Department News
PhD Candidate Ali Noori Receives Janet Lee Stevens Fellowship
PhD Candidate Ali Noori was one o
Prof. Thomas Tenured and Promoted to Associate Professor!
The department is thrilled to extend its congratulations to Prof. Jolyon Thomas, who has been officially granted tenure and promoted to associate professor!
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.
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
Architects of Buddhist Leisure: Socially Disengaged Buddhism in Asia’s Museum, Monuments, and Amusement Parks
Buddhism, often described as an austere religion that condemns desire, promotes denial, and idealizes the contemplative life, actually has a thriving leisure culture in Asia.
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.
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.
Jacob of Sarug’s Homilies on Women Whom Jesus Met
Bi-lingual in Syriac and English. Published by Gorgias Press.
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.
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 FBI and Religion
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has had a long and tortuous relationship with religion over almost the entirety of its existence.
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?