This talk will provide a framework for analyzing religious practices in their social contexts. It will begin by explaining that social practices are religious when they reference or include a spiritual dimension. That dimension may be drawn from an established religious tradition or from a wide range of other cultural sources. These practices can take place both inside and beyond religious institutions. The talk will pay special attention to the way religious practices are shaped by cultural, institutional, and legal contexts, as well as by religious traditions themselves – what is encouraged, taken for granted, or constrained. Special attention will be directed to the multi-dimensionality of religious social practices, including their material and bodily expressions.
📅 Friday, 10 July 2026
🕑 16:00 EEST
✅Register for free → https://forms.gle/tXqkwj7pbTZCkgjG8
💻 Join us online via Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/xvj-ogxd-woc
🎓 Free & open to all
Nancy T. Ammerman is Professor of Sociology of Religion, Emerita, at Boston University. Across her career, she has focused on Conservative Protestantism and on the role of congregations in American religion. Her most recent research has focused on everyday lived religion across a wide religious and geographic spectrum, including working with Grace Davie (University of Exeter) to coordinate an international team of scholars to assess “Religions and Social Progress” for the International Panel on Social Progress. Her latest book is Studying Lived Religion: Contexts and Practices (2021).
Sober Thought: A FERBOPO Forum represents a new series of free online talks exploring the intersections of state, religion, and body politics in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe. Over the coming months, leading scholars will present their work to an open international audience — followed by a live Q&A. Sessions run 60–75 minutes and are free to attend.
This event is part of the Sober Thought series — view all upcoming sessions