Cultural Re-Enchantment After Traditional Religion's Decline: Why More Americans are Choosing 'Occulture' Over Religion

Traditional American religion has been in serious decline in recent decades, yet secularism holds a limited appeal for most Americans. Instead, many are gravitating into re-enchanted culture and alternative "occultural" spiritualities and religions, like neo-paganism, magic, New Age, alternative healing, Native American and "Eastern" spiritualities, esoterica. This talk describes the spread of cultural re-enchantment, its widespread appeal and comparative advantages, and its implications for traditional religion and American society.

Speaker: Christian Smith is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, where he was also founding director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society. He is the author of many books, including Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, and co-author of the forthcoming book, Occulture: The New Face of American Spirituality.

Refreshments will be provided. Registration is free for students and faculty. All others are…