The Department of Religious Studies is proud to announce that two of our faculty members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. This is a truly exceptional honor, which recognizes a career of innovative and influential scholarship of the highest degree.
We applaud Professor Leela Prasad and Professor Saul Olyan for their many contributions to scholarship, knowledge, and the public good. They join a distinguished list of the nation's top scholars, artists, and authors stretching back to the founding of the Academy in 1780.
From the American Academy of Arts & Sciences website:
“The Academy, chartered in 1780, was established to recognize accomplished individuals and engage them in addressing the greatest challenges facing the young republic. The first members elected to the Academy include George Washington, who said – in his first annual message to Congress in 1790 – ‘Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.’”
Congratulations to Professors Prasad and Olyan. We commend you for this honor and for your contributions to our department, Religious Studies, Judaic Studies and Brown University.
Professor Saul Olyan
Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies
Research Areas: Jewish Studies; Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean
Specializations Include: The History, Literature, & Religion of Ancient Israel; and the History of Biblical Interpretation.
Professor Leela Prasad
St. Purandar Das Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies
Research Areas: Culture, Ethics & Society in Modern South Asia; Philosophy & Ethics; Race & Indigeneity; Gender & Sexuality
Specializations Include: Anthropology of Ethics; Storytelling, Cinema, & Performance in South Asia; Colonialism & Decoloniality; Prison & Post-prison Life; Gandhi; Hindu Worlds; Human Rights & Social Justice; Gender; Diaspora & Indigeneity; Non-human Animal Humanities.
