
What is “whiteness” and how has it shaped, functioned and hindered American convert Buddhist modernism? Drawing on ethnography and textual analysis, this paper considers initiatives by Buddhists of Color, and their white allies, to expose and disrupt whiteness in American Buddhism including a detailed examination of the work of Zenju Earthlyn Manuel from the Soto Zen lineage and Larry Yang from the Insight Community to forge alternative Buddhist hermeneutics of embodied difference and multiculturalism. In conclusion, it situates racial justice work as reflecting critical, collective, and contextual turns in North American Buddhism that signify a wider shift from Buddhist modernism to Buddhism in a postmodern and postcolonial climate.
Click here for poster of lecture undoing_whiteness_gleig.pdf
Click here for Ann Gleig biography ann_gleig_biography.docx.pdf
Religious Phobia Symposium
Who is My Neighbour?: Analyzing the Discourse of Hinduphobia, Islamophobia and Antisemitism
in Conjunction with the Steinman Memorial Lecture
Thursday, October 26, 10:00-6:00
in Birks Heritage Chapel
Click here for poster of lectures
Click here for list of speakers
A Tradition in Crisis: Human Rights and Jewish Politics Reconsidered
Click here for poster of lecture
Keynote: James Loeffler
Thursday, October 26 at 5:30
Friday, October 27, 1:00-6:00
Click here for poster of lectures
Click here for list of speakers
Scholars Dialogue
Public lecture with Jose Casanova
senior fellow at the Berkley Center, Georgetown University College
and
Charles Taylor
Canadian philosopher and professor emeritus at McGill University
The two renowned scholars discuss the complex and evolving place of faith, secularity and the public sphere and the challenges facing religious and political actors in the 21st century
Friday October 20 at 3:30
in Birks Heritage Chapel
Religion, Faith, and Practical Non-Cognitivism
Public lecture by Mark Wrathall
Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow at Corpus Christi College
An exploration of the on-going debate over the question how belief-like faith is. This lecture offers a practice-based case for a non-cognitivist approach to religious faith that does not necessarily involve propositional belief
Thursday October 5 at 4:00.
Click here for information about speaker mark_wrathall_information.pdf
Click here for poster of lecture mark_wrathall_final_poster.pdf
Sanskrit Translation Workshop
with Professor Sonam Kachru (Yale University)
Public talk entitled Philosophy After Adventure: Premodern Lessons for Global Philosophy
Friday, September 15
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
A translation workshop entitled Global Philosophy in Translation
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Room 100, Birks Building, 3520 University St.
Poster for workshop 2023_sanskrit_translation_workshop_poster.pdf
Registration is only required for the afternoon workshop. Please register by emailing
Professor Hamsa Stainton at hamsa.stainton [at] mcgill.ca.
The Reception of German Mysticism in Early Modern England
Third International Conference sponsored by the The Cambridge Centre for the
Study of Platonism and the McGill School of Religious Studies
May 24–26
Click this link for poster of conference
Metaphysics and Religion
Inaugural Conference of the Canadian Society for Philosophy of Religion/Société canadienne de philosophie de la religion
May 20 and 21, 2023
Birks Building
3520 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7
Click this link for poster of conference philosophymetaphysicspostermay20-21_20223.pdf
Click this link for program of conference program_cspr_2023_including_abstracts.pdf
Ray L. Hart Bequest Celebration
Concert and Champagne Toast
May 19, 2023, 4:30 p.m.
Birks Building
3520 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7
Click this link for poster of celebration hart_celebration_concert_poster_may_19_2023.pdf
The Good Life: Decolonizing the Secular
Film Screening and Q&A
You are warmly invited to the McGill School of Religious Studies for a screening of The Good Life: Decolonizing the Secular, followed by a Q&A with the creator of the film, Professor Carlos Colorado (University of Winnipeg). There will be a drinks reception after the event.
May 18, 2:00–6:00 p.m. ET
McGill University
Birks Building, Room 100
Click this link for poster of lecture the_good_life_poster.pdf
Click this link for more information dsrw_information_may_18_2023.pdf
Click this link for registration : https://forms.gle/EQAp8nRCHPA8sRuRA
Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series:
Workshop Six
Religion and Reconciliation
You are warmly invited to the DSRW’s 6th workshop, Religion and Reconciliation, facilitated by Colby Gaudet (Ph.D. Candidate, Concordia University). Any graduate student or faculty member with a research or personal interest in the study of religion is extremely welcome to attend, whether or not you have been able to join us for previous sessions.
May 10, 4:00–6:00 p.m. ET
Concordia University, FA Building
2065 rue Mackay, Room 202
Click this link for poster of lecture dsrw_6_invitation.pdf
Click this link for more information dsrw_information_may_4_2023.pdf
Click this link of registration https://forms.gle/6ncbuSjwydjyMz4j6
By way of Obstacles
A Pathway Through a Work
Professor Emmanuel Falque
Monday, May 1 at 16:00 (ET)
Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series:
Workshop Five
Decolonizing Pedagogies
You are warmly invited to the DSRW’s penultimate workshop for this semester, Decolonizing Pedagogies, facilitated by Dr. Marcel Parent (Concordia University). Any graduate student or faculty member with a research or personal interest in the study of religion is extremely welcome to attend, whether or not you have been able to join us for previous sessions.
Department of Religions and Cultures, Concordia University
April 21st, 4-6pm ET
2060–2065 rue Mackay
Room FA–202
Click this link for poster of lecture dsrw_5_decolonizing_pedagogies_updated.pdf
Click this link of registration https://forms.gle/cXW6GRNokuKn7sFQ6
Used book sale
Wednesday, April 18, 10:00 to 16:00
Click this link for poster of event book_sale_april_2023_v1.pdf
Br. Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory will be giving a talk entitled “Faith, Science, and the Common Good.”
Science is an exploration of the natural world based on logic and reason. And yet logic and reason must always start with assumptions, accepted on faith. Our core beliefs not only determine how we expect the universe to work; they also and just as importantly supply the motivation for the science we do, and determine what counts as “success.” They also affect why we as individuals choose to be scientists. How does our faith affect these choices? This is at the core of how Pope Francis has blended science and faith in his
encyclical Laudato Si’.
March 26th at 18:30
McIntyre Medical Sciences Building (3655 Promenade William Osler):
The Charles F. Martin Amphitheatre, Room 504
People who are interested can RSVP using the QR code on the attached poster
We regret to inform you that the Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop series event, Decolonizing Research Methods: The archive embodied and as text, scheduled for Wednesday, March 29th, has been cancelled due to an emergency. We will be circulating details for our next workshop in the coming week, and do hope to see you there.
Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series:
Workshop Four
Decolonizing Research Methods:
The archive embodied and as text
The Committee for the Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series is thrilled to announce the upcoming workshop Decolonizing Research Methods: The archive embodied and as text, facilitated by Professor Noelani Arista (McGill University). Any graduate student or faculty member with a research or personal interest in the study of religion is extremely welcome to attend, whether or not you have been able to join us for previous sessions.
Birks Building, McGill University
Click this link for poster of lecture dsrw_4-_decolonizing_research_methods.pdf
Click this link of facilitator Biography dsrw_workshop_four_facilitator_bio_.pdf
Click this link of registration https://forms.gle/oQ4yi3E8SDMEiShS8
Hindu-Catholic Dialgoue
Saturday, March 18, 9:00–5 p.m.
Poster of Dialogue hindu-catholic_dialogue_2023_v3.pdf
Decolonizing Religious Studies through Applied Music
Pedagogies: Sound Games and Aesthetic Reclamations
The Committee for the Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series is delighted to invite both graduate students and faculty members to its third event: Decolonizing Religious Studies through Applied Music Pedagogies: Sound Games and Aesthetic Reclamations, facilitated by Professor Miranda Crowdus (Concordia University). We welcome all interested participants, whether or not you have been able to attend previous sessions.
Wednesday, March 15, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Information about the lecture dsrw_information_feb._22_2023.pdf
Poster for lecture dsrw_workshop_3_february_22_2023.pdf
Facilitator Biography dsrw_workshop_three_facilitator_bio_february_22_2023.pdf
Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series:
Reading Seminar
“Indigeneity and Inter-religious Dialogue”
Friday, February 8 at 16:00—18:00
After the tremendous success of the first workshop, the Committee for the Decolonization and the Study of Religion Workshop (DSRW) Series is delighted to invite both graduate students and faculty members to its second event: Indigeneity and Inter-religious Dialogue, facilitated by Zac Roberts (Macquarie University).
Information about the lecture dsrw_infomation_february_8_2023.pdf
Poster for lecture dsrw_seminar_2_february_8th_.pdf
Facilitator Biography dsrw_february_8_facilitator_bio.pdf
Hegel and the Challenge of Spinoza
Online seminar presentation by Dr. George Di Giovanni on Hegel’s philosophy and philosophy of religion to The New York German Idealism Workshop, hosted by the New School on April 1, 2022, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
https://newschool.zoom.us/j/91727107344
More information at https://nygiw.tumblr.com/
What May We Learn From Studying Early Apocalypses?
Keynote address by Prof. James Charlesworth
Princeton Theological Seminary
April 4 and 5 to 6 p.m.
In person at Birks Chapel, 3520 University St.
On Zoom: https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/84680838944?pwd=NkxYYzhKMFYrNURnSEkzVmF0dXFvQT09
(passcode: 952838)
Professor Charlesworth is an author and editor of many books on the Pseudepigrapha,
the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Historical Jesus
Organized by:
Gerbern S. Oegema, McGill University, Henry Rietz, Grinnell College,
Loren Stuckenbruck, University of Munich, Germany
If you have any questions about the talk, please e-mail Professor Oegema at gerbern.oegema [at] mcgill.ca
School of Religious Studies, McGill University
3520 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2A7
www.mcgill.ca/religiousstudies
The Reception of German Mysticism in Early Modern England
International Conference sponsored by The Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism
Clare College, Cambridge
6—8 April 2022
Program pdf The Reception of German Mysticism in Early Modern England
Numata Lecture in Buddhist Studies
https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/88414966681
Clay Bodhisattva Crossing the River: Buddhist Public Diplomacy and Its Dialectic in Contemporary China
Lawrence Y. K Lau
Abstract
Since the turn of the millennium, Buddhism has been constructed as a cultural “soft power” by China in cultivating ties with Buddhist countries in South, Southeast and Northeast Asia. Over time, Western countries are also added to the list of target audience as China “exports” its Buddhism. This talk identifies similar practices in post-1949 Mao China and provides an analysis for the rationale and strategies for such policies, their corresponding projects, as well as reactions from the international Buddhist communities. It will conclude with an evaluation of the impact of China’s Buddhist diplomatic soft power and its future trajectory.
Speaker
Lawrence Y.K. Lau is associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai. His primary research areas are Yogācāra Buddhism and Buddhist political-religious relationship under secularization. He recent publications include Kleśa and Vijñapti: A Philosophical Studies on East Asian Vijñānavāda (2020), Monastic Literati and Militants: Interacting among Buddhism, Society and Politics (2020), and Le Bouddhisme engage and Civil Society: A Study of Buddhist Public Engagement in Thailand and Malaysia (2019).
How to Speak Fearlessly: Towards an Augustinian Theology of Free Speech
Institut de Formation Theologie de Montreal and School of Religious Studies present
Dr. Pablo Irizar in hybrid conference (presential and virtual), Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
Pre-registration is required on: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcuuorzgoE9V2fhJvjVIfsADLJRy...
Milestones in the Journey of Chinese Christianity
Saturday, November 19 at 14:00
Fr. John Mishen
University of Santo Tomas
Poster for lecture milestones_in_the_journey_of_chinese_christianity.pdf
Saints in a Secular Age
Wednesday, October 27
5:00 – 6:00 PM (EDT)
Sponsored by the McGill School of Religious Studies and the Montreal Quebec Mount Royal Stake
Professor David E. Campbell is the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy, University of Notre Dame and co-author of the award-winning book, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
In recent decades, the fastest growing religion is the “nones”—people who do not identify with a religion. One factor in this secular surge is a backlash to the politics of the Religious Right. This lecture examines how the growth of secularism has affected a religious community that has been moving into the mainstream of American culture, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How have members of this religious community reacted to the “Trump takeover” of the Republican Party? What do these developments portend for the wider religious sector?
Virtual Link available on Zoom
https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/85666026599
Meeting ID: 856 6602 6599
The Reception of Early German Mysticism in Early Modern England
3-day International Conference sponsored by the School of Religious Studies, McGill University and the Centre for the Study of Platonism, Cambridge University
Conference will be hosted on Zoom (Montreal-EDT)
19–21 June 2021
SATURDAY, 19 JUNE
14h00 (EDT) Session—Platonism and the German Theology
SUNDAY, 20 JUNE
11h00 (EDT) Session—Mysticism and Metaphysics
14h00 (EDT) Session— Jacob Boehme and Mysticism in England
MONDAY, 21 JUNE
10h00 (EDT) Session—German Mysticism in Cambridge Platonism and American Puritanism
About the conference:
The project consists in establishing the fundamental influence of German or Rhenish mysticism on English religious thought, chiefly in the 17th-century.
The English reception of such German mystical authors as Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328), the anonymous author of Theologia Germanica, Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361), Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), Sebastian Franck (c. 1499-1542), Hans Denck (1500-1527), Valentin Weigel (1533-1588), and Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), to mention just the most significant representatives of this tradition, has been hitherto little studied, or not studied at all. There are some notable exceptions, particularly the research of Douglas Hedley on the exceptional role of the Cambridge Platonists, especially of Henry More, in the dissemination of German mysticism in England in the seventeenth century, and Nigel Smith’s monograph Perfection Proclaimed (Oxford, 1989).
This project will not only reconstruct for the first time the wide-ranging reception of these German thinkers in Early Modern England, but also show that it was through this reception that the influential tradition of 'German mysticism' was first created. For instance, while in 17th-century Germany the writings of the main figure of this tradition, Jakob Böhme, went underground because of accusations of heresy, in England they were keenly translated, commented upon, and considered in relation to other German writers who had also been translated at the same time, specifically Sebastian Franck and Valentin Weigel.
Through their work, the English readers thus established a lineage that connected these thinkers, and that at the same time created a philosophical bridge between England and Germany. The project will highlight the international legacy of these authors by adopting the perspective of historico-philosophical engagement with the sources, placing them also in the theological milieu of their time.
Click here for PDF containing details on schedule, time zones and more info on sessions and presenters.