Through
1/1
Kristina García
News Officer
klg@upenn.edu
Religious Studies
The search for meaning
The search for meaning
During the course Living Deliberately: Monks, Saints, and the Contemplative Life, taught by Justin McDaniel of the School of Arts & Sciences, students experiment with ascetic practices.
‘The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom’
‘The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom’
This timely volume of essays edited by professors Heather J. Sharkey and Jeffrey Green explores theoretical, historical, and legal perspectives on religious freedom, while examining its meaning as an experience, value, and right.
Faith in public life
Faith in public life
In a conversation sponsored by the School of Social Policy & Practice, Ben Jealous discussed religion’s potential to transform society with Charles ‘Chaz’ Howard and David Saperstein.
Poet Wes Matthews combines writing, music, research, and service
Poet Wes Matthews combines writing, music, research, and service
College fourth-year Wes Matthews is combining writing, music, research, and service during his Penn experience. A former Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, the anthropology major and religious studies minor works at the Kelly Writers House and is a Wolf Humanities Center fellow.
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.
Media Contact
In the News
National Catholic Reporter
Catholics, abortion and the election: It’s complicated
Anthea Butler of the School of Arts & Sciences believes that white Catholics care less about abortion than about other issues like race.
FULL STORY →
Religion News Service
Kamala Harris’ multi-religious identity is a map of the future
Anthea Butler of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Kamala Harris’s religious story is not a straight line, which mirrors the trajectory of many Americans today.
FULL STORY →
MSNBC
Christian activists try Ten Commandments law, emboldened by compromised Supreme Court
Anthea Butler of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses Louisiana’s new law requiring the display of the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every school in the state.
FULL STORY →
The Hill
Save America’s sacred places for civic purposes
In a co-written opinion article, John Dilulio of the School of Arts & Sciences says that neglected religious buildings should be preserved for civic use.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →