World Religions and Spirituality Project explained
The World Religions and Spirituality Project (WRSP, formerly known as the New Religious Movements Homepage Project[1]) publishes academic profiles of new and established religious movements, archive material related to some groups, and articles that provide context for the profiles.[2] [3] It is referenced by scholars,[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] journalists,[12] [13] [14] and human rights groups[15] to provide a scholarly representation of threatened communities.
History
WRSP developed from Jeffrey K. Hadden's Religious Movements Homepage Project, which he founded in 1995. After Hadden's death in 2003, Douglas E. Cowan became Project Director. In 2007, it was described as "one of the largest information sites on new religious movements".[16] In 2010, David G. Bromley became the Project Director.[3] He expanded the scope of the project to recruit international scholars instead of local students and renamed it the World Religions and Spirituality Project.[3] [17]
Purpose
In an article that discusses the challenge of teaching students about new religious movements, Douglas E. Cowan explains that, because of "the thousands of NRMs that exist in the world at any one time, only a relative handful are ever discussed in the various print resources […], and the Internet is, by default, the only source of information available. The issue then becomes how credible the information is that they obtain online."[18] Websites like CESNUR, the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, the Internet Sacred Text Archive, the Association of Religion Data Archives, and WRSP are understood as examples of websites that respond to this problem.[19] These websites serve to popularize the academic study of new religious movements.
Special projects
In addition to publishing profiles, it has ten special projects, thematic or regional, which are directed by recognized scholars.[20]
- Thematic Special Projects[21]
- Regional Special Projects[22]
- Local Special Projects[23]
-
- Student Research on North American Buddhist Communities (defunct)
- Kevin Vose (College of William & Mary)
- Arch City Religion
- A Journey through NYC Religions
- Tony Carnes (editor and publisher)[25]
- Community Religious Project
- Religious Diversity in New Orleans (defunct)
- World Religions in Arizona (defunct)
- David Damrel (Arizona State University)
- The Religious Landscape in Orlando, Florida
- Portland Muslim History Project
- Buddhism in Virginia Beach
- New Vrindaban Project
- Hindu and Jain Communities in North Texas
- The Changing Religious Landscape of Atlanta, Georgia
- Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, and Sikh Religious Centers in Atlanta
- Mapping Post-1965 Immigrant Religious Communities in Northern Ohio
- Pluralism in the "Bible Belt": Mapping the Religious Diversity of South Georgia
- Religious Diversity in Upstate South Carolina
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Nova Religio and the World Religions and Spirituality Project . University of California Press . 8 July 2019.
- Bromley . David G. . Willsky-Ciollo . Lydia . The World Religions & Spirituality Project . Religious Studies Faculty Book Gallery . January 2016 . Fairfield University . 8 July 2019.
- Web site: About Us . World Religions and Spirituality Project . 12 July 2019.
- Knott . Kim . Applying the study of religions in the security domain: knowledge, skills, and collaboration . Journal of Religious and Political Practice . Informa UK Limited . 4 . 3 . 2018-09-02 . 2056-6093 . 10.1080/20566093.2018.1525901 . 354–373. 158937341 . free .
- Krebs . Jill M. . Teaching and learning guide for contemporary Marian apparitions and devotional cultures . Religion Compass . Wiley . 11 . 5–6 . 2017 . 1749-8171 . 10.1111/rec3.12234 . e12234.
- Web site: COVID-19: Scapegoating Shincheonji in South Korea . CESNUR . 1984-03-14 . 2020-08-08.
- Book: Dynamism and the Ageing of a Japanese 'New' Religion . Notes . Bloomsbury Academic . 2019 . 978-1-350-08651-7 . 10.5040/9781350086548-008 .
- Bromley . David . Santa Muerte as Emerging Dangerous Religion? . Religions . MDPI AG . 7 . 6 . 2016-06-03 . 2077-1444 . 10.3390/rel7060065 . 65. free .
- Book: Deo, Nandini . Postsecular feminisms : religion and gender in transnational context . Bloomsbury Academic . London, UK . 2018 . 978-1-350-03806-6 . 1039718550 .
- Book: Kitts . Margo . Oxford Scholarship Online . Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation . Oxford University Press . 2018-05-24 . 978-0-19-065648-5 . 10.1093/oso/9780190656485.001.0001 .
- Book: Bromley, David G. . Oxford Handbooks Online . New Religions as a Specialist Field of Study . Oxford University Press . 2009-09-02 . 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588961.013.0041 .
- Web site: HBO's 'Going Clear' leaves future of Scientology unclear . Washington Post . 2015-03-26 . 2020-08-08.
- Web site: N.Y. church descended into fear before teen's fatal beating, ex-members say - CBC News . CBC . 2015-10-17 . 2020-08-08.
- Web site: Church where teen was beaten to death fueled by fear, ex-members say . CBS News . 2015-10-18 . 2020-08-08.
- Web site: Bodu Bala Sena (Army of Buddhist Power) / BBS . People's Rights Group . 8 August 2020.
- Book: Cowan . Douglas E. . Bromley . David G. . Teaching New Religious Movements on the World Wide Web . 2007 . Oxford University Press . 9780195177299 . 300.
- Nova Religio and the World Religions and Spirituality Project . Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions . November 2015 . 19 . 2 . 130 . 10.1525/nr.2015.18.4.140. 10.1525/nr.2015.18.4.140 .
- Book: Cowan . Douglas E. . Bromley . David G. . Teaching New Religious Movements on the World Wide Web . 2007 . Oxford University Press . 9780195177299 . 294–295.
- Book: Cowan . Douglas E. . Bromley . David G. . Teaching New Religious Movements on the World Wide Web . 2007 . Oxford University Press . 9780195177299 . 295–296.
- Web site: Organization & Leadership . World Religions and Spirituality Project . 12 July 2019.
- Web site: Thematic Projects – WRSP . 2022-08-06 . en.
- Web site: Regional Projects – WRSP . 2022-08-06 . en.
- Web site: Local Community Projects – WRSP . 2022-08-06 . en.
- Web site: About . 2022-08-06 . Arch City Religion . en-US.
- Web site: 2011-02-14 . People . 2022-08-06 . A Journey through NYC religions . en-US.
- Web site: Professor Melanie Prideaux School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science University of Leeds . 2022-08-06 . ahc.leeds.ac.uk . en.