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An examination of alternative spiritualities challenges standard notions of religious locations a... more An examination of alternative spiritualities challenges standard notions of religious locations and ritual religious practice. The paper will examine the notion of place in religion, and the meaning of this in a secular context. The paper will argue that a primary typology of formal geographic locations and informal network nodes provides a clear framework for conceiving the places where alternative religiosity is practiced. The paper will examine a number of locations where discrete activities form the basis of religious practice in alternative spiritualities. Reflexively these ritual activities inform an understanding of the significance and value of the places where alternative spiritualities are enacted. The study of formal geographic network nodes reveals places of shifting identities and self-representation. But the study also indicates the vitality of formal locations as functional hubs through which informal networks coalesce and by which they are reticulated. The paper therefore argues for an application of a specific form of social network theory to illuminate a growing form of religious practice in post-industrial, secular culture. This perspective of religious rituals embedded in the everyday and conducted in manifold locations reveals a vibrancy and re-enchantment of the place of religion in contemporary culture. 2

Papers by Dominic Corrywright

Journal for the Study of Religious Experience, Aug 3, 2021

Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies, 2010

Teaching and Assessing Spirituality In and Out of Religion Departments: Pedagogical Principles to... more Teaching and Assessing Spirituality In and Out of Religion Departments: Pedagogical Principles to Develop Reflective Learners in Two Disciplines Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, Spring 2010, pp. 29-48 © Copyright Subject Centre ...

Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2011

ABSTRACT The introduction in the UK of the Civil Partnership Act (2004) and it's enactme... more ABSTRACT The introduction in the UK of the Civil Partnership Act (2004) and it's enactment (2005) seemed to herald a new plurality and inclusiveness in the ceremonial law and practices of marriage. However, the provisions of the Act maintain an historically exclusive ...

Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2004

Network models have achieved wide and varied currency in contemporary descriptions of Alternative... more Network models have achieved wide and varied currency in contemporary descriptions of Alternative spiritualities. However, in general, the ascription of a network structure and functionality among alternative religious groups and practices has not been followed with a rigorous examination of how the network is constituted in the field. This paper proposes a web model as the most appropriate taxonomical structure for Alternative spiritualities. The web model is applied to a detailed investigation of three linked aspects of the phenomena of alternative thought and spirituality: Schumacher College, the periodical Resurgence, and Satish Kumar. All are based in the UK and have a global influence on discussions about, in the words of Kumar, 'soil, soul and society'. The purpose of this paper has three elements. Firstly, to provide a description of an aspect of Alternative spirituality that has so far not been the subject of academic enquiry, using phenomenological, historical, and ethnographic research methods. Secondly, to outline an appropriate model of this aspect of spirituality that is accurate, of use in this specific context, and of utility in other contexts. Thirdly, to make an objective 'performance' of the model on three different categories of subject--a geographically located organisation, a periodical, and an individual.

brookes.ac.uk

This paper will examine the notion of wellbeing and some of its current uses. It will evaluate so... more This paper will examine the notion of wellbeing and some of its current uses. It will evaluate some of the contested notions that wellbeing culture represents, (in polemic form) as secular narcissism or spiritual practice, before focussing especially on practices of transformation and ...

The encyclopedic sourcebook of New Age religions, 2004

Spirituality and Society in the New Millennium. Brighton …

Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religion (JBASR), Apr 27, 2018

This book provides a detailed examination of theoretical and empirical approaches to New Age spir... more This book provides a detailed examination of theoretical and empirical approaches to New Age spiritualities. The author explains how the diverse and dynamic nature of New Age spiritualities requires methods of research that highlight plurality. His analysis of current descriptions of the field shows that many typologies of the thought and practices of those within the New Age have not reflected the actual experiences and beliefs of those they seek to describe. This text proposes a new theoretical model, and a detailed methodological framework for research using the idea of a weblike network. The empirical investigations into organisations and individuals provide ideographic evidence for the web model.

Part One Religion and the Study of Religions 1. Describing and Defining Religion 2. Grouping Reli... more Part One Religion and the Study of Religions 1. Describing and Defining Religion 2. Grouping Religions Part Two Perspectives in the Study of Religions 3. Study of Religions and Theology 4. Study of Religions and Phenomenology 5. Study of Religions and Philosophy 6. Study of Religions and Anthropology 7. Study of Religions and Sociology 8. Study of Religions and Psychology 9. Study of Religions and Identity Part Three Study Skills in Religious Studies 10. Getting Started 11. Learning, Reading and Assessment 12. Making the Most of Assessments 13. Writing with Confidence 14. Glossary.

This Paper is in three sections. The first is concerned with defining the terms, and setting the ... more This Paper is in three sections. The first is concerned with defining the terms, and setting the boundaries of the field with an analysis of the meanings and uses of the concepts referred to by the term ‘New Age Alternative Spiritualities’ The second section describes the design of a model for the field, the idea of the web. An explanation is given of the influences used in the design of the web model and the value of applying ‘insider’ categories to phenomena. In the third section a case study is used, that of Psychology of Vision, as an example of an organisation that functions according to the criteria of the web model. Here there is insider/primary material illustrating how New Age Alternative Spiritualities are creating new forms of ‘diffuse communities’.

DISKUS, 2014

This paper examines some of the key drivers in undergraduate teaching and learning in the subject... more This paper examines some of the key drivers in undergraduate teaching and learning in the subject area of Religion and Theology. The focus of the paper is on positive and widening opportunities and methodologies used in pedagogical practice at Higher Education institutions in the UK. Examples of good practice and key changes in modes of delivery indicate a rich area of growth and new learning experiences, identified here as 'complex learning'. However, the fecundity might belie stress factors that mark a more negative turn in the future of studies in these areas. This overview seeks to uncover the relative health of the area of academic study. The resultant image is not either that of 'lights going out' or of surging luminescence. Rather the view of the landscape is as if from above: a patchwork of practices and variegated levels of health. As a reflective perspective on pedagogy this paper also includes pedagogical purpose in highlighting successful and innovative forms. Recognising the significance of the information rich web, and the increased use of webbased sources used by prospective undergraduates in their selection of educational institution, the paper examines the kinds of information available and the value of such information as markers for the well-being of Religion and Theology. Maps and Markers for Healthy Learning. Amidst the profusion of data, performance indicators and digital analyses for measuring quantitative inputs and outputs there remains something essentially organic about learning and teaching. In the exchange of learning and the process of growing understanding there are both quantities and qualities. Measuring the relative health of learning and teaching for students requires a balanced perspective that assesses them

Handbook of New Age, 2007

NEW AGE DIFFUSE COMMUNITIES Dominic Corrywright The social reality of contemporary communities in... more NEW AGE DIFFUSE COMMUNITIES Dominic Corrywright The social reality of contemporary communities in a global context is that of change. Signiﬁcant changes in the ways that communities cohere and morphose are occurring in the modern, post-industrial and technological ...