Dear friends and colleagues,

We are delighted to launch the Humour and Religion Network aiming to bring together and connect both scholars and practitioners who work at the intersections of humour and religion.

This is a niche but growing area of research and practice exploring in different ways the multifaceted links between humour and religion. Here are a few examples:

• academic conferences, such as “Humour in the Beginning” at Radboud University, March 2019
• humour and religion sessions at the conferences of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR), July 2017 and the International Society for Humour Studies (ISHS), June 2018;
• publications and books; public interviews and articles on popular platforms like Huffpost.com; and
• a growing number of comedy shows and other humour productions where religion is also featured.

The Humour and Religion Network aims to foster the exchange of ideas and forge interdisciplinary and international collaborations between humanities researchers and social scientists; interfaith leaders and social action stakeholders; as well as comedians and humourists, who all share a common interest in cross-cutting issues at the intersections of humour, satire and comedy, with religion, faith and belief. Some of the themes that may be of particular interest to the members of this Network include:

• – Humour about religion in the context of blasphemy/free speech
• – Humour and religion in popular culture
• – Laughter and interfaith engagement
• – Humour traditions in different religions
• – Practices and lineages of religious humour, past and present
• – Scriptural humour
• – Philosophies and theories of religious humour
• – Social science approaches to humour and religion

As part of this initiative, we are also aiming to eventually build a public archive of works by scholars who have published on humour and religion in the last 15-20 years. Our goal is to create a comprehensive, organised and searchable open archive of the study of humour and religion, which we hope will become a port of call for anyone interested in past and ongoing research projects and practical work at the intersections of humour and religion. It will be an ongoing work-in-progress.

The Network will further serve as a portal for discussion and information exchange about humour and religion, including calls for papers and upcoming conferences publications, public events, comedy work and the like.

To become a member (recommended!) you can simply register with Yahoo Groups and ask to join the Network by going to: https://groups.yahoo.com/humour-religion

In case you only want to receive e-mails from group members, you can send an e-mail from your personal account to: humour-religion-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and confirm the electronic response.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Roald Dijkstra, Ph.D.         

Lina Molokotos-Liederman, Ph.D.           

Bernard Schweizer, PhD

May-August 2018: Study Visits

The ICSOR hosted at its headquarters two scholars: Nanlai Cao of the Renmin University of Beijing and Renée de la Torre of the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (Mexico). The two scholars have stayed in Rome for visiting studies, participation in national and international conferences, bibliographic and field research. The ICSOR has always encouraged these activities by providing its headquarters for short and long stays and promoting exchanges and relationships between scholars, academics and researchers. In the coming months the ICSOR will open its doors to Cristián Parker, Vice Rector of the University of Santiago de Chile.

August 2018: International Summer School on Religions

On the occasion of the XXV Edition of the International Summer School on Religions organized by CISRECO and held in San Gimignano and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa (Italy) from 22 to 25 August 2018, the ICSOR has provided 3 scholarships for 3 young researchers: Martina Lippolis, Davide N. Carnevale and Cecilia Galera.

As in previous editions of the Summer School, a space has been dedicated exclusively to young researchers and promoted and maintained by the Section of Sociology of Religion of the Italian Association of Sociology, in collaboration with the EPOS Agency and the ICSOR. The Sociology of Religion Section has offered 2 scholarships and the EPOS Agency 4.

The young scholars presented their research and discussed it with the scholars, teachers, experts and academics.

Renée de la Torre, guest of the ICSOR, also took part in the Summer School of San Gimignano with her paper.

SECOND EDITION OF THE SAFSOR, SCHOOL OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

After the success of the first edition, the ICSOR has organized, in cooperation with the Section of Sociology of Religion of the AIS and as part of its research and training activities, the SCHOOL OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION (SAFSOR) to be held at its headquarters, in Viale delle Milizie 108, in Rome, from 19 to 21 December 2018.

The School intends to offer a particularly thorough and updated preparation specifically aimed at scholars of sociological disciplines who want to improve their theoretical, methodological, empirical and applicative knowledge in the field of research on religious phenomena.

The participation to the SAFSOR is foreseen for graduates and professionals with a university degree of at least four years in the disciplines of social sciences, for a maximum of 15 students, which can be increased to 20.

At the end of the activities of SAFSOR the ICSOR will issue a Certificate of Attendance and Participation. Attendance is free of charge, while travel and accommodation expenses will be borne by the participants.

Also for this edition, the SAFSOR will cover the areas of sociological theories, methodology and techniques, qualitative and quantitative empirical research.

The SAFSOR call can be consulted and downloaded at: http://www.icsor.it/blog/bando-safsor-2018/

The detailed programme can be consulted and downloaded at: http://www.icsor.it/blog/programma-safsor-scuola-di-alta-formazione-in-sociologia-della-religione-2018/

Registration is open until September 29.

ICSOR – Application for Membership

You can download the application to join the ICSOR from http://www.icsor.it/blog/icsor-domanda-di-adesione/. The application must be completed, signed and sent to rciprian@uniroma3.it

Please note that the ordinary fee is € 10 to be paid by bank transfer to INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION – IBAN: IT57R052160322900000000015096

The Junior registration, provided for those who have a maximum age of 39 years, is free. 

Number 1, 2017

Editors: Katiuscia Carnà, Nicolamaria Coppola

January 2017

ICSOR, International Center for the Sociology of Religion, was founded in Rome in January 2017. On the 5th January 2017, ICSOR’s Board of Directors – convened via computer – made the following appointments:

• Secretary and Delegate of the Board of Scientific Advisors: Cecilia Costa
• Treasurer: Maria Mansi
• President: Roberto Cipriani

Katiuscia Carnà and Nicolamaria Coppola were co-opted as members of the Board. Professor Franco Ferrarotti is Honorary President of ICSOR. Professor José Casanova chairs the International Board of Advisors.

On the 26th January 2017, beginning at 6 pm, at the ICSOR headquarters in Rome, viale delle Milizie 108, the Institute officially began its activities with a paper by Professor Emanuela C. Del Re, sociologist of religion, Professor of the Sociology of Middle-Eastern Political Phenomena and of the Sociology of Cultural Processes, expert in Geopolitics and National Coordinator of the Italian Association of Sociology, AIS’s National Section the Sociology of Religion. Her paper was entitled: “Yazidi e minoranze religiose in Medio Oriente” [Yazidi and religious minorities in the Middle East]. A documentary made by Professor Del Re in the KRG entitled La festa negata [The feast denied] was screened. This film is available on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b01BXvxoK28

In October 2013, Professor Emanuela Del Re, President of the EPOS organisation, filmed one of the most important Yazidi festivity, Jazhna Jamaye (Feast of the Assembly), held at the temple in Lalish, in Iraqi Kurdistan. Last year the feast was cancelled and the motivation given was for “reasons of public safety”. In effect, in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, in the month of September there had been an attack that heightened security awareness considerably. The Kurdistan authorities thought it would be better to avoid large-scale crowds like that which the Yazidi festival would have attracted therefore, they forbade its celebration. The temple was placed under imposing security measures with strict controls. Following the screening of the film all those present took part in a debate with Professor Del Re. Some light refreshment was then provided.

February 2017

On the 21st February 2017, beginning at 6 pm, at the ICSOR headquarters in Rome, viale delle Milizie 108, Nicolamaria Coppola, PhD Candidate in Applied Social Sciences at Rome’s La Sapienza University, Doctor in Multimedia Publishing and New Information Professions, General Secretary of the EPOS non-profit Organisation, presented his book Omosessualità in Medio Oriente. Identità gay tra religione, cultura e politica [Homosexuality in the Middle East. Gay identity amid religion, culture and politics], published by Aracne. The author was present and sociologist, Professor Massimiliano Ruzzeddu, acted as moderator.   . . .

[This interesting newsletter continues for two more pages.  The entire newsletter is attached as a PDF file]