UVic Researchers Study Canada's Religious Diversity

Four University of Victoria researchers are contributing to a nation-wide study on the challenges of religious diversity in Canada.
         The UVic researchers are: Centre for Studies in Religion and Society Director Paul Bramadat; political science professor Avigail Eisenberg; and law professors Benjamin Berger and Rebecca Johnson. The UVic profs are part of a team of 36 researchers from around the globe who will spend the next seven years delving into the role of religion in an evolving society such as Canada.
         Their project titled “The Religion and Diversity Project” will seek to identify, in detail, the contours of religious diversity in Canada, and the potential benefits of approaches to diversity that promote substantive or deep equality and move beyond tolerance and accommodation. The team’s research will place Canada in the context of other western democracies and, over the course of the project, will work to identify global patterns in responses to religious diversity.
         “Religion, diversity and identity engage issues that are central to public discourse about questions regarding meaningful participation, social cohesion, alienation, equality, inclusion, and more,” says Eisenberg. “This is a timely project that speaks to a key concern of our time.”
         The UVic team will work with researchers from 23 other universities in Canada, Australia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The study was one of four projects—two of which involve UVic researchers--announced this week by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
 

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