Secularism, secularity, or ‘the secular’ have become hot topics of debate since the late 1990s, when the ‘desecularization of the world’ (Berger 1999) became an apparent fact. A perceived resurgence of religion all over the world has challenged a common presupposition that religion was on the wane, and would eventually die out under ’the hammer blows of modernity’ (Harris 2004). In response, scholars like William Connolly (1999), Talal Asad (2003), and Charles Taylor (2007) have advanced a range of alternative narratives and conceptual frameworks that attempt to make sense of our unique historical situation, one sometimes articulated in terms of ‘postsecularity’ or ‘the postecular’.

But was the world ever ‘secular’ in the first place? What would this mean? Is secularism still viable? And are there better ways of being secular?

Join us to discuss these and other questions in an informal setting open to all students in the Faculty, including Undergraduates and Postgraduates working in any discipline. We will provide a brief list of readings for reference, but no advanced preparation is necessary.