Announcements

Nominations are invited for the 2027 Boniuk Institute Senior Scholar. Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance Senior Scholar Award is given annually to the senior scholar who has made outstanding contributions to the public understanding of religious pluralism and tolerance, and who most exemplifies Boniuk Institute’s mission to understand the conditions which lead to religious pluralism, conflict, and violence, and help people apply its findings in their lives and communities.

The ICSOR Grant Program provides residence in Rome for researchers intending to carry out projects regarding the sociology of religion. The grants provided will fund initial research into hypotheses that have not been fully explored as yet. Research applications will be judged principally based on the novelty of the hypotheses and the innovative approaches proposed, their direct relevance and applicability to the sociology of religion, their scientific quality and methodological strengths. ICSOR Grant Awardees will be required to provide progress reports concerning their work during the entire duration of their residency and present their findings at the end of their stay in Rome and/or through a report/article published no later than one year after the end of the grant. FUNDING CYCLE, 2026 Deadline for Applications: March 30th, 2026 Announcement of Awards: Late April, 2026 Earliest Starting Date for Research Projects: May 1st, 2026

Please welcome Meredith Whitnah, Ph.D., who will take over as SSSR's Executive Officer starting September 2, 2025. Meredith has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame. A long time member of SSSR with extensive administrative experience, she studies the role of religion in supporting or challenging inequality and violence. We thank our outgoing Executive Officer, Karen Hutchison, CAE, M.A., for her years of service and contributions to SSSR.