Month: December 2014


Religious Terror

Dana Grant is a senior pursuing a Liberal Arts degree through New College. She is interested in the development of the self and the acquisition of knowledge, and how they affect people’s daily lives as well as the world as a whole. This post was originally written for Dr. Ramey’s course, REL 321: Religion and Identity in South Asia. For quite some time now there has been increasing tension in Myanmar between groups that identify as Buddhist and Muslim. According to […]

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An Interview with Ann Taves

An interview with Prof. Ann Taves has just been posted — she is a former President of the American Academy of Religion and is well known for her work on religious experience as well as her interest in applying the finding from cognitive psychology to the study of religion. She’s  now at work on a new book, Revelatory Events: Unusual Experiences and New Spiritual Paths, and supervising the interdisciplinary Religion, Experience, and Mind (REM) Lab Group at the University of […]

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Deifying Gandhi: National Icons and Moral Authority

Emily Vork is a sophomore majoring in History, Religious Studies, and American Studies. This post was written in response to viewing Lage Raho Munna Bhai as part of Dr. Sarah Rollens’ course, REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. What makes a person worthy of being treated as a national icon? There are so many people who show up throughout history and stand out, even today. They remain in the collective mind of a region—or a nation, or the world—and history looks fondly upon […]

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The Second Annual Day Lecture

On September 23, 2014 Dr. Kelly Baker presented her “’They’re Coming to Get You, Barbara!’: Zombie Apocalypses in American Religions” as the second annual Day Lecture. The Day Lecture was generously established by friends and family of the late Zach Day, a graduate of our Department, to honor his memory, and is now an annual event thanks to the Zachary Daniel Day Memorial Support Fund. It’s been a few months, but the video of the lecture is now up and running, so […]

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“Well I Guess the Biggest Question Would Be Why…”

“It is the fact that we have been preoccupied for a long time with finding in this seamless web of human activities the capacity to break one out and say ‘When they’re doing that one they’re doing religion’…” Watch the video here: This interview with Prof. Smith was conducted by Prof. Alfred F. Benney, of Fairfield University, while attending the annual AAR/SBL in Boston, MA, on November 21, 1999. […]

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Whence Mother Earth?

John D. James is a senior at the University of Alabama majoring in Religious Studies and minoring in General Business. This book review was written for Dr. Michael J. Altman’s REL 370: Empire and the Construction of Religion course. In Mother Earth: An American Story, Sam D. Gill begins to articulate and explain with physical evidence that the term “Mother Earth” is commonly misused and presented to audiences as some common knowledge involving Native American thought and belief. Gill takes […]

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#LoungeTweets: Dr. Simmons Tweets from the REL Lounge on Tuesday

It’s that time again. No, not exam time. It’s time for live tweets from the REL lounge! Take a break from the studying and see what’s going on with one of our amazing faculty members as they hang out in the REL lounge and think deep thoughts. No, that’s not right. Use #LoungeTweets. Dr. Merinda Simmons will hang out in the lounge from 2:00-3:00 on Tuesday Dec. 9 to answer questions, tweet about what’s happening in the lounge, and let us know […]

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You Are What We Say You Are

Robert Scholl is a senior at the University of Alabama studying Middle Eastern Studies. Mr. Scholl comes from Norcross, Georgia. He wrote this post as part of Dr. Ramey’s course, REL 321: Religion and Identity in South Asia. Identity is impacted greatly by those around you and how they perceive you. Due to this fact, both your own identity and your inclusion within society are strongly dependent on these labels used by society to define you. This is the case with […]

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A Room of Our Own

Tweets on the value of our dept. lounge: — Mike Altman (@MichaelJAltman) December 1, 2014 I just walked into the lounge to refill my water bottle and a student in my class was hanging out with her laptop. — Mike Altman (@MichaelJAltman) December 1, 2014 "I spent all day looking for this!” she says, and holds up a book. It’s Sehat’s _Myth of American Religious Freedom_… — Mike Altman (@MichaelJAltman) December 1, 2014 “Have you looked at it?”“Not really. Just […]

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