As the start of the fall semester inches closer, we’ve invited a handful of our contributors to reflect on what…
Courtney Bender
Courtney Bender is professor of religion at Columbia University. She is the author of Heaven's Kitchen: Living Religion at God's Love We Deliver (University of Chicago Press, 2003) and The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination (University of Chicago Press, 2010), and a co-editor of volumes focused on religious pluralism, secular-spiritual practices, and the sociology of religion. She has served as the co-chair of the SSRC's Working Group on Spirituality, Political Engagement, and Public Life and chair of the SSRC’s grant program, New Directions in the Study of Prayer.
Toward a new sociology of religion
Many sociologists of religion have voiced the concern that the sub-discipline is "in crisis." Others bemoan what they view as…
Taxing yoga: exercise or spiritual practice?
Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported on a controversy that erupted over the decision by Missouri tax authorities to…
The new gurus
In last week’s New York Times Sunday Styles section, Allen Salkin reported on the emergence of a “new wave” of…
Rethinking religious pluralism
Alongside the ongoing discussion of A Secular Age, I would like to consider another important nexus in modern life---religious pluralism.…