Susan J. Palmer

Susan Jean Palmer is a Canadian sociologist, a non-fiction author, and a scholar of new religious movements. She is a professor of Religious Studies at Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at Concordia University. Raised in the Mormon religion, she was a student of the sociologist Eileen Barker at the London School of Economics.(2004) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0813534763&id=gmCCxUJGi70C&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=Rn3wBmy2a_&dq=susan+j+palmer+aliens+adored&sig=ho30zbDlFbVbzNekYP4TleSM3RI "Aliens Adored: Raël's UFO Religion"] . New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.]

Palmer is known for her research on gender, family [(1999) (ed., with Charlotte Hardman) "Children in New Religions." New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.] , and sexuality in new religious movements, in particular the Rajneeshees [(1994) "Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers: Women's Roles in New Religions." Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press.] and Raelians [cite journal | author = Susan J. Palmer | date = Summer 2001 | title = The Rael Deal | journal = Religion in the News | volume = vol 4 | issue = 2 | url = http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RINVol4No2/Rael.htm | accessdate = 2007-03-12 ] . Shortly before writing her book about them, "Aliens Adored", she was blacklisted by the Raelians, with whom she had been friendly - and continues to be so. According to Palmer, the blacklisting was a measure that allowed her to reflect upon the misquoting her words out of context by journalists, which both she and the Raelians were displeased with.She is current researching apocalyptic new religious movements in Quebec, and their ties to the sovereignty movement and to Old France, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is also involved in a membership survey of Falun Gong with Professor David Owenby, at the Université de Montréal.

Bibliography

* "Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion" (2004) Rutgers University Press ISBN 0813534763, ISBN 978-0813534763
* "Children in New Religions" (with Charlotte E. Hardman) (1996) Rutgers University Press ISBN 0813526205, ISBN 978-0813526201
* "Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem" (with Thomas Robbins) (1997) Routledge ISBN 0415916496, ISBN 978-0415916493
* "Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers: Women's Roles in New Religions" (1996) Syracuse University Press ISBN 0815603827, ISBN 978-0815603825

References