Dimensions_of_Discovery

Spring2012

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Faculty Profiles Center on Religion and Chinese Society The Center on Religion and Chinese Society (CRCS) at Purdue University was created in 2003 and officially established in 2008 to advance the social scientific study of religion in Chinese societies and among the Chinese in diasporas. Initiatives include: » Chinese conference: Each summer, CRCS sponsors an International Conference for the Social Scientific Study of Religion in such venues as Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Wuxi and Fuzhou. » Summer institutes: Since 2004, the Summer Institute on the Social Scientific Study of Religion has promoted research on religion in China while also enhancing academic and cultural exchanges between China and other coun- tries. More than 400 scholars have graduated so far. » CSSP: The Chinese Spirituality and Society Program (CSSP), sup- ported by the John Templeton Foundation and held at Purdue Uni- versity, includes research projects, workshops and summer institutes for teaching the sociology of religion in Chinese universities. Religious Trends in China Fueled by Government Restrictions The upcoming change in China's central leadership means an emphasis on the country's economic, policy and political power, but a Purdue University sociologist says people should watch the country's religious trends just as closely. "The power struggle leading up to next fall's mandatory change of the 18th Congress of the Communist Party will define China in the following decade, Yang, the author of "Religion in China: Survival and Revival Under Communist Rule," " Yang says. professor of sociology and director of Purdue's Center on Religion and Chinese Society. "The forces competing to define China will ultimately influence religious practice one way or another. says that a political and economic analysis can be applied to help understand religious change in China. "The Communists want to suppress religion and have imposed strict regulations, but the restrictions have surprisingly created three colored markets: black, red and gray, The red market is composed of the five religions — Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism (also Daoism), Islam and Protestantism under patriotic associations — approved by the government. "The government has banned certain religions, but these religions have simply gone underground — created a black market so to speak — and the gray market is composed of legally ambiguous groups and activities," Yang says. "When religious needs cannot be met in the open, red market, and the risks are too high in the illegal, black market, many people would seek what they need in the gray market. Ironically, the more restrictive and suppressive the country's religious regulations, the larger the gray market grows." The gray market can emerge when one of China's five approved religions engages in an illegal activity, such as distributing pamphlets outside a church or temple, or when people hold spiritual beliefs that originate from non-religious sources. Yang, who grew up in China and only remembers being exposed to a few ghost stories and Taoist funeral rites, was one of the first to study sociology of religion in the country. » Visiting Scholars: The CRCS hosts fellows for 3 to 12 months at Purdue Univer- sity, where they audit courses, engage with local faith com- munities, exchange ideas with scholars, perform research and write papers. Fenggang Yang "As I traveled in China and saw different religious phenomena, I thought about how you would explain religion' is under Communist rule," he says. s survival in the past and revival today when China His new book, which was pub- lished by Oxford University Press this fall, looks at religion under communism from the 1950s to 2010. » Chinese SSSR: This online dis- cussion group is a forum for scholars and students discuss- ing Chinese religions from social scientific perspectives. To join, send an email to CRCS@ purdue.edu. 6 OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert is a communications/marketing specialist for Purdue Marketing and Media. Yuanming Coo's "Couplets," 2008, was part of a 2010 Purdue Galleries exhibition on CHristianity in China. " says Fenggang Yang, a

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