Center News

2022

Matter + Spirit: A Chinese/American Exhibition opened Nov. 4 through Dec. 12, 2022, in the Metcalf Gallery, Modelle Metcalf Visual Arts Center at Taylor University in Upland, IN. On Wednesday November 9, Special Chapel Speaker Fenggang Yang gave a talk “Resilience and Growth of Chinese Christianity”.

2021

Fenggang Yang delivered a lecture “The Changing Religious Landscape in Modernizing China” on June 29, 2021, at Chautauqua Institution.

2019

Reception for Review of Religion in Chinese Society — Religion in China: The Year in Review is held at 2019 annual meeting of Association for Asian Studies in Denver on March 22, 2019.

2018

Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on Christian Growth in China at College of the Holy Cross in MA, on October 15, 2018.
Fenggang Yang and Graduate research assistants Brian McPhail, Jiayin Hu attended the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2018 Annual Conference in Las Vegas on October 25-26, 2018. Brian gave a presentation on Religious Heterogamy & the Intergenerational Transmission of Religion in China, and Jiayin gave a presentation on Chinese Christian Lawyers: Spiritual Capital and Social Justice.
Graduate students Jiayin Hu and Brian McPhail presented papers at 2018 annual conference of The Association for the Sociology of Religion in Philadelphia on August 11-13, 2018.
Professor Zhang Chunli, Director of Center of Contemporary Religion and Social Security at the People’s Public Security University of China, visited our center on July 26-31, 2018, presented her research on cults and religious radicalism in China, and had in-depth and frank discussions on related issues with CRCS members.
Fenggang Yang, the president of The East Asia of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, delivered a presidential speech Religion in the Global East: Challenges and Opportunities for the Social Scientific Study of Religion at the inaugural conference in Singapore on July 3, 2018.
Graduate students Jiayin Hu and Brian McPhail presented papers at EASSSR conference in Singapore on July 3-5, 2018.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited to conference on “Sinizication” of Religion in China: From Above and Below, hosted by the Fudan-UC Center, co-sponsored by UC San Diego Program for the Study of Religion, on March 21, 2018.
Dr. Fuk-tsang Ying, Directory of Divinity School of Chung Chi College at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, visited CRCS from March 14 to March 22. He gave a talk on the current situation of Christianity in China, and China-Vatican relations at the Center.
CRCS visiting scholars, Wang Jing and Liao Xianghui presented their researches at the Purdue International Scholar Research Symposium on March 14, 2018.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a public speech at “Public Religion from West to East”, hosted by Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University on February 21, 2018.

2017

Graduate research assistant Brian McPhail gave a presentation on Atheist Privilege, Religious Penalty? The Socioeconomic Consequences of Religiosity in Contemporary China at The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2017 Annual Conference, in Washington, DC on October 14, 2017.
Graduate research assistant Jiayin Hu gave a presentation on Grace Swallows up Race: Racial Integration within the Local Churches in the United States in the 1960s70s at The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2017 Annual Conference, in Washington, DC on October 14, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang and Dr. Luke Chao gave a presentation on Measuring Religiosity in a Religiously Diverse Society: The Case of China at The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2017 Annual Conference, in Washington, DC on October 13, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended Survey Research and the Study of Religion in East Asia Conference in Washington, DC on October 11-12, 2017. The conference was organized by The Pew Research Center.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation at the conference on Reformation 500 & Social Transformation in Virginia, September 22-24, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation on Agency-Driven Secularization and Chinese Experiments in Multiple Modernities at The Symposium on A Secular Age beyond the West: Modes of Secularity in Asia, held in Hanover, Germany on September 13-15, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang delivered a keynote speech Religion in the Global East: Challenges and Opportunities for the Social Scientific Study of Religion at The international conference on Changing Religious Landscape in Contemporary East Asia in Hong Kong, July 11-13, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang participated 5th Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture on June 1-4, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended Symposium of “What Is To Be Done? Responding to the Global Persecution of Christians” at the National Press Club on April 20, 2017.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a talk on The Protestant Churches in Contemporary China at “The symposium of A Relationship in Transition: the Christian Church and China” held at Baylor University on March 13, 2017.
The International Panel on Social Progress author meeting was held in Lisbon, Portugal, January 26 to 28, 2017. Dr. Fenggang Yang attended meeting as one of the contributor to the chapter on Religions and Social Progress: Critical Assessments and Creative Partnerships.

2016

The Atlas Project Advisory Meeting was held on September 26-27, 2016. The CRCS was honored to have Peter Bol and Lex Berman of Harvard University, David Bodenhamer of IUPUI, Jie Shan, Nicole Kong and Sorin Matei of Purdue University joining meeting and providing invaluable advice and suggestions for our project.
Dr. Fenggang Yang and Dr. Jonathan Pettit presented a paper Mapping Religions in Zhejiang, China at the conference of The Formation of Regional Religious Systems in Greater China in University of Arizona on April 6-8, 2016.
Dr. Fenggang Yang delivered keynote speech Mapping Chinese Spiritual Capital and Religious Markets at AAG annual meeting in San Francisco on March 31, 2016.
Dr. Jonathan Pettit presented a paper The Production of Sacred Maps in the Later Han Dynasty at Society for the Study of Early China Fourth Annual Conference in Seattle, WA on March 31, 2016.
On March 14, 2016, CRCS members visited New Harmony, Indiana, the home of the Utopian Society established by Robert Owen in 1825.
February, 2016, The Review of Religion and Chinese Society was accepted into the European Reference Index for the Humanities.
Dr. Jonathan Pettit gave a talk Remapping Antiquity: Books and Readers in Early Daoism at the Chinese Studies Colloquium in Purdue University on January 28, 2016.
Dr. Fenggang Yang delivered a keynote speech Chinese Christianity at the Crossroads, at Acton Institute China Seminar, January 27, 2016.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a Leonard C. Kercher Series Lecture Is China the New Roman Empire: The Rise of Christianity in China Today at Western Michigan University, January 26, 2016.

2015

Dr. Fenggang Yang delivered a keynote speech The Definition of Religion for the Social Scientific Study of Religion in China and Beyond at the conference Framing the Study of Religion in Modern China and Taiwan: Methods, Concepts and New Research Paths at University of Groningen in Netherlands on December 9, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended a mini-conference A Global Lab: Religion among Scientists in International Context at Rice University on December 3, 2015.
November 22, 2015, Dr. Ting Guo presented a paper entitled, Christian Cosmopolitanism in Republican Shanghai and Its Contemporary Implications at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, GA, and at Boston University’s Center for Global Christianity & Mission on November 24, 2015.
November 21-24, 2015. Dr. Jonathan Pettit presented a paper (co-written with Joey Marshall) entitled, The Daoist Conversion of Yiguan Dao 一貫道 in Mid-Twentieth Century Taiwan at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Fenggang Yang and Dr. Jonathan Pettit were recognized at 2015 Excellence in Research Award dinner at Purdue on November 9, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang delivered the Presidential Address Exceptionalism or Chinamerica? The Definition, Measurement, and Change of Religion in the Globalization Era, at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, which was held on October 24, 2015
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a keynote speech at the 9th International Symposium on the History in Modern China at Hong Kong Baptist University on June 12-13, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a talk at National Taiwan University on June 11, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang, Dr. George Hong, and Dr. Alice Wang attended the International Symposium on the Cross-Cultural and Religious Studies at National Chengchi University, June 5-6, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation Social Change, Spiritual Capital, and Religious Globalization at China’s Reform: Opportunities & Challenge held at The Carter Center in Atlanta, GA on May 6-7, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation on Mapping Chinese Christianity in Global China at Faith Alive: What’s Next for Evangelicals in Brazil and China in Gordon College on April 18, 2015.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited by the Spiritual Development office at Belmont University on March 5, 2015 to give a talk on Christianity in China.
Joann Pittman, ChinaSource Senior Associate visited CRCS on January 7, 2015.

2014

Dr.Fenggang Yang gave a presentation on China: How Is it Possible for the Religious Vitality in the Most Secular and Rapidly Modernizing Society at the 7th International Young Scholars’ Symposium on Christianity and Chinese Society and Culture, Hong Kong, December 8-9, 2014.
Dr.Fenggang Yang gave a series of 3 lectures and a forum as the 2014 Chow Lien-Hwa Lecture at Tunghai University in Taiwan on Rise of Christianity in Chinese Societies and Its Challenge, December 5-6, 2014.
Dr.Fenggang Yang gave a talk on Mapping Religious Landscape and Testing Sociology of Religion Hypotheses Using Spatial Statistics at the Spatial Studies of Chinese Religion and Society Workshop, National Cheng Chi University, Taipei, December 3, 2014.
Dr.George Hong, Co-director of CRCS gave a talk on Spatial Study of Religious Markets in China at the Spatial Studies of Chinese Religion and Society Workshop, National Cheng Chi University, Taipei, December 3, 2014.
Dr.Jonathan Pettit gave a talk on An Atlas of Religious Change in China, 2004-2014 at the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions annual meeting on November 22, 2014 in San Diego, CA.
Dr. Joy Tong gave a presentation on The Making of a Chinese Global Church: A Case Study of the Forerunner Christian Church, USA at the fifty-seventh annual meeting of the Midwest Mission Studies Fellowship on November 1, 2014 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation on Sociology of Religious Conversion at annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, November 2, 2014.
CRCS members: Fenggang Yang, Andrew Abel, Andre Laliberte, Carsten Vala, and Jun Lu presented papers at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2014 annual meeting in Indianapolis, October 31-November 2, 2014. Joey Marshal, Yun Lu, Yunping Tong and Jin Lu attended the conference.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation on Christianity and Democratization at conference of God, Globalization, and The Good Society In Asia Today on October 20, 2014 in Gordon College, MA.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended The Veritas Forum: The American Dream? at Harvard University on September 26-28, 2014.
Dr. Michael Murray, Executive Vice President of Templeton Foundation visited CRCS on September 25, 2014.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended Under Caesar’s Sword: Christian Response to Persecution: A Public Symposium at University of Notre Dame on September 18-19, 2014.
Professor ZHANG Chunli of People’s Public Security University of China visited CRCS on July 28-29, 2014. They also visited some churches in Lafayette Area.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited as “Visiting Scientist” by University of Padova, Italy from May 15 to June 15, 2014. He gave several lectures at University of Padova during his visit.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture Agency-Driven Secularization and Chinese Experiment in Multiple Modernities: A Response to Peter Berger’s the Many Altars of Modernity: Toward a Paradigm for Religion in a Pluralist Age at Transregional Research Network (CETREN) in University of Göttingen, Germany on June 5, 2014.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture The Tri-Color Market Perspective: Understanding Religious Revitalizations in China at Max-Planck Institute, Germany on June 3, 2014.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture A Spatial Study of Religious Plurality in China : Churches, Temples and Mosques at Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) (National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations) in Paris, France on May 28, 2014.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation The Explosive Growth of Christianity in China: Problems that come with the Growth at Mini-conference: “Churches in China: Now and Future” at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago on April 11, 2014.

2013

Dr. Fenggang Yang along with participants of the “Christianity and Freedom” Conference was in a private group audience with Pope Francis on December 14, 2013. (photo)
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation “The Dynamism of Chinese Christianity,” at the international conference “Christianity and Freedom: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives” at Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome, Italy, December 12-14, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a talk on Religion in China at Purdue University President Mitch Daniels’ Residence on November 19, 2013. (photo)
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited by Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University to give a lecture on Religion in China on November 15, 2013. (more)
Dr. Fenggang Yang led a group of CRCS visiting scholars visited Indiana State Prison on October 15, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended an international conference on“Making the Invisible Visible: Chinese Immigrant Culture Beyond the Marketplace” at University of Padova, Italy, October 7-9, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation “Sociology of Religion in China,” at the 25th National Catholic China Conference “The American Catholic Church and China in an Era of Globalization” at Loyola University Chicago, October 4-6, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended the Forum for Chinese Theology Sixth Annual Symposium “Christian Faith and Ideological Trends in Contemporary China,” on August 20-25, 2013 in Oxford University, United Kingdom.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended the 32nd Conference of International Society for the Sociology of Religion in Turku, Finland on June 27-30, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation “Christian Churches and Democratic Polities,” at the workshop on “Chinese Religious NGO and Civil Society,” at Chinese University of Hong Kong, May 22-24, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation “Soul Searching in Contamporary Chinese Literature and Society,” at the 6th Sino-American Comparative Literature Symposium on “Comparative Literature, Religion and Society,” at Purdue University, May 1-4, 2013.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended Association for Asian Studies 2013 Annual Conference on March 21-24, 2013 in San Diego, CA.

2012

Dr. Fenggang Yang attended Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 2012 Annual Conference on November 9-11, 2012 in Phoenix, AZ.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended a forum“Religion in Global Context” organized by The Religion and Public Life Program at Rice Unviersity on September 11, 2012.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended Association for the Sociology of Religion 2012 Annual Conference on August 17-18, 2012 in Denver, CO.
Dr. Fenggang Yang’s book “Religion in China: Survival and Revival Under Communist Rule” was on the 2012 Library Journal Best Sellers in Religion list.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended the 11th Annual Conference on Asian Studies in Israel in Tel Aviv University, Israel on May 22, 2012.
On May 21, 2012, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on Religion in China at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited by the National Chengchi University, Tunghai University to give a lecture series from April 16-26, 2012.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited by Princeton University to give a lecture on “Religion in China Today: Mapping Folk Religion” on February 29, 2012.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave lectures at American University of Sharjah and Zayed University in United Arab Emirates, on February 22 and February 24, 2012.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended International Conference: From Religious Diversity to Religious Pluralism: What is at Stake?” on February 15-16, 2012 at University of Padova, Italy.

2011

On Dec. 13-14, 2011, Dr. Fenggang Yang attended the Conference of “Confucianism: A Habit of the Heart” at City University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended 2011 SSSR Annual Meeting in Milwaukee Wisconsin, October 28-30, 2011.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave an invited lecture at Peking Unviersity on June 28, 2011.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave three lectures at Chinese Police University on June 27-29, 2011.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended “Conference on Dialogue between Confucianism and Christianity” held in Wuhan University, June 21-22, 2011.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave an invited presentation on “Religion and Immigration in the Era of Globalization” at the Second Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture, Indianapolis, June 2-5, 2011.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited by Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University on March 24, 2011 to give a lecture on “Why Christianity Is Thriving in China Today”.

2010

Dr. Fenggang Yang gave an invited lecture at the University of Notre Dame on “Why Protestantism Is Thriving in China Today, but Not Catholicism” on December 8, 2010. The workshop was sponsored by the School of Arts and Letters through their Institute for Scholarship in Liberal Arts Mellon Grant Interdisciplinary Workshops.
Purdue University President France Córdova and Provost Tim Sands visited Center on Religion and Chinese Society (CRCS) on November 8, 2010. (photo)
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended 2010 SSSR Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, October 29-31. CRCS Postdoctoral Fellow Joy Tong, graduate students Anning Hu, Fan Jiang, Jun Lu, Zhenyu Tang, R.J. Leamaster and Miao Li also attended the conference and presented papers.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a plenary presentation on “Atheism, Christianity, and Chinese religions in the twenty-first century” at the XVII Congress of the International Sociological Association in Gothenburg, Sweden on July 11-17, 2010.
CRCS Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Joy Tong presented paper on “Religious Experience of a Young Congregation: Case Study of a Mega-Church” at the XVII Congress of the International Sociological Association in Gothenburg, Sweden on July 14, 2010.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended John Templeton Foundation 2010 International Board of Advisers Meeting in New York, on June 5-6, 2010.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended the conference on “American Identity Renewed: An Educational Agenda for 21st Century” in New York on June 5, 2010. The conference was organized by Stanford Center on Adolescence.
“Christianity and China’s Modernization” forum was held at East China Normal University on May 27, 2010 in Shanghai. Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “The Charisma of Christianity in Chinese Society – A Sociological Explanation.”
Dr. Fenggang Yang visited The Institute of Dunhuang Studies of Lanzhou University on May 21, 2010.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “Methods and Theories in the Social Scietific Study of Religion” and participated in “Multiculturalism in the Far Reaches: Chinese-Western Cultural Exchange in the Recent History of Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai through Christianity in China,” a research program held at the Lanzhou University, Lanzou, Gansu Province, China, from May 18 through 22, 2010.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave three lectures at People’s Public Security University of China on May 14-16, 2010: Chinese Religion in the United States; Christianity in China; and Church-State Relations in the World Today.
Dr. Yuting Wang, CRCS Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Department of International Studies at American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, visited our center on March 30, 2010.
Dr. Fenggang Yang and Fan Jiang, a graduate student in Sociology, made a presentation on “Spatial Studies of Religion and Chinese Society” at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in Philadelphia on March 25-28, 2010.
On March 5-6, Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited by Education Resources & Referrals – China (EERC) as a panel speaker at ChinaPulse: A Conference on Confucianism and Christianity in Living Word Center at Milpitas, California. Dr. Yang’s topic was “Is Confucianism a religion?”
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “The Survival and Revival of Religion under Chinese Communist Rule: A Shortage Economy Explanation.” at University of Chicago, Feb. 23, 2010.

2009

October 27, 2009, Dr. Joel Carpenter, Director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College, gave a lecture on “The Development of the Scholarly Research on Evangelicalism in the last 30 Years” at our Center.
The annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion was held on October 23-25 in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Fenggang Yang and graduate students from CRCS, R.J. Leamaster, Jun Lu, Zhenyu Tang and Fan Jiang presented papers. CRCS visiting scholars Ying Liu of Beijing Normal University and Huawei Li of Peking University attended the conference as well.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended a meeting on “Economics of Religion,” organized by The National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 15-16, 2009.
Dr. Fenggang Yang attended John Templeton Foundation 2009 International Board of Advisers Meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 12-13, 2009.
On September 24, 2009, Dr. Fenggang Yang participated in a research seminar in Oakland, California, organized by the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity.
On September 23, 2009, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “Religious Policies in the People’s Republic of China” at the Institute of International Studies at University of California, Berkeley.
On September 17-18, 2009, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a keynote presentation on “Religious Policies in the PRC: A Sociopolitical History” at a conference at the Library of Congress “A Century of Change: China and Modernization 1900–Present,” organized by the Library of Congress Asian Division, Confucius Institute at the University of Maryland and Institute for Religion and Society, Oxford, UK.
Dr. Fenggang Yang was quoted by Rana Siu Inboden and William Inboden in their article Faith and Law in China, published in Far Eastern Economic Review on September 4, 2009.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a keynote presentation on “Oligopoly Dynamics: Consequences of Religious Regulation” at the 30th Conference of International Society for the Sociology of Religion in Santiago de Compostela, Spain on July 27-31, 2009.
On April 20-22, 2009, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation at a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, “Constituting the Future: A Symposium on Religious Liberty, Law, and Flourishing Societies.”
Dr. Fenggang Yang participated in a conference on “Educating for Liberty and Happiness,” sponsored by the Liberty Fund, in French Lick, Indiana, March 19-22, 2009.
Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “Trends in China Today and their Social and Political Implications” at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Institute for Research on Social Issues, and China Studies Workgroup, Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis, March 6, 2009.

2008

On November 13, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave an invited lecture on “Religion and Society in China Today” at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
On October 27, 2008, Mr. Noam Urbach of Bar-Ilan University and Haifa University in Israel visited the CRCS. He introduced and discussed his research on the Jewish descendants in Kaifeng and various religions in China.
Michael McQueen of the University of Illinois visited the CRCS, and discussed his Doctor of Ministry dissertation research on how Caucasian American churches reaching out to the Chinese/East Asian communities in the United States. He is on a joint program with Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and Highland Theological College in Dingwall, Scotland, UK.
October 4-8, 2008, Professor Eileen Barker of London College of Economics gave invited lectures at the Chinese People’s Public Security University on “Studies of New Religions in the Contemporary World” and “Research Methods of the Sociology of Religion.”
On October 16-22, 2008, Professor Fenggang Yang gave six invited lectures at the Chinese People’s Public Security University: “Religious Pluralism and Social Harmony in a Global Perspective,” “The Theoretical Development and Paradigm Shift in the Sociology of Religion,” “The Religious Market Theory and the Red, Black and Gray Markets of Religion in China,” “The Economics of Shortage and the Religious Market in China,” “Research on Chinese Religions in the United States,” and “Religious Development and Management in the United States.” Besides, on October 7, 2008, Eileen Barker and Fenggang Yang were invited for an informal discussion with researchers at the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, professors of the Chinese People’s Public Security University, officials of the Ministry of Public Security, and leaders of the China Anti-Cult Association.
On July 31, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang participated in the workshop on “Religion and Civic Culture in Greater China” in Boston, which was organized by The Long Term Strategy Group.
On July 18, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang participated in the Workshop of Religious Studies Scholars for Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Establishment of the China Social Sciences Press in Beijing. He accepted the honor to be an Academic Advisor for the China Social Sciences Press.
On July 18, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang was invited to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, and exchanged views of American studies of religion in China, religion and ethnicity, religion and society, and trends of various religions with researchers, including Professor HE Xiquan, Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Religion, and Professor GAO Zugui, Director of the Center for the Strategic Studies.
On July 8-11, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang participated in the meeting of authors for the book project of “Religion and Public Life in China” at Tao Fong Shan in Hong Kong. Organized by the Hong Kong America Center, this book is intended as a textbook for universities in North America.
Council for Foreign Relations in New York City organized a symposium on “Religion and the Future China” on June 11, 2008. Dr. Fenggang Yang was one of the panelists at session one about “China’s Dynamic Religious Landscape.” (more)
On May 28, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “Economics of Shortage and the Religious Market in China” at Peking University. This is the inaugural lecture of the newly established Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society at Peking University.
On May 27, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture on “Society, Religion and Spirituality in China” at China Agricultural University in Beijing.
On May 14, 2008, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a presentation describing nine religious trends in China at the Seminar on “China, Religion and Human Rights” at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. The seminar was organized by the Religion Newswriters Association.

2007

On October 9-12, 2007, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave lectures on religion in China at Princeton University, Yale University and Harvard University, and a talk on Asian American religion at Boston University.
On March 15, 2007, Dr. Fenggang Yang, Associate Professor of Sociology at Purdue University, delivered a lecture at Middlebury College in Vermont entitled “The Pluralism Project of Distortion: What Do Asian Americans Really Believe?”