Political Theology Research Group
The Political Theology Research Group is an interdisciplinary and inter-university network of faculty and graduate students interrogating the complex imbrications of religion, law, and politics. The research group fosters collaborative work at the graduate level, both M.A. and Ph.D., within and between researchers at McGill University, Concordia University, Université Laval, UQAM, and Université de Montréal.
This consortium explores the interrelations between religion, politics, law, and governance in both national and transnational contexts. Religions shape and intersect with a wide range of issues including human rights, nationalism, economy and development, education, family and sexuality, social welfare policies, security, violence and extremism, health, colonialism, indigeneity, among others. This initiative seeks to foster work within diverse global and cultural contexts (African, Asian, European, North American, the Middle East, Latin American, as well as Indigenous contexts). Explorations of modern movements and developments are complemented by the study of how histories have shaped religious and political cultures, as well as how discourses on history are redeployed and reactivated in current contexts.
The activities of the Political Theology Research Group include:
- Supporting collaborative research projects on the range of themes and topics connected to political theology.
- Disseminating scholarship in the evolving field of political theology by means of graduate courses, conferences, symposia, public lectures, and publications.
- Supporting and enhancing scholarly teaching and research on contemporary and historical interconnections between religion, theology, and politics.
- Fostering discussion and debate in the wider public sphere on the ways in which religion and politics intersect.
Faculty
Anthony Atansi, Adjunct Professor, School of Religious Studies, McGill University. Areas of research: Christology, reconciliation theology, Indigenous religions and spirituality, Christianity in Africa, and the nexus between Christian faith and social transformation.
Patrice Brodeur, Professeur agrégé, Institut d'études religieuses, Université de Montréal. Areas of Research: the history and practice of interreligious and interworldview dialogue; Abrahamic religions; Islamic studies; geopolitics of religions.
Eric Caplan, Associate Professor, Jewish Studies, McGill University. Areas of research: Jewish social thought and activism, Mordecai Kaplan, American Judaism, Jewish education.
Daniel Cere, Associate Professor, School of Religious Studies, McGill University. Areas of research: religion and public policy, religion and human rights, religion and politics in Canada, Catholic social and political thought, marriage and family in faith and politics.
Douglas Farrow, Professor of Theology and Ethics at McGill University. Areas of research: political theology, history of Christian doctrine, church and state, issues at intersection of theology, law, medicine, education, and politics.
André Gagné, Full Professor, Department of Theological Studies, Concordia University. Areas of research: political theology; religion and violence; reception and interpretation of Scripture.
Cory Andrew Labrecque, Full Professor, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Université Laval. Areas of research: ethical and public policy issues in medicine, aging, end-of-life ethics, the impact of emerging AI-powered technologies and biotechnologies, the environment.
Rongdao Lai, Assistant Professor, joint appointment in the School of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies, McGill University. Areas of Research: modern Chinese Buddhism, Buddhism and the State, Buddhist education, transnational religious networks, religion and social activism in Asia.
Victor Muniz-Fraticelli, Associate Professor of Law and Political Science, McGill University. Areas of research: political theology, church and state, pluralism (legal, political, and meta-ethical), liberalism (contemporary and historical), jurisprudence and legal theory, theories of justice, intergenerational justice.
Erik Kuhonta, Associate Professor, Political Science, McGill University. Areas of research (focus on religion): liberation theology; Catholicism and democracy; politics and sociology of religion.
Samuel Nelson, Associate Professor, School of Religious Studies, McGill University. Areas of research: sociology of religion, comparative secularization, religion and state-formation, intersections of religion and politics, the imperial and missionary dimensions of evangelical Protestantism.
Lucian Turcescu, Full Professor, Department of Theological Studies, Concordia University. Areas of research: religion and politics; religion and human rights, Orthodox Christianity and gender; Early Christianity/ Patristics; Ecumenism.
Graduate Students
Zackari Bourgeois, Ph.D. student, Concordia University (A. Gagné)
Research: Christian Nationalism and Spiritual Warfare in American, Canadian and Brazilian Contexts.
Ana de Souza, Ph.D. student, Religious Studies, McGill University (D. Cere/H. Stainton)
Research: Hindu traditions and Diaspora, Religion and Human Rights, Gender and Politics, Hindu Nationalism.
Teri Di Gennaro, M.A. student, Concordia University (A. Gagné/C. Jamieson)
Research: Far-Right socio-conservatives policies in Italy: Giorgia Meloni, traditional values, and feminism.
Alexander Fracassi, M.A. student, Concordia University (A. Gagné)
Research: American evangelicals and the abortion debate.
Spyridon Loumakis, Ph.D. student, Concordia University (A. Gagné)
Research: Rwandan Christianity from Habyarimana Regime to the early post-genocide years.
Evans Masakhalia, M.A. student, Concordia University (L. Turcescu)
Research: secularization in Quebec and its impact on the Church.
Glenn Miller, M.A. student, Concordia University (A. Gagné)
Research: John Locke’s political theology.
Greg Newing, Ph.D. Student, Religious Studies, McGill University (G. Fiasse)
Areas of research: philosophy and sociology of religion, secularism, disenchantment, religion in the public sphere, religion and the environment.
Jason Piché, M.A. student, Concordia University (A. Gagné)
Research: The Myth of Religious Violence: Applying William Cavanaugh’s Theory to the Jonestown Massacre, the Waco Siege, and the Aum Affair.
Tahereh Tavakkoli, Ph.D. student, McGill University (S. Nelson)
Role of pilgrimage in peacemaking and inclusion, interfaith studies, religion and violence
Hary Widyantoro, Ph.D. student, Religious Studies, McGill University (A. Salvatore).
Research: The Construction of Papuan Identity in Indonesia: Islam, Christianity, and the Postcolonial Nation-State