Did you catch the story, the other day, about Republican Presidential candidate, Ben Carson, and a campaign speech he gave in Iowa City? He distinguished between calling Islam a religion and classing it as a “life organizing system.” […]
Read More from In Support of a Speaker’s Practical Interests
You’ve probably heard by now that RSSA is starting a new monthly event–Coffee Breaks! The first Tuesday of every month, the Department will provide coffee in the lounge (Manly 200) for all to enjoy from 1:30-3:00pm. So come by between classes, have a cup, and chat with your classmates and professors. A little birdy told me some donuts might even make an appearance… The first Coffee Break is this coming Tuesday, February 2nd. We hope to see you all there! […]
Congratulations to Dr. Steven Jacobs! His co-edited volume, Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection has won two major publishing awards. First, it was named a 2015 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, a national review of academic publications. What makes a book “outstanding?” According to Choice: The list is quite selective: it contains approximately ten percent of some 7,000 works reviewed in Choice each year. Choice editors base their selections on the reviewer’s evaluation of the work, the editor’s knowledge of the field, and the reviewer’s record. […]
By Vincent M. Hills Vincent M. Hills is a now graduate of the University of Alabama who majored in History with a minor in Religious Studies. The following was written for REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. Kumaré is a very interesting “documentary”, but for many different reasons than most documentaries. The film did not wow viewers with interesting facts or show picturesque landscapes, it did however show a side of Western culture that is often the brunt of criticism from many […]
By Ian Alexander Cuthbertson Ian is a Cultural Studies PhD Candidate at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His PhD thesis explores discourse surrounding lucky and protective objects in Montréal, Québec. The label ‘superstitious’ is not a neutral designation. Calling a belief or practice superstitious usually implies that belief or practice is irrational, deluded, or at the very least silly. There is also a sense that human progress has depended upon humankind overcoming its superstitions and delusions, replacing magical […]
REL is very happy to announce that two of our students have been accepted to present their research at the Southeastern regional meeting of the American Academy of Religion in March. Jared Powell will be presenting a paper titled “And the Beat Goes On: Imaginings and Retellings of Han Shan by Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac.” The conference paper began as a project in Dr. Ramey‘s REL 419: Tales From Asia course. In the paper, he analyzes the ways in which […]
Read More from Classroom to Conference: REL Majors Presenting Their Research
By Ashley Daugherty Ashley Daugherty is a senior majoring in Anthropology and Spanish. She is looking to work in Applied Business Anthropology. The following was written for REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. Elmer Gantry is a film that exposes hypocrisy and greed among religious leaders who seek to exploit gullible citizens looking for something in which to believe. This abridged version of Sinclair Lewis’s novel of the same name focuses on Elmer Gantry, a con man expelled from seminary school, […]
Read More from Elmer Gantry: The Trap of Hypocrisy and Greed
Several REL classes this semester off by asking their students to pose one question about religion or its study that they’d like answered. As you might guess, our faculty got quite an array of questions — from some that were focused on the possible links between violence and religion to queries about the origins and function of religion, and even some specific questions about why some women cover their faces in Islam, the place of cows in Hinduism, whether atheism […]
By Sarah Griswold Sarah Griswold is a senior double majoring in Mathematics and Religious Studies. She spends her “free time” analyzing her favorite shows on Netflix, which of course winds up ruining them. The following was written for REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. “Elmer Gantry was drunk,” begins Sinclair Lewis’s 1927 novel. That’s how the movie Elmer Gantry begins too. The story is of Elmer Gantry who loves women and whiskey more than just about anything else. A fast-talking salesman, […]
By Jeremy Connor Jeremy Connor is a music performance graduate from the University of Alabama. He is currently working full time in marketing and finance at West Alabama Wholesale in Newport, Alabama. The following was written for REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. The idea behind the movie, Kumare, is a simple, but interesting one. An American man with Indian heritage, named Vikhram, decides to conduct an experiment. He wonders if he can convince people that he is a ‘real guru’ […]
Read More from When is it Spirituality and When is it Religion?