Due to the COVID19 pandemic restrictions, the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society team, led by Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker, have been developing alternative ways to connect with the project’s global network of researchers and University of Birmingham students.
The most recent initiative is a series of podcasts, recorded between July and November 2020. Will, James and Rachael chatted with network members from the USA, Australia, India, South Africa and the UK from a range of disciplines including Sociology, Social Psychology, History of Science and Media Studies. Guests discuss how their disciplinary approach contributes to understanding the relationship between Science and Belief in society, their current research in the field and their academic journeys so far.
A new episode of the series will launch every month. Episode topics include the history of the science-religion ‘conflict thesis’; science and non-religion; science, belief and social identities; science and religion on television; science, religion and stereotypes and much more…
The series is aimed at a global audience of network members who come from a range of disciplines as well as more junior scholars and students. Episodes present unfamiliar or esoteric content in an accessible, conversational style.
A book giveaway accompanies each episode. Listeners will enter via social media (by sharing a link and tagging the team via Twitter or Facebook) and go into a draw to win a relevant book.