Events

Prof. Arjun Appadurai, the year's Aronov Lecturer

To serve not only the needs and interests of our students but also the wider University as well as the local Alabama community, the Department of Religious Studies is pleased to host a number of lectures each semester, organized by Prof. Steven Ramey, which include the:

Aronov Lecture

Religion in Culture Lecture Series

Religion in Culture Lunch Series.

Both of the Department's lecture series are open to the public and are free of charge.

The lunchtime discussion series, however, is limited to majors and minors in the Department of Religious Studies.

Although some of these events are funded by generous grants from the College of Arts & Sciences' Anonymous Lecture Fund for the Humanities, others are funded by the Department.

Please consider joining us at an upcoming event. For more information, call our main office at 205-348-5271.

Past Events

For a complete listing of past events, please visit the following pages for past years:

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

Public Lectures 2008-9

For the upcoming academic year, we already have two important events in the early stages of planning....

The Seventh Annual Aronov Lecture

Prof. Bruce Lincoln
University of Chicago

Prof. Lincoln is among the most influential and rigorous Historians of Religions in the U.S. His expertise runs from the ancient world to the modern and his lecture promises to be intellectually stimulating.

Click here for books by Prof. Lincoln.

Prof. Hayden White
Emeritus, UC Santa Cruz

April 16, 17, 2009

There is no more influential theorist of historiography than Prof. White--his work revolutionized how it is that we conceive of the past and writing about the past. He will visit campus for two full days, to offer workshops for students and faculty.

Click here for books by Prof. White.

This event is co-sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, English, and New College.

Public Lectures 2007-8

Arjun Appadurai

"The Offending Part: Sacrifice and Ethnocide in the Era of Globalization"

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
7:00 p.m.
205 Smith Hall

View the Flyer (PDF)

Prof. Appadurai, who holds the Distinguished Professorship as the John Dewey Professor in the Social Sciences at New York's The New School, is an internationally noted anthropologist and social theorist whose work focuses on such issues as cultural pluralism, globalization, and ethnic violence.

The 2007-8 Aronov Lecture would not be possible without the support of the following units: College of Arts & Sciences, African American Studies, Anthropology, English, History, New College, and Women's Studies.

Learn about the lunchtime discussion of Prof. Appadurai's work.

On April 2, 2008, the Department helped to support American Studies' annual Rose Gladney Lecture (PDF), delivered this year by Dr. Dorsey Blake, a faculty member of UA's Department of Religious Studies in the mid-1970s.

Learn more here.

Prof. Herbert Berg
Department of Philosophy and Religion

April 14, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Gorgas 205

"The Historical Muhammad and the Historical Jesus: A Comparison of Scholarly Reinventions and Reinterpretations"

Associate Professor Berg, an expert on Islamic origins and African-American Islam, is the Director of Graduate Liberal Studies and the Coordinator of the Middle East Studies Minor at University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

Prof. Berg will also be hosted by TAK at a Religion in Culture Lunchtime Discussion.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion and Conflict
A University of Alabama Symposium September 28, 2007

This one day event, held in Gorgas Library, was co-sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of History, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

See photos from the event.

Religion in Culture Lunch Series

Prof. Michael Murphy
Professor and Chair
Department of Anthropology

Wednesday, Oct. 24
12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Manly 210

Visit the discussion series page to find the article to be read for this lunchtime event.

Majors and minors in the Department of Religious Studies are invited to sign-up for this event in the main office (Manly 212), a week or so before the event. Lunch is provided by the Department.

The event is hosted by the Religious Studies Student Association.

Prof. Tim Murphy
Assistant Professor
Department of Religious Studies

Wednesday, Nov. 7
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Manly 210

Visit the discussion series page to find the article to be read for this lunchtime event.

Majors and minors in the Department of Religious Studies are invited to sign-up for this event in the main office (Manly 212), a week or so before the event. Lunch is provided by the Department.

The event is hosted by the Religious Studies Student Association.

Prof. Russell McCutcheon
Professor and Chair
Department of Religious Studies

Wednesday, Nov. 14
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Manly 210

Visit the discussion series page to find the article to be read for this lunchtime event.

Majors and minors in the Department of Religious Studies are invited to sign-up for this event in the main office (Manly 212), a week or so before the event. Lunch is provided by the Department.

The event is hosted by the Religious Studies Student Association.

Prof. DoVeanna Fulton
Director, African American Studies Program

Wednesday, Jan. 30
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Manly 210

Visit the discussion series page to find the article to be read for this lunchtime event.

Majors and minors in the Department of Religious Studies are invited to sign-up for this event in the main office (Manly 212), a week or so before the event. Lunch is provided by the Department.

The event is hosted by Theta Alpha Kappa, the REL Honors Society.

2008-9

Prof. John Giggie
Assistant Professor
Department of History

Fall '08; day/time: To be announced

Visit the discussion series page to find the article to be read for this lunchtime event.

Majors and minors in the Department of Religious Studies are invited to sign-up for this event in the main office (Manly 212), a week or so before the event. Lunch is provided by the Department.

The event is hosted by Theta Alpha Kappa, the REL Honors Society.