Prof. Loewen wonders what religion scholars might learn about “being critical” from philosophers of religion. […]
There are no Rip Van Winkles here!
Category: Relevance of Humanities
Posts in this category discuss the wider relevance of those tools, methods, and disciplines often grouped together and called the Humanities.
How does curiosity lead to opportunity? A student’s development of new skills
People often enter the academic study of religion because of questions and curiosities
that we have about the world around us. Cultivating these curiositiescan lead to new questions about how groups and texts work. […]
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“Making the thing is the thing”: Observing the 2023 American Examples Cohort
REL MA student Trevor Linn observed the 2023 American Examples public humanities workshop. Here’s what he found! […]
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Understanding how things work: The benefits of Religious Studies for a career in technology security
Understanding the various systems that organize the world is one outcome of a major inReligious Studies. Though it was not his first expectation, that is exactly what Justin Nelson (RELmajor who graduated in 2007) credits for contributing to various successes he has experienced.Last month, Justin returned to campus for Grad Tales, a department event that features alumnisharing with students their journey from graduation to wherever they are now. It is anencouraging event to attend during undergrad as most, if not […]
Seeing Joseph Smith Jr.’s First Vision as an Ideology
Casey A’Hearn is an REL MA student who uses Louis Althusser’s theory of ideology to understand Joseph Smith Jr.’s First Vision.
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Taking REL to Washington: A student’s experience on Capitol Hill
Ellie Dilworth interviewed Maddie Brodbeck about how religious studies is useful on Capitol Hill. […]
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You can be anything!
Digging into information on social media creates a more complicated image about careers and earning potential for various majors. […]
Teaching ‘The Sacred’ as An Art Historian
by Marguerite Mayhall*, Kean University. The carved relief lintel showing Lady Xok performing a bloodletting ritual for her husband Shield Jaguar’s accession to the throne of the Maya site of Yaxchilan is a startling image (top left image, Lintel 24). Xok, dressed in an elaborate huipil, or woven dress, kneels while she draws a barbed rope through her tongue and piles it in a bowl in front of her. Her husband, the king-to-be, stands over her, holding a torch and […]
The Green Chile Controversy
Kim Davis is a 2003 graduate of REL. She moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2020 and became an avid explorer, hiker, and trail runner much to the surprise of everyone who knows her. She invites everyone to come experience the Land of Enchantment. When I moved from Alabama to New Mexico, I became an aficionado of New Mexican chile. New Mexican chile is not the meat and beans stew that is prepared in the Southeast, but rather it […]
Taylor Swift, Gameday, and Church
Taylor Swift’s concert tour has generated significant attention with heartwarming stories of supportive parents, marriage proposals, and the like, along with lots of memes. One author compared the experience with group singing in worship settings, calling the concert “The Church of Taylor Swift”. The post certainly touches on an important element within both Taylor Swift concerts and congregational worship, the experience of group singing. However, thinking critically about who creates the comparison, based on what assumptions, and for what ends […]