The Schedule

Welcome Address

Adam Smith, Chair of the Graduate Conference Committee and President of the Religious Student Graduate Society

Panel 2: Islam and Modernity

Chair: Prof. Ayodeji Ogunnaike, McGill University

Sahar Zoghigharamaleki, UQAM

"Injustice épistémique et marginalisation des personnes LGBTQA+ en Iran" (In French)

Ali Ekber Cinar, McGill University

"Islamic Law in the Modern World: Exploring the Creation of Legal Norms and the Permissibility of Stock Market Investment"

Amira Bensahli, Université de Montréal

"Origines contestées, identités négociées: Femmes musulmanes et colonialité au Québec" (In French)

Panel 3: First Fall, Death, and Grief

Chair: Dr. Amanda Rosini, McGill University

Itay Melamed Cornell University

"On the Origins of the Religious Believer's Grief"

Katerina Apokatonidis, University of Toronto

"The Miasma of Murder: Orphic Eschatology and the Origins of Humanity"

Zachariah Crutchfield, Cornell University

"Adam’s Origin, the True Nature of Evil, and Iblis’ Fall in the Court of Divine Justice"

Panel 4: Descriptions of the Divine

Chair: Francesco Bossoletti, McGill University

Megan Peck, Concordia University

"In the Image of Her: Mythologizing the Magdalene from Antiquity to Today"

Devayani Shenoy, McGill University

"Describing Viṣṇu, Limb by Limb"

Geoffroy Feugier-Timbal Ducleaux de Martin, Université de Montréal and Université Marie et Louis Pasteur - Besançon

"Angeli equites - essai sur les origines et les évolutions des angélologies méditerranéennes antiques. Les cas de Michel l’Archistrategos (Αρχιστάτηγοσ), Salomon le Roi-Magicien et « saint » Sissinus" (In French)

Panel 5: Origins and Symbol in Christianity 

Chair: Genevieve Kilburn-Smith, McGill University

Tanner R. Layton, Western University

"The Consecrating Subject"

Tyler Journeaux, Western University

"On the Origin of the New Theory of the Origin of Christian/Resurrection Belief"

Kyvenz Amédée, Université de Sherbrooke

"Jésus comme clé herméneutique pour répondre à la violence symbolique ancrée dans l’interprétation des textes bibliques" (In French)

Yenny Delgado, University of Lausanne

"Origins of Christianity in Abya Yala: Natives spiritualities and Christian practices"

Panel 6: Emerging Scholars - Special Panel for Undergraduates Students at the School of Religious Studies

Chair: Adam Smith, McGill University

Camille Deslongchamps, McGill University

"Imperial and Divine Creation: Genesis according to Faltonia Betitia Proba"

Weitong Qiu, McGill University

"Traitor or Reformer? Rereading Juzan Through Textual Practice"

Charles Zacks, McGill University

"Compressive Process of ‘Post-modern Theology' "

Panel 7: Histories and Narratives

Chair: Prof. Samuel Nelson, McGill University

Patience Otitoju, University of Ottawa

"How Europe “Un-secularized” Africa: Reimagining Precolonial Societies Through Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart"

Jingyuan Wang, Concordia University

"The Qianlong Emperor as Imperial Historiographer: Constructing the Qing Origin Myth in the Annalistic History of the Founding of Qing Dynasty"

Matheus G. R. de Carvalho, McGill University

"‘Bodies Tell Stories: YHWH as an Oath Performer in Jewish Literature from the First Millennium BCE to the Second Century CE"

Panel 8: Ritual and Festival

Chair: Prof. Hillary Kaell, McGill University

Darlene Mcleod, University of Ottawa

"Ritual without religion: how political ritual activity redefines ritual studies"

Adrian Stathoukos, McGill University

"Floats of the Divine: Corporate Sponsorships and Origins Amidst the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri"

Aashi Jain, University of Ottawa

"Ritual, Renunciation, and Rights: Sallekhana’s Contested Origins from Ascetic Death to Bioethical Discourse"

Thu Nguyen, McGill University

"The God and the Prophet: Making Kim Il Sung and Ho Chi Minh Sacred"

Panel 9: Philosophy of Religion

Chair: Ana de Souza, McGill University

Francesco Bossoletti, McGill University

"Origin, Reason and Ground in Modernity"

Adam Smith, McGill University

"The Origin of Phenomenology"

Isabelle Lindsay, McGill University

"Bonaventure's Doctrine of Creation and the Philosophy of History"

Genevieve Killburn-Smith, McGill University

"The Origins of Evil in Plotinus: How Matter Leads to Vice"

Panel 10: NRMs and Spirituality

Chair: Adam Smith, McGill University

Pauline Noiseau, Université de Montréal

"La contestation de l’origine dans la théorie anarchiste : pour une spiritualité évolutive, vivante et mouvante" (In French)

Philippe Le Page, UQAM

"De l’origine puritaine du développement personnel" (In French)

Alexandre Duceppe-Lenoir, McGill University

"Neowicca: A New-New Religious Movement?"

Milda Graham, McGill University

"Discipline And Devotion: Exploring the History and Frontier of Gymnastics and Yoga as Muscular Spiritualities"

Panel 11: Psychology and Origins

Chair: Prof. Rongdao Lai, McGill University

Lucas Fava M. Coque, Université de Montréal

"Christian heritage and bias in the meaning of 'spirituality'"

Nathan Keele Springer, University of Ottawa

"From Root to Renaissance: Birth and Rebirth in Psychedelic Mythology"

Mriti Chulthim Gurung, McGill University

"Gray Areas of Abhidharma Psychology of Mental Factors in Tibetan Buddhism"

James Gasper, Columbia University

"Does Authenticity Matter: Buddhist Traditions in Addressing Psychological Burnout in Therapists"

Panel 12: Religious Origins, Political Projects

Chair: Prof. Daniel Cere, McGill University

Karis Ryu, Yale University

"Building the (Im)Possible World"

Lucia Eyzaguirre, University of Ottawa

"On the Origins of Climate Disaster: A New Look at Lynn White Jr.’s Seminal Work"

Ethan Egert, Queen's University

"Sacred Lands and Labels: Claiming Indigeneity Religiosity in Diverse Geographies"

Karl Delorme, Concordia University

"Revoking the Significance of Origin: The Goddess Mazu as a Symbol of Taiwanese Identity and the Case of the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage"

Panel 13: Politics and Religion

Chair: Prof. Víctor M. Muñiz-Fraticelli, McGill University

Saeid Yarmohammadi, Université de Montréal

"Challenges to Rawlsian original position from a sociological perspective"

Ana de Souza, McGill University

"Universals and Particulars: Secularity, Multiculturalism, and Human Rights"

Kristina Young, Queen’s University

"A Comparative Analysis of Traditional Conservative Versus Christian Conservative Public Interest Law firms"

Closing Address

Adam Smith, Chair of the Graduate Conference Committee and President of the Religious Student Graduate Society