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.
Click here to attend our lectures online
You can attend each lecture online by clicking the button above from five minutes prior to the starting time. Please find the starting time of each lecture indicated in the table below.
Click the above icon to watch our past lectures on our YouTube Channel
- CSRS Lectures, May-June, 2024
- CSRS Lectures, Jan - Apr 2024
- CSRS Lectures, Sep - Dec 2023
- John Albert Hall Lectures
- Special Events
- Films
The CSRS Weekly Lecture Series - May 2024
These CSRS lectures feature our fellows and special guests. They are held from 12:00-1:00 pm Pacific Time (unless otherwise noted). The general public is welcome to join us online. Simply click the lecture attandance button on top of this events page to do so. Please sign in at least five minutes prior to the lecture.
Scholars in the Square: Our New Public Lecture Format
We are delighted to continue to provide the brand-new Scholars in the Square format that launched 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.
All lectures include a live audience Q&A (unless otherwise noted)
A limited number of in-person attendance is also available. Please sign up here for the green button above for our weekly Lecture Notices mailing list to receive invitations for the in-person attandance. Recordings of past lectures are also available on our YouTube channel.
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May 2, 2024 |
Tina Block |
"Virtuous Atheists": Unbelief in Postwar Canada |
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May 9, 2024 |
Bouchra Mossmann | Making the Arctic a Muslim home |
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*May 14, 2024 Tuesday |
Elliot Hanowski | The Struggle for a Godless Canada |
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May 23, 2024 |
Braden Russell |
Understanding Identity and Belonging of Queer Jews in Germany |
The CSRS Weekly Lecture Series
January-April 2024
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.
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Jan. 11th, 2024 |
Shobhana Xavier | Sufism, Rumi, and Religious Appropriation |
| Jan. 18th, 2024 |
Online only |
An Uneasy Coexistence: Rethinking Minority Lives in Turkey |
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*Jan. 25th, 2024
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*This lecture is postponed to a later date. |
Harold Coward India Fellow lecture: Sites of Resistance: Gender and Sacred Space |
|
Feb. 1st, 2024 |
Meghan Richey | Ecospirituality in Gen Z |
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Feb. 8th, 2024 5:00-6:30pm MACA144 |
*A recording of this lecture will become available soon. |
Queerness Isn't Inclusive, and Church Shouldn't Be Either |
|
Feb. 15th, 2024 |
Amina Ejaz | Islam and 'Art-ivism' in Pakistan |
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*Feb. 24th 2024 Saturday 9:30am-3:30pm |
Keynote lecturer: Michael W. Higgins *A recording of this lecture will become available soon. |
The Prophetic Vision of Bishop Remi De Roo: A Symposium *Click here for more details. |
| Feb. 29th 2024 |
*This lecture is postponed to a later date. |
"God is not a child protection policy" |
| March 7th, 2024 | Arvind Kumar | The (Sacred) Stories We Tell: Stigma and Myth in India |
|
March 14th 2024 |
Sean Kiley | Music and Trance: Mapping Altered States through Sound |
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*March 21st, 2024 5:00-6:15pm SUB Upper Lounge |
*Registration is only for in-person audience. *No registration is required for online attendance. Just click the button on top of this page. |
Artist-in-Residence lecture Sacred Technologies |
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 |
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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 |
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*Oct. 17th, 2023 |
*postponed Francesca Stavrakopoulou
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Lansdowne Lecture What Does God Look Like? |
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*Oct. 19th, 2023 |
*postponed Francesca Stavrakopoulou |
John Albert Hall lecture Scenes from the Life of God’s Ex-Wife
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Oct. 26th, 2023 |
Julian Evans | Deep Listening and the Animist Imaginary |
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*Nov. 3rd, 2023 Friday 12:00-1:20pm |
*In-person attendance only. |
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 |
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Nov. 30th, 2023 |
Andy Muchin | The Barry Sisters: America’s Yiddish Swingsters |
Coming up for John Albert Hall Lectures
(click the title for more detail)
Queerness Isn't Inclusive, and Church Shouldn't Be Either (February 8, 2024)
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.
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
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.
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
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
Examples of past Centre-Cine films:
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.