Religion Professor Presented Papers at Conference in Canada

Dr. Bryan Rennie, Westminster College professor and chair of the Department of Religion, History, Philosophy and Classics, presented two papers at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) Nov. 6-10 in Le Palais des Congrès in Montreal, Quebec.

Rennie presented "Method and Theory and the Philosophy of Religion(s)" to a session on method and theory co-sponsored by the AAR and NAASR. Other presenters included AAR President Dr. Ann Taves of the University of California at Santa Barbara and representatives of universities in Germany and the Netherlands. Papers from this session have been accepted for publication in a special issue of the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.

His second paper was a reaction to Edward Slingerland's book What the Sciences Have to Offer the Humanities at a session organized by AAR's Cognitive Science of Religion Group. The session also included reactions from representatives of universities in Denmark and Vermont, and the author's response.

Rennie, who is completing the third of a three-year term as vice president and program chair of NAASR, organized three sessions: religion and post-coloniality; religion and politics; and political theology.

"It was an honor to be associated with these sessions," Rennie said. "I learned a great deal from them all, both from organizing the events and from their contents."

Rennie, who holds the Vira I. Heinz Chair in Religion, has been with Westminster since 1992. He earned an undergraduate degree, a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has authored four books and numerous articles on Mircea Eliade.

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

Dr. Bryan Rennie