Sociologists may be studying religion more, treating it as an independent variable

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik reports on a new study that suggests the sociology of religion has been getting more attention recently, and, particular, more attention as an independent variable:

The new study on sociology arrives as a working paper of the Social Science Research Council, based on analysis of 587 sociology journal articles on religion, published between 1978 and 2007. The paper — by David Smilde, a professor of sociology, and Matthew May, a graduate student, both at the University of Georgia — finds much that would encourage scholars who want to see more research on religion. But the paper also raises questions about whether American sociologists may be too narrowly focused on some religious groups over others, and over the impact of outside funding, which is growing.

Jaschik provides background, a helpful summary, and some reaction from scholars in the field.

This article could provide the basis for a faculty conversation on changes in academic interest in religion and the (problematic?) role that outside funding may play in these changes.

National Institutes of Health approves 13 new “lines” of embryonic stem cells

Inside Higher Ed reports that the NIH has approved the new ‘lines”  to be made available to biomedical researchers, the first new “lines” since President Bush’s 2001 order limiting federally sponsored research to 60 existing lines.

In announcing the newly available stem cell lines, the NIH’s director, Francis S. Collins, said the new lines had been "derived from embryos that were donated under ethically sound informed consent processes," a nod to critics who say the research leans on cells from embryos from donors who never intended them for that use. The NIH said that 96 additional lines were under review.

Here is the full news release.

University of Nebraska Board of Regents tie on vote to return to Bush-era regulations on embryonic stem cell research; resolution fails

Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education [subscription required] each have detailed reports on the tie vote in the University of Nebraska Board of Regents that defeated an attempt to reject the expansion of research on human embryonic stem cells allowed by the Obama administration. If passed, the resolution would have returned the system to the more restrictive regulations issued by the Bush administration. 

An advocate’s view of the current state of debate over stem-cell research

Bernard Siegel, “a Florida lawyer, …the founder of both the Genetics Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization at the forefront of the stem cell advocacy movement, and the annual World Stem Cell Summit,” has an advocacy piece in The Baltimore Sun that describes the current stage of the debate.

Hat tip to The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life “Religion News.”