Anthony Nairn
262 Vanier College
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3J 1P3
(January 2023)
Education
York University 2019 - Current
Doctor of Philosophy - Humanities
University of Toronto 2018-2019
Master of Arts - History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Carleton University 2015-2018
Master of Arts - Sociology
Toronto Metropolitan University 2009-2015
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Arts and Contemporary Studies
Employment
January 2022 - Current: International Society for Science and Religion - Executive Assistant
Responsible for the total administration (meetings, finances, members, communications, etc.) of the Society.
All of the below plus managing Society finances.
Providing support, coordination, and management of the Executive Committee.
Managing and administrating international teams and the finances for £1,000,000.00+ Templeton and other funded grants.
International travel for running and attending conferences and events.
January 2019 - December 2021: International Society for Science and Religion - Administrator
Responsible for the administration (meetings, members, communications, etc.) of a major international academic society.
Producing documents, coordinating members, and running social media for the Society.
Providing support, coordination, and management to the Executive Secretary.
Managing and administrating international teams for research grants.
International travel for running and attending conferences and events.
September 2015 - Current: Carleton University, University of Toronto, York University - Teaching Assistant
Teaching undergraduate students in first- and second-year programs within sociology, religion, history, and philosophy.
Planning for course lectures, assignments, and tutorials. Leading tutorials and coordinating student discussions.
Working closely with professors in planning and organization.
Marking written assignments and tests, holding office hours, and general course management and administration.
January 2018 - August 2018: John Howard Society, Ottawa - Support Worker
Responsible for the well-being and support of the rehabilitation of clients currently enrolled in the housing program.
Support and encouragement of participation in daily activities that contribute to independent living.
Aiding in personal goals set during weekly meetings with clients.
Reporting to the medical team at Royal Ottawa Mental Health Hospital.
May 2016 - April 2017: Canadian Forces Support Unit, Ottawa - Recreational Facilities Administrator
Managing ‘PSP’ (Personel Support Program), keeping detailed records of registrations, payments, and information distribution.
Responsible for the upkeep of member records, payments, and accounts.
Creation and management of recreation programs.
Design and distribute information to the military community in Ottawa.
Responsible for entire “PSP” Uplands during weekend events.
Summer 2016: Ottawa Centre EcoDistrict, Ottawa - Event Director
Internship at an environmental not-for-profit organization in downtown Ottawa.
Hired to develop, plan, coordinate, promote, and manage ‘EV Day 2016’.
Worked closely with municipal, provincial, and federal governments for both the event and program support.
Designed signage, clothing, marketing materials, and website content for both the event and the organization.
Reached out to, coordinated, and managed over twenty-five local, provincial, and federal businesses, institutions, organizations, and seven volunteers to be a part of EV Day.
Demonstrated competent project management skills in coordinating and implementing many pieces into a single project’s vision.
July 2011 - October 2013: Canadian Armed Forces – Regular Force Officer Corp, MARS
Operations and leadership of Canadian sailors and naval war vessels.
Planning, coordinating, and conducting military and human operations.
Advanced leadership, time management, project management, and disciplinary training.
Meticulous training on detail-orientated tasks.
October 2010 - April 2011: Canadian Club of Toronto, Toronto - Event Administrator
Administrative office work such as answering phones, managing accounts, balancing membership fees, and ordering and selling tickets for weekly events.
Coordination and management of Canadian Club lunch events, managing public and media, collecting tickets, organizing volunteers, and guiding speakers.
In charge of and managed volunteers during lunch events
Social Media Manager: created and maintained the Canadian Club’s Twitter/Facebook page.
Wrote pieces and designed materials for distribution and events.
Academic Interests
Areas of Specialty
Media, narrative, and social change
19th and 20th-century humanities of science and religion
Areas of Competence
History of science
Philosophy of science
Sociology of science
Sociology of popular culture
Media studies
Socio-political theory
Sociological economic theory
History of sociological thought
Sociology of knowledge
Christian theology
Publications
Nairn, Anthony. 2019. "The Evolution of Social Constructs: A Proposal for the Re-Conceptualization of Sociobiology for Understanding Interdependent Social Networks as Evolving “Organisms” Using Norbert Elias’s, The Court Society," Journal of Big History, 2(4), 61-76.
Watts, Fraser, Anthony K Nairn, Arthur Petersen. 2022. “Science, Religion, Culture” Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. 57(4), 838-848.
Nairn, Anthony. 2023. “Policing Relativity: Scientific Theory as the ‘Ding’ of a Scientific Public.” Perspectives on Science. (Forthcoming)
Academic Conferences
2023: Popular Culture Association Annual Conference - Popular Culture Association (San Antonio, Texas)
Popular Culture and the Field of Science and Religion: Interstellar as an Example of Complexity in Popular Culture
2022: Science and Belief Research Network Annual Conference – Birmingham, UK
Images of Earth and the ‘Transformational Experience’ of the Cosmic Perspective
2021 (ONLINE): Science, Religion, and Human Identity - Science and Religion Forum
The Evolutionary Epic and the Grand Cosmic Perspective: The Presentation of Science in Popular Culture as Post-Theological, Secular Re-Enchantment
2021 (ONLINE): Popular Culture Association Annual Conference - Popular Culture Association
Perspectives of the Earth: The Distributed Affect of Three Photographs of the Earth and How the Transformation Perspective Exposes an Intersection Between Science and Religion
(2021) (MOVED ONLINE) Science and Belief Research Network Annual Conference
The Grand Cosmic Perspective: Narratives of Science Through Religious Affects
(2020) (MOVED ONLINE) GRiSTS – Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University
"In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth": The Distributed Affect and the Transformational Perspective of Photography of the Earth
(2020) (MOVED ONLINE) LASAR 2020: Epistemic Insight and Big Questions – Canterbury Christ Church University
The Grand Cosmic Perspective: Science and the Big Questions of Life through Religious-like Narratives
(2019) Society for the Social Studies of Science – New Orleans
The ‘Grand Scientific Narrative’: The Religious Presentation of Science in Popular Culture as a Means to Re-Enchant the Secular West
(2019) Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Annual Conference - University of British Columbia
A Social and Historical Analysis of the 'Distributed Affect' of Three Photographs of the Earth and How the 'Transformation Perspective' Exposes an Intersection Between Science and Religion
(2019) Popular Culture Association Annual Conference - Washington, D.C.
The ‘Grand Scientific Narrative’: The Religious Presentation of Science in Popular Culture as a Means to Re-Enchant the Secular West
(2018) Annual Big History Conference - Villanova University
“The Cosmos is all there is or ever was or ever will be”: The Big History of Cosmos and the New Cosmological “Myth”
(2018) Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Annual Conference - University of Regina
“These are some of the things molecules do, given four billion years of evolution.”: Does Cosmos Enchant Science?
(2017) International Society for Science and Religion, Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion Bi-Annual Conference - Oxford University
“These are some of the things molecules do, given four billion years of evolution.”: Cosmos as a Focal Point of Science and Religion to Re-Enchant Society
(2017) Canadian Sociological Association Annual Conference - Toronto Metropolitan University
The Science Ding Police: Making Sense of the Politics and Policing of Scientific Publics
(2017) Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Annual Conference - Toronto Metropolitan University
On the Hermeneutical Revolutions of Scientific Revolutions: Re-Examining Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Through the Framework of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics
(2016) Canadian Sociological Association Annual Conference - University of Calgary
Giving Shape to Social Change: On the Potentiality of Evolutionary Sociology as a Framework for the Study of Social Change of Interdependent Actor Networks Through an Analysis of King Louis XVI “Court Society”
(2016) Graduate Political Sociology Conference - Carleton University
The Science Ding Police: Making Sense of the Politics and Policing of Scientific Publics
(2015) ARTeries Undergraduate Student Conference - Toronto Metropolitan University
“That’s my loot, newb!”: An Analysis of Consumer Practices in the Massively Online Multiplayer Video Game World of Warcraft
Academic Visits
2022 International Summer School on Science and Religion - Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation
Science and Orthodoxy Around the World
2021 (ONLINE) INSBS Summer School - International Network for Science and Belief in Society
Emergent Themes in the Study of Science & Belief in Society
2019 INSBS Summer Conference - International Network for Science and Belief in Society
ISSR Attending Representative
Teaching
York University
Seminar Instructor
F-W 2022/2023: HUMA 1875 - Christianity in Context
Taught one (1) two-hour seminar, including a one hour lecture and one hour of discussion. I researched and presented information to students. I had the freedom to approach the seminars my own way, which led to incredible positive feedback from my students. Was responsible for grading, leading, counseling, office hours, and administration.
Tutorial Instructor (x2)
F-W 2021/2022: HUMA 1850 - The Bible and Modern Contexts
Taught two (2) tutorials, and researched and presented information to students. I had the freedom to approach the tutorials in my own way, which led to incredible positive feedback from my students. Was responsible for grading, leading, counseling, office hours, and administration.
University of Toronto
Guest Lecturer, HPS 326: History of Science and Religion
(25 Sept 18) “Case Study I: The Re-Enchantment of the West?”
Taught social theory of M. Weber, N. Elias; aesthetic philosophy of E. Kant, E. Burke and R. Scruton; psychological narrative affect theory of J. Peterson. Created a framework for looking at modern narratives of science expressed in popular culture.
(20 Nov 18) “The Jewish Genius and Einstein’s Religion”
Taught brief history of Einstein and his significance. Focused on his religious beliefs and the nature of his beliefs throughout the course of his life. Used popular culture to demonstrate the power and impact of Einstein’s thinking.
Teaching Assistant
(Fall 18 - Winter 19)
Responsible for undergraduate student administration: marking assignments, emails, administering tests, etc.
Carleton University
Instructor, Enrichment Mini-Courses Program
(7-11 May 18) “Mythologies of the World and the Narrative of Science”
I was responsible for creating a course of my own design, taught to advanced high-school students selected for the Enrichment Mini-Courses Program hosted by the universities in Ottawa.
The course was on world religions and their creation myths from cultures both past and present.
Aimed to show the relationship of religions/spiritualities with the modern "myth" that science provides in some narrative examples.
Teaching Assistant
(Fall 2015-Winter 2017)
Responsible for teaching five (5) undergraduate class student tutorials, researching relevant topics, planning teaching materials, marking assignments, and general class administration.
Awards and Grants
(2019) York University - Vernon Oliver Strong Graduate Scholarship in Science
(2019) York University - Graduate Scholarship
(2019) York University - Graduate Fellowship
(2018) University of Toronto - Graduate Scholarship
(2017) Carleton University - Graduate Scholarship
(2016) Carleton University - Graduate Scholarship
(2016) Carleton University - John Porter Graduate Scholarship
(2015) Toronto Metropolitan University - Graduate with Distinction
(2015) Toronto Metropolitan University - Dean’s List Graduate
(2009, 2014-2015) Toronto Metropolitan University - Academic Merit Scholarship
(2009) Toronto Metropolitan University - Toshiba “Ask What If” Marketing Competition
Service
(2022-Present) Executive Assistant, International Society for Science and Religion
(2023-2025) Executive Committee Member, Institute for Technoscience and Society - York University
(2023) Area Organizer and Chair, Popular Culture Association Annual Conference
“Science and Religion in Popular Culture”
(2023) Organizer, Editor, Administrator - The Boyle Lecture on Science and Religion - Lord (Rowan) Williams
(2022) Organizer, Editor, Administrator - The Boyle Lecture on Science and Religion - Christopher Southgate
(2022) Hiring Committee, Tenure-Track Professor of Environmental Humanities - York University
(2021) Organizer, Editor, Administrator - The Boyle Lecture on Science and Religion - Tom McLeish
(2019/2020) York University/University of Toronto, STS/HPS - Binocular Graduate Conference Co-Chair
(2018 – 2021) Society Administrator, International Society for Science and Religion
(2018 – Current) Social Media Manager, Canadian Society of the History and Philosophy of Science
(2019) International Society for Science and Religion Representative, International Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society Annual Conference - University of Birmingham.
(2019) Session Organizer and Chair, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Annual Conference
“Science and Religion: Rethinking the Dialogue”
(2019) Session Organizer and Chair, Society for the Social Studies of Science Annual Conference
“Science and Religion: Understanding the Interaction”
(2018) Session Organizer and Chair, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science
“Pillars of the World: The History and Philosophy of Science and Religion”
(2017) Carleton University, Sociology - Social Committee
(2016) Carleton University, Sociology - Hiring Committee
(2015) Toronto Metropolitan University, ACS - ACS Student’s Union
(2015) Toronto Metropolitan University – Part-time Student’s Association
Affiliations
International Society for Science and Religion; Society for Literature, Science, and Arts; Popular Culture Association; American Academy of Religions; Canadian Sociological Association; Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science
