Past Events



Premeditated Indifference: Shadowboxing the Ridiculous

American Lectures in the History of Religions
Emilie M. Townes, Boston University School of Theology
Feb 19, 2025 at -

The University of Pennsylvania Department of Religious Studies is thrilled to host the first of three Philadelphia-area lectures as part of the American Academy of Religion's prestigious…



Modern Day Abolitionism: Carcerality and Black Radical Resistance through Grassroots Organizing, Prison Activism, and Spiritual Liberation

Africana Studies Spring Symposium, Co-sponsored by Religious Studies
Timothy Malone, Rima Vesely-Flad, Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Laura McTighe
Feb 13, 2025 at -

Meet the Speakers

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Wehshat: Or, the Poetry and Ethics of Living with the Unbearable.

RELS Colloquium
Anand Vivek Taneja (Vanderbilt)
Feb 13, 2025 at -

This talk centers on the social, political, and affective consequences of living with growing Islamophobia for Indian Muslims. In the years after 2014, memories of riots and…



Knowledge By the Slice: Living Deliberately through Existential Despair

Justin McDaniel
Jan 28, 2025 at -

In this talk, Justin McDaniel will share the experiences from two of his Penn courses in which students take on “monastic”…



A Body of Knowledge: Reperformance and Embodiment as Rigorous Historical Method

Stephen Northrop Dunning Memorial Lecture on Religious Thought
Lauren Mancia (Brooklyn College/Grad Center at CUNY)
Jan 23, 2025 at -

This talk critiques how, in order to understand the beliefs of historical people, scholars do not DO…



University of Pennsylvania Boardman Reception at the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting

Session ID: M23-505
Nov 23, 2024 at -

Please join faculty and graduate students from the Department of Religious Studies on Saturday, November 23 in San Diego. The Fall Boardman Reception previews two major upcoming events on our Spring calendar: The…



Secularising Porc: Religion, Food and Citizenship in France

RELS Colloquium
N. Yasemin Ural (Leipzig)
Nov 21, 2024 at -

In France, the consumption of pork and access to citizenship have a long tradition dating back to the 18th century, which has led to various discussions about Jews' belonging to…



Grad student AAR/SBL presentations

RELS Colloquium
Nov 14, 2024 at -

Graduate students in the Department of Religious Studies will be presenting their work at the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, and associated conferences this year! Students will…



Building a "Great Wall of Esoteric Buddhism" on the Sino-Russian Borderlands: Buddhist Pan-Asianism and (Re)Education in the Japanese Empire

RELS Colloquium / E. Dale Saunders Buddhist Studies Lecture
Daigengna Duoer (Boston)
Oct 31, 2024 at -

This paper explores the history of the Kōa Mikkyō Gakuin (Esoteric Buddhist Academy for Asia’s Prosperity) on Mount Kōya in Japan during the 1930s and 1940s, focusing on the colonialist (re)education programs…



Interview Skills Workshop

RELS Colloquium
Megan Eaton Robb (RELS) & Donovan Schaefer (RELS)
Oct 24, 2024 at -

All graduate students are welcome to this workshop discussing the craft of the academic job interview, led by Prof. Megan Robb (RELS) and Prof. Donovan Schaefer (RELS). Recent…