Research Methods in the Study of Contemporary Religion - PhD training event

Research Methods in the Study of Contemporary Religion 6th-10th September 2010

The Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College, and the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society programme is collaborating to run a residential training event for PhD students involved in the empirical study of contemporary/modern religion. This is a major training initiative, at which leading academics in the UK will be leading sessions on a range of issues including: theorising religion and the role of the researcher of religion, choosing/combining research methods, the research agenda for religion and contemporary society, sampling, using quantitative data-sets, rigour and validity, ethical and political contexts of researching religion, ethnography, visual methods, researching religion and media, and studying spaces and objects. Confirmed speakers include Linda Woodhead, Kim Knott, David Voas, Sophie Gilliat-Ray and Peter Collins.

Funded by the AHRC’s Collaborative Research Training scheme, the aim of this event is to provide PhD students in this field with advanced methods training in the study of religion not normally available at any single university and represents a major investment in training a significant cohort of PhD students currently working in this field.

The event is open to PhD students working across a wide range of disciplines including theology and religious studies, sociology, anthropology, C20th religious history, social policy and geography. Students accepted on to this programme will have their residential costs and travel costs (within the UK) paid for by the project, and there will be no registration fee for those participating. Places at this event are limited, and students interested in attending should complete the application form (available at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/crcs/events/CRT_methods_event) and return this electronically to Peta Ainsworth (p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk) by 19th February. Priority will be given to UK-based students in receipt of research council or other institutional studentships, and/or who can demonstrate a clear interest in empirical research in their work.

The event will be run at St Catherine’s College in Oxford, with all meals and overnight accommodation provided at the College.

Any queries about this training programme can be sent to Prof Gordon Lynch, Birkbeck College (g.lynch@bbk.ac.uk)