List of Research Organizations

Below is a list of scholarly organizations that study Paganism and/or New Religious Movements.

Paganism

• American Academy of Religion's Contemporary Pagan Studies Group: The Group in Pagan Studies provides a place for scholars interested in pursuing studies in this newly developing and interdisciplinary field and puts them in direct communication with one another in the context of a professional meeting. New scholars are welcomed and supported while existing scholars are challenged to improve their work and deepen the level of conversation. By liaising with other AAR units, the consultation creates opportunities to examine the place of Pagan religions within a hypermodern society and to examine how other religions may intersect with the dynamic and mutable religious communities that make up Paganism today. "

New Religious Movements

• American Academy of Religion's New Religious Movements Group: "The New Religious Movements Group supports and encourages research in all aspects of the study of New Religious Movements. Presenters in our sessions study New Religious Movements from a variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives, and find in our sessions and additional meetings the opportunity to dialogue about their scholarship with academics who share a passion for understanding New Religious Movements as well as a desire to make known to a broader audience the importance of such movements for understanding issues of religious tolerance, community building and maintenance, ritual and doctrinal innovation, and other aspects of religious life. "
• Center for Studies on New Religions (CENSUR): "[A]n international network of associations of scholars working in the field of new religious movements.... CESNUR's original aim was to offer a professional association to scholars specialized in religious minorities, new religious movements, contemporary esoteric, spiritual and gnostic schools, and the new religious consciousness in general.... Today CESNUR is a network of independent but related organizations of scholars in various countries, devoted to promote scholarly research in the field of new religious consciousness, to spread reliable and responsible information, and to expose the very real problems associated with some movements, while at the same time defending everywhere the principles of religious liberty."
• Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM): "INFORM is an independent charity that was founded in 1988 by Professor Eileen Barker with the help of British Home Office funding and the support of the mainstream Churches. It is based at the London School of Economics. The primary aim of INFORM is to help people through providing them with accurate, balanced, up-to-date information about new and/or alternative religious or spiritual movements."
• Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR): The ISAR website, americanreligion.org, is no longer available. The link provides the historical website. "Over the years the institute built a large collection of both primary and secondary materials on the religious groups and movements it studied. In 1985 this collection of more than 40,000 volumes and thousands of periodicals and archival materials was deposited to the Davidson Library at the University of California in Santa Barbara. The reference material exists today as the American Religious Collection and is open to scholars and the interested public. The institute continues to support the collection with donations of additional materials. "