Department News
Dr. Hallie Swanson Appointed as Lecturer at NYU-London!
The Graduate Group in Religious Studies is delighted to announce that Dr.
Claire Elliot Receives Fulbright Award!
The Graduate Group in Religious Studies is delighted to announce that doctoral candidate Claire Elliott has received a Fulbright award for 2025-2026!
Congratulations to Dr. Abdul Manan Bhat and Dr. Hallie Swanson!
The Graduate Group in Religious Studies is delighted to announce two successful doctoral defenses over the past week.
The Scopes Trial at 100 in the Penn Gazette
The Pennsylvania Gazette has written up the department's Spring Boardman Symposium, "The Scopes Trial at 100." Penn graduate Mary A
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!
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
Can Sports Be A Religion?
Lifelong Learning Seminar with Prof. Megan Eaton Robb
Megan Eaton Robb
How (and Why) to Write an Academic Book in Impossible Times
RELS Colloquium
Elizabeth Ault (Duke University Press)
Islamic Law, History, and Class in Early Nineteenth Century India
RELS Colloquium
Muhammad Qasim Zaman (Princeton)
Faculty Bookshelf
Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom
Tradition has it that King Solomon knew everything there was to know—the mysteries of nature, of love, of God himself—but what do we know of him?
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.
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?
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?
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).
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
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
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 Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk: Practicing Buddhism in Modern Thailand
Stories centering on the lovelorn ghost (Mae Nak) and the magical monk (Somdet To) are central to Thai Buddhism.
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.
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.
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.