Weird Religion We celebrate the religious aesthetic—and mourn the loss—of Precious Moments creator Sam Butcher. A pastel-colored, Christian-infused aesthetic embodied by Precious Moments may of course prompt a reaction: like the “Precious Mutation” of Keith...
Weird Religion Today we’re discussing a book by religion and philosophy professor Jeffrey Kripal (Rice University), called How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (University of Chicago Press, 2024). He seems to be...
American Academy of Religion American Secularism and Its Believers with Charles McCrary by American Academy of Religion
RSN Podcast American Secularism and Its Believers with Charles McCrary by American Academy of Religion
Weird Religion Feeling spiritually vulnerable while you are in an airport? You are not alone. Looking for a Popeye horror film? You are not alone. Naming your child Muhammed in the UK this year? You are not alone. Flocking to Orthodoxy as a young man? You are not...
Weird Religion When, and why, did Catholics stop saying “and also with you” in response to “The Lord be with you,” and instead start saying, “and with your spirit”? And how would you respond to the ecstatic worship practice of “running the aisles”? We discuss the...
Keeping it 101In which we reflect on what it was like to find our collective voice. (Spoilers: it was really hard! But also really awesome!) As always, be sure to visit keepingit101.com for full show notes, homework, transcripts, & more.____Keeping It 101: A...
Weird Religion The Swiss have created a new way to confess sins. Brian does something he vowed he would never do. Digital oligarchs will rule our future. A mysterious man passes by outside dressed like a priest of the Pacific Northwest. The Film Her (2013):...
New Testament Review How did religious institutions and practices affect the lives of women in the ancient Mediterranean? A discussion of Ross Shepard Kraemer's Her Share of the Blessings.
Religious Studies Podcast We begin this episode going over Stirner’s critique of philosophers and the Enlightenment. It’s important to keep in mind that whatever problem he has with religion, he also has that problem with people too focused on thinking or capital T truth....
American Academy of Religion The Role of Western Universities in Modern Islamic Thought with Megan Brankley Abbas by American Academy of Religion
RSN Podcast The Role of Western Universities in Modern Islamic Thought with Megan Brankley Abbas by American Academy of Religion
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: The relationship between particulars and universals Demon posession and god possession The religious discontent with the present The Sacred and when ideas overtake us When our future self overtakes us Sections: Intro...
Feminists Talk ReligionIn this first episode of our “Trans Studies in Religion and Feminism” series, Dr. Melissa M. Wilcox talks to us about blazing trails and creating space for queer and trans voices in the study of religion.Dr. Wilcox is Professor and Holstein Family...
Sacred and Profane Podcast We started our series with an exploration of how religious doctrine and belief became deeply entwined with both colonialism and the petroleum industry. We followed the stories of contemporary Americans whose religious beliefs -- and beliefs about...
Sacred and Profane Podcast There is a very long relationship between the Anishinaabe people and manoomin (sometimes known as 'wild rice' in English). The tribe received a prophecy to travel west from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Lakes region-- they would know they had...
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: Gabriel Marcel Martin Heidegger Phenomenology Psychology Sections: Intro: 00:00:55 1 Marcel's Philosophical Framework: 00:06:45 2 Realworld Examples from Marcel: 00:47:25
Sacred and Profane Podcast We'll be back with more episodes from our season on climate in the coming weeks. Until then, we're returning to our archive for an episode we recorded back in 2021 that feels especially relevant this week. Each year, Americans celebrate the...
Sacred and Profane Podcast In 2014, Virginia’s Dominion Energy announced it would be building a new pipeline intended to carry fracked methane from West Virginia to a storage facility in North Carolina. The planned route brought the pipeline right through Virginia’s rural...
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: Jesus Satan Philosophy Peter Thiel Curtis Yarvin Psychology Desire Sections: (00:01:20) Intro I. (00:06:05) Overview of Girard's theory and his interpretation of two bible myths II. (00:46:32) Satan as the representation of the...
Feminists Talk ReligionListen to our conversation with Dr. Peter Mena, author of a book on Late Antique Christian Lives read through Borderland Theory. We discuss the hagiographical desert as a metaphor for identities, Latinex theories in Religious Studies, writing and...
Sacred and Profane Podcast Millions of Americans are traveling hundreds of miles for a chance to witness 2024’s total solar eclipse. As many eyes turn towards this rare event, we’re turning our attention to another wonder, one we sometimes take for granted: the night sky....
Sacred and Profane Podcast As the climate crisis on Earth worsens, some Americans — including the world’s richest man, Elon Musk — have begun to think about a plan (and planet) B. They dream of escaping an increasing polluted Earth in favor of creating an advanced society on...
Sacred and Profane Podcast In 2021, the Biden administration laid out a goal of conserving 30% of the United States’ land and seas by 2030. That number comes from a UN agreement that urges member countries to protect at least a third of their land and marine environments...
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: The Bible John the Baptist Rene Girard Freud Psychology Sections: Intro (00:01:05) Girard's General Theory and the story of Caiaphas (00:05:20) The Beheading of John the Baptist (00:34:05) Peter's Denial (01:02:03) Demons of...
Sacred and Profane Podcast Brigham Young lead his followers west in 1846, fleeing religious persecution. Young was looking for a place that his fellow Americans would consider too inhospitable to follow -- a place that would transform believers into a new people, where they...
Sacred and Profane Podcast Energy vortexes and the climate crisis collide in Sedona, Arizona, where New Age practitioners are drawn to a stunning but swiftly changing landscape. We spoke with scholar Susannah Crockford about her own time spent in Sedona, and the tension...
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: God Psychoanalysis Moses Judaism Religion Freud Atheism Darwin Sections: Intro (00:00:55) I. Moses the Egyptian (00:05:24) II. Psychoanalyzing Human History (00:24:56) III. Why Freud Wrote about Moses (00:57:53) Twitter Page:...
Sacred and Profane Podcast On this season of Sacred & Profane, we explore how religions have shaped the climate crisis -- and how they offer ways to imagine a different future. In the United States, Christianity and oil have been entangled since the industry's beginning....
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: Psychoanalysis Freud Girard Moses Judaism Sections: Intro: 00:00:53 Freud's Method: 00:03:34 Twitter Page: TheReligiousStudiesPodcast (@therspod) / Twitter Email: [email protected] Music by The IMG, accessed...
Weird Religion One of the biggest religious storylines of 2023 has been: the huge number of people leaving their faith communities. Because Christianity is the #1 by volume religion in America, the loss has been felt heaviest there. Why has this been happening?...
Weird Religion Beware, lest ye try to convict others in court, that ye have never sinned! We review some recent weird religious news with an eye toward non-obvious stories. From dreams of living forever to Taylor Swift promoting witchcraft: while away this...
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: Barbie movie Identity Girard Feminism Sections: intro (00:00:20) Girard and Identity (00:16:15) Jokes reveal the truth (00:31:30) The Daughter (00:46:50) Motherhood (00:54:20) Twitter Page: TheReligiousStudiesPodcast (@therspod)...
Religious Studies Podcast Topics Discussed: Nietzsche Jesus Atheism Christianity Sections: Intro (00:04:33) Nietzsche's Philosophy and Christianity (00:10:37) Jesus (00:37:15) Power and Christianity (00:44:16) The Antichrist (01:00:15) Twitter Page:...
Weird Religion We prepare to engage in the yearly ritual of scholars in our field: the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), abbreviated AAR-SBL…or is it SBL-AAR? The order makes all the difference....
Weird Religion Gather ‘round for an episode recorded in front of a LIVE AUDIENCE in Portland, Oregon! We take a piece of listener (e)mail and answer the call: to talk about books that have been deeply impactful for our lives and research—books that anyone could...
Religious Studies Project In our final Discourse! episode of the season, Andie Alexander, Craig Martin, and Paul-François Tremlett team up to discuss the concept of “harm” and religion as it pertains to recent legislation in Texas, the role of religion in politics in...
Religious Studies Project In today’s episode, Daniel Jones talks with Travis Warren Cooper about Cooper’s recent book, The Digital Evangelicals: Contesting Authority and Authenticity After the New Media Turn (Indiana University Press, 2022) and they discuss how issues of...
Religious Studies Project In this episode, Charles McCrary joins Matt Sheedy to discuss the role of sincerity in shaping American conceptions of religion that he explores in his recent book Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers (University of Chicago Press,...
Religious Studies Project For our May episode, Discourse! heads Down Under once again as ⅔ of our usual suspects—Carole Cusack & Raymond Radford—explore religion, politics, life and death in the Australian religious sphere. They cover a variety of recent issues from the...
Religious Studies Project In this week’s episode Sam Gill joins RSP editor Andie Alexander to discuss his recent book The Proper Study of Religion: Building on Jonathan Z. Smith. They consider different methodological and theoretical questions in the academic study of...
Study Religion Podcast In this episode of our new mini-series Examples, Ciara Eichhorst, the American Examples Fellow and a masters student in our department, discusses the topic of online Seduction Forums with 2022 AE participant Suzanne van Geuns. Dr. van Geuns is...
Religious Studies Project In this episode, religious studies scholars Matt Sheedy and Tyler Tully, along with host Candace Mixon, discuss the ramifications of the in-progress Supreme Court case Groff vs. Dejoy, the Catholic Church’s decision to rescind the Doctrine of...
Religious Studies Project In this week’s episode, Raymond Radford is joined by Bradley Onishi to discuss his new book Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next (2023). In 2021, as the Capitol building was being overrun in an...
Feminists Talk ReligionThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge of violence and hate against Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Even so, anti-Asian racism remains largely invisible in academic, religious, and public spaces. On November 18, 2022, panelists at...
Feminists Talk ReligionWhat do we wish we'd known before starting a Ph.D. as an international student? In what ways can higher-education institutions better support international students and scholars? In Part 2 of this conversation, Esther Parajuli, a Nāga - Nepalese...
Feminists Talk ReligionListen to Part 1 of a vulnerable and sincere conversation about the ambivalences of being an international student or scholar: the joys and the pains, the language and cultural barriers, the fragmentation of our identities, and the wisdom that...
Religious Studies Project This month’s Discourse is hosted by Suzanne Newcombe, who’s joined by Michael Munnick and Carmen Becker. They start by discussing the recent shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Hamburg and how it has reopened discussions about discrimination....
Religious Studies Project In this interview, Dan Gorman talks with Leigh Eric Schmidt about his 2021 book The Church of Saint Thomas Paine: A Religious History of American Secularism. Despite its title, Schmidt’s book is not a religious biography of Thomas Paine, but rather...
Religious Studies Project In this episode, Dr. Finbarr Curtis joins Jacob Noblett to discuss the growing phenomena of profanation as it concerns American politics and culture. Rather than define a holistic movement, Dr. Curtis explores the relationship between certain...