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Religious Studies

Donovan Schaefer says there is no division between thinking and feeling
Left, Donovan Schaefer; right: Book cover of the book, Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism After Darwin.

Donavan Schaefer is an assistant professor of religious studies. (Image: OMNIA)

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.

From Omnia

Jolyon Baraka Thomas on curiosity and contentment
A man in a three-piece suit stands in front of a stone building

For religious studies professor Jolyon Thomas, “faith is a black box,” he says. Rather than be a participant in religious faith, Thomas is much more interested in studying its causations, repercussions, and interplay with identity, politics, and education.

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.

Kristina Linnea García

Justin McDaniel on life, death, religion, and his latest book
A row of gilded Buddha figures sit under a canopy swathed in red cloth

Buddhist temples (like the one above in Wat Pho, Thailand) are often ornately decorated with gilded statues, flowers, and incense. “Religion,” says McDaniel, “is often a celebration, not an austere retreat.” (Image: Frida Aguilar Estrada on Unsplash.)

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.

Kristina Linnea García

Religious freedom as a tool for American occupation
Researcher Jolyon Thomas on left book jacket on right

Jolyon Thomas, associate professor of religious studies in the School of Arts & Sciences

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.’

From Omnia

Afghanistan’s war rug industry distorts the reality of everyday trauma

Afghanistan’s war rug industry distorts the reality of everyday trauma

Jamal J. Elias of the School of Arts & Sciences wrote about the war rug market in Afghanistan, arguing that collectors and journalists tend to mistakenly view the weavings as reflections of the creator’s worldview. Instead, said Elias, it’s the rug brokers and dealers who determine the motifs. “Ultimately, Afghan war rugs are produced for the market,” he wrote.