Center for Public Scholarship | http://www.newschool.edu/cps March 5-6, 2009: The 20th conference in the Social Research series explored the tension between religion and secularism in the United States, which is long-standing, widespread, and increasingly intense. These issues were addressed from the perspectives of religious studies, legal studies, political science, sociology, and philosophy. Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at McGill University, addressed "The Polysemy of the Secular," in which he explains that, "treating 'secular' by its history is trailing several different meanings, and these for a variety of reasons can't be simply ironed out and reduced to one, hence the inevitability of confusions and cross-purposes." This conference was made possible by generous support from the Russell Sage Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts. The conference was co-directed by Arien Mack, Alfred and Monette Marrow Professor of Psychology at The New School for Social Research and editor of Social Research since 1970 and José Casanova, Professor of Sociology and Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. The conference proceedings are available in a special issue of Social Research, Vol. 76 No. 4 (Winter 2009). You may also join our event mailing list by contacting us at [email protected]. SOCIAL RESEARCH: AN INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY | http://www.newschool.edu/cps/social-research/ THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH | http://www.newschool.edu/nssr EUGENE LANG COLLEGE THE NEW SCHOOL FOR LIBERAL ARTS | http://www.newschool.edu/lang/ THE NEW SCHOOL | http://www.newschool.edu *Location: The New School -- Thursday, March 5, 6:00- 7:15 p.m. - John Tishman Auditorium - 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011.