UFOs, Conspiracy Theories… and Religion?

FromThe Religious Studies Project

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UFOs, Conspiracy Theories… and Religion?

FromThe Religious Studies Project

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Length:

40 minutes

Released:

May 9, 2016

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Area 51, Ancient Aliens, endemic child abuse at the BBC, and Reptilians,... This interview begins with David's own journey to this research field, before considering some basic questions such as "what is a conspiracy theory?"

Released:

May 9, 2016

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Podcasts and Resources on the Contemporary Social-Scientific Study of Religion

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Lived Religion: Part 2: In Part 2 of this week's interview, Meredith McGuire continues to speak to Martin about the multiple issues of power, normativity and embodiment of religious life that can be observed through her concept of Lived Religion. by The Religious Studies Project
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Angel Spirituality: What is angel spirituality, and who does it appeal to (hint: women)? How do they challenge preconceptions about the relationship between new spiritualities and Christianity, and raise interesting questions about gender, by The Religious Studies Project
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‘Religious’ and ‘Spiritual’ Struggles: Now in ‘Nonreligious’ and ‘Nonspiritual’ flavors!: In this interview, Dr. Julie Exline discusses what led to her interest in Struggles and some of the background behind the development of the Religious and Spiritual Struggle Scale. She goes on to talk about why the scale includes struggles relevant to ... by The Religious Studies Project
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Religious Demography in the US: In this week's podcast we focus on religious demography and identification, survey tools used for religious demography in America, differences between religious identities and identifications, Americans’ shifting religious identifications, by The Religious Studies Project
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Is Religion Special? A Critical Look at Religion, Wellbeing and Prosociality: Is religion good for your health and wellbeing? Does religion promote prosociality? While positive stereotypes prevail in these domains, studies also typically answer these questions in the affirmative and as such, by The Religious Studies Project
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The Supernatural and the New Comparativism: Jeffrey Kripal argues that we need to make room for the paranormal in the study of religion, and that consciousness should be at the forefront of our study. by The Religious Studies Project
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See you in the next life? Cognitive foundations of reincarnation beliefs: Human reincarnation: Same person, different body, another life. While conceptual scaffolding surrounding the idea of reincarnation can vary widely from culture to culture, in this podcast Claire White draws on some of her recent research pointing out t... by The Religious Studies Project
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21st Century Irish Paganism: in this interview, we discuss Jenny Butler's work on Paganism in Ireland, the impact of that particular context upon the Paganism/s she has researched - particularly in terms of language, mythology, and the natural landscape - and also some of the issu... by The Religious Studies Project
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Gender, queer theory and religion: In this interview, Dr. Mary Jo Neitz continues the conversation about religion and gender by focusing on theories from LGBT studies and queer studies. Using her work as an ethnographer, as well as the work of American philosopher Judith Butler, by The Religious Studies Project
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Religion and the Psy-Disciplines: In this podcast, Dr. Christopher Harding uses his research on psychoanalysis and Buddhism in modern Japan to tackle the two-way dialogue between religion and the psy-disciplines. How have these shaped each other, and what are tensions between them? by The Religious Studies Project
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Encounters Between Buddhism and the West: In this story is a continuation of "dissident orientalism", a conflict inherent within the colonial project wherein communities and personal trajectories become embedded within local religious contexts. A distinction made, both in Ireland and Burma, by The Religious Studies Project
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Christian Reconstruction: Rousas John Rushdoony might be one of the most important Christian theologians you've never heard of. In this interview, Professor Michael McVicar discusses Rushdoony and Christian Reconstruction. McVicar gained unprecedented access to Rushdoony's pers... by The Religious Studies Project
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Minority Religions and the Law: Surely we have moved past the idea of sinister cults brainwashing innocent victims? When it comes to the law, not so, Susan Palmer tells David G. Robertson.cult" and "sect" uncritically. Nevertheless, outside of academia, by The Religious Studies Project
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Identity and Capitalism: This interview with Craig Martin explores the limits of identity formation under modern Capitalism. Martin's work Capitalizing Religion: Ideology and the Opiate of the Bourgeoisie focuses on the ways in which culture and religion are produced for consu... by The Religious Studies Project
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Indian Rationalism, and a Relational Approach to Nonreligion: It is unfortunate fact that in popular ‘Western’ imagination, the land of India is frequently orientalised, and naively conceptualized as ‘the quintessential land of religion, spirituality, and miracles.’ Although we would certainly not want to complet... by The Religious Studies Project
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The Invention of the Secular Academy: The Religious Studies Project, as an academic endeavour studying religion, is of course devoutly secular. In fact, we tend to take the connection between secularity and the academy completely for granted. But was this always the case? If not, by The Religious Studies Project
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Method and Theory in the Cognitive Sciences of Religion: Recorded at the 2015 North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) conference, Robert McCauley discusses methodological and theoretical issues within the cognitive sciences of religion. "Science surprises us!" - McCauley by The Religious Studies Project
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Historical, Popular, and Scholarly Constructions of Yoga: In its earliest uses, the word “yoga” meant “yoke,” primarily yoking a warhorse to a chariot. In the classical period, yoga took on a variety of other meanings, including yoking the mind-body complex through meditative practices, by The Religious Studies Project
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Christmas Special 2015 – Fourteen to One!: Fourteen contestants. One tetchy quizmaster. Three microphones. Numerous cases of wine. One glamorous assistant. Many bruised egos. A boisterous studio audience. A splash of irreverence. Dozens of questions. Four years of podcasts! by The Religious Studies Project
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Religion, gender and corporeality: How can religious studies be informed by theories around gender and corporeality? How is gender expressed in today's women's spirituality and in religions that consider femininity to be a way to access power around sexuality and procreation? by The Religious Studies Project
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Popular Culture, Dr. Who, and Religion: Go back to 2013 to discuss Religion & Pop Culture (and #DoctorWho) w/@ReligionProf It's a big universe, and sometimes things get lost in time and space. For instance, this 2013 interview with Dr. James F. McGrath was recorded by The Religious Studies Project
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Discursive Approaches and the Crises of Religious Studies: What is a discursive approach to the study of religion? And how can it answer the crises of contemporary RS? Kocku von Stuckrad tells David Robertson in this week's RSP podcast. Discursive analysis of one kind or another is perhaps the most prominent m... by The Religious Studies Project
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Religion and Planetary Ethics: Speaking of religions as “eco-social constructions across multiple species, over multiple generations, and over multiple histories,” in this interview Whitney Bauman puts forward an ethics of understanding ourselves and others as planetary creatures, by The Religious Studies Project
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Video Games and Religious Studies: The project of legitimating new cultural commodities into the canon of interpretative objects can be lengthy process. In this interview with University of North Carolina at Greensboro Associate Professor Greg Grieve, by The Religious Studies Project
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Of Demons, Saints and Heaven: Andean religious beliefs in Peru: In his interview with Sidney Castillo, Dr. Luis Millones discusses some of the traditions that have formed the basis for his research, particularly in the northern coast, northern highlands and south highlands of Peru. He mentions that, by The Religious Studies Project
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From the Ku Klux Klan to Zombies: Many of us only know about the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan through film and television, and much of what we see blurs fact and fiction. Distinguishing each side of that messy divide is the prolific Kelly J. Baker, by The Religious Studies Project
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Popular Culture Studies and Bruce Springsteen: Escaping and Embracing Religion: "There's always the risk in popular culture studies - first of all, it's so fluid, you know, things change so fast - that the minute you've said something, it's obsolete. And there's always the risk that the material can't bear the weight of analysis, by The Religious Studies Project
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Conversion and Deconversion as Concepts in the Sociology of Religion: For this interview with Lynn Davidman, we focus on the concepts of conversion and deconversion, illustrations of these processes in various contexts, what each term means and how each is experienced in someone's life, by The Religious Studies Project
20 min listen

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UFOs, Conspiracy Theories… and Religion?

UFOs, Conspiracy Theories… and Religion?

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from The Religious Studies Project

Related podcast episodes