Religion in Culture – Page 7 – Studying Religion in Culture

Something New From the “Nones” with the Pew Research Center’s Online Survey Results

December 17, 2021 by Steven Ramey

The Nones are causing “trouble” again, with sensationalized headlines about the decline of Christianity. These takes can easily reinforce the anxiety among some about changes in society and activate nostalgia for some mythic 1950’s America (which was certainly not experienced as peaceful or comfortable by many marginalized groups in the 1950s, or even today). Based on survey data that the Pew Research Center released this week, those who represent themselves as unaffiliated with religion have grown to almost 30% of […]

REL News: Jackson Foster Awarded Marshall Scholarship

December 14, 2021 by admin

Established in the UK by the passage of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act, the Marshall Scholarship annually finances up to fifty young Americans to study for a degree in any field in the United Kingdom. Chosen for their leadership and ambassadorial potential, as well as their academic ability, Marshall Scholars are a living embodiment of the enduring special relationship between the UK and America. This year, the British government selected forty-one winners from over one-thousand university-endorsed applicants and REL is […]

January 6, 2021: Call it Epiphany

December 13, 2021 by Theodore Trost

What one calls the events that took place in the capital of the nation on January 6, 2021, is a matter of perspective—a viewpoint acquired primarily, I suspect, through the political persuasion of the one giving name to the phenomenon. […]

All ToC and No Action: Feminism in Philosophy of Religion Textbooks

November 29, 2021 by Nathan Loewen

Feminist theory is all but absent from contemporary research in philosophy of religion. Open a textbook from the field and peruse the table of contents (ToC), and you might see “feminism” listed as a chapter or sub-heading. The contents of that chapter will very likely include references to works published squarely within the 1990s by self-identified “feminist philosophers of religion.” * After reading that section of the textbook, readers will ask: “If even one feminist critique is even partly correct, […]

RELdl’s Tools Facilitate Better Conversations Virtual Guests: Perhaps “OWL” Being See You at REL?

November 8, 2021 by Nathan Loewen

What is this? Have you tried using a basic computer web camera to capture conversations with a classroom? Prof. Loewen has experimented with dozens of ultimately unsatisfactory methods since 2009. With the arrival of the REL digital lab in 2021, things have changed. […]

Things You Didn’t Think You’d Learn in Grad School: Coding

October 20, 2021 by admin

Erica Bennett, now in her second and final year of the REL MA, is from Louisiana and earned her undergraduate degree from Millsaps College. Working with Prof. Touna as her supervisor, she is also a T.A. this semester for Prof. Simmons’s REL 100 and Prof. Altman’s research assistant on the American Examples grant. She is interested in studying new religious movements. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that our society revolves around, and cannot function without, technology. From Netflix party hangouts […]

Should I “Public Humanities”? A Process for Thinking about Whether to Get Involved

October 18, 2021 by Nathan Loewen

puddle with reflection of legs wearing converse sneakers

The Event I recently hosted a two-day workshop with Richard Newton as part of the American Examples project. Our aim was to think about “public humanities” with the 12 participants in the 2021 cohort. The first day’s over-arching question was, “should I “PH?” I thought it might be useful to share the process that guided our session, since others may be asking that question, too. We planned this workshop with the assumption that none of the participants have a […]

Welcome to the REL Digital Lab (RELdl)

August 19, 2021 by admin

The new school year has started and the REL Digital Lab is open for business, under the leadership of Prof. Jeri Wieringa. Visit the new RELdl website to learn more about the Lab and how it will specifically support REL teaching and collaborative research. Note: the RELdl is not an open lab (i.e., for checking email, writing/printing essays, etc.). […]

Welcome Back!

August 16, 2021 by admin

Where did the last year go…? The new routine of remote and, when in-person, masked and socially distanced classes was so different from what we all were used to that our sense of time has really been thrown off; for while it may seem like an eternity ago, the start of the Fall 2020 semester, not to mention the swift move to remote classes to complete the Spring 2020 semester, also seems like it was just yesterday. And suddenly it’s […]

REL Update: Start of Fall 2021

August 10, 2021 by admin

With the start of Fall 2021 classes just a couple weeks away it’s time to send out an update to ensure that everyone in REL is on the same page for how the semester will start. New Mask Mandate If you have missed it, UA recently announced implementing a mask mandate on campus, to be regularly reassessed throughout the semester. All classrooms are back to full capacity, however, and the plexiglass has been removed from classrooms, though stand-alone plexiglass barriers […]

Studying Religion in Culture

Ongoing Discussions at the University of Alabama

Category: Religion in Culture