Department News
Professor Durmaz Publishes "Stories between Christianity and Islam"
Professor Durmaz has published her monograph, Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond.
RELS Undergrads Olivia Haynie and Justin Seward Present on Their Research
RELS undergrads Olivia Haynie and Justin Seward presented their findings from their summer project with Prof.
Professor Thomas Appointed to Japan-US Friendship Commission
Professor Thomas was recently appointed to the Japan-US Friendship Commission (JUSFC), with joint appointment to the US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON).
Jillian Stinchcomb Receives Postdoctoral Fellowship at Institute for Advanced Study!
The Department is thrilled to announce that alumna Dr.
Anthea Butler Wins 2022 Marty Award from the American Academy of Religion
Each year, the American Academy of Religion presents the
Gabriel Raeburn awarded Dean’s Teaching Fellowship for Excellence!
The department is happy to announce that Dr. Gabriel Raeburn has been awarded a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship for Excellence from the School of Arts and Sciences! Dr.
Congratulations to Dr. Gabriel Raeburn!
Congratulations to Gabriel Raeburn, who successfully defended his dissertation "Preaching Prosperity: Pentecostals and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism, 1946–1988" on April 22, 2022!
Grad Student Awards and Fellowships
The Department is delighted to announce that several doctoral students in our program have recently received awards and fellowships!
Undergraduate Research Published in National Honor Society Journal
Emma Boockvar and Zoe Millstein, two students in Professor Robb's Religious Studies Course Gender, Sexuality, and Religion have had their research accepted for publication by The Journ
Max Dugan Named a 2021-2022 Dean's Scholar!
The Department of Religious Studies is delighted to announce that doctoral candidate Max Dugan has been appointed a 2021-2022 Dean's Scholar in the School of Arts and Sciences.
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.
Upcoming Events
The Scholar of Religion in the Public Sphere
Celebrating Anthea Butler's receipt of the Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion
Emily Anderson, Lloyd Barba, Anthea Butler, Samah Choudhury, Gillian Frank, Abel Gómez, Charles McCrary, Samira Mehta, Bradley Onishi, Jalane Schmidt, Audrey Truschke, Robin Globus Veldman
Colloquium: "Jah’s Warrior: Samson as Moral Exemplar in Rastafari”
Ariella Werden-Greenfield
Colloquium: Making the Present with the More Than Human Gobi Desert
Matthew King (UC Riverside)
Faculty Bookshelf
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.
The Evolution of Affect Theory: The Humanities, the Sciences, and the Study of Power
Across the humanities, a set of interrelated concepts - excess, becoming, the event - have gained purchase as analytical tools for thinking about power.
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.
Print and the Urdu Public: Muslims, Newspapers, and Urban Life in Colonial India
Published by Oxford University Press
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
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.
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.
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.
Death before Dying: The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu
These 115 poems introduce readers in English to Sultan Bahu (d. 1691), a Sufi mystical poet who continues to be one of the most beloved writers in Punjabi.
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
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.
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.