Report
On
November 8 2008, 30 scholars and students of religion gathered at
Sussex University for a one-day symposium to explore belief and identity
in 'late modernity'. The day was organised by ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow,
Dr Abby Day, and Prof. Simon Coleman, both of the Department of Anthropology
at the University of Sussex. It formed an important part of Abby's
Fellowship, part of which focused on creating wider networks and disseminating
knowledge about belief amongst students, teachers and researchers.
We created
an innovative format for the day to encourage discussion and engagement
from a multidisciplinary perspective. Once speakers were selected
from an initial Call for Papers, they were asked to create a five
page summary of their paper identifying key aspects of their work
which specifically addressed belief and identity and to reflect on
the disciplinary approach in which the work was situated. Each speaker
also took care to read the other summaries in their sessions and consider:
1. How does your concept of belief compare to others in your session
and how is that shaped by your, and their, disciplines? 2. How are
your methodological approaches similar or different and how does that
reflect your disciplines? 3. How does your theoretical work relate
with other disciplines in your session? 4. What are the implications
for the study of beliefs and identity from your work, and what might
that imply for other disciplines? All participants were asked to read
and bring the summaries, to allow them to participate fully in the
discussion. We followed the programme below and found the format worked
very well, with engaging discussion amongst all participants.
Programme
Many
thanks to Dr. Peter Gee who created the special website for the day.
We all greatly appreciated the superb chairing and discussant skills
Dr. Peter Gee, Dr Peter Collins and Prof. Gordon Lynch brought to
the day. Closing remarks from Prof. Gordon Lynch and Prof. Simon Coleman
rounded off the day with a fine critical edge and brought the wide-ranging
discussion into perspective. Thanks also to Janet Eccles for treasury
duties.
Abby
Day
November 2008
Department of Anthropology
University of Sussex
a.day@sussex.ac.uk
s.m.coleman@sussex.ac.uk
a.day@sussex.ac.uk.
