Atheist Identities - Spaces and Social Contexts

Lori G. Beaman, Ph.D. is the Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada and Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. She is principal investigator of a 37 member international research team whose focus is religion and diversity (religionanddiversity.ca).

Steven Tomlins is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Ottawa in Religious Studies. His current research deals with atheist communities in a religiously diverse Canada, and how the frameworks (official and practical) of ‘multiculturalism’ relate to atheism. Besides atheism, Tomlins is also interested in religious diversity in Canada, and the intersection of blasphemy laws and freedom of expression in the West. His publications include: “A Snake in the Temple: Lucian of Samosata’s Alexander as a Challenge to the New Atheists’ Enlightenment Narrative” ( Ottawa Journal of Religious Studies ), “Oh, the Irony!?: Studying Atheism in Religious Studies” ( Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network ) , and “The Freedom to Offend? How the ‘Mohammad Cartoon Controversy’ has Influenced Public Debate on Canada’s Hate Speech Regulation” ( Journal of Church and State ).