Susan J. Palmer
Canadian sociologist (born 1946)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Susan Jean Palmer (born 1946) is a Canadian sociologist of religion and author whose primary research interest is new religious movements. Formerly a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Westmount, Quebec, she is currently an Affiliate Professor at Concordia University. She has authored and edited several books on NRMs.
Susan Palmer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 (age 79–80) |
| Occupations | Writer, professor |
| Known for | Study of new religious movements |
| Children | 2 |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Alma mater | McGill University (BA) Concordia University (PhD) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociologist |
| Main interests | New religious movements |
Early life and education
Palmer was raised in the Mormon faith.[1] Her great-grandparents were polygamist Mormons, who moved to Canada from the United States to avoid the U.S. law against polygamy.[2] Palmer received a BA in Honours English at McGill University before she received her Masters and PhD in Religion from Concordia University.
Career
Palmer was a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Westmount, Quebec, before becoming she is currently an Affiliate Professor at Concordia University, and is also the Principal Investigator on the four-year SSHRC-funded research project, "Children in Sectarian Religions" at McGill University in Montreal, where she teaches courses on new religious movements.[3][4]
Work
Her topics range from apocalyptic activity, prophecy, charisma, communalism, childrearing, racialist religions, to research ethics and methods in studying new religions. Her article "Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher" has reappeared in several anthologies.[5] Her book Aliens Adored documents the formation and beliefs of the Raëlian movement, with an eye to how scientific discoveries contribute to the formation of their human cloning theology.[6][7] Her most recent work has focused on religious freedom issues. The New Heretics of France explores the state-sponsored persecution of religious minorities.[8][9]
Personal life
She has two children, a son and a daughter. Outside of her academic interest in religion, she also has an interest in martial arts and choir singing.[2]
Bibliography
- ——; Sharma, Arvind (1993). The Rajneesh Papers: Studies in a New Religious Movement. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-1080-5.
- —— (1994). Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers: Women's Roles in New Religions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-0382-7.
- Robbins, Thomas; ——, eds. (1997). Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91649-6.
- —— (1997). AIDS as an Apocalyptic Metaphor in North America. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-802-00662-0.
- ——; Hardman, Charlotte E., eds. (1999). Children in New Religions. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2620-5.
- —— (2004). Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3475-5.
- —— (2010). The Nuwaubian Nation: Black Spirituality and State Control. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-6255-6.
- —— (2011). The New Heretics of France: Minority Religions, la Republique, and the Government-Sponsored "War on Sects". Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-973521-1.
- Wright, Stuart A.; —— (2016). Storming Zion: Exploring State Raids on Religious Communities. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539889-2.
- ——; Geoffroy, Martin; Gareau, Paul L., eds. (2020). The Mystical Geography of Quebec: Catholic Schisms and New Religious Movements. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-0303-3061-3.
- ——; Mahmut, Dilmurat; Udun, Abdulmuqtedir, eds. (2024). Uyghur Women Activists in the Diaspora: Restorying a Genocide. Bloomsbury Studies in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-3504-1834-9.
