Centre for Religion and Public Life

• Mikel Burley, Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy
• Caroline Fielder, Associate Professor in Chinese Studies
• Alistair McFadyen, Retired Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology
• Seán McLoughlin, Professor of the Anthropology of Islam (Muslim Diasporas)
• Tasia Scrutton, Associate Professor in Philosophy and Religion
• Mustapha Sheikh, Professor in Islamic Studies; Co-Director of the Iqbal Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam
• Jasjit Singh,  ​​​​​Professor of Religion and Global Engagement
• Stefan Skrimshire, Associate Professor in Theology and Religious Studies
• Caroline Starkey,  Associate Professor of Religion and Society
• Johanna Stiebert, Professor of Hebrew Bible
• Aled Thomas, Lecturer in Religious Studies
• Emma Tomalin, Professor of Religion and Public Life
• Adriaan van Klinken, Professor of Religion and African Studies
• Robert Vanderbeck, Professor of Human Geography and Head of School

This talk will introduce you to Tai Buddhism as it is practised by Tai communities living in the borderlands of Southeast Asia. The Tai peoples, who are speakers of Kra-Dai languages, live throughout the borders of southeast Asia, southwest China, and northeast India. Despite its long and rich history, Tai Buddhism has been overlooked in academic scholarship on account of the minority ethnic status of the Tai across multiple nation-states and their perceived ‘unorthodox’ approach to Theravada Buddhism. Drawing on my ongoing research on Tai Buddhism in the Myanmar-China borderlands, this talk will explore the origins, development, and contemporary practice of Tai Buddhism. It will highlight how minority status, and the political and social pressures that accompany it, have in fact enabled the Tai to preserve features of Buddhist practice that have been lost in mainstream Theravada Buddhism. Their minority ethnic and religious status also opens up interesting questions about identity maintenance and formation across multiple national-states namely Myanmar, China, and Thailand. By situating Tai Buddhism within with wider Theravada context, this talk aims to highlight how minority practices in the borderland peripheries can enrich our understanding of the diversity of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia.

More details to follow.

Research into the development of modern yoga has involved a number of speculative typologies and genealogies for the practice. Nonetheless, the institutional evolution of modern yoga has rarely been the subject of research, and the relationship between the content of yoga practice and the container of yoga institutions continues to be a subject more of speculation than research.

To begin that task, this talk will describe research into the pedagogy of modern yoga so far, together with insights from my own ongoing research and professional practice. From local networks of religious initiation, to systems of therapeutic intervention; and from folk remedies to gymnastics training, the pedagogical roots of modern yoga are revealed as a vital missing piece in understanding the future, as well as the history of yoga.

But the working patterns of modern yoga teachers are far from unique, and closely resemble those of many other communities of practice. What this research describes is a case study into the ways that human beings evolve cultures of practice outside of formal hierarchies and state provision.

Along the way, we will define three terms that often lack precision when used in both the academic and popular discourses of modern yoga: lineage, heritage and brand. What do we mean when we accuse modern yoga as being either ‘traditional’ or ‘commercial’? Who is it that actually profits in the ‘billion-dollar’ industry of modern yoga? And to compliment the excellent work done so far to understand the roots of modern yoga practice, what might be gained by submitting the roots of modern yoga pedagogy to similar scrutiny?

The Satanic cult conspiracy theory (otherwise known as ‘the Satanic myth’ or ‘the Satanic legend’) alleges that secret, evil, Satanic cults exist who seek to morally subvert and control society – often through targeting and harming children. The origins of the legend are traceable to the early Middle Ages, where it has since periodically resurfaced in the form of ‘Satanism Scares’: moral panics concerned with the alleged threat of Satan-worship. The concerns of these moral panics are disproportionate to any reality, and instead they act a mirror to the wider fears and prejudices of their societies. Through these events, false allegations of ‘Satanic’ crimes lead to the unjust demonisation and persecution of innocent individuals and communities. Today, there has been increasing speculation that we may now already be experiencing the next wave of Satanic moral panic. This seminar will address this question – first exploring the history of these scares, before discussing the contemporary revival of this rhetoric from over the last decade. It will draw on a variety of case studies, alongside a detailed analysis of contemporary social media conspiracy theory rhetoric, demonstrating its ongoing, and potentially very harmful, impact in recent years.

More details to follow.