Religion and Society Research Centre

The Religion and Society Research Centre resides within the School of Social Sciences and Psychology.

The Religion and Society Research Centre is an expansion of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies (CSCMS) established in 2009 at UWS under the umbrella of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies.

Whereas the focus of the CSCMS was mainly on the study of Muslim communities and how they develop, interact with and adapt to secular societies, Religion and Society extends and deepens this scope in order to explore  the richness and diversity of religious traditions and communities both nationally and globally. In addition to consolidating the University’s growing research strengths in the social scientific study of religion, the expanded Centre aims to work with a wider range of academics from a variety of disciplinary fields such as religious studies, history, law, anthropology and philosophy.

Working within this larger field of research, Religion and Society extends but in no way diminishes the University’s ongoing commitment to building greater understanding and cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslim people, especially in Western Sydney. As such, the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies is the foundational research stream of the Religion and Society Centre, which has been expanded to cover six research streams: The Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies; Religion and Law; Religion and Citizenship; Religion and Family Life; Popular Religion; and Religion and the Body.

In addition to these research activities, Religion and Society also contributes to postgraduate teaching and research in the University with the aim of building a distinctive group of young scholars working broadly within the social sciences and humanities on research topics relating to religion, multiculturalism and post-secularism.