Religion & the Madhouse: Featuring Judith Weisenfeld
Religion &
On this episode of Religion &, we invited scholars to engage in a wide-ranging conversation with Judith Weisenfeld on facets of her newest publication Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery’s Wake (NYU Press, 2025). Listen to our conversation with Dr. Judith Weisenfeld that unpacks Black religious beliefs, new religious movements, and “religious excitement” as a psychiatric concept in institutionalization. Co-Host: Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at Indiana University...
info_outline
Religion & Latinx Traditions
Religion &
This episode will cover three new directions at the intersection of religion & Latinx traditions. First, panelists will reflect on politics and voting, offering insight from the 2024 election. Second, they will discuss emerging patterns in religious conversion or switching. Finally, the panelists will offer insight into new research directions in the field of US Latinx religion. Join us for an enlightening conversation where we explore Religion & Latinx Traditions. Host: Lloyd Barba Lloyd Barba is Assistant Professor of Religion and Core Faculty in Latinx and Latin American Studies at...
info_outline
Religion & Obsolescence
Religion &
On this episode of Religion &, we featured a special preview conversation about Christian Smith’s forthcoming book, Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America (Oxford University Press, 2025). Christian Smith, William R. Kenan Professor of Sociology at University of Notre Dame, has been a leading scholar of American religion for more than 30 years with many agenda-setting concepts, arguments, and books to his name. Based on a new survey and hundreds of interviews, Smith offers a sweeping account of why many Americans have lost faith in traditional religion...
info_outline
Religion & Catholic Studies
Religion &
On this episode of Religion &, we cultivated a wide-ranging discussion of the present state and prospects of Catholic Studies, 60 years after the close of Vatican II. What do recent institutional crosscurrents (e.g., synodality and increasing lay participation versus an increasingly conservative American priesthood) mean for the field? What is the status of Catholic studies in the wider academy? What are the neglected areas in scholarship, whether historical, theological, or social scientific? Listen to this conversation at the intersection of religion, institutional transformations,...
info_outline
Religion & Future Humans: Featuring Sylvester A. Johnson
Religion &
On this episode of Religion &, we invited three scholars to engage in a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Sylvester A. Johnson, a leading thinker and theorist in the field of American religion. Dr. Johnson is not only known for his contributions as a historian and theorist, but he is highly regarded as an innovator and boundary breaker who disrupts disciplines and creates spaces for emerging themes and questions amongst scholars of religion. As the director of the Luce-funded “Future Humans, Human Futures” project, Dr. Johnson explores the intersection of religion,...
info_outline
Religion & the Aftermath of the 2024 Election
Religion &
The 2024 election season has been marked by unexpected and almost unbelievable twists and turns that have impacted every corner of American culture. From the contentious discourse on women’s rights to the daily news from war zones around the world, this political moment highlights the deep polarization throughout the country and the difficulty of engaging in thoughtful and reasoned debate. Religion and religious difference, furthermore, seems to be implicated in many of these debates as well as the larger question of what constitutes American democracy. During this episode, panelists will...
info_outline
Religion & Islamophobia
Religion &
Episode Description As the political and human casualties of the Israel-Palestine crisis continue to increase and shape the current state of the Arabic world, there has been a rise in instances of Islamophobia as well as a rise in protests, especially on university campuses, against this surging anti-Islamic sentiment. During this episode, panelists will discuss the history of the concept Islamophobia, its impact on American culture, and what other concepts might better explain the historical and contemporary moments that we face. The panelists will also explore the relationship between...
info_outline
Religion & Antisemitism
Religion &
Antisemitism has deep roots in American history and has continued to shape popular and political culture in the contemporary moment. Yet in many mainstream discussions in the United States, we often talk about it as if it were something new. This panel—featuring the authors of and experts featured on the podcast Antisemitism, U.S.A.—will discuss the long history of antisemitism, and how the fields of religious studies and American religious history think through the significance of that form of discrimination and violence in relation to the rest of American history. Join us for a...
info_outlineThe 2024 election season has been marked by unexpected and almost unbelievable twists and turns that have impacted every corner of American culture. From the contentious discourse on women’s rights to the daily news from war zones around the world, this political moment highlights the deep polarization throughout the country and the difficulty of engaging in thoughtful and reasoned debate. Religion and religious difference, furthermore, seems to be implicated in many of these debates as well as the larger question of what constitutes American democracy. During this episode, panelists will discuss the results of the 2024 election, how those results were shaped by religious ideology and communities, and how religious communities historically and in the present moment have shaped presidential politics. The panelists will also explore the ways that themes from earlier episodes, like Islamophobia, antisemitism, and White Christian nationalism, have played a critical and outsized role in this election cycle. Join us for a conversation at the intersection of religion, politics, and the aftermath of the 2024 election.
Host: Andrew Whitehead
Andrew Whitehead is Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives (theARDA.com) at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University Indianapolis. Whitehead is one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States. He is the author of American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, which was awarded the 2024 Gold Medal Book Award for Religion from Foreword Reviews and the 2024 Midwest Book Award winner for Religion & Philosophy.
Panelist: Katie Gaddini
Katie Gaddini is Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and Associate Professor of Sociology at the Social Research Institute, University College London (UCL). She is currently writing a book on Christian women and conservative politics from 1970 to present. She regularly writes op-eds and gives expert opinion to the media, including The New York Times, BBC News, CNN International, TIME magazine, Newsweek, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Hill.
Panelist: Nancy A. Khalil
Nancy A. Khalil is Assistant Professor in American Culture and Core Faculty in the Program on Arab and Muslim American Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include Muslims, ethnography, religion, racialization, and advertising. Her current book project forthcoming with Stanford University Press is an ethnographic research project on Islamic higher education institutes and religious clerics, or imams, in the United States.
Panelist: Eric L. McDaniel
Eric L. McDaniel is Professor in the Department of Government and Co-director of the Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a graduate of Wilberforce University, the oldest private historically Black college or university, and took his PhD. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research examines how the intersection of race and religion influence the American political landscape. His first book, Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches, provides an explanation for why some Black churches choose to engage the political world while others do not. His most recent book, The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics, was co-authored with Irfan Nooruddin and Allyson Shortle.
Check out additional resources for learning, teaching and watching.
Teaching and Learning Resources
Learn more about this episode on the Religion & Website.