Steven Joseph Engler (born 1962) is a Canadian scholar of religion, Professor at

Mount Royal University Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8 ...

, '' Professor Colaborador'' in the Graduate Program in '' Ciêncas da Religião'' at the

Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo ( pt, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, PUC-SP), locally known as ''PUC'' or the ''Catholic University'' ('), is a private and non-profit Catholic university. It is one of the larg ...

(

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

), and affiliate Professor in the Department of Religion at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. Engler is the co-editor of leading journals and book series in the field of religious studies. In his work, he has analyzed major publications of the field and the academic landscape of religious studies in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. His research focuses on Christianity in Latin America, especially

, and on related religions such as

Kardecism Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riv ...

and

Umbanda Umbanda () is a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that blends traditional African religions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th cent ...

. His work on

theories of religion Sociological and anthropological theories about religion (or theories of religion) generally attempt to explain the origin and function of religion. These theories define what they present as universal characteristics of religious belief and p ...

engages

semantic holism Semantic holism is a theory in the philosophy of language to the effect that a certain part of language, be it a term or a complete sentence, can only be understood through its relations to a (previously understood) larger segment of language. The ...

, a philosophical position in the area of

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy Philosophy (f ...

Biography

Engler was born and raised in the interior of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1986; a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in philosophy from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1989; and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in religion from

in 1999.

Professional activities

* Co-editor (with

Michael Stausberg Michael Stausberg (born April 28, 1966) is a German scholar on religion. He was born in Köln. He studied in Bonn, Tübingen, Bergen and Rome. He is now a professor at the University of Bergen, Norway. Apart from Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian pr ...

) of the journal ''

Religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

''. * Co-editor (with

) of the '' Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion'' * Co-editor (with Bettina E. Schmidt) of ''Handbook of Contemporary Religions in Brazil'' (Brill) * Co-editor (with

) of ''The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion'' * Co-editor of the Numen book series, ''Studies in the History of Religions'' (Brill). * Co-editor of the ''Religion in the Americas'' book series (Brill). * Editor of the NAASR book series ''Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion'' (Routledge). * Member of the editorial board of the Brazilian journal ''Horizonte''

References

External links

*
Theoretical Issues in the Study of Religion
- Special issue of the Brazilian on-line journa
''Revista de Estudos da Religião (Rever)''
on theory of religion, edited by Engler. 1962 births Canadian religion academics Concordia University alumni Living people Academic staff of Mount Royal University People from British Columbia Religious studies scholars University of British Columbia alumni University of Toronto alumni {{reli-studies-bio-stub