Faculty News
Religious Studies is going through a time of exciting changes over a period of two years. E. Ann Matter, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Religious Studies and until recently the Chair of the department, has accepted the position of Associate Dean for Arts and Letters. Despite her busy schedule as a dean she is continuing to be an active member of our departmental life and plans to continue teaching at least one course a year.
Professor Matter has been replaced by Professor Stephen N. Dunning as Chair of the Department. He is assisted by Professor Talya Fishman as Graduate Chair and Professor Jamal J. Elias as Undergraduate Chair.
This year we have welcomed Jamal J. Elias to our department. He holds the Class of 1965 Endowed Term Chair, and teaches courses on Islamic Studies and in religion and material culture.
Two of our colleagues, Professors Robert A. Kraft and Guy R. Welbon are retiring after being integral to the life of the department for many years. They have agreed to continue pariticipating in our intellectual lives by teaching important courses this year. We are in the process of hiring two new colleagues, one in Early Christianity and the other in Buddhism and South Asian Religions, to follow in their distinguished footsteps. Our intention is to have these colleagues in place before the start of the next academic year.
There has also been a growth in our Graduate Group with the addition of two new faculty members, Doctors Eve M. Trout Powell and Melissa J. Wilde. Dr. Trout Powell is Associate Professor of History and specializes in the social history of the Middle East with a particular emphasis on the Nile Valley and on the history of slavery. Dr. Wilde is an Assistant Professor of Sociology specializing in the Sociology of Religion with special emphasis on Roman Catholicism.