Religious Studies Professor and President of the American Academy of Religion defends the importance of humanities in light of recent cuts to programs across US universities

Leela Prasad, a distinguished professor in the department of Religious Studies and president of the American Academy of Religion has been vocal in her defense of the Humanities in the media recently. In her opinion piece published in the Boston Globe, What’s truly at stake when universities cut back on humanities, she likens the elimination of humanities departments to a “rupture in the ecosystem of the university, injuring a web of disciplines, communities, and generations of students.” She warns that without the opportunity to explore studies in the humanities, universities run the risk of producing churners of robots – efficient and fluent in algorithms but unable to inquire, empathize and understand.

She elaborates on the role of religion in a 50 minute conversation on the Alive With Steve Burns (Blues Clues) podcast titled “Why do we God?” It explores themes of humanity’s innate nature to seek the divine, how and when religious narratives become sacred, interfaith communities and religious wars while injecting personal reflections of experiences with the divine. The episode offers an impactful insight into the ways humans worship.

Professor Nancy Khalek's new course, RELS 0843, "How Do You Feel? The History of Emotions makes the BDH's top 5 list of courses to shop this fall.

NPR highlights the long term friendship between two female scholars and the ancient ritual that made them sisters, our own, Professor Susan Ashbrook Harvey, and Robin Darling Young (Catholic University).