Month: November 2014


REL Faculty Stay Class in San Diego

Don’t be surprised if a few offices are empty next week. Many of our wonderful REL faculty will be spending November 22-25 in sunny San Diego for the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature or AAR/SBL for short or #SBLAAR14 for hashtag. What will our faculty be doing in San Diego? Glad you asked. Some will be giving papers or talks to other scholars and sharing the research they’ve been doing. Others […]

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Reason to Be

“As professors in the Department of Religion, we are often asked by prospective students (and their parents) about the ‘Christian’ in Texas Christian University, or the ‘C,’ as they more often put it, in TCU…” So opens an interesting blog post that I think is well worth the read; for it tries to elaborate on the role of the study of religion at private denomination college — specifically, one affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. […]

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A Few Moments with Kelly Baker, Part 1

A little while back Dr. Simmons and the REL film crew sat down for a chat with Dr. Kelly Baker, who gave our 2nd annual Day Lecture. The video of the interview is now ready! So give it a watch to see what Dr. Baker has to say about her background, her work (zombies included), and more. Check out part two of the interview here. Have you seen Dr. Baker’s lecture? Watch it here. A Few Moments with Kelly Baker, […]

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#LoungeTweets With Dr. Finnegan on Monday

Did you check out our #LoungeTweets a couple weeks ago? It was a blast. Now it’s time to do it again. Dr. Eleanor Finnegan will hang out in the lounge from 2:30-3:30 on Monday to answer questions, tweet about what’s happening in the lounge, and let us know what she’s up to lately. Follow her at @finneged. Follow @finneged Follow the conversation at #LoungeTweets. Don’t miss it! Tweet #LoungeTweets […]

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What Does it Really Mean to be ‘Mentally Ill’?

Sarah Sawyer is a senior at the University of Alabama studying International Relations and Chinese. She spends her ‘free time’ studying and wondering if Publix will have a sale on its wine anytime soon. She wrote this post for Dr. Ramey’s class, REL 321: Religion and Identity in South Asia. “Many people feel ashamed because our society places illogical taboos on mental health issues and our silence can have deadly consequences.” These wise words are those of UA’s very own Elise Goubet as […]

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What Would I Ever Do with a Humanities Degree?

Catie Stewart is a sophomore at the University of Alabama from Madison, Mississippi. She is double majoring in English and Religious Studies. Entering into my first year at the University of Alabama, I declared a chemical engineering major. I had always excelled in science and math in high school and had seemingly enjoyed the two catch-all chemistry classes I took my sophomore and senior years, so, to me and everyone advising me, it only made sense that I go into the field […]

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