Religious Studies | Penn Today

Standing, Joseph Wilbur leaves through documents in a folder; Sam Herrmann crouches near by

Orthodox America

In Orthodox America, students explore the history of Orthodox Christian communities influencing American religious, political, legal, and literary landscapes.

British opera and Jewish vocal artists in the 18th and 19th centuries

Katz Center fellow Uri Erman on the intersection of opera and the fraught experience of assimilation for British Jewish populations.

Cupped hands holding a tea light candle.

Finding light in dark times

Professors Deven Patel and Steven Weitzman in the School of Arts & Sciences discuss why Diwali and Hanukkah, both festivals of lights, can act as symbols of hope.

Harun Kucuk shakes hands with people on Locust Walk

Locust walks: Making connections and bridging differences

Harun Küçük, faculty director of the Middle East Center, and Joshua Teplitsky, director of the Jewish Studies Program, started walking and talking as an act of campus diplomacy in the wake of the violence in Israel and Gaza.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The sleeper legal strategy that could topple abortion bans

Marci Hamilton of the School of Arts & Sciences says that there’s a strong argument for religious exemptions from abortion bans because those bills were initially passed for religious reasons.

Ivy League professor of ultra-popular ‘monk class’: These three changes can make you more resilient than most

Justin McDaniel of the School of Arts & Sciences offers three suggestions to build emotional resilience and mindfulness.

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