Sierra is a recent graduate of our B.A. program with a double major in Anthropology and Religious Studies and a minor in Spanish, and she plans to continue working with us to pursue an M.A. in the Fall. She has previously produced independent research on cemetery artwork and the category of myth at the University […]
continue reading“All of the evil that he represents for me…”
Seeing cheering crowds in Miami, first thing this morning as I checked my phone for overnight news, celebrating Fidel Castro’s death, made me think a little about our disdain when there were rumors of people cheering after the twin towers collapsed (Trump routinely cited this early in his campaign); when is death — or better, […]
continue readingWarm and Cozy Facts
What do you do when approaching an intersection and you see this sign? Well…, do you read Japanese?
continue reading“Are You From Horry County, M’am…?”
Looking for a dissertation topic? Then here’s a 7 minute video you could write a book on, easily. Maybe two.
continue readingDemocracy is Risky
A couple years ago I gave a talk at Lehigh University (a lecture that became chapter 8 in a book I published not long after). The topic was on my frustration with how scholars of religion — because they define their object of study as a universally present and deeply meaningful human impulse — often […]
continue readingThe Long Argument Over Religious Freedom
One of the major themes in my REL 241: American Religious History course this semester has been “religious liberty.” What our class has seen over and over again is that religious freedom isn’t really about religion or freedom. More often, arguments over “religious liberty,” “religious freedom,” or “freedom of conscience” are really arguments about governance, […]
continue reading“It’s Absolutely Essential That You Continue, Teacher…”
The other day, my REL 245 class, concerned with investigating some of the background assumptions that make it possible for many scholars today to study religion in America in terms of choice — as if religious consumers are shopping in a competitive spiritual marketplace — took a look at Stanley Milgram’s famous series of psychology […]
continue readingYoung Southern Historians
Warner Thompson is a senior at the University of Alabama, who wrote the following for REL 490. He is a History major and a Religious Studies minor with future plans of Law School at the University. He was born and raised in Homewood, Alabama, and he is the oldest of three children. When I was […]
continue readingThe Rabbi and the Lawyer
Khortlan Patterson is a Junior at the University of Alabama majoring in Religious Studies and African American Studies. She is interested in education reform and minority academic achievement. This post was originally written for Dr. Rollens’ course, REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. A Serious Man is a film detailing a series of unfortunate life events of […]
continue reading“Well, Somehow…”
Have you seen the new 1:25 video from Bill Nye, the science guy, explaining evolutionary theory with Emoji? It’s kind’a curious since it is clearly meant to persuade people inasmuch as it says complex things both fun and simply — hence the emojis popping in and swooshing and out — as if anti-evolutionary positions are […]
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