What is this? Have you tried using a basic computer web camera to capture conversations with a classroom? Prof. Loewen has experimented with dozens of ultimately unsatisfactory methods since 2009. With the arrival of the REL digital lab in 2021, things have changed.
continue readingReading, Writing and… R: How I Began to Study the Philosophy of Religion with Digital Tools
Prof. Nathan Loewen specializes in the philosophy of religion and digital humanities among other things. This summer his research interests are taking him in a new direction at their intersection. In Fall 2018, I took my research in a new direction. I began learning how to study the philosophy of religion with digital tools. The objective […]
continue readingHow to Make More from More? the Large Conference Loner Challenge
“Less is better” is a dictum that doesn’t just haunt Matt Sheedy. I feel as though that spectral proverb from J.Z. Smith may apply as much to conferences as the classroom. The phrase resonates with my cultural heritage, too. There’s a cookbook title, famous among certain generations of Mennonites, that encapsulates the bent of that culture: “More-with-Less.” […]
continue readingREL Heads to Texas for the American Academy of Religion
Something happens every weekend before Thanksgiving. No, not the cupcake tune up game before the Iron Bowl. It’s the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), the national scholarly society for the academic study of religion. This weekend many of the faculty from REL are headed to San Antonio for the meeting and […]
continue readingBackstory: Prof. Nathan Loewen
“Backstory” is a series that asks the REL Faculty to tell us a little bit about themselves, to explore how they became interested in the academic study of religion and their own specialty, elaborating on their current work both within and outside the University.
continue readingHow Your Phone Defines Religion
As the Faculty Technology Liaison to the College of Arts and Sciences at UA, I am part of a Mac Administrators forum. I was surprised to notice the exclusion of deities from emoji eligibility while glancing over an update notice. After some investigation, I was surprised to learn about the selection factors of the Unicode Consortium. In […]
continue readingThe Manly Cup: 2015 Edition
Yes, the annual Manly Cup — said by some to have begun as a tag-team baking competition sometime in the late 1800s but revived only as recently as 2009 — took place last night and, while keen to maintain our journalistic objectivity, we’re sorry to report that it was a sad day in Professorville.
continue readingAn Interview with Nathan Loewen
We recently interviewed one of the newest members of our faculty, Dr. Nathan Loewen. Read what he has to say about his interests, background, and new job as Assistant Professor and Faculty Technology Liaison. Q: Where did you train? What are your areas of research and teaching interest? A: My areas of research and teaching interest […]
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