Nancy Nason-Clark

Holy Hush or Shattered Silence?
Religion as Part of the Solution to Domestic Violence, Not Just Part of the Problem

May 1, 2013, 7 p.m., Wilmot United Church

For over 20 years, Nancy Nason-Clark has been researching and writing about the web of connections between religion and domestic violence.  She has explored how religious faith impacts the journey towards healing and hope for victims and survivors, and the rhetoric - as well as the reality - facing religious leaders who are called upon to respond to families impacted by various forms of abuse. 

Her interest in the coordinated community response has led her to study criminal justice, therapeutic and advocacy responses to the role of religious professionals as partners in ending domestic violence.  Her most recent work considers the role of religious leaders and faith communities in helping abusive religious men become accountable for their actions and begin to change their thinking and actions. 

Over the years, Dr. Nason-Clark and her students have conducted projects in Canada, the United States, Asia, the Caribbean, and eastern Europe.

Dr. Nason-Clark is a professor and chair of sociology at UNB.  She returned to her native province of New Brunswick after completing her PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science in England.  She is the author or co-author of eight books, including No Place for Abuse: Biblical and Practical Resources to Counteract Domestic Violence and The Battered Wife: How Christians Confront Family Violence. 

Dr. Nason-Clark is the creator of the RAVE Project, a research initiative funded by the Lilly Endowment.  She has served as president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, president of the Religious Research Association, and as editor of Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review.  A frequent speaker at both secular and religious conferences, her travels have taken her recently to Asia, New Zealand, and Turkey.