Webinars

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion will be offering a series of webinars in 2025. All webinars will be offered free of charge to attendees.

To register, send an email to office@sssreligion.org with the name of the webinar in the subject line. You will be emailed the Zoom link to the webinar before the event.

2025 WEBINARS

FROM FRANCIS TO LEO XIV: LOOKING INTO A POST "WHO AM I TO JUDGE? CATHOLIC CHURCH

View the video of this webinar at:https://youtu.be/1HM2itKOBLY

Wednesday, June 4, 2025
1:00 p.m.

This webinar builds a dialog sparked by research on American Catholic priests’ attitudes about homosexuality and Pope Francis by Lucas S. Sharma, S.J. (Recipient of the 2024 Student Paper Award Unpublished). Sharma will summarize the late Pope Francis' pastoral approach to welcoming all people into the Catholic Church, especially gender and sexual minorities. Sociologists Dr. Tricia C. Bruce and Dr. Tia Noelle Pratt will then discuss the potential legacy of Pope Francis’ pastoral perspective and the emergent papacy of Leo XIV.

Panelists:
Lucas S. Sharma, S.J., University of California, San Diego
Tricia C. Bruce, Ph.D., University of Southern California, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies
Tia Noelle Pratt, Ph.D., Villanova University

2024 WEBINARS

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

You can view the webinar at: https://youtu.be/HmF5GxsKFv0

Monday, March 18, 2024
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Religious freedom has become a central issue in American and global politics. This virtual panel will explore what religious freedom means to both dominant and subordinate religious groups. Through a conversation among the panelists and the audience, the webinar will highlight the current debates and research about religious freedom.

Moderator

Eric L. McDaniel, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin

Panelists

Nazita Lajevardi, Department of Political Science, Michigan State University

Jason Klocek, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham

Gary Adler, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Penn State University

PUBLISHING STRATEGIES FOR YOUNG SCHOLARS

You can view the webinar at: https://youtu.be/9CVMLPJbSUs

Friday, May 3, 2024
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT

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.

Presenter

R. Khari Brown, Department of Sociology, Wayne State University

MODESTY IN ORTHODOXY: JEWISH AND MUSLIM WOMEN

You can view the webinar at: https://youtu.be/FBlpvdwUAok

Thursday, June 6, 2024
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT

A joint webinar of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) and the Association for the Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ) on "Modesty in Orthodoxy: Jewish and Muslim Women" will take place on Thursday, June 6, 12:00-1:30 pm (EDT).

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

Discussant:

Debra Kaufman, Northeastern University

Moderator:

Ariela Keysar, Trinity College