'With the publication of the first issue of the Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism in January 2010 the activities of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism at the University of Sheffield, established in 2000, have come to a preliminary end. On March 8, faculty administration put following message on the Centers website:
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities regrets that, with effect from 1 January 2010, the activities of the Centre for Research for Freemasonry and Fraternalism are suspended for the time being.[ ]The CRF(F) has over the past ten years contributed considerably to the vitalization of academic research into freemasonry and related fraternal organizations both in Britain and abroad. We are in this respect deeply indebted to the efforts of founding director, prof Andrew Prescott. It is intended to publish a chronological overview over Ten Years of Research into Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield later this spring.
The Academic Society for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism (ASRFF) will immediately take over some core functions from the CRFF, such as the publication of a newsletter or the edition of the academic journal JRFF.
The Society is under formation and experienced already a serious blow with the tragic death of its intermediary president, prof Malcolm Davies, who passed away unexpectedly in February 2010. With the Leiden chair empty and the CRFF in hibernation, academic research at the moment and for the foreseeable future will be carried out by single academics based at single universities across the world.
This increases the need for cooperation of various initiatives such as the organization of conferences, e.g. the next International Conference on the History of Freemasonry that will take place in Alexandria, VA in late May 2011 and to which we currently are recruiting the Academic Committee. The ASRFF has created a temporary website that will be continually updated.'
De OVN steunt natuurlijk de ASRFF en roept haar leden en collega's om hetzelfde te doen. Studenten en onderzoekers kunnen lid worden van de ASRFF en een abonnement op het tijdschrift nemen, zodat de organisatie verder kan groeien en meer substantiele steun aan het vakgebied kan bieden. Voorts pleit de OVN voor oprichting van vergelijkbare, academische organisaties voor de studie van de vrijmetselarij in ieder land (zoals de OVN in Nederland), waarvoor de ASRFF als internationale koepel kan fungeren. Dat zou het werk van studenten en onderzoekers steunen en fondsen voor onderzoek beschikbaar maken - onafhankelijk van de wisselende interne politiek van universiteiten en vrijmetselaarsorganisaties.
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