Religion, Culture and Society (RCS)

The religion, culture and society research focus area explores the dynamics of religion, spirituality, and non-religion in society, politics, and culture. Our work is interdisciplinary, spanning religious studies, the sociology of religion, and international relations.

Our researchers have expertise in the study of religious engagement in movements for social change, the role of religious actors in international affairs, non-religion and atheism, and the impact of worldview complexity on social unity and polarisation. We value and have expertise in participatory and community-engaged research methods.

The research focus area hosts annual research symposia and an associated Religion, Culture and Society Annual Lecture, and runs an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional Religion and Politics writing group.

Researchers

International Visiting Scholars


Emma Tomalin 
2019
University of Leeds

Adrian Pabst
2018
University of Kent

Erin Wilson
2017
University of Groningen

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
2016
Northwestern University

Highlights

2022 (Non)Religion, Spirituality and Ecological Politics Workshop.

The workshop explored the interaction of contemporary religion, spirituality and non-religion with environmental politics and planetary wellbeing. We facilitated reflection upon the relationship of diverse religious, spiritual, and non-religious worldviews to politics of action and non-action addressing ecological crisis.


Fulbright Australia Senior Scholar Award
Professor John A. Rees was awarded a 2020 Fulbright Senior Scholarship as the Milward L. Simpson Visiting Professor at the University of Wyoming to study ‘religious literacy in international relations theory and practice’.

Visiting Scholar: Northwestern University
In early 2019 Dr Rosemary Hancock was a Visiting Scholar with Northwestern University’s Global Politics and Religion Research Group.

Industry and Public Engagement

Uncommon Sense from The Sociological Review

Dr Rosemary Hancock is the co-host of the podcast Uncommon Sense, a new podcast series in 2022 from The Sociological Review.

New Humanist Magazine’s With Reason Podcast Interview

Dr Rosemary Hancock was interviewed on the New Humanist magazine’s podcast, With Reason about her research on an episode titled “Activism and Belief with Rosemary Hancock”

The Architecture of Peace
Dr Rosemary Hancock and Associate Professor John Rees contributed to a series of comments on ABC Religion and Ethics regarding Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Fratelli tutti.

The Sydney Alliance
From 2018-2020 Dr Rosemary Hancock partnered with the Sydney Alliance to conduct participatory research into the dynamics of religious and non-religious engagement in Australian civil society. The Sydney Alliance is a coalition of religious and civil society organisations in Sydney working together for justice and the common good. Dr Hancock’s involvement with the Alliance assisted the organisation with critical reflection on its practice, its training of civil society leaders, and the development of an evidence-base to ground its political work.

Georgetown University’s Berkeley Centre Forum: COVID-19 Response and Climate Change
In response to COVID-19, the Berkeley Centre for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs invited leading scholars on climate change and religion to reflect on the lessons for COVID-19 response from the study of religious responses to climate change. Dr Rosemary Hancock was among the 11 scholars invited to write a short reflection, and her post on the lessons from Islamic environmentalism.

The Racialisation of Religion
In 2019 Dr Rosemary Hancock appeared with Deakin University’s Professor Fethi Mansouri on Radio National’s Religion and Ethics Report to discuss the intersection of religion and race and its implications, particularly for Muslims, in Australia. The report appeared in the aftermath of the 2019 Christchurch massacre of Muslims at prayer in New Zealand, and in the lead up to an academic symposium co-organized by Dr Hancock on Religion and Race in Australia, held at the Western Sydney University in April 2019.

The Social License and Its Potential
In March 2019 Professor John A. Rees delivered a platform presentation at the AFR Deloitte Banking & Wealth Summit that helped leverage professional ethics training opportunities in the financial services sector and event partnerships in the wider business community.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara Public Lecture on Public Policy at San Beda University
In February 2019, Professor John A. Rees delivered the inaugural Senator Edgardo J. Angara Public Lecture on Public Policy at San Beda University in on the topic ‘Inclusive Education: Transforming Lives & Building Nations’.

Events

2022 (Non)Religion, Spirituality and Ecological Politics Workshop.

This workshop explores the interaction of contemporary religion, spirituality and non-religion with environmental politics and planetary wellbeing. We invite reflection upon the relationship of diverse religious, spiritual, and non-religious worldviews to politics of action and non-action addressing ecological crisis.

Our Researchers' Grants, Fellowships and Institutional Partnerships

  • Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, Australia-US Fulbright Commission. Milward L. Simpson Visiting Professor of Politics, Public Affairs & International Studies, University of Wyoming, 2020-2021.
  • Global Politics and Religion Research Group Visiting Scholar Program, Northwestern University, 2019.
  • Australian Academy of the Humanities Early Career Fellowship, 2018.

Postgraduate Research

We welcome inquiries regarding postgraduate supervision from prospective M.Phil or PhD students interested in working within the IES’s Religion & Global Ethics research focus area.

  • Dr Rosemary Hancock

    Dr Rosemary Hancock welcomes research students in the following areas:

    • Sociology of religion, particularly religious engagement in grassroots politics or progressive social causes
    • Islamic environmentalism or Islamic social justice activism
    • Religion online, particularly religious women’s use of social media and the internet

  • Professor John A. Rees

    Professor John A. Rees welcomes research students in the following areas:

    • Religion in International Relations (IR) theory and practice
    • Christianity and global politics
    • Religion and nationalism