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).

Last year more than 400 students, half of them seniors, enrolled in a new religious studies course with Prof. Michael Satlow, RELS0010: Happiness and the Pursuit of the Good Life. What was the draw?

Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Contemplative Studies, Srinivas Reddy wins prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in India next year.

Professor Janine Sawada publishes new book

Professor Daniel Vaca (Brown) together with Laura McTicghe (NYU) and Elayne Oliphant (NYU) win a prestigious grant from the Henry Luce Foundation for their project “Creating the World Anew: Religion and Mutual Aid.” The project seeks to “identify and foster connections between religious and economic dimensions of human flourishing.” The idea is to explore the relationship between religion and mutual aid, with the ultimate goal to fund what they call “local mutual aid experiments,” on the ground community action, to help make positive change.

The MIT Press and Brown University Library’s Digital Publications Initiative announce the publication of "A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures" by Shahzad Bashir.

An interactive, open-access born-digital publication, this groundbreaking book’s interface encourages engagement with rich visual material and multimedia evidence.

The book decenters Islam from a geographical identification with the Middle East, an articulation through men’s authority alone, and the assumption that premodern expressions are more authentically Islamic than modern ones. Aimed at a wide international audience, the book consists of engaging stories and audiovisual materials that will enable readers at all levels to appreciate Islam as an aspect of global history for centuries. The book URL is islamic-pasts-futures.org.

In "A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures," Bashir discusses Islam as phenomenon and as discourse—observed in the built environment, material objects, paintings, linguistic traces, narratives, and social situations. He draws on literary genres, including epics, devotional poetry and prayers, and modern novels; art and architecture in varied forms; material culture, from luxury objects to cheap trinkets; and such forms of media as photographs, graffiti, and films.

The publication of "A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures" is supported by the Mellon Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the MIT Press, and the Brown University Library’s Digital Publications Initiative.

Click the link below to read the full announcement, including a link to the publication and the MIT Press news site, which features an interview with Prof. Bashir.

Daniel Vaca, Robert Gale Noyes Assistant Professor of Humanities wins honorable mention for his book, Evangelicals Incorporated: Books and the Business of Religion in America, from the Modern Language Assocation's Matei Calinesco Prize.

Religious Studies is excited to announce a new course taught this fall 2021: RELS 2600H, Ecowomanism with Visiting Professor Melanie Harris.

The Department of Religious Studies is proud to announce the winners of the Bishop McVickar Thesis Prizes for 2021. Originally instituted in 1909 by the Rt. Rev. William Neilson McVickar, the prizes are awarded annually for the best honor theses written on any topic related to the academic study of religion. Submissions are invited from current Brown University students in any concentration, drawing on any methodology.

Visiting Assistant Professor Finnian Moore-Gerety has teamed up with the Center for Contemporary South Asia at the Watson Institute on a podcast exploring scholarship around South Asian religions across the disciplines - contemplative studies, religious studies, anthropology, history, critical theory and political science.

Religious Studies together with the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life, Brown RISD Hillel, and Brown's Center for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation are pleased to announce that Eric K. Ward of Western States Center will be delivering this year's K. Brooke Anderson Lecture.

Assistant Professor Daniel Vaca discusses his new book, Evangelicals Incorporated: Books and the Business of Religion in America on the podcast Christian Rightcast.

Professor Mark Cladis has published a new book, In Search of a Course. In Search of Course draws on a personal narrative of the journey of finding a course "for your life" and a course for "the University." In an interview with Regal House Publishing, Prof. Cladis discusses the process and inspiration for the book. The book will be available in bookstores on January 8, 2021.

KAREN B. STERN of Brooklyn College, Brown Ph.D. 2006, has won a 2020 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the Association for Jewish Studies for her book Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2018).

We're thrilled to share that Visiting Assistant Professor Srinivas Reddy's new book will be released online this week. Please see the information below as shared by the Center for Contemporary South Asia. Please join the Department in congratulating Srini!

Religious Studies offers its warmest congratulations to the class of 2020!

On March 6, 2020 at 6pm, Professor Joseph Winters, Duke University, will present "Death, Spirituality, and the Matter of Blackness," as part of the 2020 Religious Studies Graduate Student Conference, titled, "Death."

Daniel Vaca, the Robert Gale Noyes Assistant Professor of Humanities, and Religious Studies very own Director of Undergraduate Studies discusses his new book, Evangelicals Incorporated: Books and the Business of Religion in America with John Turner on the blog Anxious Bench on the Patheos website.

Professor Shahzad Bashir is the recipient of the Presidential Faculty Award and will present the corresponding lecture, on Feb. 24, 2020.

The Department is delighted to announce the Bishop McVickar Prizes for Research.

The Eighth North American Syriac Symposium will convene on June 16-19, 2019.

Check out Religious Studies Fall 2018 courses as you shop this semester.

Religious Studies is pleased to welcome postdoc, Charrise Barron to the Department!

Prof. Thomas Lewis' most recent book, Why Philosophy Matters for the Study of Religion and Vice-Versa, has been highlighted on the prominent academic website the Syndicate. The website devotes itself to the intellectual discussion of scholarship in the Humanities. To join the discussion on Prof. Lewis' book click here.

Jae Hee Han comes to Brown after receiving his PhD in Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Religious Studies is pleased to announce the winners of this year's McVickar's Prize!

D. Max Moerman, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College, Columbia University will present a lecture on Thursday, April 12 at 5:30pm in the Petteruti Lounge.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Jae Hee Han who will become an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the area of New Testament/Early Chrisitanity beginning July 1, 2018.

Brown is pleased to announce that the University is to be the location of Eighth North American Syriac Symposium in June 16-19, 2019.

Beginning in January 2018, we are pleased to be accepting applications for our new Ph.D. track in Islam, Society and Culture.