WRSP – World Religions and Spirituality Project

Authors

Nancy Lusignan Schultz

Nancy Lusignan Schultz is professor of English at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. She is the author of Fire ...

Jeffrey Hadden

Mr. Hadden was a Professor of Sociology who began teaching at the University of Virginia in 1972. Mr. Hadden earned ...

Kathleen E. Jenkins

Kathleen E. Jenkins (Ph.D. Brandeis University, Sociology - BA/MA Religious Studies, Brown University) is Associate Professor of Sociology at the College ...

Peter Jan Margry

Dr. Peter Jan Margry holds an MA in History (University of Amsterdam 1983) and a PhD from the University of ...

Devin Lander

Devin R. Lander is an independent historian and author who specializes in post-World War II United States Social, Political and ...

Massimo Introvigne

Massimo Introvigne, a law and philosophy graduate, is the managing director of CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, ...

Lila Moore

Lila Moore is the founder of The Cybernetic Futures Institute, an educational and practice-based research platform for the exploration of ...

Carole Cusack

Carole M. Cusack graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts (double Honours in Religious Studies and ...

Stuart A. Wright

Stuart A. Wright is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice at ...

E. Black

E. Black is an independent scholar with an interest in the International Peace Mission of Father Divine as a new ...

Raffaella Di Marzio

Raffaella Di Marzio is an independent scholar. In 2016 she earned her Ph.d. in Psychology of Religion at Pontifical Salesian ...

Richard Kent Evans

Richard Kent Evans is a historian of American religion at Haverford College and the project coordinator of the Political Theology ...

Laura Vance

Laura Vance is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Social Science Division at Brevard College. Her research focuses on ...

William Sims Bainbridge

William Sims Bainbridge earned his sociology degree from Harvard university with a dissertation and first book on the history of ...

Valérie Aubourg

Valérie Aubourg is Professor of Anthropology and Ethnology at the Catholic University of Lyon. She heads the Sciences & Humanities ...

Alison Robertson

Alison Robertson is a research associate with at the Open University. She recently completed her doctorate exploring BDSM (Bondage, Domination, ...

Isabelle Kinnard Richman

Isabelle Kinnard Richman received her PhD in Church History from the University of Chicago Divinity School in medieval church history. ...

Patrick Mason

Patrick Q. Mason is Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies and associate professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University, ...

Victoria Ferentinou

Victoria Ferentinou is Assistant Professor at the University of Ioannina, Greece, where she teaches art theory and history of art. ...

Jill Krebs

Jill Krebs is Lecturer in Religious Studies at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology of ...

WRSP Entries and Authors

index

The Entry Index is an alphabetically organized listing of WRSP entries, including the thematic, regional, and local special projects. There are separate indices for the entries in the Augmenting Resources section of WRSP.

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Recent & Future Entries

WRSP is constantly adding new entries on religious and spiritual groups, leaders, places, and activities. Recent and Future Entries on WRSP, with publication dates, will be listed here.

Organization & Leadership

WRSP is organized as an international scholarly consortium. WRSP is led by an Executive Council that consists of representatives of the WRSP Special Projects and Partnerships as well as distinguished religion scholars who contribute to WRSP development.

WRSP Special Projects

NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND THE VISUAL ARTS

(Project Director: Massimo Introvigne)

SPIRITUAL AND VISIONARY COMMUNITIES

(Project Director: Timothy Miller)

MARIAN APPARITIONAL AND DEVOTIONAL GROUPS

(Project Directors: Joseph Laycock and Jill Krebs)

PILGRIMAGE SITES & PRACTICES ACROSS THE WORLD

(Project Directors: James S. Bielo, John Eade, Ian Reader)

WOMEN IN THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITY PROJECT

(Project Directors: Rebecca Moore, Catherine Wessinger)

Thematic Projects

There are many forms and expressions of religious and spiritual organization and activity. Scholars with recognized expertise in selected areas have been invited to organize the Thematic Projects listed above.

AUSTRALIAN RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS

(Project Directors: Carole Cusack, Bernard Doherty)

CANADIAN RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS

(Project Directors: Susan Palmer, John Peterson)

SPIRITUAL & RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS IN ITALY

(Project Directors: Dr. Stefania Palmisano, Dr. Massimo Introvigne)

RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE

(Project Directors: Dr. Kaarina Aitamurto, Dr. Maija Penttilä)

JAPANESE NEW RELIGIONS

(Project Directors: Ian Reader, Erica Baffelli, Birgit Staemmler)

Regional Projects

The forms and traditions of religious and spiritual expression often coincide with geographic, political, and cultural boundaries. Scholars with recognized expertise in specific regional traditions have been invited to organize the Regional Projects listed above.

Local Projects

Communities in the United States have become increasingly more diverse religiously and spiritually in recent decades. A number of scholars have undertaken community research projects chronicling how religion and spirituality are organized and lived in a specific community. Links to those Local Projects are presented here.

Augmenting Resources

Interview Forum

WRSP has organized an Interview Forum where both interviews conducted by WRSP and interviews published by other media outlets are gathered. Interviews with scholars and other knowledgeable individuals have been selected to offer insights that augment the group profiles on WRSP.

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The Media Center

There has been extensive media coverage of the groups, individuals, and activities covered in WRSP profiles. The Media Center identifies and links to a number of media sites that will be particularly useful to religion scholars.

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Books, Articles, Papers, & Reports

WRSP supplements religious and spiritual group profiles with Articles & Papers provided by supporting scholars. They offer resources that augment the information contained in WRSP profiles. Permission to duplicate or distribute these materials remains with the authors.

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Video Connections

WRSP locates and links to online video materials that supplement and enhance the text entries. The Video Connections entries are listed alphabetically and linked with relevant text entries.

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Archive Centers

There are numerous archives that have preserved material of interest to scholars studying contemporary and historical religious and spiritual groups. Many of these archives are small and relatively unknown. WRSP is cataloging these Archive Centers as a research resource for scholars.

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Scholar’s Corner

The Scholar’s Corner offers video interviews with Nova Religio and World Religions and Spirituality Project authors and video presentations on topics related to alternative and emergent religions.

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