Dear Friends,
The Forum on Religion at LSE is pleased to announce the Michaelmas Term 2012 events. Full details are below, and can also be found on the website of the Programme for the Study of Religion and Non-Religion at
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/research/PRNR/Events/events.aspx

The seminar by Linda Woodhead on 7 November is an opportunity to interact with one of the leading sociologists of religion in the world, and someone who has a unique vantage point on religion and society, via her stewardship of the AHRC/ESRC programme. The seminar room holds about 40 people, so come early to avoid disappointment.
The next day, November 8, we will welcome Charles Hirschkind, an anthropologist from UC Berkeley; this is a rare visit for Charles to the UK, and his perspective on Salafi Islam is one you’ll not want to miss.

On December 6, the Forum will further last Summer Term’s focus on ethics, by co-hosting a debate among Julian Baggini, Angus Ritchie, and Mark Vernon.

In addition to these events, we’d like to take this opportunity to highlight the launch of a new MSc on Religion in the Contemporary World. This is a welcome development to the portfolio of LSE MSc programmes, and the first intake will start in October 2013. The MSc is based in the Anthropology Department, but is open to all who have an interest in studying religion, secularism, humanism, and related topics from a social-scientific perspective. Students will be able to take courses from across a range of LSE Departments, from Anthropology to International Relations, Government, and more. Further details can be found here:

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/graduate/taughtProgrammes2013/MScReligionInTheContemporaryWorld.aspx

LSE FORUM ON RELIGION EVENTS AUTUMN 2012

FORUM ON RELIGION SEMINAR

Britain’s New Religious Landscape
Speaker: Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University)
Chair: Dr Matthew Engelke (LSE)
Date and Time: 7 November 2012, 16.30-18.00
Venue: Seligman Library, Old Building, LSE

Professor Woodhead argues that a profound shift has taken place in the religious landscape of Great Britain since the late 1980s, a shift whose significance has been highlighted by research on the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. The dominant mode of religion in this country is now one which differs profoundly from the Reformation mode of religion, which was modernised and ‘purified’ in the course of the 20th century. Professor Woodhead identifies key features of the new post-Reformation form of religion – its organisational, magical, and moral aspects – and shows how its co-existence with older Reformation forms of religion explains a great deal about the landscape we now inhabit. Don’t miss this chance to hear one of Britain’s foremost sociologists within the context of a seminar setting.

FORUM ON RELIGION PUBLIC LECTURES

Salafi Islam, Online Ethics and the Future of the Egyptian Revolution
Speaker: Professor Charles Hirschkind (University of California, Berkeley)
Chair: Dr Mathijs Pelkmans (LSE)
Date and Time: 8 November 2012, 18.30-20.00
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE

This event is co-sponsored with the Department of Anthropology

In this public lecture, Professor Hirschkind, one of the most influential anthropologists of his generation,  looks at the politics of the Salafi movement in Egypt in relation to changing practices of religious media use. The movement is the political face of a much broader and diverse current within Egyptian society, one grounded less in a specific tradition within Islam than in a grassroots movement centred on ethical reform.

With Good Reason? A Debate on the Foundations of Ethics
Speakers: Dr Julian Baggini, Canon Dr Angus Ritchie, and Dr Mark Vernon
Date and Time: 6 December 2012, 18.30-20.00
Venue: Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE

This event is co-sponsored with Theos.

Religious and secular philosophers have long debated whether ethics have an objective basis (moral realism) or a relative basis (moral relativism). But in terms of the first, does theism or atheism offer a better basis for ‘moral realism’In this debate, a theist, an atheist and an agnostic debate this question in what promises to be a lively and (perhaps) spirited exchange.

JOIN THE FORUM ON RELIGION MAILING LIST AT
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/research/PRNR/joinOurMailingList.aspx

Religion, Youth and Sexuality: Stories from the United Kingdom & Canada

Monday 3rd September 2012 – 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Followed by Buffet Reception

Venue: Room B63, School of Sociology & Social Policy, Law & Social Sciences Building, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK.

The School of Sociology and Social Policy cordially invites you to this event organised for young people, academics, and non-academic professionals (e.g. religious leaders, youth workers, sexual health workers, counsellors).

The event will present findings from two related research projects: The completed Religion, Youth and Sexuality: A Multi-Faith Exploration in the UK (www.nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/rys<http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/rys>).
The ongoing Religion, Gender, Sexuality and Youth among Youth in Canada(http://www.queensu.ca/religion/Faculty/research/dickeyyoung.html>).

Guest Speakers
Prof. Pamela Dickey Young, Queen’s University, Canada
Dr. Heather Shipley, University of Ottawa, Canada
Dr. Sarah-Jane Page, Aston University, England
Prof. Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, University of Nottingham, England

Registration

The event is free of charge, but registration is required. Please return all completed registration forms to michelle.fusco@nottingham.ac.uk.
These can be found on the School website, via the following link; http://tiny.cc/RYSSept2012

Registration is now open for an exciting ‘expert seminar’ sponsored by the Islamic Studies Network on 18 May 2012 at London Metropolitan University. Please register on our website here: Social Scientists examine Islam and the lives of Muslims
<http://www.islamicstudiesnetwork.ac.uk/islamicstudiesnetwork/events/display
id=/events/alldetails/2012/academyevents/Social_Sciences_Islamic_18_May_2012>

The event will consist of four 30 minute presentations, followed by 30 minutes discusssion time for each of the following speakers:
* Nilu Ahmed (Swansea University): Mosques, media and mehfils: changing religious meanings and practice among first generation Bangladeshi women in London
* Professor Shaheen Ali (University of Warwick): Balancing Multiculturalism, Legal Pluralism and Muslim Women’s Rights: A Critical Look at Shari’a Councils in Britain
* Dr Nasar Meer (Northumbria University): Misrecognising Muslim Consciousness in Europe
* Dr Sara Silvestri (City University London): Unpacking and repacking Islam and the political Respondents: Professors Mona Siddiqui (University of Edinburgh) and Jeff Haynes (London Metropolitan University) Chair/convenor: Max Farrar (Emeritus Professor, Leeds Met University)

A full programme is available online. Please forward widely. Lisa Dr Lisa Bernasek Academic Coordinator, Islamic Studies Network www.islamicstudiesnetwork.ac.uk<http://www.islamicstudiesnetwork.ac.uk> LLAS: Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies University of Southampton | Avenue Campus | Southampton | SO17 1BJ +44 (0) 23 8059 9637 | www.llas.ac.uk 
To receive our monthly e-bulletin, register at http://www.llas.ac.uk/mailinglist

**The Religious Studies Project: Podcasts and Resources on the Contemporary Social-Scientific Study of Religion ** (Apologies for cross-posting)
The Religious Studies Project<http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/>, in association with the British Association for the Study of Religions<http://www.basr.ac.uk/membersannouncements.html> and with some support from the University of Edinburgh<http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/divinity/news-events/news/religious-studies-projec>, launched in January 2012. This is a website and podcasting project, featuring a weekly audio interview<http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/category/podcasts/> (of around 30 minutes) with leading scholars of Religious Studies (RS) and related fields. So far, these have featured James Cox, Armin Geertz, Carole Cusack, Donald Wiebe and Graham Harvey speaking on topical issues, novel approaches and important scholars and methodologies of Religious Studies in the 21st Century. Future interviews include Grace Davie, Jay Demerath, Callum Brown, Linda Woodhead and many more. In addition, the website also features weekly articles<http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/category/features/> from postgraduate students and other scholars on the themes of the interview that week, in addition to other useful resources and articles<http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/category/resources/> relevant to teachers and students of religion in the modern world. If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute please contact editors@religiousstudiesproject.com<mailto:editors@religiousstudiesproject.com>
Website: www.religioustudiesproject.com<http://www.religioustudiesproject.com/>
Twitter: @ProjectRS<https://twitter.com/#%21/ProjectRS/>
Facebook: The Religious Studies Project<http://www.facebook.com/religiousstudiesproject>
iTunes: The Religious Studies Project<wlmailhtml:iTunes>

Christopher Cotter, David Robertson, Louise Connelly (editors)
University of Edinburgh ———PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh d.g.robertson@ed.ac.uk davidgrobertson.wordpress.com edinburgh.academia.edu/Davidgrobertson Editor & Co-host, www.religiousstudiesproject.com