Department News
Professor Durmaz Publishes "Stories between Christianity and Islam"
Professor Durmaz has published her monograph, Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond.
RELS Undergrads Olivia Haynie and Justin Seward Present on Their Research
RELS undergrads Olivia Haynie and Justin Seward presented their findings from their summer project with Prof.
Professor Thomas Appointed to Japan-US Friendship Commission
Professor Thomas was recently appointed to the Japan-US Friendship Commission (JUSFC), with joint appointment to the US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON).
Jillian Stinchcomb Receives Postdoctoral Fellowship at Institute for Advanced Study!
The Department is thrilled to announce that alumna Dr.
Anthea Butler Wins 2022 Marty Award from the American Academy of Religion
Each year, the American Academy of Religion presents the
Gabriel Raeburn awarded Dean’s Teaching Fellowship for Excellence!
The department is happy to announce that Dr. Gabriel Raeburn has been awarded a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship for Excellence from the School of Arts and Sciences! Dr.
Congratulations to Dr. Gabriel Raeburn!
Congratulations to Gabriel Raeburn, who successfully defended his dissertation "Preaching Prosperity: Pentecostals and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism, 1946–1988" on April 22, 2022!
Grad Student Awards and Fellowships
The Department is delighted to announce that several doctoral students in our program have recently received awards and fellowships!
Undergraduate Research Published in National Honor Society Journal
Emma Boockvar and Zoe Millstein, two students in Professor Robb's Religious Studies Course Gender, Sexuality, and Religion have had their research accepted for publication by The Journ
Max Dugan Named a 2021-2022 Dean's Scholar!
The Department of Religious Studies is delighted to announce that doctoral candidate Max Dugan has been appointed a 2021-2022 Dean's Scholar in the School of Arts and Sciences.
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
Colloquium: Making the Present with the More Than Human Gobi Desert
Matthew King (UC Riverside)
Colloquium: "Gods in the Making: Spirit Mediums and the Consecration of Deity Statues in Contemporary Taiwan"
Aaron K. Reich (St. Joseph's University)
Faculty Bookshelf
Key Themes for the Study of Islam
Key Themes for the Study of Islam examines the central themes and concepts indispensable to an informed understanding of Islamic religion and society.
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.
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?
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.
White Evangelical Racism
In this clear-eyed, hard-hitting chronicle of American religion and politics, Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power.
Song and Story in Biblical Narrative: The History of a Literary Convention in Ancient Israel
This book examines a literary form within the Bible that has slipped through the cracks of modern scholarship: the mixing of song and story in biblical narrative.
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.
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.
Aisha’s Cushion: Religious Art, Perception, and Practice in Islam
Media coverage of the Danish cartoon crisis and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan left Westerners with a strong impression that Islam does not countenance depiction of religious imagery.
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.
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?
