Religion, Identity and Conflict

As a spinoff of the Research Network Religion and Socialism in the Twentieth Century, Todd Weir organized a conference in 2017 at the British Academy together with fellow historians Hugh McLeod and Benjamin Ziemann. We are happy to announce the publication in December of the proceedings with Oxford University Press: "Defending the Faith: Global Histories of Apologetics and Politics in the Twentieth Century" Check out the OUP website for the table of contents. Contributors include QUB historian Peter Bowler

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/defending-the-faith-9780197266915?cc=nl&lang=en&.

Defending the Faith This volume explores the many ways in which conflicts between secular worldviews and religions shaped the history of the twentieth century. It introduces the notion of 'apologetics' to highlight a common feature of these conflicts: both secular and religious groups employed a mixture of learned argu...

The research network "Religion and Socialism in the XX Century" was founded at Queen's in 2014/15. We held our first conference there on the interwar period in 2015. That conference produced a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary History.

Our second conference was in Groningen in 2017 on the long 1960s. I'm very happy to announce that the special issue on the subject is coming out now with Contemporary European History in early access. Check it out!
https://www-cambridge-org.proxy-ub.rug.nl/core/journals/contemporary-european-history/firstview
https://www-cambridge-org.proxy-ub.rug.nl/core/journals/contemporary-european-history/firstview

www-cambridge-org.proxy-ub.rug.nl

The Queen's-Groningen connection continues!

Most of the students and staff of the first CRH summer school "Religious Heritage in a Diverse Europe". The cosponsoring partners were Bar-Ilan, Duke, Southhampton, Groningen, Uppsala Universities and the Reinwardts Academy. Students also joined from Queen's Belfast, Louven, King's College, Exeter, Finnland and Denmark. The summer schools involved two days of seminars, followed by three days of conference participation, excursions and group projects. Here we are standing in front of the Aa-Kerk, where students took part in the conference dinner on Thursday night.

First collaboration of Groningen and Queen's! Hope that there are many more. Sean O'Connell to lecture tomorrow.

https://www.rug.nl/ggw/news/events/2019/190527-jointseminar-crh-crhw

Joint Seminar: "Collective Trauma and Religion: Perspectives on History and Healing in Cases of Abuse in Catholic Institutions" | Agenda | Faculteit Godgeleerdheid en Godsdienstwetenschap | Over ons | Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Recent decades have seen waves of publicity worldwide, as cases of past abuse in Catholic institutions have come to light. As individuals bring their stories of sexual abuse or forced labour to the public, the trauma of the individual has, to a certain extent, become a collective trauma. Communities...

The Department of Christianity and the History of Ideas at the University of Groningen is hiring a Philosopher of Religion. Please circulate!
https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S0006VHP

Assistant Professor Philosophy of Religion (0.8 FTE) (219097) | Vacatures | Werken bij de RUG | Over ons | Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 31,000 students and researchers to develo...

We are hiring! Please tell any philosophers of religion you may know!
https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S0006VHP

Assistant Professor Philosophy of Religion (0.8 FTE) (219097) | Vacatures | Werken bij de RUG | Over ons | Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 31,000 students and researchers to develo...

This is the A-Kerk in Groningen, one of the venues for our conference in June! Good reason to submit and abstract for a panel.

International Conference Religious Heritage in a Diverse Europe | Nieuwsberichten | Nieuws en agenda | Over ons | Rijksuniversiteit Groningen International conference organized by the University of Groningen, Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken (Groningen Historic Churches Foundation), Museum Catharijneconvent, Future for Religious Heritage Brussels, Jewish Cultural Quarter.

When was the monist century? Why study the immanentist tradition? One good reason is it can throw light on the quiet wave of naturalistic monism now coursing through the humanities. I am not referring here...

One week left till the conference at the British Academy with participation with two former QUB staff, Peter Bowler and Todd Weir! Not too late to register! Sept 21 and 22, 2017, London
https://www.britac.ac.uk/events/defending-faith-religious-and-secularist-apologetics-twentieth-century-politics

Defending the Faith: Religious and Secularist Apologetics in Twentieth-Century Politics | British Academy This conference brings together scholars of Europe, North America and Asia for a comparative exploration of the struggles between secularist ideologies and religious faiths over the past century. Participants will approach the dynamic effects of these struggles by focussing on ‘apologetics’, i.e. th...

Participants in the 2017 Conference in Groningen "Religion and Socialism in the Long 1960s". See the program in the previous post. Left to right in back: Arie Molendijk, Arno Muenster, Mark Ruff, Brenda Bartelink, Clemens Six, Gerd Rainer Horn, Justine Buck Quijada, guest, Victoria Smolkina, Helena Toth, Sabine Rousseau, Kim Knibbe. Front row: Cornelius Casey, Udi Greenberg Todd Weir. Thanks to everyone for a great three days!

Todd Weir to give a lecture at Columbia University on April 11.
http://ircpl.org/event/todd-weir-a-pre-history-of-post-truth-evangelical-and-liberal-understandings-of-worldview-in-the-cold-war-era/

Interesting article by James Chappell, one of the members of our Research Network on "Socialism and Religion in the Twentieth Century" who attended the last colloquium in Belfast in 2015
http://bostonreview.net/books-ideas/james-chappel-secularism-religion

Holy Wars | Boston Review Secularism and the invention of religion James G. ChappelApril 25, 2016 James G. Chappel“The Separation of Church and State,” Le Rire, May 20, 1905 Relativism and Religion: Why Democratic Societies Do Not Need Moral Absolutes Carlo Invernizzi Accetti Columbia University Press, $65 (cloth)The Parad…

Check out the new video from the QUB Irish Studies Summer School

https://youtu.be/Lv-iWY7GYqY

Irish Studies International Summer School The Irish Studies International Summer School offers students the opportunity to visit Ireland and learn first-hand about its history, culture, identity and ...

A clash of secularisms? The German historical experience « The Immanent Frame Claims made in the name of secularism vary greatly. At one extreme, self-described secularists in the United States portray their cause as the beleaguered defense of the separation of church and state. As their critics rightly point out, faith in naturalistic worldviews often bubbles up in the fuzzy…

Are you interested in doctoral research at Queen's? The competition has just opened for our PhD studentships. Applications are due in January for starting in autumn 2016. Please ask a member of our teaching staff for help and more information.

The Northern Bridge competition has formally begun: http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/

Northern Bridge

This is a wonderful 7-part series on Canadian radio about the current debates over the secular, secularism and postsecularism. If you want to hear from the major voices in this debate and get caught up quick, I recommend this highly.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-myth-of-the-secular-part-1-1.3135538

The Myth of the Secular, Part 1 Western social theory once insisted that modernization meant secularization and secularization meant the withering away of religion. But religion hasn't withered away, and this has forced a rethinking of the whole idea of the secular. David Cayley talks to Craig Calhoun, Director of the London Schoo…

Interesting, thoughtful documentary from the New York Times on shifting current in American evangelicalism. There is a snippet in there from Sarah Palin's famous speech calling waterboarding Taliban as American for baptism. It suggests the less thoughtful and much more scary conflation of evangelical thought with the notion of American manifest destiny, which has led to the religious justification for domination of nature and other people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJVd8OLWYY

Would Jesus Wear a Sidearm? | Op-Docs | The New York Times In this short documentary, a prominent leader of the Christian right explains why he left the Republican Party over guns. Produced by: Abigail E. Disney and ...

Identity, Conflict and Public Space - Queen's University Belfast Explore how people use public spaces around the world to protest and express their identity, with this free online course.

Participants in the International Symposium, "Europe’s Interwar Kulturkampf: Transnational Struggles over Secularism", June 25-26, 2015, Queen’s University Belfast
Pictured from left are: (front row) Stephanie Roulin, Claudia Baldoli, Helena Toth, (second row) Klaus Große Kracht, Julio de la Cueva Merino, Stefan Berger, Massimo De Giuseppe, Todd Weir, Igor Polianski, (third row) Fainche Ryan, James Chappel, Alma Heckman, Victoria Smolkin-Rothrock, (back row) Con Casey, Daniela Sarasella, Paul Hanebrink, Fearghal McGarry

Participants in the International Symposium, "Europe’s Interwar Kulturkampf: Transnational Struggles over Secularism", June 25-26, 2015, Queen’s University Belfast
Pictured from left are: (front row) Stephanie Roulin, Claudia Baldoli, Helena Toth, (second row) Klaus Große Kracht, Julio de la Cueva Merino, Stefan Berger, Massimo De Giuseppe, Todd Weir, Igor Polianski, (third row) Fainche Ryan, James Chappel, Alma Heckman, Victoria Smolkin-Rothrock, (back row) Con Casey, Daniela Sarasella, Paul Hanebrink, Fearghal McGarry

In collaboration with the New Books Network, the School has created a new site for interviews with Queen's historians and anthropologists about their recent publications.

http://newbooksatqueensuniversitybelfast.com/

New Books at Queen's University Belfast — Just another New Books Network podcast Just another New Books Network podcast

Just to continue on the theme of religion and socialism, about which we will be holding a one-day conference on June 26 (see prior post on this for details):
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33024951

Is the Pope a communist? - BBC News Pope Francis's critique of free-market economics has made him an icon for the Left and prompted claims that he is a communist. Is he?

Another odd meeting of communism and religion, this one connecting to older traditions of Russian state sponsorship of religion. Worth considering together with Sonja Lührmann's book, Secularism Soviet Style.

http://europe.newsweek.com/russian-communists-are-turning-christ-327487

http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=783921

Russian Communists are turning to Christ Orthodox Christianity is becoming a staple of the post-Soviet Russian national identity

The dialogue of religion and socialism continues among the veterans of each side...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32679290

Cuban President Raul Castro to visit Pope Francis - BBC News Cuban President Raul Castro will be received in private audience by Pope Francis at the Vatican on Sunday morning.

Poster for the Gerd-Rainer Horn lecture this Thursday at QUB, May 7, 4.15 McClay Library

poster for the upcoming symposium at Queens' University on June 26, 2015 "Europe's Interwar Kulturkampf"

Hello, Are you interested in joining our MA strand on Religion, Identity and Conflict and want to know what our staff are working on? Here are a few of our publications that will give you an idea of our current research.

• C. Scott Dixon, Protestants: A History from Wittenberg to Pennsylvania, 1517-1740 (Oxford, 2010)

• C. Scott Dixon, The Church in the Early Modern Age (London, 2015)

• Crawford Gribben, Evangelical millennialism in the trans-Atlantic world 1500-2000 (2011)

• Andrew Holmes, 'Professor James Thomson Sr. and Lord Kelvin: religion, science, and liberal unionism in Ulster and Scotland', Journal of British Studies, l (2011).

• Andrew Holmes, ‘Covenanter politics: evangelicalism, political liberalism and Ulster Presbyterians, 1798 to 1914’ in English Historical Review, cxxv (2010).

• Eric Morier-Genoud, “Revolution, War and Democracy. The Catholic Church in Mozambique” in Paul C. Manuel, Alynna Lyon & Clyde Wilcox (eds), Religion and Politics in a Global Society. Comparative Perspectives from the Portuguese-Speaking World (Lanham: Lexington, 2013), with Pierre Anouilh, pp.185-203.

• Eric Morier-Genoud, ed. Sure road? Nationalisms in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique (Leiden: Brill, 2012).

• Todd Weir, Secularism and Religion in Nineteenth-Century Germany: The Rise of the Fourth Confession (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2014).

• Todd Weir, “A European Culture War in the Twentieth Century? Anticatholicism and Antibolshevism between Moscow, Berlin, and Rome 1922 to 1933” in Journal of Religious History (Online version released in December 2014)

Here is an upcoming event of interest in Belfast!


ST GEORGE’S BICENTENARY

SECOND ANNUAL LECTURE ON FRIDAY 24 APRIL 2015 AT 7.30PM

ADVANCE NOTICE

The second Annual Lecture to mark the bicentenary celebrations of St George’s Parish Church, High Street, Belfast, will take place on Friday 24 April 2015 at 7.30pm at St George’s.

The lecture will be delivered by Lord Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury who is currently Master of Magdelene College, Cambridge, and will be followed by a discussion chaired by the Rev Dr Bert Tosh, former senior producer of religion with BBC NI.

The title of the lecture is ‘Fundamentalism, Christian and non-Christian’.

Lord Williams has explained his choice of this topic as follows:

‘We hear a great deal about fundamentalism these days. The word is often used just to mean extreme religious conservatism; but it is a more complex idea and this lecture will attempt to discuss something of its history within Christian thinking and whether it can apply outside this framework. I’ll be suggesting that one of the strange things about this apparently ultra-conservative trend is that its origins are in a thoroughly modern frame of thought. We may need to think of the opposite of fundamentalism not as ‘modernism’ or ‘liberalism’ or ‘moderate faith’, but as various forms of thoughtful traditionalism.’

The lecture is not ticketed and is open to all. A minimum donation of £5 will be sought at the door.

As we expect this event to be very popular and spaces limited, we would encourage you to turn up early to be sure of a seat. http://stgeorges.connor.anglican.org/

The Parish Church of St George, Belfast An open door in the heart of the city, a place of prayer and peace