In this episode of the Spotlight on Culture, Society, and Religion series, Professor Martha Kaplan of Vassar College examines the different ways in which people in three societies— Fiji, Singapore, and the US—value drinking water differently and describes the role that cultural differences might play in the conservation of water. At a time of environmental uncertainty, Kaplan challenges us to examine our own attitudes to the water we drink and to become more informed and responsible consumers.

In this episode of the Spotlight on Culture, Society and Religion series, Dr. Anthea Butler of the University of Pennsylvania talks about her recent book, White Evangelical Racism. According to Dr. Butler, once we understand how racism has been at the core of conservative evangelical activism, we can better understand why white evangelicals have laid claim to morality while supporting politicians who act immorally by most Christian standards.

In this episode of the Spotlight on Culture, Society and Religion series, Dr. Derrick R. Spires of Cornell University talks about how citizenship can mean more than just voting. He looks at how Black Americans in the 19th century practiced citizenship in ways we can still learn from today.

In conversation with Kristine Wright, Jennifer Scheper Hughes considers the birth of Christianity in Mexico in the context of catastrophic disease. At the end of the sixteenth century, a deadly outbreak took almost two million lives and left the colonial church in ruins. In the aftermath, Spanish missionaries and Indigenous Catholic survivors asserted radically different visions for the future of the church in the Americas. In this counterhistory of Christian origins, Hughes shows how Indigenous survivors shaped and defined what is arguably the first and oldest Christian institution in the hemisphere.  

In North America today, philosophers are aware of and often respectful of non-canonical philosophical traditions, but still, Buddhist philosophical texts are taught almost exclusively in Religion departments. Perhaps the problem is partly one of translation.

The Vasubandhu Translation Group (VTG) has sought to create texts that can be dropped into a non-specialist’s philosophy course: This includes their recently-completed draft translation of the 5th century Indian Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu’s Twenty Verses and Exposition (Viṃśikāvṛtti). So, we’ve provided the draft to ten Philosophy professors and asked them each to provide their thoughts in response to the following question: “Can you imagine a place for a text like this in a philosophy curriculum?”

In this episode of It’s Useful to Know, Dr. Judith Weisenfeld talks about how the term “cult” describes power relations in a given social context – the ability to define religious insiders, to construct dangerous outsiders, and enforce social norms – that has often been racialized in U.S. history. Instead, in her own work, she uses the term “religio-racial” to describe movements in the early 20th century such as Father Divine’s Peace Mission and the Nation of Islam, which she explores in her award-winning book New World A-Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration (2017). 

In a conversation with Eziaku Nwokocha, Claudine Michel will discuss how Vodou is not simply a religious tradition, but also a philosophy, a cultural orientation, and an ethical code of being in the world. The discussion will also include reflections on how Vodou has served as a mode of resistance and offers visions for newly imagined futures using its radical pedagogy. 

In this episode of It’s Useful to Know, Dr. Seth Perry talks about the variety of religions present in the United States at the time of the nation’s founding and why it’s complicated to claim that the nation has Christian origins. He also shares some of his current research on religion in the early national period, and he explains the connection between national identity and the stories we tell about ourselves.

Comparative Indigeneities Among Native and Tibetan Peoples

Graduate student in English Ingrid Norton will interview Prof. Natalie Avalos about her work in comparative indigeneities exploring urban Indian and Tibetan refugee religious life, healing historical trauma, and decolonial praxis. This event is part of CCSR's Religion and the Public Conversation series. The 2021-2022 theme is "Indigenous Traditions and Diaspora."

In this episode of It's Useful to Know, Dr. Sarah Rivett talks about how popular fictions about American history make some communities' experiences invisible, in this case indigenous communities. She also compares the symbolism of the Raven in Haida and Tlingit literature and Anglo-Christian literature.

In this episode of “It's Useful to Know,” Dr. Jenny Wiley Legath talks about how carrying concealed weapons becomes a religious practice for some Americans, particularly white evangelical and Pentecostal Christians. She also discusses how concealed carry practices differ for men and women and what it means to think of these practices as religious.

We’re excited to launch our first video series, “It’s Useful to Know,” in which Media Team members interview scholars about something they think the public ought to know. In this introduction, Dr. Jonathan Gold talks with Madeline Gambino about the inspiration for the series and what’s coming up.

CCSR’s Media Team provides students and scholars who work on religion a chance to learn and experiment with different forms of public engagement. We produce new resources and think together about the means and ends of public scholarship on religion. 

Princeton University graduate student Ipsita Dey will interview Professor Kaplan about the role that the study of culture and religion plays in her research on water studies. Professor Kaplan's forthcoming book is Water Cultures: Fiji, New York and Singapore.  

This event is part of CCSR's Religion and the Public Conversation series. The 2021-2022 theme for this series is "Indigenous and Diaspora Traditions."

Anthea Bulter, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Graduate Chair in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, engages in conversation with Ph.D. Candidate William Stell.

How can the study of religion correct errors, raise new questions, and elevate the public discourse?

Professor Muhammad Qasim Zaman engages in conversation with doctoral candidate Rebecca Faulkner.

How can the study of religion correct errors, raise new questions, and elevate the public discourse?
In this conversation, Princeton Religion Professor Elaine Pagels and Rabbi Ari Lamm, CEO of Bnai Zion, discuss what Christians and Jews should know about their own histories in order to understand one another better.

Derrick Spires, Associate Professor of English at Cornell University, engages in conversation with Ph.D. Candidate Michael Baysa.

How can the study of religion correct errors, raise new questions, and elevate the public discourse?

Eddie Glaude, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in the Department of African American Studies,  engages in conversation with Ph.D. candidate Nyle Fort.

Daromir Rudnyckyj is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Victoria. His research addresses globalization, money, religion, development, finance, and the state.

David. W. Miller, Director of the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative interviewed Ann Fudge on the topic of “Giving as a Lifelong Habit.” 

Doll Lecture on Religion and Money given by Christian Smith, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame.