NEWS
Celebrating Assoc Prof Anna Halafoff‘s election, along with Prof Yin Paradies, as Fellows to the Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH). The Academy’s President, Professor Stephen Garton, said each of the 41 distinguished humanities scholars elected to the AAH Fellowship, are ‘at the forefront of issues of national and international importance and exemplify why ethical, historical, creative and cultural knowledge and expertise is critical to better decision making for a resilient society.’
The AAH Fellowship recognises Anna’s international expertise in inter-religious studies and Buddhist studies, and her outstanding research of religious diversity, and inter-religious and intercultural relations.
Yin’s internationally renowned research, of Indigenous knowledges, decolonisation, and, most significantly, the health, social and economic effects of racism, especially against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, has also been honoured by the Fellowship.
Congratulations on this acknowledgement of exemplary scholarship and leadership! Full media release here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Book Launch: Let the Dead Speak: Spiritualism in Australia
You are warmly invited to the launch of Let the Dead Speak: Spiritualism in Australia, a new book by Andrew Singleton (Deakin University) and Matt Tomlinson (ANU), published by Manchester University Press (2025).
Date & Time: Thursday, 8 May 2025, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Venue: Victorian Spiritualists’ Union, North Melbourne, 135 Boundary Rd, North Melbourne
The book will be launched by Rev. Lorraine Lee Tet (President, VSU) and A/Prof. Debra McDougall (Anthropology, University of Melbourne), with A/Prof. Bart Ziino (Deakin) as MC.
Light refreshments provided.
This is a free event, but bookings are essential for catering purposes. Click on this link https://events.humanitix.com/book–launch-let-the-dead-speak-spiritualism-in-australia] to reserve your place.
PAST EVENTS / RECORDINGS
Religions for Peace Australia & Canberra Interfaith Forum
invites ALL to our
World Interfaith Harmony Week Event 2025
When: Wednesday 5th February
Time: 5.30-7.30 pm AEDT (5pm SA, 4.30pm QLD, 4pm NT, 2.30pm WA)
Where: ZOOMED from Parliament House Canberra
Religions for Peace Australia (RfPA) Zoom registration link https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlcOypqTItE916fg21_Og7Z3VzwJcirmSF |
Topic: Acknowledging Respect & Inclusion of Indigenous Nations Spirituality: In a Nation that Embraces Many Diverse Cultures and Faiths
Guest Speaker: Prof. Dr. Anne Pattel-Gray
Australia is proud of its multicultural nation that boasts 270 ethnic groups. Australia is considered a secular country with a diverse migrant and refugee population with over 120 faiths. Yet Australia has traditionally been a majority Christian country that has largely ignored, oppressed and marginalised its First Nations peoples. As an Aboriginal woman, I am proudly from the Bidjara nation [in QLD] with a connection to a country that predates British invasion and colonisation. How do we forge a nation based on the truth that includes and shows respect to First Nations people, recognises our Spirituality and culture, and embraces our ancient knowledge? There is a critical need in Australia for a greater understanding of each other’s cultural and religious differences. This will enable us to find common ground and build stronger relationships that allow respect for each other to grow.
Professor Dr Anne Pattel-Gray is a scholar, theologian, activist, prolific writer, and a nationally and internationally renowned Aboriginal leader. The former Head of the School of Indigenous Studies at Melbourne’s University of Divinity, Professor Pattel-Gray earned her Ph.D. in 1995 from the University of Sydney in the Studies of Religion with a focus on Aboriginal Religion and Spirituality and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from India in 1997. She is a recognised expert in de-colonising biblical narratives and developing Indigenous theology, and brings significant insights into the cultural knowledge and religious life of Aboriginal people, and the impact of colonisation and missionisation on First Nations peoples of Australia. Professor Pattel-Gray has a long history of advocating for the rights of Indigenous peoples.
This event will be zoomed across Australia.
For further information contact Dr Sarah Haggar [email protected]
Yours Sincerely,
Emeritus Professor Desmond Cahill, Moderator of the Asian Conference on Religion and Peace, Honorary President, Religions for Peace Australia
Ms Philippa Rowland, Chairperson, Religions for Peace Australia
About the organiser
Religions for Peace Australia https://religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au/ is the only multifaith network in Australia that has branches/affiliates or links in all Australian States and Territories with Canberra Interfaith Forum being one of our affiliates. Religions for Peace strongly supported the Voice to Parliament as part of its mission is to work for the appropriate recognition of the spiritualities of Australia’s First Peoples and all indigenous peoples across the world. In 2024 Religions for Peace Australia’s main website had over 11 million hits. Religions for Peace Australia has other websites devoted to Multifaith Education, Multifaith Chaplaincy and Multifaith Prayers. RfP Australia is an affiliate of the Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (RfP Asia) https://rfpasia.org/ which is part of Religions for Peace International (RfP) https://www.rfp.org/ Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, that advances common action among the world’s religious communities for peace. RfP International was established in 1970.
Spiritual Fandom: Hillsong and International Students in Australia, Wednesday 20 November, online.
Prof Cristina Rocha (University of Western Sydney) draws on her new book Cool Christianity: Hillsong and the Fashioning of Cosmopolitan Identities (2024 Oxford University Press) to explore how new and reconfigured forms of Christianity in both the Global North and South are increasingly mediated, engaged with by youth and celebrity cultures, and involve new forms of consumption, branding and identity. In this seminar, Cristina explores the ‘spiritual fandom’ that characterises the aesthetic style of the Australian megachurch Hillsong. She argues that Pentacostalism, as a branch of Christianity relies on direct experience of the Holy Spirit lends itself to the deeply affective sensibility of fandom, demonstrating how celebrity culture and spirituality can be spectacularly enmeshed in contemporary times.
This seminar is part of the Religion & Society Online Seminar Series, hosted by the School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Sydney, and will be convened by Dr Kathleen Openshaw.
Please register for further details and attendance via Zoom here.
Literacy and Spirituality for Health, 30 October 2024, Deakin Downtown/Zoom.
Dr Gabriela Irrazabal (RMIT Europe) presented an online research seminar Literacy and Spirituality for Health hosted by the SWell Network. Gabriela’s presentation explored the relationship between conceptions of biomedical and complementary and alternative medicine and emphasised the need for in-depth research of the critical role of spirituality in understanding the impacts of health literacy. With discussion convened by Assoc. Prof. Anna Halafoff.
Alone Australia: Indigenous, Religious and Holistic Spiritual Complexity, 23 October 2024, online.
Assoc. Prof. Anna Halafoff and PhD student Samantha Hauw (Deakin University Australia) applied Australian (Southern) theories of ‘spiritual complexity’ and ‘relational naturalism’ to a case study of the reality TV survival program ‘Alone Australia’ set in lutruwita in the Tasmanian wilderness. This paper was presented as part of the Religion & Society Online Seminar Series on Wednesday 23 October and was convened by Prof. Cristina Rocha and Dr Kathleeen Openshaw.
Ray Martin: the Last Goodbye, 14 August 2024, SBS OnDemand.
Dr Hannah Gould was academic advisor to Ray Martin, creator of this documentary series with the BBC/SBS, leading him through some of the diversity and complexity of our end-of-life and death care systems.
Available on the SBS OnDemand streaming service with the trailer here.
How Internet Memes become Implicit Communicators of Dis/Mis-information about Religion, 24 June 2024, online.
Prof Heidi Campbell (Texas and A&M University) explored internet memes and mimetic culture as a site of production and spread of religious bias and information. By looking at examples of popular meme characters used to discuss Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism, this talk illustrated how viral memes can be intentionally and unintentionally used to spread hate and religious information. This seminar was presented in collaboration with UQ Studies in Religion Seminars and the SWell Research Network.
Spirituality, Science and Wellbeing in Australia and Brazil, 11 June 2024, online.
Joshua Waters, Indigenous studies scholar spoke from current and recent findings on Indigenous Australian expressions of spirituality across time, while Prof Cristina Rocha discussed holistic spirituality and its engagement with biomedicine in Australia and Brazil. The discussion was convened by Assoc. Prof Anna Halafoff who also emphasised ‘sciencey-spirituality’ and the increasing engagement of diverse spiritual persons, communities and movements with science, demonstrating the benefits of spiritual practices whilst critiquing science for rational and, sometimes, (con)spiratorial reasons.
This seminar was the sixth of an ongoing series for the Research Network on Science, Religion and Health directed by Mar Griera.
The Transthropocene: Contagion, Pollution, Toxicity, 1 May 2024, online.
Dr Emily McAvan (Deakin University) talked about religiously inflected ideas of nature, climate change and transphobia.
This was part of the ‘Writing, Literature and Culture/Reading Writing seminar’ at Deakin University Australia.
Vibing with Karma, Swiftposium, 13 February 2024, University of Melbourne.
Assoc. Prof Ann Halaffof and Dr Hannah Gould presented a Buddhist Studies/sociology/anthropology paper entitled ‘Vibing with karma: Buddhist teachings in life and death in Western popular culture’ at the University of Melbourne’s Swiftposium 11 Feb-13 Feb 2024.
Spirituality, Wellbeing and Risks Symposium, 22-23 June 2023, Deakin Downtown and Online.
This two-day symposium gathered scholars from The Spirituality and Wellbeing (SWell) Research Network arising from the Australian Research Association funded Discovery Project on Australian Spirituality: Wellness, Wellbeing and Risks (2023-2025).
The 2023 Symposium page contains all the recordings from the event.
(Dis)locating Coloniality: Lived and Digital Religious Flows across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 9-10 June 2022, Deakin Downtown/Zoom.
This two-day workshop centred First Nations perspectives, and brought together local and international scholars and practitioners to critically reflect on the place, presence and infusion of coloniality in historical and contemporary religious experiences. It focused on transnational flows of religions across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
The project website contains all recordings from the event.