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Dr. Roshan Abraham: Not-So-Secret Scholarly Identities

by Richard Newton
Roshan Abraham
As someone familiar with the work of our Department. Dr. Roshan Abraham knows that we appreciate the complexities of identification. Join Prof. Newton as he gets to know a bit about our 2019 Day Lecturer in the interview below. See part 1 here.

So what kind of work would you say you’re most known for in the field? Can you tell us a bit about your most recent scholarly exploits?:

I co-founded and co-chair (with Todd Krulak of Samford University) the Religion and Philosophy in Late Antiquity Seminar for the Society of Biblical Literature in 2017. The three-year seminar investigates the usefulness of the categories “religion” and “philosophy” to the late ancient world, since they are not mutually excusive and delineation of them occur predominantly in polemical and apologetic discourses. The seminar will culminate in an edited volume.

I am also co-editing (with Gabriel McKee of NYU) a volume titled Religion and Theology in the DC Universe, under contract with Lexington Books and Fortress Academic in their Theology and Pop Culture series. (We’re still accepting abstracts until October 31!).

Batman '66, Robin, and Alfred at the Bat Computer. Batman is turning a crank to make an answer come out.

Holy submission, Batman. That sounds like an invitation.

Having followed you on Twitter for sometime, it seems that you are always on the move intellectually. Do you think there is more to come on this project, or are you plotting something else for the future?

I’m going to continue working on projects in religion and comics, especially focused on reception/re-interpretation of Biblical literature in comics. The talk I’m giving is part of this.

Catch a sneak peak of his work on religion and comics on an episode of Hold That Thought.

In a completely different vein, I joined the social justice working group of American University’s first year program. The group is currently working on a study of anti-racist training and pedagogy among academic advisors.

As I reflect on your areas of interest and the way you narrate them, it seems to me that you have a real interest in students. Do you see any connections between your teaching and scholarship?

Undergraduate education has always been my passion, which has made my current position as an instructor/advisor something of a dream job. No student walks into a religious studies course a blank slate. A decent (significant?) amount of our work in the classroom requires us to push students to understand where these preconceived notions come from, what assumptions they built on, and how they function to order the world.
More broadly, I love how, for both student and scholar, religious studies allows us to explore how we classify and the politics of our classifications. Put another way, religious studies asks how humans create order and meaning and how that process is never a value-neutral activity.

 

We are excited to have Dr. Roshan Abraham join us for the 2019 Day Lecture.
Join us on Tuesday October 15, 2019 in 30 ten Hoor at 7pm.
And on social media, #Day2019 is the place to be.