4/16
Kristina García
News Officer
klg@upenn.edu
Religious Studies
Finding community in the Jewish High Holy Days
Finding community in the Jewish High Holy Days
Three cultural and academic leaders at Penn consider how a return to experiencing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in person offered physical and spiritual healing.
Who, What, Why: Max Johnson Dugan’s research on halal food
Who, What, Why: Max Johnson Dugan’s research on halal food
A doctoral candidate in religious studies, Dugan focuses on halal consumption: “What we make, what we wear, what sort of things that we eat, what we do with our bodies.”
Donovan Schaefer says there is no division between thinking and feeling
Donovan Schaefer says there is no division between thinking and feeling
In his new book, “Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin”, the assistant professor of religious studies posits that thinking and feeling are intertwined.
Jolyon Baraka Thomas on curiosity and contentment
Jolyon Baraka Thomas on curiosity and contentment
For Jolyon Baraka Thomas of the School of Arts & Sciences, the route to religious studies was the same one that led him away from faith.
Justin McDaniel on life, death, religion, and his latest book
Justin McDaniel on life, death, religion, and his latest book
In his new book, “Wayward Distractions,” the School of Arts & Sciences’ Justin McDaniel compiles articles on art and material culture spanning his 20-plus years of scholarship.
In These Times: Fear and loathing and science
In These Times: Fear and loathing and science
Season three of the School of Arts & Sciences podcast explores scientific ideas that get big reactions.
Religious freedom as a tool for American occupation
Religious freedom as a tool for American occupation
Jolyon Thomas, an associate professor of religious studies, discusses his award-winning book, ‘Faking Liberties: Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan.’
The Divine Comedy’s ‘universal message’
The Divine Comedy’s ‘universal message’
Seven centuries years after Dante Alighieri's death on Sept. 14, 1321, his “Divine Comedy,” a poem in which an autobiographical protagonist journeys through hell, purgatory, and paradise, is still widely influential.
Archiving empire with religious studies’ Megan Robb
Archiving empire with religious studies’ Megan Robb
A long-unseen archive centered on an 18th-century Mughal woman will soon be publicly accessible, thanks to the work of religious studies professor Megan Robb of the School of Arts & Sciences and a team of Penn students.
Nationalism, American evangelicals, and conservatism
Nationalism, American evangelicals, and conservatism
Historians Anthea Butler and Heather J. Sharkey and political scientist Michele Margolis share their thoughts on the history of American evangelicals in politics, Trump’s appeal, and what it means for the future of the GOP.
Media Contact
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
‘Muslim-ish’: For less observant Muslims, Ramadan remains a cherished ritual
Jamal Elias of the School of Arts & Sciences comments on the percentages of Muslims who practice their religion by praying five times a day, wearing the hijab, and eating halal food.
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The Conversation
For 150 years, Black journalists have known what Confederate monuments really stood for
Donovan Schaefer of the School of Arts & Sciences says that journalists at Black newspapers have historically criticized Confederate monuments for falsely enshrining Southern myths about why the Civil War was fought.
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AP News
A court in China sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says
A former Penn lecturer specializing in the study of her people’s folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison.
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CNBC
I lived like a monk for 48 hours, and it helped me break three of my worst habits—here’s how
Justin McDaniel of the School of Arts & Sciences explains the benefits of his class “Living Deliberately,” which requires students to observe a code of silence and abstain from using electronic communications.
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The Nation
Gospel of a new Christian left
Anthea Butler of the School of Arts & Sciences says that slaveholder Christianity was central to the postbellum mythology of the South, with the Klan a symbol of white Christian nationalism.
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The New York Times
Religious freedom arguments underpin wave of challenges to abortion bans
Marci Hamilton of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the Satanic Temple’s abortion-related lawsuits are helpful for countering the religious right with a faith whose rights are being violated.
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