Department News
Professor McDaniel to Serve as 2021 Baccalaureate Speaker
Professor McDaniel will serve as the baccalaureate speaker for the Class of 2021, which will air on May 16 at noon. Details at the link below.
Professor McDaniel Talks about Listening at the Park
Professor McDaniel appeared on The Park podcast to discuss listening recently. Here's a description, link follows below:
Angela Xia Named CTL Graduate Fellow for Teaching Excellence
PhD student Angela Xia has been named one of 14 Graduate Fellows for Teaching Excellence by the Center for Teaching and Learning. In the 2021–22 academic year, Ms.
Abdul Manan Bhat Receives Presidential PhD Fellowship
PhD student Abdul Manan Bhat has been named a recipient of the Presidential PhD Fellowship. Mr.
Professor Weitzman Publishes on "Strategic Spirituality" in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Professor Weitzman has published a new article titled "Strategic Spirituality: Positive Psychology, the Army, and the Ambiguities of 'Spirituali
PhD Student Angela Xia Receives Two Fellowships
PhD Student Angela Xia has received a Foreign Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship to study Chinese and the Alice Fisher History of Nursing Fellowship.
Max Dugan Earns Multiple Awards
PhD Candidate Max Dugan has received several fellowships and awards in the spring 2021 term. He received a resear
Professor Thomas at Michigan Talks Japan Podcast
Professor Thomas was interviewed about his book Faking Liberties: Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan for the Michigan Talks Japan podcast.
Prof Robb interviewed for New Books in Islam Podcast
Listen to the Podcast interview with Prof. Robb here.
Professor Butler's Virtual Book Tour Dates
Professor Butler has a busy spring as she promotes her new book, White Evangelical Racism, at several virtual events.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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).
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 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.