Media and the Study of Religion
Vivian Asimos, Chris Cotter, Time Hutchings and Suzanne Owen discuss the intersections of Media and the Study of Religion.
Jan 20, 2020•59 min
The Religious Studies Project
Podcasts and Resources on the Contemporary Social-Scientific Study of Religion
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Episodes
The Sacrality of the Secular and Philosophy of Religion
In this week's podcast, we speak with Bradley Onishi about the ways in which philosophy of religion has thought "with" religion rather than for or against religion. "It's possible," he says, "to hold an enchanted secularity" if we think about religions themselves as tools for questioning our basic assumptions about the world.
Jan 13, 2020•36 min
Discourse! #13 | January 2020
This decade’s first episode of Discourse! is hosted by Vivian Asimos, with guests Aled Thomas and Michael Munnick. This time, the theme is “communication” – fittingly enough. The conversation covers stories about different models of Christianity among evangelical Trump supporters, the recent resurgence of the use of “cult” in popular media, Greta Thunberg as a […]
Jan 07, 2020•51 min
Separating Religion and Government…But What Is Religion?: A Look at the US Supreme Court
Americans generally affirm the importance of separating "church" and "state." But what does church--or religion--mean? Hear two leading religious freedom lawyers discuss the meaning of religious freedom in key #SCOTUS cases, including one before the Court this term.
Jan 06, 2020•50 min
Only Sixty Seconds! | Mid-Year Special 2019
For our eighth(!) annual special, Only Sixty Seconds returns! This time, Chris Cotter is your host, as David G. Robertson returns to defend his 2018 crown against Bettina Schmidt, Douglas Davies and Theo Wildcroft. We may not have avoided repetition, but I do not hesitate in promising you no deviation from hilarity!
Dec 23, 2019•31 min
Discourse #12 | December 2019
Religious studies scholars (and policy experts) Susan Hayward and Peter Mandaville join the Religious Studies Project for Discourse in December 2019. They discuss how classifying conflicts as religious or not can clarify–or obscure–the complexities of those conflicts. The conversation includes examples from the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and the […]
Dec 18, 2019•39 min
Applied Religious Studies at Georgia State University
In this episode, Professor Molly Bassett, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Georgia State University speaks about her program’s efforts to develop applied religious studies master’s certificates in “Religion and Aging” and “Nonprofit Management.”
Dec 16, 2019•38 min
Secular Jewish Millennials in Israel/Palestine
In this podcast, Chris Cotter is joined by Dr Stacey Gutkowski to discuss what it means to be a ‘secular Jewish Israeli millennial’.
Dec 09, 2019•43 min
Unbelief as a Nuanced Phenomenon: The Sociality of Nonreligion across Europe
Unbelief has often been defined as either ignorance or rejection of religious systems, but this week's guests David Herbert and Josh Bullock see far more diversity in the ways one can be nonreligious based on their research on Gen Y in Europe.
Dec 02, 2019•36 min
Straight White American Jesus, the podcast
In this week's podcast, Skidmore College Professor Bradley Onishi speaks about Straight White American Jesus, a podcast he co-hosts with Dan Miller that blends insider religious experience with academic expertise about American Evangelicalism.
Nov 25, 2019•32 min
Discourse #11 | Oct 2019
Chris Cotter is joined by Susannah Crockford and Sierra Lawson in this month's edition of discourse, discussing college football politics in Alabama, Donald Trump's new 'spiritual adviser', a Day of the Dead/Dia de Muertos memorializing migrants who have died at the US border, Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans day rituals, and the recent controversy surrounding QR codes at the AAR-SBL.
Nov 19, 2019•34 min
Doctors and Stigmatics in the 19th and 20th centuries
In this week's podcast with Gabor Klaniczay we learn about cases of stigmata during the 19th and 20th century in Europe, where medical discourses clashed with as well as supported religious discourses about the authenticity and meaning of famous stigmata cases like Italian Padre Pio.
Nov 18, 2019•39 min
Reflections on “Thinking with Jonathan Z. Smith”
Aaron W. Hughes, the keynote speaker for the #JZSatNTNU Conference in Trondheim, Norway, talks conference panelist Andie Alexander about the legacy of Jonathan Z. Smith's work for the field of religious studies.
Nov 11, 2019•41 min
Lady Death and the Pluralization of Latin American Religion
In today’s podcast, Professor R. Andrew Chesnut connects Brazil’s colonial past to its pluralist present and explains why folk saint devotion to Santa Muerte or Lady Death is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world.
Oct 31, 2019•54 min
EASR 2019 Publishing Panel
This panel, recorded at the EASR conference 2019 at the University of Tartu, is intended for PhD students and early career scholars who want to learn more about the publishing world.
Oct 28, 2019•1 hr 9 min
The secularization of discourse in contemporary Latin American neoconservatism
In this week’s podcast, Professor Jerry Espinoza Rivera explains how Latin American conservatism became neoconservatism. Though Latin America is diverse, conservatism has been a widespread in the region shaping not only the political power plays of religious institutions but the people's daily experience of the world. Recently, however, neoconservatism has managed to develop a language of its own that blends science and philosophy with historical analysis of the contemporary world political land...
Oct 21, 2019•36 min
BASR 2019: The State of the Discipline
Vivian Asimos and Theodora Wildcroft took the opportunity to ask the delegates of BASR 2019 what inspired them about the conference theme, their opinion about major trends in the discipline, and how they were personally feeling about REF 2021.
Oct 14, 2019•41 min
When Archive Meets A.I. – Computational Humanities Research on a Danish Secular Saint
In this week’s podcast, Katrine Frøkjaer Baunvig discusses preliminary results from the research project “Waking the Dead”. This project aims to build an a.i. bot of Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872), a Danish “secular saint” considered to be the father of modern Denmark, who contributed immensely into generating a national consciousness through his writings, both in a political and religious way.
Oct 07, 2019•46 min
How Religious Freedom Makes Religion
Tisa Wenger tells David Robertson how local, national, and international regimes of religious freedom have produced and reproduced the category 'religion' and its others in the modern world.
Sep 30, 2019•51 min
Discourse #10 |Sept 2019
This month on Discourse! join David G. Robertson, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas at the BASR as they discuss the mythology of Zelda, austerity and evangelical Christians, and the potential arson of Crowley’s Loch Ness redoubt, Boleskine House. Links: Austerity and evangelical Christians: https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2018/June-2018/Faith-in-action-How-Christians-are-plugging-the-gap-left-by-austerity Mythology of Zelda https://youtu.be/3fr1Z07AV00 Potential arson at Boleskine Ho...
Sep 26, 2019•42 min
Natural Selection In the Evolution of Religion
In this week's podcast, professor Armin Geertz outlines an answer elaborating on the arguments presented in his co-authored book The Emergence and Evolution of Religion by Means of Natural Selection. He argues that there are multilevel selection processes that happen within different sociocultural formations, and these are key to understanding how religion has evolved throughout history.
Sep 23, 2019•33 min
When Islam Is Not a Religion
Asma Uddin is the author of When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America's Fight for Religious Freedom. In this book, Uddin examines an alarming trend to redefine Islam as a political ideology, not a religion. In our conversation, we track the history of this movement to redefine Islam and its implications for the rights of Muslims. We discuss the widespread presumption among American progressives that courts tend to protect religious freedom for Christians, but not for Muslims, and we examine p...
Jun 24, 2019•37 min
Discourse #8 (June 2019)
This month on Discourse, Breann Fallon, Carole Cusack and Ray Radford approach the Australian news from a Religious Studies perspective. We cover the appeal of Cardinal George Pell, the drama around Israel Folau, and the impact of Christianity on the recent Australian federal election results.
Jun 18, 2019•39 min
Discourse, Australia Edition
Breann Fallon, Carole Cusack and Ray Radford approach the Australian news from a Religious Studies perspective. We cover the appeal of Cardinal George Pell, the drama around Israel Folau, and the impact of Christianity on the recent Australian federal election results.
Jun 18, 2019•35 min
Spatial Contestations and Conversions
Listeners to the Religious Studies Project, particularly in a European context, might be quite familiar with the sight of a former church building that has now turned derelict, or is being used for a purposes that perhaps it wasn’t intended for, or is being rejuvenated by another ‘religious’ community, another Christian community, or put to some other use. Chris is joined today by Daan Beekers to discuss spatial contestations and conversions, particularly looking at (former) church buildings in ...
Jun 10, 2019•42 min
Philology and the Comparative Study of Myths
In this week’s podcasts, Dr. Paola Corrente gives us insights in how the use of the philological approach can be beneficial for, not only providing a common and solid framework for comparative research but also, for providing more suitable ways of classification according to linguistic criteria. Her work on the “dying gods” –i.e. gods that die but come back to life– of Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia, which draws on the concept formulated by James George Frazer, provides a case for this exercise.
Jun 03, 2019•41 min
Science Fiction, Video Games, and Religion
Science fiction and video games are more visible than ever as their popularity reaches record numbers. From classic arcade games to modern open-world sandbox simulators that require hundreds of hours to complete fully, science fiction is one of the most common gaming genres. This podcast explores the ways religion and science fiction appear together in these cultural products, asks how gamers see the value of this play, and how we seek belief in things that are 'out of this world' as a means to ...
May 27, 2019•45 min
Religion, Food Waste, and Food Consumption
Anna Salonen explains how ethics is being involved in her studies of food waste and consumption by both religious and non-religious populations that live in affluent societies, such as Finland and Canada.
May 20, 2019•26 min
Buddhism in the critical classroom
How do we deal with different cultural languages when teaching an Introduction to Buddhism course? Is cultural familiarity something to be broken immediately and displaced by new concepts and perspectives? Is it to be leveraged as devices for easy onboarding to other, more unfamiliar terms and ideas? Are they to be outright ignored? David Robertson is joined by Matthew Hayes
May 13, 2019•34 min
Critical Approaches to Pre-Islamic Arabia and Early Islam
Given the way in which many introductory courses present the history of early Islam and pre-Islamic Arabia, we may be tempted to think that the historical facts were well established and the narrative uncontested. However, this is far from the case. What evidence do we actually have from this period, and how may it challenge the conventional narratives that have become canonised in sacred and academic histories? What misconceptions might be challenged by modern epigraphic work, or the applicatio...
May 07, 2019•37 min
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