Study Religion

In this episode we welcome Prof. Tim Jensen from the University of Southern Denmark, the president of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR). Prof. Jensen spent some time in conversation with our own Prof. Richard Newton and some of our MA students in Religion in Culture about how the academic study of religion looks from a global perspective beyond the Unite States.

A transcript of the show is available at: religion.ua.edu/about-us/podcasts/

Study Religion is a production of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

Every year our department welcomes guests who come and give lectures or visit with faculty and students. This past semester we had two excellent guests visit the department as part of our lecture series. First, Dr. Elijah Siegler was our Zachary Day Memorial Lecturer and gave an excellent talk on religion in the films of the Coen Brothers. Then, Dr. Linell Cady came as our Aronov Lecturer. Dr. Cady spent time with a group of faculty discussing the current state and future of religious studies in higher education. She also delivered a wonderful lecture on spirituality, science, and secularism in America. This episode is a taste of these visits from our guests.

A transcript of the show is available at: religion.ua.edu/about-us/podcasts/

Study Religion is a production of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

In this episode, students and colleagues of Jonathan Z. Smith remember his life and work. Smith passed away on December 30, 2017.

A transcript of this show is available at: religion.ua.edu/about-us/podcasts/

Study Religion is a production of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

For this episode of our podcast, we've turned it over to our MA students--Emma Gibson, Sarah Griswold, and Sierra Lawson. This Fall these students were all part of our MA foundations course REL 502: Religious Studies and Public Humanities. In the course the students learned to use digital tools and our field's main professional organization, the American Academy of Religion (AAR) served all semester as the example on which they applied these tools So to end the semester we invited them to talk a bit about the last four AAR Presidential Addresses (2013-2016)--giving us their take on how the field is shaped and where it all might be going.

A transcript of the show is available at: religion.ua.edu/about-us/podcasts/

Study Religion is a production of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

A lot has happened in our department since our last episode in the spring. In this episode we look at two "firsts" in the department. This fall we launched our brand new Religion in Culture masters degree program and in this episode Prof. Altman sits down with our first cohort of graduate students to talk about how the first semester of the program is going. Next, Prof. Altman talks with Prof. Vaia Touna about a big first in her career--her first book! It's our first episode of the 2017-2018 academic year and it's all about firsts.

A transcript of the show is available at: https://religion.ua.edu/about-us/podcasts/

Study Religion is a production of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

Our department has just finished celebrating its 50th anniversary. In this episode, host Prof. Michael Altman brings you the sounds of our recent 50th anniversary celebration. First, former department chairs Dr. Patrick Green and Dr. Ted Trost recount some of the history of the department from its founding in 1966 to the present. Then Prof. Altman sits down with a group of REL graduates who describe how their training in our department prepared them for their careers and lives after college. It's a whole episode dedicated to who we are and how we came to be.

It's time to talk about the academic conference. In this episode host Prof. Mike Altman brings two stories about academic conference experiences. First, he sits down with Prof. Laura Levitt from Temple University to talk about her experience at the American Academy of Religion last fall. Then Prof. Altman talks with two of our Department's majors who recently took a trip their first religious studies conference. Sierra Lawson and Parker Evans explain how the conference did not fit their expectations and how it changed their view of the field of religious studies.

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In this episode we think about the ways we categorize things as religion. The show begins with the ritual life of turkeys and what that tells us about the category "religion." Then a few REL majors show us how the category "sacrifice" is all around us. Finally, host Michael Altman talks with Dr. Megan Goodwin about the new CNN show Believer and how religious studies can find a broader public audience.

Episode 1 of Study Religion introduces the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. Host Michael Altman talks with Department Chair Russell McCutcheon about how social theory shapes the way the department imagines itself within the university. In the second half of the episode, Prof. Altman sits down with Merinda Simmons, the Graduate Director for the new master's degree in Religion in Culture that launches in the fall of 2017.