Religion & Teaching in Times of Tension
Religion &
Faith in the inevitability of betterment is the driving force of modern knowledge. What happens to our scholarship and teaching when trust in our institutions begins to falter? With increased scrutiny and pressure on our campuses and from the broader public, studying and teaching religion can start to feel unbearable. In this episode of Religion &, our panelists will examine the implications of this tension on teachers, thinkers, and scholars of religion. Join us for a conversation exploring how the state of today’s campuses and classrooms impact the work of religion scholars and how we...
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Religion & the Shifting Demand for Philanthropy
Religion &
In the U.S., religion remains by far the largest recipient of individuals’ charitable giving, though that proportion has been declining for years—reflecting major shifts in American religiosity and religious practice. In light of the shift of lessened giving coupled with a growing need for philanthropic efforts, we will explore the emerging patterns of everyday giving and volunteering as well as major trends in big philanthropy, asking how they impact and reflect shifts in religious life, civil society, and public discourse. Finally, we will address the overlapping themes of religion and...
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Religion & New Religious Movements in Contemporary Crises
Religion &
This episode of Religion & delves into how contemporary religious movements address urgent political, cultural, and environmental crises, from technological transformation to ecological collapse. Looking across a wide array of new religious movements, participants will investigate how these movements reimagine ancient practices for modern concerns while creating new frameworks for living. Join us for a lively discussion at the intersection of modern-day crises and the ways religion shapes and is shaped by these shifts in religious tradition. Host: Kelly E. Hayes Kelly E. Hayes is...
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Religion & Cross-Cultural Christian Nationalism
Religion &
Religious nationalism is not bound by national borders. Examining Christian nationalism in the United States and Brazil provides an opportunity to discuss the similarities and differences in its history, prominence, and influence in a cross-national perspective. This discussion will also reflect on the various responses to religious nationalism in each country both institutionally and across the population. In this episode of Religion &, we will explore the intersection of two contrasting versions of Christian nationalism and how we might better understand the...
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Conversations at the Center: Willie Jennings
Religion &
Religion &: Conversations at the Center Welcome to our new podcast series titled Religion &: Conversations at the Center. These episodes will feature conversations led by scholars at the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture with thought leaders, provocateurs, and groundbreaking scholars and practitioners in the fields of religion and American culture. Our goal is to have conversations that will push the field and the broader public to think deeply and to elevate issues and questions about religion and religious communities that have otherwise been buried or under...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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_outlineOn 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, and the future of Catholic Studies.
Co-Host: Peter J. Thuesen
Peter J. Thuesen is Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis and co-editor of Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation. From 2009 to 2015, he chaired Indiana University Indianapolis’ Department of Religious Studies. A historian of American religion and the Christian tradition, he is author, most recently, of Tornado God: American Religion and Violent Weather (Oxford, 2020), which received the 2021 Christianity Today Book Award for History/Biography. His current book project is The People’s Cardinal: Richard Cushing and the Age of Catholic Optimism.
Co-Host: Meghan Bowen
Meghan Bowen is a PhD (Theology) candidate at Regis College (Toronto, ON). Her research seeks to reconsider St. Augustine’s theology of marriage within his socio-historical context as a means of advancing current theological discussions of marriage and of sexual ethics. Along with an MA in Theology, Meghan also holds an MA in Ethnomusicology. Beyond her academic work, Meghan is involved in music and liturgy, and has offered workshops on moral formation and the Christian life. Meghan is currently working as a research associate with the Religious Parenting in the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis project.
Panelist: Tricia C. Bruce
Tricia C. Bruce (PhD, University of California Santa Barbara) is a sociologist of religion whose books & major reports include Parish & Place, Polarization in the U.S. Catholic Church, Faithful Revolution, and How Americans Understand Abortion. Her work appears in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Science Advances, and more, garnering awards from the Catholic Press Association, American Sociological Association Religion Section, and Religious Research Association. She is currently President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion; Consultor to the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod; Director of Springtide Research Institute; and faculty fellow of USC’s Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies.
Panelist: Michael Pasquier
Michael Pasquier is the Jaak Seynaeve Professor of Christian Studies and Professor of Religious Studies and History at Louisiana State University. He served as President of the American Catholic Historical Association in 2023. He is the author of Religion in America: The Basics and Fathers on the Frontier: French Missionaries and the Roman Catholic Priesthood in the United States, 1789-1870. He’s also the editor of the book Gods of the Mississippi and producer of the documentary film Water Like Stone. Dr. Pasquier’s scholarship has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Panelist: Susan K. Wood
Susan K. Wood is Professor of Systemic Theology at Regis College in the Toronto School of Theology, Canada. She received her doctorate in systematic theology from Marquette University. Very active in ecumenical work, she serves on the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue (1994-2019), the North American Roman Catholic-Orthodox Theological Consultation (2005-present), the International Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue (2008-2019), and the conversation between the Baptist World Alliance and the Roman Catholic Church (2006-2010, 2017-2022). She serves on the editorial advisory board of the journal Ecclesiology and the Toronto Journal of Theology. Most of her writing explores the connections between ecclesiology and sacramental theology.
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