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Religious Studies Project at OU Digital Humanities
Last Monday we enjoyed an excellent Digital Humanities seminar and workshop courtesy of Chris Cotter and David Robertson of the Religious Studies Project. Their seminar topic was Impact and Engagement, and for those of you who weren’t able to make it they have kindly made available the slides of their talk here https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ayLLtJXNmsEpJ7TYbZEIlkheh02UfrYO0kf9A27HYjU
There are some really interesting insights here on using podcasts, online collaboration and networking.
Podcast workshop (picture courtesy of Marion Bowman)
Art, Pilgrimage and London Stations
Among the many interests of the researchers on the AHRC funded project Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, Past and Present [http://www.pilgrimageandcathedrals.ac.uk/about] is the role of art and material culture in English cathedrals: what sort of art is displayed in, and commissioned by, cathedrals, and how do people react to and interact with such art? I was fascinated, therefore, to learn of ‘Stations of the cross’, described on its own website as a
‘unique exhibition—held in 14 locations across London—[that] uses works of art to tell the story of the Passion in a new way, for people of different faiths. In this pilgrimage for art lovers, viewers will travel across London, mapping the geography of the Holy Land onto the streets of a “new Jerusalem”.’ [http://www.coexisthouse.org.uk/stations2016.html]
In some denominations of Christianity, the Stations of the Cross depict and reconstruct the last journey of Jesus through Jerusalem, from being condemned to death to being laid in his tomb. Around Easter especially, this relocation and replication of sacred time and place can take on a particular resonance. The rationale of the London Stations of the Cross art trail is to break up the traditional grouping which miniaturises the last journey within one space. Instead, it spreads the 14 stations across London. Artworks in a variety of locations (cathedrals, art galleries, churches, outdoor sites) are designated as particular stations, inviting contemplation of the works of art, their locations, and their contemporary resonances with each station’s traditional story.
How Indigenous festivals contribute to understanding ritual(s)
As part of the REDO team of researchers (funded by the Norwegian Research Council*) exploring the relationships between rituals and democracy, I have been privileged to spend time at a number of Indigenous festivals. In particular, I have been considering the multiple activities that make up the Riddu Riddu festival in arctic Norway. More properly, it is located in a valley in the Sámi territory of Sapmi. Each July large numbers of people gather to hear Indigenous performers from round the world as well as to hear talks, join in discussions, buy crafts, and party in the continuous sunlight of the arctic summer. Many different styles of music are performed on the main stage, from rock and reggae to the traditional chants of various Indigenous peoples, especially the Sámi yoik. I’m interested in the different ways in which performers draw on the resources and repertoires of Indigenous rituals to create and offer what they offer to their audiences. Then there are theatre pieces that catch people up into something transformative, illustrating the ways in which entertainment can take on the flavour of profound ritual. In this vibrant context of cultural interchange and spectacle, I’m examining the subtle and explicit expressions of Indigenous vitality, sovereignty and community-making. I’ll be writing more about that soon.
Alongside that annual event, I’ve been participating in other Indigenous gatherings. Every two years there is a wonderful extravaganza of Indigenous cultural display in London’s Origins Festival of First Nations. I should note, then, that I have been deliberately capitalising the word “Indigenous” to refer to peoples, nations or cultures that self-identify as such, and have found recognition in international forums such as the United Nations. There is a large debate about what “Indigenous” might mean and how scholars might use the term – especially because it is employed, like many self-designations, somewhat polemically or perhaps strategically. It is, perhaps, roughly synonymous with words like “native”, “aboriginal” or “First Nations” – all of which draw attention to modes of belonging to particular places, lands or communities. This too deserves more discussion!
In June 2015, I was involved in the making of the short film above. It showcases some of the performers and artists from the Origins Festival, especially in events at the British Museum, at RichMix club and in a park in west London. These provided unrivalled venues for considering what these eloquent Indigenous people wanted to convey to their audiences and others. I think there’s a richness in the video that deserves watching more than once to catch its nuances. It is intended to provide insights into significant issues for Indigenous peoples as well as to encourage further discussion and engagement.
Graham Harvey (Open University)
*http://www.tf.uio.no/english/research/projects/redo/
A new Swaminarayan Hindu temple in Preston
The weekend of 7-8 November saw the official opening of the new BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Preston. The celebratory Nagar Yatra (round-city procession) on the Saturday afternoon started in Preston Market Place where the procession formed with the new images, which would be installed in the temple on the Sunday, being adorned on ornately decorated vehicles. The main shopping street in the city centre was closed off while the procession made its way slowly through the Saturday-afternoon shoppers. Continue reading
#MemePasPeur, and what is to be done?
In April earlier this year, I met up with colleagues from the ‘Re-Assembling Democracy: Ritual as Cultural Resource’ (http://www.tf.uio.no/english/research/projects/redo/) research group at the Comptoir Voltaire, a café on the corner of Boulevard Voltaire and Rue de Montreuil, in Paris. Last Friday, at 21:40, a terrorist blew himself up there. The attack on the café was one act in an unfolding horror of a war that has never been declared, has no fixed territory and no clearly defined protagonists. ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, a billion dollar brand franchise, are the enemy, but their fighters are French, Belgian (and British), their Wahhabi ideology is the state religion of the key Western ally Saudi Arabia and numerous theories abound about support ISIS/ISIL/Daesh (may) have received from Assad (to fight the Free Syrian Army), the USA (to fight Assad) and Turkey (to fight the Kurds). Amidst the confusing welter of claim and counter-claim, right-wing media in the UK have linked the attacks in Paris to the refugee crisis. No thought that the refugees are fleeing precisely the same kind of horror. And, more perniciously, in seeking an immediate cause for the violence, the much deeper causes that lie behind the rise of ISIS/ISIL/Daesh are implicitly put to one side in favour of easier headlines that prompt bad decisions by policy-makers.
PhD in Religious Studies: funding opportunities
If you are interested in doing a PhD in Religious Studies at the OU, then you might consider applying for funding through the CHASE Consortium. The new round for entry in October 2016 is now open.
The CHASE Consortium (which alongside the OU, includes the Courtauld Institute of Art and Goldsmith’s College at the University of London and the Universities of East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex) offers fully funded PhD studentships for UK students. (For EU students the award covers fees only.) Up to 75 studentships (part-time or full-time) are available across the consortium for October 2016 entry. The studentships include excellent opportunities for skills training and networking with other students.
To apply for a CHASE studentship, you will need to go through the standard Open University application process, with submission of the application form no later than 13 January. Early application is strongly encouraged. For more information about the application process, please visit http://www3.open.ac.uk/events/jobs/2015113_49612_o3.pdf . To find out more about CHASE, visit the consortium website at http://www.chase.ac.uk/
If you are interested in making an application, we encourage you to contact potential supervisors in the department as soon as possible – please visit http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/religious-studies/staff.shtml
Islamic state, Dabiq, the Mahdi and the end-times
Dabiq is the name of a small town in northern Syria with no special claim to fame apart from the fact that the Umayyad caliph Sulaiman ibn Abd al-Malik (674-717 CE: reigned 715-717) was buried there in 717. So why has Islamic State (ISIS) called the magazine it publishes Dabiq? The main reason appears to be that according to Muslim eschatological tradition it will be the site of a major battle that will be fought between Muslims and Christian invaders, a battle that will be one of the signs that the end-times have begun[1].
‘Pilgrimage and England’s cathedrals, past and present’
As you know from this blog, the research focus of this Religious Studies department is ‘contemporary religion in historical perspective.’
Pilgrimage and England’s cathedrals past and present
Fortunately for me, this is at the heart of ‘Pilgrimage and England’s cathedrals, past and present’, the AHRC-funded, three-year research project which commenced in November 2014. Working as a Co-I with Dee Dyas, University of York (PI), Simon Coleman, University of Toronto (Co-I) and post-doctoral researchers Dr John Jenkins and Dr Tiina Sepp (both based at University of York), we have had a busy, fascinating and stimulating year, as you can see from the project website http://www.pilgrimageandcathedrals.ac.uk/