Department News
Congratulations to Dr. Paul McBain!
The Department of Religious Studies is thrilled to announce that PhD candidate Paul McBain successfully defended his dissertation, “A Drunken Bee: Sunthorn Phu and the Buddhist Landscapes of Early
Professor Butler: "Religion Won't Save Us from the Sin of Racism" (Podcast Interview)
Associate Professor Anthea Butler recently spoke with the America Magazine podcast Jesuitical. A description and link to the episode are below.
Professor Thomas on Understanding Death at the Penn Today Podcast "Understand This"
In a recent episode of Penn Today’s ‘Understand This ...’ podcast series, assistant professor of Religious Studies Jolyon Thomas and Director of Pastoral Services James Browning explore dialogues a
Congratulations to Dr. Jillian Stinchcomb!
The Department is thrilled to congratulate Dr. Jillian Stinchcomb, who successfully defended her dissertation last week!
Prof. Butler Quoted in New York Times Article about Liberty University
Prof. Butler has been quoted in a New York Times article published this week about the suspension of Jerry Falwell, Jr., at Liberty University.
Prof. Robb gives lecture at Rare Book School
The digital recording of Professor Robb's invited lecture "Print and the Urdu Public" on 23 July 2020 to the Rare Book School has been released.
Prof. Thomas Publishes in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Professor Thomas has just published a co-authored article in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion titled "Why Scholars of Religion Must Investigate the Corporate Form." Here's t
Prof. McDaniel Named Kahn Professor
The Department is delighted to announce that Prof. Justin McDaniel has been named the Edmund J. and Louise W.
Congratulations to Dr. Chijioke Azuawusiefe!
Congratulations to Dr. Chijioke Azuawusiefe, who successfully defended his dissertation last week!
Department Congratulates Two Recent Hires
The Department of Religious Studies is delighted to announce that current PhD candidate Jillian Stinchcomb and recent PhD graduate Matthew Chalmers have both accepted new positions for the coming f
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
Faking Liberties: Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan
Religious freedom is a founding tenet of the United States, and it has frequently been used to justify policies towards other nations.
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
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
Print and the Urdu Public: Muslims, Newspapers, and Urban Life in Colonial India
Published by Oxford University Press