Organizers
Dr. Jennifer Selby
Research Areas: Islam in the West (France, Canada); Method and Theory, Secularization Theory; Islam, Interpretations of Sharia; Women and Islam, Gender Studies; Religion and Public Policy in Canada. Projects: Dr. Selby’s current research is centered upon two broad ethnographic-based projects: In the first place, she continues to conduct research on gender politics, Islam and secularism in contemporary France. Her research includes transnational fieldwork in Montréal, Algeria and in a Parisian suburb for a project examining Islam and marriage. In the second place, Dr. Selby continues research in Canada begun during a postdoctoral fellowship in the Islam in the West program at Harvard University; recently, she has spearheaded Newfoundland’s Addressing Islamophobia project. Over the years, she has worked on several SSHRC-funded projects, with numerous collaborators, including Lori G. Beaman (U Ottawa) and Amélie Barras (York U) on Beyond Accommodation, and Roxanne Marcotte (UQAM).
Dr. Barry Stephenson
Research Areas: Ritual and Performance Studies; Method and Theory; History of Christian Thought; Modernity and Secularism; Religion and the Arts Projects: Dr. Stephenson’s research is interdisciplinary in nature, examining the intersection of religion and culture in ritual and the arts, and the intersection of Christian thought in discussions of modernity and secularization. Past projects include fieldwork on Reformation-themed festivity and tourism, the spiritual dimensions of end of life care, and the commemoration of the proto-Reformer Jan Hus. Current work is focused on the religious dimensions of emerging festival culture and the closure and transformation of churches and other sacred places. Dr. Stephenson is co-editor Oxford’s Ritual Studies Series.