Department News
Graduate Students Win Research Prizes
The Graduate Group in Religious Studies is pleased to announce the recipients of several annual prizes.
Kirby Sokolow Receives Dissertation Research Award
PhD Candidate Kirby Sokolow has received a Dissertation Research Award in support of her archival and oral historical research for her dissertation, “Buddhist Exceptionalism Behind Bars: Transformi
Claire Elliot Receives Hopkinson Fellowship
PhD student Claire Elliot was recently selected as a recipient of the Hopkinson Fellowship.
Hallie Swanson Appointed as Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography
PhD Candidate Hallie Nell Swanson has been appointed as a Junior Fellow of the Andrew W.
Angela Xia Receives Postdoctoral Fellowship at Notre Dame's Cushwa Center
PhD Candidate Angela Xia has recently accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Notre Dame's Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism.
Hallie Nell Swanson Receives Cheng-Harrell Graduate Internship at NMAA
PhD Candidate Hallie Nell Swanson was selec
Congrats to Prof. Durmaz & Prof.Schaefer!
Prof. Durmaz and Prof. Schaefer were both named finalists in the 2023 AAR Book Awards! Prof.
In Memoriam: Emeritus Professor Stephen Dunning
Stephen Northrop Dunning, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences, passed away on January 6th, 2024. He was 82.
PhD Student Hallie Nell Swanson Named BSA's first "D.F. McKenzie New Scholar"
PhD Student Hallie Nell Swanson has been selected as the Bibliographical Society of America's first D. F.
With particular strengths in the study of Christianity, Judaism, American religions, Islam, secularism, Buddhism, and other Asian religions, the Department of Religious Studies emphasizes descriptive, historical, and theoretical approaches to the study of religion.
Faculty Bookshelf
Feeling Modern: The History of the Emotions in South Asia
A special issue of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, co-edited by Megan Robb with Elizabeth Chatterjee (Queen Mary, London) and Sneha Krishnan (Oxford).
White Evangelical Racism
In this clear-eyed, hard-hitting chronicle of American religion and politics, Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power.
Religious Affects: Animality, Evolution, and Power
In Religious Affects, Donovan Schaefer challenges the notion that religion is inextricably linked to language and belief, proposing instead that it is primarily driven by affects.
Aisha’s Cushion: Religious Art, Perception, and Practice in Islam
Media coverage of the Danish cartoon crisis and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan left Westerners with a strong impression that Islam does not countenance depiction of religious imagery.
The Origin of the Jews
The Jews have one of the longest continuously recorded histories of any people in the world, but what do we actually know about their origins?
Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin
In Wild Experiment, Donovan O. Schaefer challenges the conventional wisdom that feeling and thinking are separate.
Architects of Buddhist Leisure: Socially Disengaged Buddhism in Asia’s Museum, Monuments, and Amusement Parks
Buddhism, often described as an austere religion that condemns desire, promotes denial, and idealizes the contemplative life, actually has a thriving leisure culture in Asia.
Song and Story in Biblical Narrative: The History of a Literary Convention in Ancient Israel
This book examines a literary form within the Bible that has slipped through the cracks of modern scholarship: the mixing of song and story in biblical narrative.
Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words: Histories of Buddhist Monastic Education in Laos and Thailand
Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words examines modern and premodern Buddhist monastic education traditions in Laos and Thailand.
From Mulberry Leaves to Silk Scrolls: New Approaches to the Study of Asian Manuscript Traditions
From Mulberry Leaves to Silk Scrolls is a multidisciplinary consideration of Asian manuscripts.
Key Themes for the Study of Islam
Key Themes for the Study of Islam examines the central themes and concepts indispensable to an informed understanding of Islamic religion and society.
Islam
Islam is a concise and readable survey of the history of Islam from the birth of Muhammad in seventh century Arabia to the differing situations of Muslims throughout today's world.