Department News
Prof. Butler Awarded Major Grant from Luce Foundation
The department is delighted to announce that Prof. Anthea Butler has been awarded a major grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, along with Profs.
Spring 2021 Lecture Series: Jews, Race, and Religion
The Herbert D.
Abdul Manan Bhat reviews Ali Khan Mahmudabad at the Marginalia Review of Books
PhD student Abdul Manan Bhat recently published a review of Ali Khan Mahmudabad's Poetry of Belonging: Muslim Imaginings of India, 1850–1950 for the Ma
Professor Butler Speaks on Black-Jewish Relations in the Civil Rights Movement
At a recent Katz Center event hosted by Professor Steven Weitzman, Department Chair Anthea Butler spoke on Black-Jewish relations
Dr. Andrew Hudson Appointed Louisville Institute Fellow and Associate Director at Wabash Center
The department is delighted to congratulate alumnus Dr. Andrew Hudson, who has been appointed Associate Director at the Wabash Center as a Louisville Institute Fellow! Dr.
Prof. Jolyon Baraka Thomas Wins AAR Book Award
The department extends its congratulations to Prof.
PhD Candidate Gabriel Raeburn Receives Dissertation Grant
PhD Candidate Gabriel Raeburn has received the 2020 Dissertation Grant from the National Institute of Social Sciences.
Prof. Thomas Hosts Book Discussion, "Christian Sorcerers on Trial"
On 9/24/2020, Professor Thomas hosted a discussion of the new translation and critical edition "Christian Sorcerers on Trial: Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident," by Fumiko Miyazaki, Kate Wildman N
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 Diaspora Within: Mizrahi Jews from Minneapolis to Jerusalem
Claris Harbon, Al Akhawayn University
Joseph Blankholm, "Is There a Secular Tradition? How Religious Studies Can Help Us Understand Secular People"
Joseph Blankholm, University of California
Religious Studies Colloquium: Joseph Blankholm, "Is There a Secular Tradition? How Religious Studies Can Help Us Understand Secular People”
Joseph Blankholm, University of California-Santa Barbara
Faculty Bookshelf
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.
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.
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 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
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.
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 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.