Happy July! Please find below the NSRN’s July 2021 newsletter. News and announcements made by the NSRN and submitted by NSRN members are distributed monthly in this newsletter. To submit an announcement, news, or other relevant information to the next newsletter, please contact the NSRN Managing Editors at editor.nsrn@gmail.com.
NSRN Conference 2021
Thank you to all those who participated and attended the NSRN’s 2021 conference from June 16-18. The conference was a huge success – we could not have done it without you. For those who presented and would like to turn their paper into a blog post for the NSRN’s blog, please contact the NSRN Managing Editors at editor.nsrn@gmail.com.
Secularism and Nonreligion Journal
Secularism and Nonreligion is the world’s first journal dedicated to the investigation of secularism and nonreligion in all forms. Articles are published on a continuous basis, ensuring publication as soon as submissions are accepted and formatted. Secularism and Nonreligion is an interdisciplinary, fully open access, peer-reviewed journal with the aim of advancing research on various aspects of ‘the secular.’ The journal is welcoming contributions. Please visit https://www.secularismandnonreligion.org/ for more information.
Call for Submissions: Secularism and Non-Religion in Canada
This edited volume contributes to the literature on secularism, non-religion, and atheism in contemporary Canada. Non-belief and non-believers are often given secondary consideration in broader explorations of religion and religiosity, and, as a result, remain under-examined, particularly in the Canadian context. This multidisciplinary book provides a broad exploration of issues relating to secularity, irreligion, non-religion, non-belief, atheism, and separation of religion and government in Canada.
We are calling for contributions from the fields of:
· Law - explorations of recent, current, and emerging legal cases and issues relating to non-religion and the separation of religion and government.
· Sociology - exploring broader trends in irreligion and non-belief in Canadian society.
· Politics - studies of political conflicts, campaigns, and issues relating to separation of religion and government and non-belief in Canada. Chapters focusing on individual provinces or campaigns are welcome.
· Anthropology - ethnographic studies of atheist movements, organizations, or communities.
· History - historical trends, case studies, intellectual histories examining issues pertaining to non-religion and secularity that continue to impact Canadian politics and society today.
· Emerging and future issues in secularism, non-religion, and the separation of religion and government in Canada.
Both qualitative and quantitative studies are welcome. While the focus of the books is Canada, comparative approaches are equally welcome, though Canada should be the focus of these studies. Submissions from fields other than those outlined above (such as philosophy, psychology, economics, or literature/communications) will also be considered.
Author’s Guidelines:
Submissions must include the proposed chapter title, 5 keywords and an abstract of maximum of 500 words. Please also include the author’s name, designation, affiliation, address, and contact information. The editor will assess all submissions and select the most promising abstracts, which are then developed further into full chapters of between 7,000 to 10,000 words.
Deadline for abstract submissions is October 14, 2021. If your abstract is accepted, we would expect a full draft by April 2022 (date TBD). Please email your abstracts as Word documents to the project coordinator and editor, Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff: teale@bchumanist.ca. Please also contact Dr. Phelps Bondaroff if you have any questions.
Editors
Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, Research Coordinator, BC Humanist Association
Dr. Katie Marshall, Professor of Zoology, UBC and Board Member, BC Humanist Association
Adam P. Strömbergsson-DeNora, Freelance researcher and writer
About the BC Humanist Association:
The BC Humanist Association has been providing a community and voice for Humanists, atheists, agnostics, and the non-religious of British Columbia for over 30 years. We support the growth of Humanist communities across BC, provide Humanist ceremonies, and campaign for progressive and secular values. The BC Humanist Research Team has a long history of producing cutting edge research on a wide range of issues relating to humanism, non-religion, and the separation of religion and government, which include books, reports, and peer reviewed articles.
Publications and Resources
· Patterns articleby Dominik Balazka, Dick Houtman and Bruno Lepri: “How can big data shape the field of non-religion studies? And why does it matter?” https://www.cell.com/patterns/fulltext/S2666-3899(21)00089-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100263
· Secularism and Nonreligion article by Carlos Lemos and Ivan Puga-gonzalez: “Belief in God, Confidence in the Church and Secularization in Scandinavia.” https://www.secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10.5334/snr.143/
· Secularism and Nonreligion article by Luke Galen, Ross Gore, and F. LeRon Shults: “Modeling the Effects of Religious Belief and Affiliation on Prosociality.” https://www.secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10.5334/snr.128/
· Secularism and Nonreligion article by David Speed and Melanie Brewster: “Love thy Neighbour… or not: Christians, but not Atheists, Show High In-Group Favoritism.” https://www.secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10.5334/snr.136/
If you have resources you would like to share in our next newsletter, or would like to announce other publications, please email editor.nsrn@gmail.com.