Department News
Professor Durmaz Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure
On February 28, Penn's Board of Trustees voted to confirm Dr. Reyhan Durmaz's promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with Tenure, effective July 1, 2025.
Professor McDaniel on "Living Deliberately through Existential Despair"
OMNIA has shared a video of Professor McDaniel's recent talk on his popular classes "Living Deliberately" and "Existential Despair."
Professor McDaniel Featured on "Black Beryl" Podcast
Professor McDaniel was recently interviewed on the "Black Beryl" podcast.
Professor Robb's "Religion and Sports" Course Featured in Omnia
With Super Bowl LIX on the minds of many Philadelphians this week, Omnia naturally decided to
Professor Thomas Publishes Co-Edited Book on Japanese Religions
Professor Thomas recently published a co-edited volume,
Professor McDaniel Publishes New Book on Illuminated Siamese Manuscripts
Professor McDaniel has published a new
Professor Robb Named Vice President of South Asian Muslim Studies Association
In an email to members today, RELS Associate Professor Megan Eaton Robb was announced as the Vice President of the South Asian Muslim Studies Association:
Mendel Kranz to Join Katz Center (and RELS) as Postdoctoral Fellow
The Katz Center has announced that Dr.
PhD Student Rushnae Kabir Pens Review Essay for The Hindustan Times
PhD student Rushnae Kabir has published a book review in the Hindustan Times about a brand-new book on Sufism in India. Here's an excerpt:
Jeremy Steinberg Publishes Article in Judaica
Jeremy Steinberg, doctoral candidate in RELS, has just published a new journal article in Judaica: Neue Digitale Folge
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 Scopes Trial at 100: Secularism, Race, and Education
2025 Boardman Symposium
Reconfiguration and Revival: Newar Buddhist Traditions in the Kathmandu Valley (and Beyond)
RELS Colloquium
Todd Lewis (Harvard/Holy Cross)
"Toward the Human, After Man": A Sylvia Wynter Schematic
RELS Colloquium
Nathan Snaza (Richmond)
Faculty Bookshelf
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
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
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?
Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin
In Wild Experiment, Donovan O. Schaefer challenges the conventional wisdom that feeling and thinking are separate.
Print and the Urdu Public: Muslims, Newspapers, and Urban Life in Colonial India
Published by Oxford University Press
Buddhist Narrative in Asia and Beyond
Publication of the proceedings of the conference "Buddhist Narrative in Asia and Beyond" at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, August 2010, edited by Peter Skilling & Justin McDaniel.
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?
Islam
Islam is a concise and readable survey of the history of Islam from the birth of Muhammad in seventh century Arabia to the differing situations of Muslims throughout today's world.
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.
Cosmologies and Biologies: Illuminated Siamese Manuscripts of Death, Time and the Body
A beautifully illustrated study of rare and unique Siamese manuscripts.
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.
