Timothy Stacey is to be appointed Endowed Professor of Liberal Religion and Humanism

Timothy Stacey has been the new Professor by Special Appointment of Liberal Religion and Humanism since 1 November. The chair was established by the Dutch Stichting Stimulering Vrijzinnig Gedachtegoed (Foundation for the Promotion of Liberal Thought). The chair focuses on research into values and sources of meaning drawn from liberal traditions, with a view to helping provide direction on personal and societal issues in our secularised and diverse society.

Religious studies scholar and anthropologist Timothy Stacey is investigating symbolic strategies that can help restore faith in freedom and democracy: “The religion of a free society is not something pure that is imposed from above, but something that emerges on the streets, amongst those who are fighting for a better world,” says Stacey.

Endowed chair

In recent years, the foundation has held a chair at the University of Humanistic Studies, which has been held by Laurens ten Kate for two terms. Rector Joke van Saane: “We look forward to continuing our valuable collaboration with the foundation. With this new chair, we are strengthening the connection between humanist and religious sources of meaning. This exchange is essential in today’s society, where people are searching for meaning and connection.”

New research and expansion of knowledge

The Foundation for the Promotion of Liberal Thought (SSVG) was established to link liberal thinking and action to the social challenges facing our society, and to do everything that can contribute to this. The Chair in Liberal Religiosity and Humanism has been established for this purpose. Contributing to a meaningful and good life for all from a liberal-religious-humanist perspective forms part of the chair’s academic remit. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of new forms of community in which the emphasis lies on finding meaning and on the reciprocal encounter between diverse traditions and cultures.

Ineke Jacobsen Jensen, chair of the foundation, says: “Funding this chair creates the opportunity to conduct ongoing research and share its findings. The aim is to provide a distinctive voice in a complex and rapidly changing world.”

About Timothy Stacey

Dr Timothy Stacey (1984) is a scholar of religion and an anthropologist. His work is based on the conviction that religion – in the broadest sense of the word – is a fundamental source of social cohesion. He investigates how stories, rituals and moral ideals inspire people to work towards a just, sustainable and democratic society.

Stacey began his research career in London and Vancouver, where, in collaboration with local community organisations, he investigated which myths, rituals and emotions motivate people to take action against injustice and inequality. He later focused his research on the religious and symbolic dimensions of climate action and sustainability, and on how such moral sources can contribute to broad social change.

In collaboration with colleagues from Utrecht University’s Urban Futures Studio, Stacey investigated the symbolic strategies of social movements – from Nazism in Germany to the civil rights movement in the United States – to understand how imagination, ritual and shared ideals enable political transformation.