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HJI President, Dr. Walsh, Attends Association for the Sociology of Religion’s Annual Meeting

On August 8-10, 2026, the Association for the Sociology of Religion convened its annual meeting in New York City at the New Yorker Hotel, attended by approximately 300 sociologists from throughout North America and the world. The general theme of the conference was, “Beyond Binaries and Boundaries: Religion Redefined in Unsettled Times,” and sessions topics included the following:

  • Congregational Life Five Years After Covid
  • Gender and Religion
  • Race and Religion
  • Religion in New York
  • Congregations and Closures
  • Religion and Social Movements
  • Religion and Crime
  • Religion in China
  • Leaving Religion
  • Religion and Place
  • Religion and Immigration Experiences
  • Religion and the State

In the Welcome Letter to participants, ASR President Jerry Park and Program Chair Esther Chan wrote that, “We are excited to reconnect with long-time members and welcome those joining us for the first time. We want to especially welcome international scholars who have traveled the farthest…to join us. Our central site, the famed New Yorker hotel, is an art deco-styled residence that was once purchased by the Unification Church. To be sure, religion is as much a feature of New York as any other major cultural institution, from sports teams like the Yankees, Knicks, Giants, Jets, and Rangers to the Apollo Theater, Broadway, Radio City, Times Square, Avengers Headquarters, and Madison Square Garden, to name a few.”

HJI President, Thomas Walsh, attended the ASR and had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and meet with new friends.

The photo, left to right: Richard Cimino with Religion Watch; Joseph Yi, Hanyang University; Holly Folk, Western Washington University; Minjung Noh, Lehigh University; Minyoung Moon, University of North Carolina Pembroke; Thomas Walsh, HJI; Roberta Ricucci, University of Torino; Stephen Hewko, University of Wycliffe College of University of Toronto; Matyas Bodi, Regents Park College of Oxford University; and Olena Bogdan, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.