Religious Matters

Vidi project Pooyan Tamimi Arab Religious Matters team member Pooyan Tamimi Arab has received a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for his project Iran’s Secular Shift: A Mixed Methods Approach to Nonreligion and Atheism in an Islamic Republic.The project departs from the recognition that in a secular age extending...

Rita Amaral's report about our recent workshop in Rome.

Missionary Material Assemblages and the Mission of Museums: The Spirit on Display – Workshop report by Ana Rita Amaral Entry hall facing the library of the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome. Photograph by A.R. Amaral During the last week of February, an international group of researchers gathered at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome for a workshop on the past and present entanglements between Christian evang...

"Amazon is a treasure trove, isn’t it? It is the epitome of consumerism, market competition, maybe even capitalistic indulgence and its concomitant ‘hustle culture’. What better place to find the divine today?

To my knowledge, the study of material religion has thus far not given much attention to aesthetic concepts such as gorgeous, cozy, or even cute." This is how Martha Gabriela Sánchez Mártinez begins her essay on the citification of Jesus figures, Read on here how she unfolds this compelling theme. (BM)

Cutified Jesus: Presence via Cuteness within Jesus Amazon Products – blog by Martha Gabriela Sánchez Mártinez Amazon is a treasure trove, isn’t it? It is the epitome of consumerism, market competition, maybe even capitalistic indulgence and its concomitant ‘hustle culture’. What better place to find the divine today?

Wilfried Claus about his research on the Baha'i pilgrimage: "The research provides insight into how the pilgrimage, by using a wide range of sensational forms, leads to an experience that confirms the pilgrims’ religious beliefs and their connection with the Bahá’í community."

Bahá’i Pilgrimage to “The most sacred place on earth” – blog by Wilfried Claus From May 21st to May 31st, 2022, I was a participant-researcher in a Bahá’i pilgrimage to the world center of the Bahá’i religioni with the aim to write an ethnographic study of the core ritual of the Bahá’i faith community. Bahá’u’llah, the founder and prophet, announced in 1863 his c...

My contribution to a new stream on the blog series: Beyond Guidelines: The Question of Ethics in Transregional Research launched by Banu Karaca and Çiçek Ilengiz.

Doing Research Under Current Ethics Regimes: Some Observations By Birgit Meyer. Even if one does not find issues regarding data management and research ethics particularly exciting as such, it is necessary to delve into the rules and regulations that underpin the institutionalization of current ethics regimes in the social and cultural sciences. This is part of...

Just published, my blog on the Utrecht Religion Forum, in Dutch, about Religion and the constitution in NL. (BM)

Religie en de Grondwet - Utrecht Religie Forum Een meerderheid van de inwoners van Nederland – 57,2% volgens het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek – beschrijft zichzelf als niet-religieus. Daarnaast is 31,4% christen, 5,6 % moslim en hangt 5,9% een ander geloof aan. Uiteraard zijn religiewetenschappers sterk geïnteresseerd in de voorstelli...