Carole M. Cusack, Studies in Religion, University of Sydney: Annual Report 2022 (original) (raw)

Carole M. Cusack, Studies in Religion, University of Sydney: Annual Report 2021

TheRHA: Newsletter of the Religious History Association, No. 11, March 2022, pp. 15-23.

2021 continued in the fashion of 2020, with academic life disrupted around the globe by the Covid-19 pandemic. In Semester 1 there was some on campus teaching, but for the majority of the year classes were online, as were research seminars. Conferences were similarly transformed by the impossibility of international travel. No staff member in Studies in Religion had extended leave in 2021, which was fortunate as from late May to late September we were engaged in the struggle to prevent Religion (and Theatre and Performance Studies) from being abolished, after leaks confirmed that University Management had devised a plan, “Operation Bluestar”, which would break up the School of Literature, Art and Media (in which SiR and TAPS were located) to move profitable departments and get rid of those that ran at a loss. Iain Gardner, as Chair of Department, led the negotiations on behalf of Religion. After a fierce campaign in which the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and Honi Soit (Students’ Representative Council newspaper), played invaluable roles, a stay of execution was announced in September 2021. Unfortunately, 2022 is also marked by uncertainty, as Religion will move to a newly constituted School of Humanities, and further cuts are likely.

Carole M. Cusack, Studies in Religion, University of Sydney: Annual Report, 2018

TheRHA: Newsletter of the Religious History Association, No. 8, March 2019, pp. 17-26.

The School of Literature, Art and Media (of which Studies in Religion is part) had two new Heads in 2018; Professor Gerard Goggin (Media and Communications) was Acting Head for Semester 1, and in Semester 2 Professor Umberto Ansaldo (University of Hong Kong) became the permanent Head of SLAM. Professors Goggin and Ansaldo provided extra funds for research initiatives which Religion benefited from. In September two colleagues of Professor Iain Gardner, Professor Zsuzsanna Gulácsi and Professor Jason BeDuhn (both of Northern Arizona University) were funded to contribute to the research culture of Studies in Religion. One valuable event was a masterclass on the Concept of Religion in Late Antiquity on Tuesday 18 September from 1 PM to 3.30 PM in the Woolley Building conducted by Professor BeDuhn.

Iain Gardner, Studies in Religion, University of Sydney: Annual Report 2010

TheRHA: Newsletter of the Religious History Society, No. 13, March 2011, pp. 21-24.

The Department of Studies in Religion has maintained steady progress this year. We were especially pleased that the appointments of Dr Christopher Hartney and Dr Jay Johnston were made permanent at the start of 2010. At the same time, all offerings in Buddhist Studies were consolidated in the Department of Indian Subcontinental Studies, and our colleagues Dr Edward Crangle and Dr Paul Fuller were re-located there. We were sorry to see them go (all the way downstairs in the Woolley Building), but maintain close contact on many academic and social matters. In general, the Faculty of Arts is in a period of transition, and it will be interesting to see what changes 2011 will bring.

Iain Gardner, Studies in Religion, University of Sydney: Annual Report 2011

TheRHA: Newsletter of the Religious History Society, No. 1, March 2012, pp. 24-27.

This has been another very busy and successful year for the Department of Studies in Religion. Student numbers, particularly for Junior level units, have showed a marked increase. Applications for postgraduate courses, especially the PhD, remain very strong; and we have had to turn away a number of good candidates as we can not supervise them with the present staff numbers. The Department has also been centrally involved with the development of a new cross-Faculty Major in ‘World Religions’ to be offered from 2013. This will be in addition to our own core Major in Studies in Religion, a proposed new Major in Buddhist Studies, and other existing Majors at the University in Biblical Studies; Arabic World, Islam and the Middle East; Jewish Civilisation, Thought and Culture. The discipline is making a strong presence here at the University!

Australian Association for the Study of Religion Conference 2012: Multiple Religious Modernities

2012

Local Organising Committee – University of Western Sydney Julia Howell Alphia Possamai-Inesedy Adam Possamai Judith Snodgrass Irena Veljanova Programme Committee Carole Cusack, University of Sydney Jamila Hussein, University of Technology, Sydney. Jay Johnston, University of Sydney and University of New South Wales Paul Oslington, Australian Catholic University. Adam Possamai, University of Western Sydney Malcolm Voyce, Macquarie University

Carole M. Cusack, Department Update – Studies in Religion

SLAM Newsletter #3, March 2020, pp. 4-6.

The first 2020 Studies in Religion seminar was delivered by Iain Gardner in the Rogers Room on 3 March. It was followed by a reception to celebrate his new book The Founder of Manichaeism: Rethinking the Life of Mani (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Religious Studies: The Changing Nature of Scholarship & Challenges for University Departments

Remember when boundaries between religions were clearly defined and the biggest issues for Departments of Religious Studies revolved around the insider-outsider and texts-or-practice debates? New realities – many of which can be linked to globalization – are changing the nature of religious traditions. How far have those changes made their way into Religious Studies’ departments in Canadian universities? How are Religious Studies’ departments in Canadian positioned for dealing with the global realities of the 21st century? Such questions are not new. They have been raised and answered in other disciplines – notably anthropology – but seem to be more problematic in religious studies. This paper presents preliminary findings. It explores questions relating to (1) “religious studies” ; (2) the current situation in selected universities in terms of the Departments of Religious Studies and course offerings; (3) globalization and the changing face of religions/religious traditions; and (4) the changing face of Departments of Religious Studies in Canadian universities. The paper then summarizes its findings and presents its conclusions.