Allie Rash is a senior double majoring in Mathematics and Religious Studies. She hails from Franklin, TN but calls North Carolina and Kansas home as well. She wrote this post for Dr. Finnegan’s class, REL 370: Hijab, Hip Hop, and Halal. Gerald Allen is the State Senator from the 21st district of Alabama, representing Hale, Pickens, and Tuscaloosa counties. Before his election to the State Senate, Allen served four terms in the Alabama House of Representatives. Politically, according to his most recent […]
Category: Student Blog
Posts in this category are written by, or are about, undergraduate students in the Department.
What Does it Really Mean to be ‘Mentally Ill’?
Sarah Sawyer is a senior at the University of Alabama studying International Relations and Chinese. She spends her ‘free time’ studying and wondering if Publix will have a sale on its wine anytime soon. She wrote this post for Dr. Ramey’s class, REL 321: Religion and Identity in South Asia. “Many people feel ashamed because our society places illogical taboos on mental health issues and our silence can have deadly consequences.” These wise words are those of UA’s very own Elise Goubet as […]
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What Would I Ever Do with a Humanities Degree?
Catie Stewart is a sophomore at the University of Alabama from Madison, Mississippi. She is double majoring in English and Religious Studies. Entering into my first year at the University of Alabama, I declared a chemical engineering major. I had always excelled in science and math in high school and had seemingly enjoyed the two catch-all chemistry classes I took my sophomore and senior years, so, to me and everyone advising me, it only made sense that I go into the field […]
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The Imagined Kashmir
Anna Davis is a junior from Prattville, Alabama who is majoring in Geography and Religious Studies. She wrote this post as part of Dr. Steven Ramey’s course, REL 321: Religion & Identity in South Asia The geographic area of South Asia has experienced a catastrophic series of floods in recent weeks. The region of Kashmir in particular has had a difficult time recovering from the floods in part because of the aid that was provided. People died during the floods […]
Menken’s Isn’t Chanel
Victoria Truitt is a Senior at the University of Alabama studying Political Science and Spanish. She spends her free time binge-watching her favorite shows on Netflix and questioning every little thing about today’s culture. She aspires to work in politics after graduation. When I think of identity, I think of a constantly developing definition that is open to interpretation. A person’s identity is never complete because it depends not only on that person’s image of themselves, but also on the […]
Eudora Welty’s Jitney Jungle
By Jared Powell Jared Powell is a junior from Canton, Mississippi majoring in English and Religious Studies. I recently attended the first Hidden Humanities lecture, hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, featuring Dr. William Ferris and his talk “Standing at the Crossroads: The Humanities and the American South.” The lecture struck a few chords with me–and not just because he also played a couple blues classics on a steel string guitar during the lecture–and got me thinking about […]
What Makes A Terrorist?
Katie Fortin, a native of northern Vermont, is in her senior year of undergrad at the University of Alabama. She is currently working towards a degree in English with a minor in Religious Studies. When you hear the word “terrorist” what do you think? You probably imagine a dark skinned Middle Eastern man. But why is that? Why don’t we picture someone like Timothy McVeigh, a white American, who was responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombings of 1995, the largest […]
The Authentic Dream Cafe
By Jared Powell Jared Powell is a junior from Canton, Mississippi majoring in English and Religious Studies. A few months ago I wrote a post relating an episode of Seinfeld to issues of identity that are commonly discussed in our classes. After letting the initial fame and grandeur of my first post wear off, I decided that more connections could be made from the sitcom and the academic study of religion, particularly with regards to authenticity. […]
Top Ten Tips for Academic Blogging
REL 360 is our brand new, one-credit course entitled “Popular Culture/Public Humanities,” and organized by Prof. Rollens. Students who take this course watch a series of movies, attend a public lecture, and then have the opportunity to discuss the material together with faculty. They write short responses to their favorite events, one of which will eventually be published on our department’s blog. To introduce the students to the phenomenon of academic blogging, their first assignment was to examine other posts on the department […]
Did You Get on Board?
Did you stop by the Religious Studies Student Association‘s table at Get on Board Day a few weeks ago? Well if you missed out, don’t worry, we got it all on tape. To show a little “slice of life” in the Department, we’ve uploaded a video with a behind the scenes look of the setup for the event. Give it a watch! Get on Board Day 2014 from UA Religious Studies. […]