<div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(80,0,80)"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)">The New Release of "Spatial Explorer of Religion"</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Webcast set for USA EST Time: 9:00 AM, October 22, 2012</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">We are pleased to announce the first release of the “Spatial Explorer of Religion" at <a href="http://chinadataonline.org/religionexplorer" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">http://chinadataonline.org/religionexplorer</a>, a joint effort by the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, the China Data Center at the University of Michigan, and the State Key Laboratory for Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing of Wuhan University. The tool enables a variety of data derived from different sources and formats to be incorporated into one single system and offers demographic and economic data, maps, charts, reports, as well as advanced functions for graphic and spatial statistical analysis in a web-based delivery system.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">We are planning an online press conference for the first<sup> </sup>release of the "Spatial Explorer of Religion" at 9:00 AM on October 22, 2012 (New York time). The web conference is open to all. Drs. George Hong, Fenggang Yang and Shuming Bao will give an introduction and an online demo on the project. There will be some time for the following up Q&A.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Those who are interested in the web conference can simply follow this link: <a href="https://chinadata.webex.com/chinadata/j.php?ED=213658752&UID=488215702&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">https://chinadata.webex.com/chinadata/j.php?ED=213658752&UID=488215702&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D</a>. You may be asked to enter your email address and install a plug in application. You will need a microphone and speaker for your computer to join the online discussion. Please click "Audio Conference" after you get in.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">You may register online at <a href="http://chinadatacenter.org/Learming/SeminarsContent.aspx?id=28" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">http://chinadatacenter.org/Learming/SeminarsContent.aspx?id=28</a>. We’ll send you a reminder shortly before the press conference and keep you informed of our project progress.</span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)">About "the Spatial Study of Religion and Society" Project:</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">Supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, the "Spatial Study of Religion and Society" project is co-sponsored by the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University and the China Data Center at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. The project aims at promoting research, teaching, learning, and training on the spatial studies of religions and society in China. It is expected that the project will enhance the scholarship on the subject and provide effective assistance in support of scholars’ research through 1) developing their research interactions and collaboration; 2) expanding their research projects with the information and tech support in view of their limited access and tech support from local institutions; 3) promoting interdisciplinary studies with the added value from the integration of those data from different sources and fields, and 4) providing a variety of teaching and training tools for their courses on the studies of Chinese religion and society.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34)">The project is directed by Dr. Z. George Hong (Professor of History at Purdue University Calumet and Co-Director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University), Dr. Fenggang Yang (Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University), and Dr. Shuming Bao (Director of the China Data Center at the University of Michigan). The project is also co-sponsored by Purdue University, the University of Michigan, Purdue University Calumet, Renmin University, East China Normal University, Wuhan University and some other institutions. All collaborations will be welcome. For more details, please visit <a href="http://religioninchina.org/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">http://religioninchina.org</a> or contact <a href="mailto:director@ReligionInChina.org" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">director@ReligionInChina.org</a>.</span></p>
</div><div><br></div>-- <br><div><br><div>Dan Meisler, editor</div></div><div>Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research</div><div>Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan</div><div>734.615.7904</div>
<div><a href="http://www.icpsr.umich.edu" target="_blank">www.icpsr.umich.edu</a></div><br>