September 16, 2015
To: Professor Richard Oram and Professor Gerry McCormac
Re: Proposed Closure of the Religion department at the University of Stirling
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, an affiliated society of the International Association for the History of Religions, I am writing you to offer our support of the September 3rd statement issued by the British Association for the Study of Religion. We agree with BASR that the Stirling department has been at the forefront of critical study about religion, and that the academic and nondenominational study of religion “has a key role within higher education institutions.” Because the University of Stirling Religion Programme is the only religion department in Scotland not affiliated with a Christian denomination, it serves a unique and indispensible role in the academic study of religions. The study of religions in a global and non-confessional context remains vital today, as our BASR colleagues point out. We support their request that you reconsider the closure of Stirling’s Religion department.
Sincerely,
California State University, Chico
ISSRNC President
University of Florida
ISSRNC Founder and Past President
Editor, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
University of Wisconsin, Washington County
ISSRNC President-Elect.
Université Lumière Lyon 2
ISSRNC Treasurer
American University
ISSRNC Secretary
PDF of this Letter to Professor Richard Oram and Professor Gerry McCormac
The online petition to support the University of Stirling Religion Programme is collecting signatures. For those outside of the UK. please use any UK postcode. To find a valid UK postcode, please use Royal Mail’s postcode finder; some examples are:
- TW12 1PD – Diagon Alley, 56A High Street, Hampton Hill, Hampton
- S10 2GB – Hogwarts, 33 Wilkinson Street, Sheffield
