Susan Jean Palmer (born 1946) is a Canadian sociologist of religion and author whose primary research interest isnew religious movements. Formerly a professor of religious studies atDawson College inWestmount,Quebec, she is currently an Affiliate Professor atConcordia University. She has authored and edited several books on NRMs.
Palmer was raised in theMormon faith.[1] Her great-grandparents were polygamist Mormons, who moved to Canada from the United States to avoid the U.S. law against polygamy.[2] Palmer received a BA in Honours English atMcGill University before she received her Masters and PhD in Religion fromConcordia University.
Palmer was a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Westmount, Quebec, before becoming she is currently an Affiliate Professor atConcordia University, and is also the Principal Investigator on the four-year SSHRC-funded research project, "Children in Sectarian Religions" atMcGill University inMontreal, where she teaches courses on new religious movements.[3][4]
Her topics range from apocalyptic activity, prophecy, charisma, communalism, childrearing, racialist religions, to research ethics and methods in studying new religions. Her article "Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher" has reappeared in several anthologies.[5] Her bookAliens Adored documents the formation and beliefs of theRaëlian movement, with an eye to how scientific discoveries contribute to the formation of their human cloning theology.[6][7] Her most recent work has focused on religious freedom issues.The New Heretics of France explores the state-sponsored persecution of religious minorities.[8][9]
She has two children, a son and a daughter. Outside of her academic interest in religion, she also has an interest in martial arts and choir singing.[2]
——; Mahmut, Dilmurat; Udun, Abdulmuqtedir, eds. (2024).Uyghur Women Activists in the Diaspora: Restorying a Genocide. Bloomsbury Studies in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality.Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN978-1-3504-1834-9.
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