N.J. Demerath III (‘Jay’), former president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (1997-99), and winner of two SSSR distinguished publication awards (article 1992; book 2002), passed away February 5, 2021 in Leeds, Massachusetts.

Wendy Griffin (September 23,1941-February 12, 2021), a longtime member of the SSSR died peacefully at home. Wendy is best known for her research on the Goddess movement and her work in establishing contemporary Pagan studies as its own interdisciplinary field. She published numerous articles and book chapters, and was the editor of Daughter of The Goddess: Studies of Healing, Identity, and Empowerment (AltaMira, 2000).

James Arthur Beckford FBA (December 1, 1942 - May 10, 2022) was a British sociologist of religion. He was Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Warwick and a Fellow of the British Academy. In 1988/1989, he served as President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and from 1999 to 2003, as the President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion. He was President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in 2010. Apart from general writings on the sociology of religion, Beckford was a prolific author of books and articles on new religious movements and society's responses to them. He also researched and wrote about religious issues affecting prison inmates.

A native of Massachusetts, James D. Davidson earned his Ph.D. at University of Notre Dame in 1969. He specialized in the sociology of religion, studying religious stratification and trends among American Catholics.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY invites applications for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Religion and Black Studies, a full-time, tenured faculty position at the rank of Full Professor, to begin in Fall 2024. The Professorship honors Dr. King by modeling the moral authority, prophetic vision of justice, peace, and love, ethical leadership, and global consciousness that he advocated for and embodied. The successful candidate will be an outstanding scholar, holding a PhD, ThD, or appropriate equivalent degree, whose research and teaching contribute to the School of Theology, Boston University, and the Academy in the work of religion and Black studies and to models and practices of ethical leadership.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY invites applications for a full-time tenure track assistant professor position in religion and society or practical theology, with a specialization in Black Church Studies and/or African American religious communities.

The National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) dataset is now publicly available from both the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)!

New interdisciplinary initiative at Baylor University focused on disability and faith. Our goal is to carry out research, training, resource development, and leadership that promotes the flourishing of people with disabilities, as well as their families and faith communities.

Cambridge Scholars Publishing are inviting proposals for academic books and edited collections in Humanities and Social Sciences. We publish in all major fields of academic research and practice: Humanities and Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Health Sciences. To submit a book proposal, please visit our website, where you can complete a Book Proposal Form.

In 2024, the University of Pennsylvania Press will become the publisher of the journal Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, the official journal of the Association for the Academic Study of New Religions, Inc. (AASNR). The journal is hosted on Project MUSE.

The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI invites applications for a full-time Postdoctoral Fellow research position. The appointment is for one year with an option for renewal, which is preferred. The target start date is January 1, 2024.

Papers are invited for a special issue of Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry (SHERM Journal) on the claims, achievements, challenges, failings, and the very possibility or desirability of a theology without walls. Papers from any discipline, including theology, philosophy of religion, anthropology, cognitive science, etc., are welcome, as are papers written from the perspective of other faith traditions outside of Christianity. The submission date is open, but ideally collected papers would be delivered to the journal no later than Spring 2024.

The Louisville Institute is now accepting applications for the 2024 Postdoctoral Fellowship, which provides early career theological educators with vocational and professional formation through a two-year job placement, usually as a visiting professor at ATS-accredited theological schools or a college or university in the United States and Canada. Applicants are typically scholars studying Christian faith and life, the practice of ministry, religious trends and movements, Christian and other faith-based institutions, and religion and social issues. As part of the Louisville Institute’s Vocation of the Theological Educator Initiative (VTE), Postdoctoral Fellows participate in intentional, focused, professional formation as they explore a calling to be a theological educator.

Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA) is an interdisciplinary research center that encourages and supports research on the role of religion in public affairs. Supported by a substantial endowment and grants from various foundations, CURA has sponsored research projects on five continents, leading to the publication of over 150 books and many more articles.

The Sociology Department at the University of Memphis invites applications for a tenure track faculty position to be filled at the Assistant Professor rank beginning in Fall 2024. Applicants must have completed a Ph.D. in Sociology or a related field no later than August 2024. Area of specialization is open, although we seek a scholar who can teach core classes in sociological theory. Preference will be given to a scholar who will be active in the pursuit of grant funding. The Center for Community Research and Evaluation, an on-campus Center that is externally funded and connected with the Sociology Department, provides opportunities for collaboration on externally funded work.

The Department of Religion at Rice University invites applications for an Assistant Professor (TT) in the area of Science and Religion. “Science” in this sense is broadly understood to include a variety of disciplinary and methodological domains, such as the Philosophy of Science and Religion, the History of Science and Religion, Cognitive Science and Religion, Neuroscience and Religion, Religion and Environmental Science, and Religion and the Medical Humanities. Priority will be given to applicants whose work gives significant attention to questions of race, gender, or sexuality. Focuses on geographic area and religious tradition(s) are open, though applicants should be prepared to teach courses that reflect cultural and social diversity as well as methods in the study of religion. Excellence in teaching and research is expected. Rice is committed to diversity and inclusion, and women and historically underrepresented minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for three, full-time, one-year Postdoctoral or Research Fellow positions at the Canadian Institute for Empirical Church Research (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto). These funded positions are sponsored by the Lilly Foundation as part of their Pathways for Tomorrow Phase 2 grants and begin in January 2024. 

The postdoc will report to the Associate Director of Research and the Director of the Institute, working closely with the Associate Director of Research on the following responsibilities: 1) Quantitative and/or qualitative analysis of in-house national data collections leading to collaborative publications analyzing religious discrimination, victimization, and diversity in the workplace and society more generally, 2) assisting with implementing grant-funded research such as qualitative interviews, GIS mapping, and/or survey design, and 3) assisting with the development of grant proposals for new data collections on religious diversity, conflict, and victimization.

Nova Religio, the quarterly journal on alternative and emergent religions, is seeking articles for a special issue dedicated to the Afro-Cuban tradition of Lucumí/Santería.

The purpose of the Sociology of Religion Unit of the American Academy of Religion is to generate cross-fertilization between the Sociology of Religion and Religious Studies. We are open to papers in all areas and therefore encourage submissions of any topic relevant to the sociology of religion. This year, we are particularly interested in the following topics:

Looking for a home for your religion and politics research? Consider submitting to our special issue of the Religions journal: "Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations."

This is an opportunity for approximately eight weeks during the summer of 2024. Social science graduate students with an interest in religion, demography and/or international research are strongly encouraged to apply. You will assist demography of religion team members on research related to the religious composition and demographic characteristics of religious groups in every nation for 2010 and 2020 (updating earlier work, such as http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/).

Join the SSSR on Monday, March 18, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a webinar on Religious Freedom to explore what religious freedom means to both dominant and subordinate religious groups. Moderated by Eric L. McDaniel, Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, the panel will feature Nazita Lajevardi, Department of Political Science at Michigan State University, Jason Klocek, School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, and Gary Adler, Department of Sociology and Criminology at Penn State University. The panel will highlight the current debates and research about religious freedom. The webinar is free of charge. Just send an email to office@sssreligion.org by Friday, March 15, 2024 with "Religious Freedom Webinar" in the subject line, and you will be emailed the webinar link.

From the perspective of a journal editor, this webinar will provide young scholars with tips they should consider when writing peer-reviewed manuscripts for publication. The webinar will be held on Friday, April 26, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. The presenter will be R. Khari Brown of Wayne State University. This webinar is free of charge. To register, please email office@sssreligion.org with "Publishing Webinar" in the subject line by Wednesday, April 24, 2024, and you will be emailed the webinar link.

We invite you to participate in the Second International Congress on Religious Freedom and Conscience, which will take place on the 5th and 6th of June 2024 at the Blanquerna Faculty of Communication and International Relations of Ramon Llull University. The Congress is organized by the Chair of Religious Freedom of Catalonia and will feature simultaneous panels in Catalan, Spanish and English.

Nominations are invited for the 2025 Boniuk Institute Senior Scholar. The Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance’s 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 Senior Scholar will join the Boniuk Institute at Rice University in the Spring of 2025 for about three days, where they will participate in a variety of Institute programs and give a public lecture followed by a reception in their honor, where they will be presented with an award and an honorarium.

Practices of women’s modesty, such as donning modest attire, covering the head or abiding by traditional gender relations, has significant religious, cultural, and social importance in Jewish and Muslim communities. This webinar seeks to delve into motivations and practices of Orthodox Jewish and Muslim women in Canada, the U.S. and Israel. Bringing together scholars from these two groups, this webinar aims to explore the intersections of ethnoreligious belief and belonging, as well as the researchers’ worldviews and the ways these views shape the research process. Participants: Jocelyne Cesari, Harvard University; Ilana Celeste, University of Pittsburgh; Valentina Gaddi, University of Montreal, Canada; Adina Bankier-Karp, Monash University, Australia; Sawsan Kheir, University of Haifa, Israel and Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Moderator: Ariela Keysar, Trinity College. Register at office@sssreligion.org.

We invite contributions with a wide range of theories and methods in analyzing this topic, and in particular, papers dealing with the following issues: • family structure and religious and non-religious landscapes • religious and non-religious parenting cultures in the Global South and North • spiritual diversity and family life • religion/non-religion and conflict in marital and parent‐child relationships • family schooling and parents' (non)religiosity • family and religious and non-religious activism • religious and non-religious dimensions and transformation of family relationships, including issues like separation/divorce, work-life balance, new family forms

Religion has been taught at Otago for over fifty years. From 2019, Religion has been an independent programme within the School of Social Sciences. Currently, there are three full-time academic staff, and two part-time staff members who contribute to the teaching programme. Our programme offers BA and BA (Hons) degrees in Religious Studies, as well as research degrees (MA and PhD). Minors in Religious Studies and in Buddhist Studies may be included in almost any degree, and one-year diplomas endorsed in Religious Studies are offered for graduates in other disciplines. Students may study on campus or by distance. The role/Te mahi The Religion Programme at the University of Otago invites applications for the position of Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Religion.

An open access journal Open Theology published by De Gruyter (https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/opth/html) invites applications for Section Editors for the following sections: - Psychology of Religion - Sociology of Religion - Philosophy of Religion - Biblical Studies - Patristics

The Louisville Institute is excited to announce NEW and UPDATED opportunities for the 2025 grant and fellowship season. As part of renewed funding, LI will continue to support pastoral leaders, researchers, early career and seasoned scholars, and many others in the United States and Canada whose work resonates with LI’s mission to bridge Church and academy. LI has reimagined many of the existing programs and expanded funding to allow for a greater impact. We are also excited to announce a NEW opportunity: Grant for Researchers. We have six funding opportunities available for 2025.

The Review of Religious Research invites paper submissions for a special issue on American Muslims. This special issue will draw upon contemporary research on Muslims in the United States. In 2003, Karen Leonard’s Muslims in the United States: The State of Research suggested that scholarship on American Muslims was growing rapidly and starting to shift in two important ways: One was a move away from purely descriptive analyses, toward theorizing that both drew on and contributed to broader social scientific understandings. Another shift was from a focus on Muslim American subgroups in isolation, toward considerations of Muslims complete as Americans with multiple identities and affiliations.

The Institute for Religion, Culture and Societal Futures (IRCSF) aims to be a new hub for social scientific and empirical research related to religion, spirituality, and emerging forms of communities of belief and practice. The IRCSF is non-partisan, and brings together both resident and visiting scholars working in the fields of sociology of religion and the social scientific study of religion to support undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, community organizations, faith groups, schools, the media, and the general public in better understanding the religious landscape of Canada and connections between religion, spirituality, secularity and other aspects of public and social life. It’s already a great place to find qualitative and quantitative information on religion, and we aim to grow such resources even more over the coming months and years.

The International Studies Concentration at Soka University of America (SUA) invites applications for a full-time tenure-track faculty position as Assistant Professor of Middle East and North African Studies (MENA), effective August 1st, 2025.

The International Studies Concentration at Soka University of America (SUA) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position with expertise in Middle East and North African Studies at the rank of Assistant Professor, effective August 2025.

Session Title: Religion and the Culture Wars: Transnational Perspectives "Since sociologist of religion James Davison Hunter published the first academic account of the culture wars in America in 1991, the phenomenon has seemingly only intensified, with religion enduring as a key factor. Some US-based research argues that the divisions exist more in the civil sphere than individual attitudes. Yet, some similar patterns of conflict between “conservatives” and “liberals” on moral and social issues have also emerged in other societies in the twenty-first century. To what extent is the culture wars a useful frame beyond (and within) America? Are there direct connections between contexts? What role does religion play in differing contexts and transnational connections contributing to culture wars? This panel aims to explore these dynamics."

The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics seeks applications from junior scholars and recent Ph.D. graduates for up to four postdoctoral fellowships in residence at Washington University in St. Louis. The appointment is for one year, renewable for a second year. Eligible applicants must complete the Ph.D. by July 1, 2025, and are expected to have completed it no earlier than January 1, 2020. In exceptional cases a qualified applicant who completed the Ph.D. prior to 2020 may be considered. Research associates will spend most of their time pursuing research and writing for their own projects. They will also serve the intellectual life of the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics through participation in its biweekly interdisciplinary seminar and events hosted by the Center. Their teaching responsibilities will include: 1) developing one course per year to complement and contribute to the Center’s curricular offerings, and 2) possibly assisting in one additional course each year. Washington University in St. Louis is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and especially encourages members of underrepresented groups to apply.

The Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of South Florida seeks candidates who specialize in global and/or comparative sociology to fill a nine-month, full-time, tenure-earning position as Assistant Professor to begin August 7, 2025. This position aligns with our department's strategic focus on global and transnational processes including citizenship, conflict, migration/immigration, place, politics, power, social movements, and human security. A variety of epistemological and methodological approaches will be considered. Qualified individuals with diverse experience and backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving is pleased to announce the 2025-2026 Lake Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for doctoral students whose research engages issues at the intersection of religion and philanthropy or faith and generosity. While the intersection of faith and giving is key to our mission, we are glad to receive a broad range of proposals that consider these topics together. Lake Institute helps to build the field of faith and giving by supporting the work of emerging scholars. This one-year fellowship is given annually to support the final year of dissertation writing for a doctoral candidate at a U.S. graduate school. Learn more about the current fellows here.

Anthony J. Blasi (1946-2024) Anthony (Tony) Blasi was born April 3, 1946, in Dayton, Ohio to Emmanuel A. Blasi and Mary Ella (Marshall) Blasi, one of five children. He spent most of his childhood in Santa Clara County, California and graduated from St. Francis High School in Mountain View. One sister predeceased him. He earned the A.B. in history from St. Edward’s University in Austin,Texas, and taught at the secondary level in Sherman Oaks, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana. He completed the Ph.D. in sociology and anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1974. Most of his academic career was spent teaching at Tennessee State University.