Forskningsprojektet Banal (Non)Religion: Secular Imaginaries in Contemporary Pop-Culture inbjuder doktorander i religionssociologi och närliggande ämnen att delta i en samling inför den nordiska religionssocioogiska konferensen NCSR i Åbo i augusti 2026.
We invite doctoral students in the sociology of religion and related fields to a pre-conference workshop on methods of analysis, and how to research fuzzy or messy populations and topics without over interpreting. The workshop will start with lunch on the 11th of August, and continue until lunch on the 12th leading into the conference. Travel costs, one night stay, as well as lunch and dinner is covered by the Banal (Non)Religion: Secular Imaginaries in Contemporary Pop-Culture project, which is co-organizing this Pre-Conference with NASR.
The NCSR 2026 conference Research Approaches, Design and Methodology in the Sociology of Religion: Centering the Marginalized, Vulnerable and Socially Excluded focuses on the methodological repertoire of the sociology of religion. It focuses on how new questions arise in the study of marginalized and socially excluded populations. By focusing on these critical issues, NCSR 2026 aims to foster a deeper, more inclusive sociology of religion that not only observes but actively engages with the complexity and diversity of contemporary lived realities.
During the pre-conference you can expect lectures, as well as seminar discussions on your own papers by senior researchers, as well as your fellow doctoral students. The workshop will respond to the call of the conference, and will invite you to reflect on questions like how does our methods shape whose voices are heard, and how those voices are interpreted? And, how do we achieve quality, validity and reliability when studying hard to pin down populations?
Sista dagen för anmälan är den 12 juni 2026.