The 7th International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture took place at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, 9-13 August 2010. This series of events was initiated in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1994, followed by an international public meeting in 1996 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Past conferences have brought to the fore research into both very old and very new mediums of communication, with traditions ranging from ancient indigenous practice to the most recent cyber-ritual, from settings in the global North and South.

The conference was organised by Joyce Smith, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the School of Journalism. At the opening plenary, some 150 participants heard Canadian artist Jane Ash Poitras speak of the role of art in religion and of religion in art. This was followed by three and a half intensive days in which papers were presented, discussed and critiqued on a wide range of topics.

At the end of the conference participants met to agree the framework for an International Society for Media, Religion and Culture which will put such studies on a more formal footing. They also heard that the next conference will take place at Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey, in 2012. It will be organised by Dr Nezih Orhon, Associate Professor in the School of Communication Sciences and a WACC personal member.

WACC Global has long supported the work of the Conference on Media, Religion and Society coordinated by Professor Stewart Hoover, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. Its areas of study are closely related to many of the themes explored in WACC’s own programmes and the announcement of the formation of a Society – especially one that deliberately places emphasis on knowledge and learning from the global South – will be greeted with warmth and enthusiasm.

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