Events

Lectures, conferences, symposia, a film series, field-trips and special events—these are some of the channels through which knowledge generated from CSRS research is shared with the community. With few exceptions, CSRS events are free and open to all members of the public and university community.

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Click the above icon to watch our past lectures on our YouTube Channel 

The CSRS Weekly Lecture Series

September-December 2023

These CSRS lectures feature our fellows and special guests. They are held from 5:00-6:00 pm Pacific Time on Thursdays throughout the academic year, with the exception of some special lectures (see dates below with an asterisk* for exceptions). 

Scholars in the Square: Our New Public Lecture Format

We are delighted to launch the brand-new Scholars in the Square format in September 2023. These lectures will be held in an intimate venue, with a maximum audience of 20 people. The speaker will present their lecture in 20 minutes, after which the CSRS director and an interlocutor with expertise in the speaker’s topic will engage the speaker in conversation for 20 minutes. The “Square” in our new format refers to the public square, and so in the final 20 minutes of the event, we will take questions from the other people in the room and from an online audience. The talks will then be posted on our website. This format helps us to share with the world the very best of the CSRS: collegial conversations that build bridges between specialists and broadly curious members of the public.

The general public is welcome to join us online. To join the lecture online, click the button below. Please sign in at least five minutes prior to the lecture.

Click here to attend the lecture

Click speakers' names for more details.​ Click here to access our YouTube channel for recordings.

All lectures include audience Q&A. 

Audio recordings of past lectures are available on UVic's SoundCloud site and the videos for the John Albert Hall Lectures are available on our Vimeo page. 


Sept. 14th, 2023 Abby Day Who Needs a Priest When You Have a Hairdresser?: Baring Bodies, Baring Souls

Sept. 21st, 2023

Paul Bramadat Yoga: Punch-line, Panacea, or Problem?
Sept. 28th, 2023 Megan Hollinger Creating Contact, Bridging Divides
Oct. 5th, 2023 John Nelson Adventures with Religions in Contemporary Asia
Oct. 12th, 2023 Matt Orr Science, Spirituality and a Sustainable Future

*Oct. 17th, 2023

*postponed

Francesca Stavrakopoulou

 

Lansdowne Lecture

What Does God Look Like?

*Oct. 19th, 2023

*postponed

Francesca Stavrakopoulou

John Albert Hall lecture

Scenes from the Life of God’s Ex-Wife

 

Oct. 26th, 2023

Julian Evans Deep Listening and the Animist Imaginary

*Nov. 3rd, 2023

Friday

12:00-1:20pm 

Dan Stone

Philip Young Recital Hall

The Holocaust: An Unfinished History
Nov. 9th, 2023 Devyani Tewari Flawed: Disability and Marriage Law in India
Nov. 23rd, 2023 Neil Montgomery The Religious Threads of Canada’s Colonial Constitution

Nov. 30th, 2023

Andy Muchin The Barry Sisters: America’s Yiddish Swingsters

 

 

The CSRS Weekly Lecture Series - April-May 2023

These CSRS lectures feature our fellows and special guests. They are held from 12:00-1:00 pm Pacific Time and provided both in-person and online (unless specifically stated). 

Locations of in-person lectures (unless otherwise noted in the table).

David Strong Building (DSB) C103

All lectures include a live audience Q&A (unless otherwise noted)

Audio recordings of past lectures are available on UVic's SoundCloud site and the videos for the John Albert Hall Lectures are available on our Vimeo page. 

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April 27, 2023

*4:30-7:15pm

Bilston Creek Farm

Tzeporah Berman

John Albert Hall (JAH) lecture series: 

A Conversation with Tzeporah Berman

 

May 4, 2023

*5:00-6:30pm 

Upper Lounge in Student Union Building

David Seljak

John Albert Hall (JAH) lecture series: 

Permanent Revolution: Religion and The Canadian Social Order

*Recording will be availalbe on our YouTube channel on a later date.

May 13, 2023

Saturday

Click here for the time and location.

Irfan Ahmad

The SAR (Society for the Anthropology of Religion) Biennial Conference, partially sponsored by CSRS: 

Drinking Secularism

*Click here for more about the whole SAR event for May 12-14 including Irfan's bio.

May 17, 2023

Wednesday

DSB C103

Nicola Hayward

Rethinking Women's Sacred Space in Light of the Sant'Apollinare Nuovo Mosaics

May 24, 2023

Wednesday

DSB C103

Brian Froese

"The Branding Irons of Antichrist": Prairie Politics and the Bible

 

John Albert Hall Lectures 

(click the title for more detail)

Land, Law, Religion and Reconciliation: A Colloquium (May 4-6, 2023)


JAH event in March 2022

Click here to watch a recording of this lecture.

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The John Albert Hall Lectures are a multi-part speaker series featuring expert perspectives on the changing role of religion in contemporary society. Support for this series is generously provided by the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets John Albert Hall Trust. 

Watch here our past JAH lectures on the CSRS YouTube channel. 

The CSRS Weekly Lecture Series - January-April 2023

These CSRS lectures feature our fellows and special guests. They are held from 5:00-6:00 pm Pacific Time on Thursdays throughout the academic year, with the exception of some special lectures (see dates below with an asterisk* for exceptions). 

Locations of in person lectures (unless otherwise noted in the table).

January - April 2023: David Turpin Building A110 (unless specified otherwise)

Along with in-person lectures, we will also run parallel online access to these lectures. This online access will be live on Zoom and recordings on the CSRS YouTube channel. Click speakers' names for Zoom sign-in information and more details.​ Click here or the button above to access our YouTube channel for recordings.

All lectures include a live audience Q&A both in person and on the Zoom platform. 

Audio recordings of past lectures are available on UVic's SoundCloud site and the videos for the John Albert Hall Lectures are available on our Vimeo page. 


Jan. 12th, 2023

Jim Cohn

Online presentation

Selling Your Soul for Fun and Profit: Faustian Bargains

Jan. 19th, 2023

Zohra Batul and Reeta Tremblay

Online presentation

Sacred Sites as Public Sphere in Kashmir’s Contentious Politics 

Jan. 26th, 2023

Francis Landy

Three Bodies of God

Feb. 2nd, 2023

-postponed

Cindy Holmes 

*lecture moved to April 13th, 2023

Around the Table: Dinner Dialogues, Spirituality and Social Justice

Feb. 9th, 2023

Brian Bird

Conscience and Democracy

Feb. 16th, 2023

Tanya Brittain

Tracing Talisman: Power Politics and Religion in Modern Japan

March 2nd, 2023

Jessica Ziakin-Cook

'Outward and Visible Signs': Sacramentalism and Modern Art, 1920-1931

March 16th, 2023

Ratana Ly

Cambodia: The Impact of Religious Norms on Workplace Safety

*March 21st, 2023

Tuesday

5:00-6:30pm

HHB105

Sa'diyya Shaikh

*Please note the change in schedule and location.

Distinguished Lecture in Islam

An Ethics of Love and Justice: Islamic Feminist Reflections

March 30th, 2023

11:00am-12:00pm

Rebecca Hall

Online Presentation

*Please note the unusual time.

Visions of Impermanence: Cremation Structures and the Path to Heaven in Northern Thailand

April 6th, 2023

 

Holly Ratcliffe

 

Pentimenti: Ceramic Funeral Vessels as Biographies of Spiritual Homecomings

April 13th, 2023

5:00-6:30pm

SUB Upper Lounge

Cindy Holmes 

 Around the Table: Dinner Dialogues, Spirituality and Social Justice

 

 

Special Events

The CSRS hosts a range of special events including conferences, symposia, tours, and one-off lectures, often in collaboration with other UVic departments, community organizations, or affiliates such as MEICON.

  • 13th Annual MEICON-BC Student Conference on the Middle East and the Islamic World
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Distinguished Lecture in Islam

The CSRS presents lectures from an eminent scholar working in fields related to Islamic studies. A fund supporting this lecture series was established in 2007 by an anonymous donor who wished to increase the community's understanding of Islam.

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Conferences, Seminars, & Symposiums

In collaboration with community and university partners the CSRS hosts special events such as conferences, seminars, and symposiums. Check back for information about upcoming events as they are schedulled.

Recent Events

2023 ASRI Lecture 

Past Events

March 15th, 2019 -- "Religion and its Others: Power, Sovereignty, and Politics in Indian Religions Past and Present" Sponsored by the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. Please click here for the symposium agenda.

Centre-Cine Film Series

Upcoming Centre-Cine session: 

Past Centre-Cine session:

Night and Fog (Director: Alain Resnais) Watch it here on Vimeo.

Just Mercy (Director: Destin Daniel Cretton) Watch a trailer here.

From September through April, the CSRS presents feature or documentary films as part of the Centre-Cine Film Series. The films are carefully chosen to explore questions of morality, culture, the search for meaning, and other themes arising from the human spiritual journey.

Centre-Cine participants from centre fellows will be sent the name of selected films. It is up to participants to locate and watch the films themselves. All participants are then invited to meet for a group discussion on the films with CSRS Artist-in-Residence, Terry Marner, acting as a facilitator. All films in the series will be available on Netflix and most will be available from the Greater Victoria Public Library (GVPL) on DVD. Viewers may have to place a hold on the movie if they are using the GVPL.