By Brooke Champagne Brooke Champagne is an instructor of English and the Assistant Director of First-Year Writing at The University of Alabama. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction from Louisiana State University. While she makes her living as a teacher, she is a perennial student of writing, religion, and language, including REL 419 in Spring 2014. On July 13, 2013, 31-year-old Glee star Cory Monteith died of a heroin and alcohol overdose. He was found […]
Category: Religion in Culture
Posts in this category discuss how those aspects of culture known as religion can be studied in a way comparable to all other cultural practices.
Power/Knowledge in Real Time
Have you been following the controversy over Wendy Doniger’s recent book, The Hindus: An Alternative History, published by Penguin? It is now being reported that the publisher has agreed to withdraw and pulp the book, in the near future, due to a 2011 court case in India, arguing it was insulting to Hinduism. […]
Backstory: Prof. Russell McCutcheon
“Backstory” is a series that asks the REL Faculty to tell us a little bit about themselves, to explore how they became interested in the academic study of religion and their own specialty, elaborating on their current work both within and outside the University. Where are you from? I was born in Port Colborne, Ontario, in Canada, not far from Buffalo, NY, actually, in a region that is called southern Ontario. It’s both an industrial and a farming region—lots of […]
What’s Good for the Goose…?
Have you seen this article, from Canada’s National Post…? It opens as follows: A London, Ont., university is defending its decision to restrict access to a course that teaches Muslims how to proselytize. The Huron College course — The Muslim Voice: Islamic Preaching, Public Speaking and Worship — was, according to the syllabus, “open to Muslim men and women who offer religious leadership and/or speak publicly about Islam on behalf of their communities.” While I have no doubt that there’s […]
Dispatch from a UK Classroom
A friend in the UK on Facebook just posted this newspaper article for what seems to be a new series, “Academic Anonymous” — “where academics can tell it like it is”– entitled: Teaching Religion: My Students are Trying to Run My Course Not a few academics in the UK now feel rather frustrated, what with a variety of changes in higher education funding brought about recently by the government there — issues not unfamiliar on this side of the Atlantic, […]
Backstory: Prof. Michael J. Altman
“Backstory” is a series that asks the REL Faculty to tell us a little bit about themselves, to explore how they became interested in the academic study of religion and their own specialty, elaborating on their current work both within and outside the University. Where are you from? I moved around a few times when I was a kid but always in the South. I was born in Virginia and lived in Florida and Georgia briefly growing up. But most […]
There and Back Again, Part 3
On February 5, 2014, we sponsored the third “There and Back Again: A Grad’s Tale,” this time hosted by Prof. Ramey. Our guest was Ben Simmons, who graduated from UA in 2009, with a B.A. in Religious Studies and History, and who came to town for the night with his wife (also a grad of UA) and their young son. […]
Backstory: Prof. Sarah Rollens
“Backstory” is a series that asks the REL Faculty to tell us a little bit about themselves, to explore how they became interested in the academic study of religion and their own specialty, elaborating on their current work both within and outside the University. Where are you from? This is a great question! Whenever anyone asks me this, I always wonder what they hope my answer will clarify for them about me, because it’s not a simple answer. I was […]
Backstory: Prof. Merinda Simmons
“Backstory” is a series that asks the REL Faculty to tell us a little bit about themselves, to explore how they became interested in the academic study of religion and their own specialty, elaborating on their current work both within and outside the University. Where are you from? Tampa, FL. I grew up celebrating what I took to be my “Southern heritage” of strong coffee, palm trees, and red beans and rice. When I moved to Alabama after a stint […]
Can I Order the Authentic Dish, Please?
By Wesley Davidson Wesley Davidson is a senior Religious Studies major and Judaic Studies minor from Dothan, Alabama. He plans to continue his study of religion in culture at the graduate level and is currently playing the waiting game after finishing the application process. Recently while perusing The Huffington Post I came across an interesting article titled, “10 Common Food Terms That Have Lost All Meaning.” The article’s main concern is how certain food classifiers such as authentic and natural […]