After Secularization

Mar 1–Mar 2, 2013
UC Irvine


This conference features the dissertation research of an interdisciplinary group of young scholars from around the country who are investigating the secular and secularism after the failure, or at least refiguring, of the secularization thesis. Their projects are grounded in a wide range of contexts — historical, literary, and social scientific. With support from the Social Science Research Council’s Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship, the panelists met in 2010 to assess the state of the field and to refine their initial research plans. The participants now reconvene with senior scholars to present their advanced research and offer future directions for inquiry into the secular.

Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the University of California Humanities Research Institute and the Social Science Research Council. Please contact Joseph Blankholm at jlb2210@columbia.edu with any questions.

Conference Agenda:

Friday, March 1, 2013

3:15 PM

Welcome and Introductory Remarks, Prof. Jonathan Sheehan, Dept. of History (UC-Berkeley)

3:30 – 5:00 PM

Panel 1: Negotiating the Secular
Panelists: Hikmet Kocamaner (University of Arizona), James Robertson (NYU)
Respondent: Prof. James Gelvin, Dept. of History (UCLA)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

9:30 – 11:00 AM
Panel 2: Pious Secularists in Global Affairs
Panelists: David Buckley (Georgetown University), Justin Reynolds (Columbia University)
Respondent: Prof. Cecelia Lynch, Dept. of Political Science (UCI)

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Roundtable Discussion: Debating the Post-Secular

1:00 – 3:00 PM

Panel 3: Secularizing Theologies
Panelists: CJ Gordon (UCI), Alex Hernandez (UCLA), Sarah Shortall (Harvard University)
Respondent: Prof. Jane Newman, Dept. of Comparative Literature (UCI)

3:30 – 5:00 PM

Panel 4: The Religious Surplus of Secularization
Panelists: Joseph Blankholm (Columbia University), Annie Hardison-Moody (Emory University)
Respondent: Prof. Lilith Mahmud, Dept. of Anthropology (UCI)

5:30 PM
Closing Remarks, Prof. Vincent Pecora, Dept. of English (University of Utah)