Professor and Student to Attend National Religion Conference

Dr. Bryan Rennie, Westminster College's Vira I. Heinz professor of religion, and Zoe Anthony, a Westminster senior religion major, will attend the American Academy of Religion (AAR) conference Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in Chicago.

Rennie, who is vice president and program chair of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR), organized three academic sessions for the conference: "The Case(s) of Turkey: From Secularization to De-Secularization;" "The Testability of Cognitive Theories of Religion;" and "Religious Institutions in the Context of Finance Market Capitalism," which he will chair.

AAR, the largest academic association for the study of religion, offers auxiliary sessions for use by satellite associations. NAASR, a smaller independent scholarly association, uses several of AAR's auxiliary sessions for its annual general business meeting and academic sessions.

Anthony is attending the conference to gather information for her College Honors project on the thought of Mircea Eliade and the cognitive study of religion. Rennie is her faculty adviser.

"I hope that at the conference I will be able to meet some of the people whose works I have been reading and that by meeting them I can come to a more accurate understanding of the cognitive science of religion and of its implications," Anthony said. "I am certain that my understanding of religion and religious practice as a whole will benefit immensely from this conference."

Anthony, a daughter of Nora Anthony of Campbell, Ohio, and William Anthony of Tarpon Springs, Fla., is a graduate of Campbell Memorial High School.

Her attendance at the conference is supported by the Heinz Collaborative Research Fund.

Contact Rennie at (724) 946-7151 or e-mail brennie@westminster.edu for more information.

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