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
Alef is for Allah: Childhood Emotion and Visual Culture in Islamic Societies
Alef Is for Allah is the first groundbreaking study of the emotional space occupied by children in modern Islamic societies.
Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin
In Wild Experiment, Donovan O. Schaefer challenges the conventional wisdom that feeling and thinking are separate.
Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making a Sanctified World
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), an African American Pentecostal denomination founded in 1896, has become the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States today.
The FBI and Religion
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has had a long and tortuous relationship with religion over almost the entirety of its existence.
Muslims Against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea of Pakistan
An anthology of essays, edited by Ali Usman Qasmi and Megan Eaton Robb, exploring Muslim criticism of the founding of Pakistan.
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.
The Jews: A History
The Jews: A History is a comprehensive and accessible text that explores the religious, cultural, social, and economic diversity of the Jewish people and their faith.
Surviving Sacrilege: Cultural Persistence in Jewish Antiquity
In a world of relentless and often violent change, what does it take for a culture to survive?
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.
The Throne Carrier of God: The Life and Thought of ‘Ala’ ad-dawla as-Simnani
This book constitutes a comprehensive investigation of the life and teachings of one of the most famous Sufis of the Iranian world.
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.