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The Historical Index of Religious Missions lists more than 800 sites providing information for the study of the proselytisms in the past and present. Proselytism is understood here in a broad perspective, as the movement of faiths, rituals, beliefs, practice and people... continues at the bottom of the page

Historical Index of Religious Missions Indexes of Virtual Resources of Religious Missions:Learning & Research Universities-Colleges, Departments, Projects, Research Institutes, Societies-Funds, Varia

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Universities-Colleges

• De La Salle University (Manila, Philippines).
• École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, France). "An important and well known institute of higher education, which is directly associated with the Ministry of Education, Research and Technology. Its mission is to undertake research and instruction in the social sciences. Also incl uded in its mission is the investigation of the relationship between the social sciences and the natural and life sciences.
• The Faculty of History, University of Cambridge (UK). E-mail: webmaster@hist.cam.ac.uk.
• Fordham University. "Fordham offers a distinctive educational experience rooted in the 460-year old Jesuit tradition of intellectual rigor and personal attention, set amid the dynamic rhythm of New York City, the cultural and commercial capital of the world."
• Georgetown University (Washington, U.S.A.). Web site of one of Jesuit's most prestigious universities.
• Huntington College (In-USA). "Christ-centered liberal arts college that is owned by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. With the conviction that all truth is God's truth, the College exists to carry out the mission of Christ in higher education." E-mail: jpaff@huntington.edu.
• Loyola University (New Orleans, U.S.A.). Site of an important Jesuit University.
• Luther College (Decorah, Iowa, U.S.A.). E-mail: www@luther.edu.
• McGill Faculty of Religious Studies (Canada). Created by Annette Reed and A. James Yousif. Site provided by Mc Gill University, Montreal, Canada. E-mail: religious@po-box.mcgill.ca.
• Pontificia Università Gregoriana (Roma, Italy). Site of one of the world's most important universities for theology and history of the church.
• Pontificia Università Urbaniana. E-mail: segreteria@urbaniana.edu.
• Princeton Theological Seminary. Professional and graduate school of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). E-mail: webmaster@ptsem.edu.
• Rockhurst University (Kansas City, MO-USA). A Jesuit University.
• The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, London, U.K.). Prestigious academic institution at the University of London for the study of the history, anthropology and politics of Africa and Asia. E-mail: webmaster@soas.ac.uk.
• Sogang University. Jesuit University in Korea. They provide very interesting pages on the history of the order at http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~gesukr/index_en.html.
• Tel-Aviv University: Faculty of Humanities. E-mail: joseph@post.tau.ac.il.
• Union University (West Tennessee, U.S.A). An Institution of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. E-mail: media@uu.edu.
• The University of Scranton (Scranton, Pennsylvania -USA). "A Jesuit University in Northern Pennsylvania".
• Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio-USA). Jesuit Catholic University.

Departments

• Department of History and Religious Studies (Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.). Dpt. founded in 1855. E-mail: ecd1@psu.edu.

Projects

• Project X 1497-1999 (By Damian Lopes). An ongoing poetry-multimedia installation. It explores discovery, technology and colonialism by using the internet to re-examine Vasco da Gama’s first voyage from Portugal to Africa and South Asia in 1497-99. Email: ProjectX@bitwalla.com.
• Athanasius Kircher Correspondence Progetto (by Michael John Gorman and Nick Wilding). This project presents electronically the whole writings of the XVIIth. C. Jesuit Athanasius Kircher. Hosted at the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze, Italy. E-mail: mgorman@stanford.edu.
• The Book of Abraham Project. Hosted at the Brigham Young University. Web project aimed at providing texts of early Christianity as well as of latecomers such as the Mormons, of whom it has an interesting collection : "Journals, Diaries, Biographies and Autobiographies of Some Early Mormons and Others Who Knew Joseph Smith, Jr. and/or His Contemporaries." E-mail: boap@rhapsody.math.byu.edu.
• La expulsión de los Jesuitas de los dominios españoles (Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra). Interesting project on the crucial years at the end of the 18th. C. when the Society of Jesus was expulsed from the American colonies. It provides a selection of texts, a Bibliography and an historical overview. E-mail: webmaster@cervantesvirtual.com.
• Hanover Historical Texts Project (Hanover College History Department, Hanover, Indiana-USA). "The Project's principal aim is to make primary texts readily available to students and faculty for use in history and humanities courses." Among the numerous texts offered by this institution affiliated to the Presbyterian Church there are the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. E-mail: luttmer@hanover.edu.
• The Internet History Sourcebooks Project (Fordham University, NY-USA). "A collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use."
• Inventário das Cartas Anuais das Missões da Etiópia (Arquivo Distrital de Braga-Universidade do Minho, Departamento de Informática, Portugal). Very interesting Portuguese project offering besides that resource also some inquisitorial catalogs from the Arquivo Distrital de Braga (ADB).
• Manila 1571-1898 - Occidente en Oriente (Spain). Excellent electronic exhibition of the transoceanic Spanish network.
• Missio Religionum (Germany). "Das Projekt verfolgt ein   wissenschaftliches Anliegen:... und ein praktisches Anliegen für das Zusammenleben der Religionen:die bisher weitgehend isolierte Erforschung christlicher Mission zu überwinden, zu einer interreligiösen Beschreibung von Mission zu gelangen und die Perspektiven verschiedener wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen zu vernetzen, die sich mit Mission befassen."
• REQUIEM - Die römischen Papst- und Kardinalsgrabmäler der frühen Neuzeit, Form und Anspruch (Humboldt Universität, Berlin-Universität Freiburg, Schweiz).
• The Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Project. The Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Project consists of an electronic edition of her complete works based on the text of Adolfo Méndez Plancarte and Alberto G. Salceda. Sponsored by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
• Vasco da Gama Chair - The History of European Expansion (European University Institute, Florence).

Research Institutes

• The Boston Theological Institute. "An association of nine theological schools in the Greater Boston area, is one of the oldest and largest theological consortia in the United States. It is the only one to include as constitutive members schools representing the full range of Christian churches and confessions. The School offers a program in Comparative Christianity, faculty colloquia in numerous theological disciplines, the Certificate in International Mission & Ecumenism and the Certificate in Science & Religion. E-mail: mainoffice@bostontheological.org.
• C 18. International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies-Société internationale d'étude du XVIIIe siècle, "founded in 1967 to preserve the cultural history of the Enlightenment. It is a world-wide multidisciplinary organisation of 7.500 members belonging to 29 national societies known as constituent societies." E-mail: mail@c18.org.
• Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies. "The Center serves to promote, disseminate, and publish studies of the Old Calendar, or traditionalist, Orthodox movement and to sponsor, encourage, and publish studies of the Orthodox Church, its history, and its spiritual traditions. The ideas and opinions expressed in the various publications of the Center do not necessarily represent the ideas and opinions of the Board of Advisors or the Center's Directors."
• Centro de Estudos de História do Atlântico (Funchal- MADEIRA, Portugal). "...Criado em 1985 pelo Governo Regional da Madeira para promover a investigação histórica sobre as ilhas atlânticas. Mantem desde 1994 esta página com o objectivo divulgar as suas actividades e servir de ligação entre os Internautas interessados na História das Ilhas Atlânticas." Email: Ceha@nesos.net.
• CMSA: California Mission Studies Associations. "A nonprofit public benefit corporation formed with the following educational purposes: To preserve, advance and promote the Hispanic period historic resources in the State of California; To advance and promote development of archaeological, historical, museum and archival resources; To promote, conduct and coordinate research projects resulting in the preservation and restoration of period landmarks; and To encourage and support educational opportunities for interested students of the Hispanic period and for persons of the public community regardless of color, race, creed, sex or age." E-mail: cmsa@lightspeed.net.
• Currents in World Christianity (Westminster College, Cambridge, UK). "Research project committed to the international and inter-disciplinary study of mission and global Christianity, particularly in the twentieth century." E-mail: cwc@divinity.cam.ac.uk.
• Deutsche Vereinigung für Religionsgeschichte (DVRG; Germany). German Association for Religious History.
• European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR). Its objective "is to promote the academic study of religions through the international collaboration of scholars normally resident in Europe whose research has a bearing on the subject."
• Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (A Leading Evangelical Seminary-U.S.A.). Excellent gateway on religious and theological scholarship. E-mail: webmaster@gcts.edu.
• Institut für Vergleichende Kulturforschung Religionswissenschaft und Völkerkunde (Fachgebiet Religionswissenschaft, Study of Religions Unit, Fachbereich Gesellschaftswissenschaften und Philosophie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany).
• Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals (Wheaton College, Illinois, U.S.A.). Institute founded in 1982 by evangelical historians, interested in topics such as: "the impact of the foreign missions movement on North America, the financing of American evangelicalism, and most recently a study of American hymnody." E-mail: isae@wheaton.edu.
• Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. "Institución internacional autónoma dedicada a la educación, promoción e investigación en derechos humanos en las Américas."
• Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu (Jesuit Historical Institute, Rome, Italy). Hosting a very important library on Jesuit aspects (not yet available on-line). E-mail: ihsiroma@tin.it.
• International Association for Mission Studies. "International, inter-confessional and interdisciplinary professional society for the scholarly study of Christian witness and its impact in the world. There are some 600 individual and corporate members around the world. We publish our journal, Mission Studies, twice a year." E-mail: iams@missionstudies.org.
• Istituto Historico dei Capuccini (Roma, Italy). "Fondato nel 1930, l'Istituto Storico dei Cappuccini, è un'istituzione di ricerca scientifica impegnata nell' investigazione storica e nello studio del francescanesimo, in modo particolare della riforma dei Cappuccini (sec. XVI), nelle sue diverse espressioni, approfondendone la dimensione storica, dottrinale, spirituale e iconografica." E-mail: ist.cap@iol.it.
• Istituto Stensen (Florence, Italy). A Jesuit Institute for research in Florence, hosting a Library and some seasonal activities. E-mail: istituto@stensen.org.
• Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC). An excellent tool of research for Latin American matters. E-mail: info@lanic.utexas.edu.
• Overseas Ministries Study Center (Connecticut, U.S.A.). "The Overseas Ministries Study Center seeks to strengthen the Christian world mission by providing residential programs for the renewal of missionaries and international church leaders, continuing education in cross-cultural Christian ministries, and advancement of mission scholarship through research and publication." E-mail: mailbox@OMSC.org.
• The Religious Mouvements Page (University of Viriginia VA, USA). Interesting site of a center dedicated to the study of religious phenomena from a Sociological point of view.
• The Ricci Institute for Chinese (Western Cultural History). "Established in 1984 at the University of San Francisco and incorporated into the University in 1988 as the research arm of the Center for the Pacific Rim, the Ricci Institute, named after the 16th-century Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, dedicates its resources to publications, sponsorship of symposia and lectures, and collaboration between Chinese and Western scholars in the field of Chinese-Western cultural history with a concentration on the history of Christianity in China." E-mail: ricci@usfca.edu.
• SIL International (Dallas-TX, U.S.A.). Formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics, this organization works with language communities worldwide to facilitate language-based development through research, translation, and literacy. E-mail: www@sil.org.
• Southern African Missiological Society (Maintained by Steve Hayes, Pretoria, South Africa). "Formed to further the study of and research into Christian mission and related topics in Southern Africa. E-mail: missionalia@bigfoot.com.
• Southeastern Regional Seminar in African Studies (East Carolina University, NC-USA). E-mail: WILBURNK@MAIL.ECU.EDU.
• The Woodstock Theological Center (Georgetown University, Washington-DC, USA). "An independent nonprofit institute at that engages in theological and ethical reflection on topics of social, economic, business, scientific, cultural, religious, and political importance. The Center does research, conducts conferences and seminars, and publishes books and articles. Among other materials, provides some letters by St. Ignatius.
• The Warburg Institute. "The Warburg Institute of the University of London exists principally to further the study of the classical tradition, that is of those elements of European thought, literature, art and institutions which derive from the ancient world. It houses an Archive, a Library and a Photographic Collection.

Societies-Funds

• American Anthropologial Association. Within the AAA, there is the section Society for the Anthropology of Religion.
• American Historical Association.
• The Becket Fund (Washington-D.C., U.S.A.). "Fund for Religious Liberty, bipartisan and ecumenical, public-interest law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions. E-mail: mail@becketfund.org.
• California Missions Foundation (San Francisco-CA, U.S.A.). "Created to raise funds for the ongoing preservation, restoration, and maintenance needs of the California missions."
• Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian (Paris, France). "Le Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian a pour objectif la promotion de la culture portugaise en France. Il fut fondé en 1965 a Paris."
• Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses (CNCDP, Portugal). Portuguese Official Society for the Study of the Portuguese Discoveries. E-mail: cncdp@mail.telepac.pt.
• Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation (K.U.Leuven, Belgium). "Cultural Center of the China-Europe Institute of the Catholic University of Leuven, is a non-profit corporation organized in cooperation between the Catholic University of Leuven, the CICM (Scheut) Fathers and the Brothers of Charity (Gent). The purpose of the Foundation is: To promote cultural and scientific exchange between East and West, more particularly between China, Mongolia and Europe. This includes the promotion of inter-church exchange between the Church of China and Churches in Europe; To promote mutual appreciation and friendship between peoples from East and West; To contribute to the socio-economic development of China and the Republic of Mongolia." E-mail: verbiest.foundation@fvf.kuleuven.ac.be.
• Fondation Fyssen. French Fund dedicated to promote studies in Ethology, Psychology and Anthropology.
• Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal). The foundation organizes exhibitions, hosts conferences and support research in cultural aspects. E-mail: info@gulbenkian.pt.
• Fundação Oriente (Lisbon, Portugal). "The Fundaçao Oriente was created on 18 March 1988 and is a non-profit-making private law organisation with established legal status." E-mail: fundoriente@foriente.pt.
• Fundación Histórica Tavera (Madrid, Spain). Spanish institution for Latinamerican studies: "La Fundación Histórica Tavera es una institución cultural sin ánimo de lucro, constituida en 1996, que tiene como objetivos principales: La preservación, conservación y difusión del patrimonio documental y bibliográfico de los países que conforman la "Comunidad Cultural Iberoamericana". E-mail: Presidencia@Tavera.com.
• Northwood Missionary Auctions (Middlesex, U.K.). A registered charity founded in 1969. It organises regular auctions." E-mail: webmaster@nmauctions.org.uk.
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (Ontario, Canada). "Our eventual goal is to help people value religious diversity. However, promoting religious tolerance is the first step. It is a little difficult to encourage people to enjoy the variety of faiths in North America when religiously based intolerance and hatred is so widespread." E-mail: ocrt@religioustolerance.org.
• Smithsonian Institution (U.S.A.). "The Smithsonian Institution was established in 1846 with funds bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson. The Institution is as an independent trust instrumentality of the United States holding more than 140 million artifacts and specimens in its trust for "the increase and diffusion of knowledge". The Institution is also a center for research dedicated to public education, national service, and scholarship in the arts, sciences, and history." E-mail: webmaster@si.
• Society for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies (A. Katie Harris, Web Editor). "The SSPHS was founded in 1969 to promote research in all aspects and epochs of Iberian history and related disciplines. SSPHS conducts annual meetings, provides a forum for scholars of Iberian Affairs, awards prizes for books, articles and dissertations, and publishes its Bulletin triannually." E-mail: hisakh@panther.gsu.edu.
• Wenner-Green Foundation (New York-NY, U.S.A.). "The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Incorporated, is a private operating foundation that supports basic research in all branches of anthropology. Created and endowed in 1941 as The Viking Fund, Inc. by Axel Wenner-Gren, the foundation's mission is to advance significant and innovative research about humanity's cultural and biological origins, development, and variation, and to foster the creation of an international community of research scholars in anthropology." E-mail: webmaster@wennergren.org.

Varia

About the Historical Index of Religious Missions

(Continues from the top of the page) Although a large amount of the information concerns only Christian missions, I intend to provide information regarding other confessions, such as Buddhism, Islam or Judaism, and also proselytisms from the secular world: IGO's, NGO's, etc. The Index could also be used as a source of data in itself, a research tool on the ways traditional and new confessions try to communicate through the Internet.

The Historical Index of Religious Missions is made of different pages which are always under construction. You will find Virtual Resources produced all over the world world dealing with the past and present of the Religious Missions. The documents and materials found on this site should not be taken to reflect the view of the editor.
The URL of this page is [http://vlib.iue.it/hist-religious-missions/Index.html].
The Religious Missions Index is a joint project between the European University Institute's Library and theHistory & Civilisation Department .
The Religious Missions Index became part of the WWW-VL History Network in May 2001.


About the WWW-VL and the WWW-VL History Network

The World Wide Web Virtual Library is a collection of subject related Websites maintained by institutions throughout the world, each administering a different subject. The project is now managed by an independent committee made up of maintainers of various subject areas. For more information on the WWW-VL Main Project, go to [ http://www.vlib.org/AboutVL.html ] and for more information on the History Network Project, go to
[ http://vlib.iue.it/history/about/about.html ]

About the Maintainer

The page is managed by Andreu Martínez d'Alòs-Moner [andres.martinez@iue.it].
Please direct your notices of new URL's or inoperative links to him here.

This page is updated every two/three months. Last updated: 1st of May 2003.