Department News
PhD Candidate Kirby Sokolow Receives Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Research Fellowship
PhD candidate Kirby Sokolow was recently ann
Professor Thomas's "Religion of Anime" Featured in Omnia
Professor Thomas's course, "The Religion of Anime," got a brief writeup in the "Three Questions" column in Omnia.
Professor McDaniel's "Existential Despair" Featured in the Penn Gazette
Professor McDaniel's course "Existential Despair" was featured in the Penn Gazette. Here's an excerpt:
Graduate and Undergraduate Prizes at the Year-End Reception
The Department of Religious Studies acknowledged the accomplishments of several students at our year-end reception on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
Professor Elias Named Chair of Penn Press Editorial Board
Jamal J. Elias, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of the Humanities, has been named the Chair of the Penn Press Editorial Board.
PhD Candidate Hallie Swanson Receives the Stallybrass Prize
Hallie Swanson has just received word that she has won Penn's Stallybrass Prize!
Congratulations to Dr. Jeremy Steinberg!
The Graduate Group in Religious Studies is delighted to congratulate Dr.
Sam Herrmann Wins Dissertation Research Award!
The Religious Studies Graduate Group is very happy to announce that PhD Candidate Sam Herrmann has received a Dissertation Research Award from the Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences!
Graduate Students Sana Rizvi, Kirby Sokolow, and Jeremy Steinberg Win RELS Research Awards
The Religious Studies Graduate Group is delighted to announce the winners of our annual research awards!
Aditya Bhattacharjee Receives Fellowship at Cornell's Society for the Humanities
The Department of Religious Studies is delighted to announce that alumnus Aditya N.
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
Wayward Distractions: Ornament, Emotion, Zombies and the Study of Buddhism in Thailand
When more than 93 per cent of the citizens of one country profess a single religion, as Thais do Buddhism, and when that religion is deeply integrated into national institutions and ideologies, it
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?
Religion and the Self in Antiquity
Many recent studies have argued that the self is a modern invention, a concept developed in the last three centuries.
Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin
In Wild Experiment, Donovan O. Schaefer challenges the conventional wisdom that feeling and thinking are separate.
Light Upon Light
Light upon Light: Essays in Islamic Thought and History in Honor of Gerhard Bowering brings together studies that explore the richness of Islamic intellectual life in the pre-modern period
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.
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.
Wisdom as a Way of Life: Theravada Buddhism Reimagined
This wide-ranging and powerful book argues that Theravāda Buddhism provides ways of thinking about the self that can reinvigorate the humanities and offer broader insights into how to learn and how
Faking Liberties: Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan
Co-winner of the 2020 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion (Analytical-Descriptive Studies) from the American Academy of Religion
On Wings of Diesel: Trucks, Identity, and Culture in Pakistan
Illustrated with beautiful colour photos throughout, On Wings of Diesel takes us on a journey through the fascinating world of Pakistani truck decoration.
Wayward Distractions: Ornament, Emotion, Zombies and the Study of Buddhism in Thailand
When more than 93 per cent of the citizens of one country profess a single religion, as Thais do Buddhism, and when that religion is deeply integrated into national institutions and ideologies, it
