September 2015 – Studying Religion in Culture

“Who said names were supposed to be easy to say? What are you, a candy bar?”

September 28, 2015 by Russell McCutcheon

Students in REL 237 are watching Avalon this week, a 1990 film about the changes that take place within a family of early to mid-20th century Americans who, like so many of our ancestors, came to this continent from somewhere else. “I came to America in 1914…, by way of Philadelphia. That’s where I got off the boat,” says Sam, one of the film’s protagonists, recollecting an epic past for the grandchildren. One of the reasons that I like using […]

Have You Met Prof. Bagger?

September 22, 2015 by admin

The Department recently hired Dr. Matt Bagger as an Instructor. So, as you probably guessed, a video was on the way. And so, here it is. If you see him around Manly Hall give him a warm Roll Tide welcome! He’ll appreciate it. An Interview with Dr. Bagger from UA Religious Studies. […]

Beyond “Belief”

September 21, 2015 by Russell McCutcheon

There was a time when I preferred to say “beliefs, behaviors, and institutions” as my way of complicating the philosophically idealist presumptions that drive our use of the word “belief” in the study of religion — a word we often use to make sense of what people, like those pictured above, are doing. But I try not to say that anymore. […]

A Brief Chat with Prof. Touna

September 17, 2015 by admin

The Department recently hired Vaia Touna as a new tenure-track faculty member. As has become our tradition with new hires, the REL film crew sat down for a brief interview with her. Give it a watch to learn about Prof. Touna, and be sure to say hello when you see her around Manly Hall. Have You Met Prof. Touna? from UA Religious Studies. […]

Want a Sneak Peek for the Day Lecture?

September 16, 2015 by admin

As many of you probably know, our annual Day Lecture is fast approaching. This year’s lecturer is Dr. Jolyon Thomas from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Thomas put together a video to give you a sneak peek of his lecture. So give it a watch below! Hope to see you next Thursday at 7:00 in Smith 205 for the lecture. […]

Historic Artifact? An Open Letter to Department Search Committees from 1997

September 15, 2015 by Russell McCutcheon

The following (co-written with my then co-editor at the now defunct Bulletin of the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion, the late Tim Murphy), first appeared as an open letter in our inaugural issue (26/1 [1997]) and was then reproduced as the appendix to chapter 6 of The Discipline of Religion (2003). Though many things about the academic labor market may have changed over the past 20 years (e.g., many universities have moved to online application systems, complete […]

Come One, Come All?

September 14, 2015 by Russell McCutcheon

Occasionally I see a job ad, in our field, that has an open rank, stating that people at different career stages/ranks are invited to apply, or an ad so general that I’m not sure what the search committee is wanting. These ads strike me as rather problematic, for a few reasons. […]

The Effects of “Bad Religion”

September 10, 2015 by Andie Alexander

By Andie Alexander Andie Alexander earned her B.A. in Religious Studies and History in 2012. She is now working on her M.A. in Religious Studies at CU Boulder. Andie also works as the online Curator for the Culture on the Edge blog. Many of you may be following, or at least aware of, Rowan, KY county clerk Kim Davis denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite the recent Supreme Court ruling (on June 26, 2015) that legalized same-sex marriage across […]

Made Sacred Through Branding

September 3, 2015 by Steven Ramey

What makes the “Capstone A” (central on the banners outside Manly Hall in my photo above) special? What makes people associate it with the University of Alabama? It is not something inherent in the font or colors that gives it a different significance from any other uppercase A. It has been a long-term, extremely successful effort at branding by the University of Alabama, and especially its athletic programs, that give the symbol a generally positive, sometimes passionate, association with the University. To […]

Applying Skills Outside the Classroom

September 2, 2015 by Russell McCutcheon

In some of our courses faculty in the department focus on the problem of definition in the study of religion — what counts as a religion (more importantly, for whom) and what are the practical implications of distinguishing a this from a that. They also often talk about the broad relevance of the skills that students acquire in the Humanities. So I had all this in mind while listening to a story on National Public Radio this morning, on making […]

Studying Religion in Culture

Ongoing Discussions at the University of Alabama

Month: September 2015