Religious Studies in Kansas

Department Greetings and News from the Chair in the appropriation of academic scholarship on Mayan archaeology and culture by the popular media and New Greetings from Smith Hall on Mount Oread! The Fall Age millenarians. He joins the department in Fall of 2013 semester is rapidly approaching its end. The time 2013 to expand his knowledge of religious studies and its has arrived for us to update you on our accomplishments genealogy as a field, and to engage colleagues who share over the past calendar year, and the exciting developments his interest in assessing the impact of the academic study that are looming on the 2014 horizon. of religion on contemporary spirituality and alternative religious movements. We extend a warm welcome to our new colleague, Paul Nahme, who joined the Department in Fall of 2013 Dr. Obadare came to the discipline of Sociology, and as our new specialist in Judaism. Paul comes to us from to KU, after a lengthy career in the private sector as one the University of Toronto, with combined training in of Nigeria’s leading journalists, his specialization being religious studies and Jewish thought. During his years in religious developments in Nigeria. His scholarship, to Toronto, Paul studied medieval philosophy in the Jewish date, has focused largely on Pentecostal Movements and Islamic traditions, as well as modern German history, in contemporary West Africa. Recently, however, it Philosophy, and critical theories of secularity. He also has shifted to the growing popularity of Muslim prayer participated in numerous collaborative projects on the groups in contemporary West Africa, a topic for which topic of liberalism and religious law, as well as Islamic he has received a two-year research grant from the Social and Jewish law in the modern state. He brings to his Science Research Council. In the interest of setting studies a background in Hebrew and Arabic languages, Nigerian developments within the context of changing and knowledge of medieval Jewish history, textual and social configurations of Islam in North Africa, he will exegetical traditions. Prior to joining us at KU, Paul work collaboratively with Dr. Jacqelene Brinton, who served as both a visiting scholar at NYU School of Law specializes in contemporary Islamic preachers, religious in the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization and media, movements, and prayer groups in Egypt. fellow at Cardozo Law School of Yeshiva University, where he concentrated on the intersection of modern Congratulations and welcome to you both on your legal theory and Rabbinic jurisprudence. success with two fascinating projects! As those of you familiar with the University will Past Events, Spring and Fall of 2013: know, the KU Keeler Intra-University Professorships are competitively awarded opportunities, offered February 27 – March 1, 2013. Mary Evelyn Tucker, annually through the Office of the Provost, to undertake Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental collaborative inter-disciplinary projects in units Studies, Divinity School, Department of Religious outside one’s home department. 2013-2014 has been Studies, and Center for Bioethics; leading scholar in an embarrassment of riches for the Religious Studies the area of religion, ecology, and environmental ethics, Department. Three colleagues on the KU faculty and co-author of the influential film and educational expressed interest in applying for Keeler Professorships project, Journey of the Universe. Public lecture and with our department. Two colleagues applied and film-showing, organized by Rachel Myslivy, with the were awarded Intra-University Professorships with us. collaboration of various Lawrence community groups They are Professor John Hoopes (Anthropology) and and KU Environmental Studies. Associate Professor Ebenezer Obadare (Sociology). March 7, 2013. Leonard Primiano, Chair and A renowned specialist in Mayan archaeology and Professor of Religious Studies, Cabrini College; elected the Mayan calendar, Dr. Hoopes has a growing interest member of the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society. “The Material and Visual Life of Ex Votos Monday April 28, 2014. Annual Religious Studies in Vernacular Christianity.” Co-sponsored with the Reception and Lecture: Humanities and Western Civlizations Program. Awards Reception, 5:30-7:00 P.M., Alderson Room, Kansas Union (please RSVP to Amanda Enneking, April 22, 2013. Paul Gifford, Professor Emeritus, [email protected], if you plan to attend). School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Our featured speaker for the 2013 Annual Annual Friends of the Department of Religious FODORS Awards Reception, Professor Gifford is a world Studies Lecture, Monday, April 28, 7:30 – 9:00 P.M., renowned scholar of global charismatic Christianity and Kansas Room, Kansas Union. Dr. Saba Mahmood. the impact of charismatic Christian movements in West Department of Anthropology, University of California, Africa. The title of his lecture was, “The Southern Shift Berkeley. of Christianity: The Nature & Appeal of Africa’s New Dr. Saba Mahmood is an acclaimed specialist in Pentecostal Churches.” contemporary Islam in the Middle East and Europe, with interest in issues of religion and secularism, law October 21, 2013. Vesna Wallace, specialist in and politics, ethics, gender and sexuality. Her work Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in Mongolia, focuses on the interchange between religious and secular presented a lecture on “Naturalized Buddhist Deities politics in postcolonial societies with special attention to and Their Religio-Political Roles in Mongolia.” Dr. issues of embodiment, cultural hermeneutics, law, and Wallace’s visit was made possible by generous support gender/sexuality. Her scholarship is best known for its and coordination with Lama Chuck Stanford, director of interrogation of liberal assumptions about the proper the Rime Buddhist Center in Kansas City. Chuck is also boundary between ethics and politics, freedom and one of our FODORS board members. unfreedom, the religious and the secular, and agency and November 14, 2013, Thursday, 4:00 PM, Smith 108. submission. Professor Mahmood is currently working Professor John Hoopes, KU Anthropology, “Magical on a book about the right to religious liberty and non- Pasts for Healing the Future: Archaeology, Imagination, Muslims minorities in the Middle East. She is also co- and Dark Green Spirituality.” More information about author of a related three-year project (2010-2013) entitled John’s research and scholarly activities can be found at: “Politics of Religious Freedom: Contested Norms and http://kansas.academia.edu/hoopes Local Practices” funded by the Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religions and International Affairs. The aim of the Upcoming Events, Spring 2014 project is to chart the checkered and contested career of the right to religious freedom in the United States, February 28, 2014, 3:00 PM, Smith Hall 108. Dr. the Middle East, South Asia, and countries of the Philip Lutgendorf will speak on “The Clue in the European Union. Her works include: Is Critique Secular? Lake: Tulsidas and the Sufis of Avadh.” Dr. Lutgendorf Blasphemy, Injury, and Free Speech, co-authored with is Professor of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies, and Talal Asad, Wendy Brown, and Judith Butler, University Co-Chair of the South Asian Studies Program at the of California Press, 2009; Politics of Piety: The Islamic University of Iowa. He is one of the most innovative Revival and the Feminist Subject, Princeton University and wide-ranging contemporary scholars of South Asian Press, 2005 (second edition, with new preface, 2011). religions. His early work focuses on the Rāmcaritmānas, the most popular version of the Rāmāyana epic in North For further details regarding upcoming events, India. His first book, The Life of a Text: Performing the please visit our department website: Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas (1991; Univ. of California www.religiousstudies.ku.edu or web.ku.edu/~ksreligion. Press), remains a classic in the study of South Asia and the relationship between text and performance. He has Activities of Department Faculty and Staff written extensively about Hindi cinema, and also the Jacquelene Brinton (Assistant Professor, Islam), monkey-god Hanuman, the subject of his 2007 book, submitted her book manuscript, “Preaching Islamic Hanuman’s Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey Renewal: Popularizing Religious Authority in Modern (Oxford UP). He is also currently the President of the Egypt,” to the University of California Press in Spring of American Institute of Indian Studies. 2013. She is now working on the final revisions, with the expectation that the book will be published in the coming year. During the summer months, she traveled to Egypt to begin research on her next project, which will be the a compendium which creatively weaves together many response of traditional Islamic preachers of the Egyptian strands from the earlier Greek patristic tradition, constitutes ‘Ulama to the ‘Arab Spring’ and recent social, political, and his most speculative and challenging work. Yet it has religious developments in Egypt. The unexpected military not received a synthetic treatment until now. To See into coup made fieldwork difficult, yet the opportunity to be the Life of Things (a reference to Wordsworth’s “Tintern present, as eye witness, to these momentous events was Abbey”) gives a synthetic reading of this collection of revealing. In 2013, Jackie also had an article accepted for texts and shows that Maximus’ thinking in the Ambigua a book on moderation and Sufism, in which she examines to John circles around the concept of the contemplation of aspects of Sufism in contemporary Egyptian society. nature (θεωρία φυσική), the aspect of religious Meanwhile, back at KU, she continues to serve as the philosophy that occupied a mediating position between Middle East Studies Coordinator through the center for ethical praxis and mystical theology in the Greek patristic Global and International Studies. The program hosted a tradition. very successful year of public lectures and events. This year she will help design and spearhead an initiative to create a Tim Miller (Professor, new religious movements and Middle East Studies Minor at the University. religion in America) edited a volume for Ashgate Publishing (United Kingdom) that was issued in 2013: Spiritual and Aaron, Ketchell (Lecturer; Ph.D. from KU American Visionary Communities: Out to Save the World, a book Studies) continued to teach the department’s REL 104, that launches a new series on new religious movements Introduction to Religious Studies, and offered undergraduate coordinated at the London School of Economics. He wrote courses on American religious history, religion and popular two chapters for the volume, and oversaw the chapter culture in the United States, and the history of Christianity. contributions of two of our graduate students, Torang He also published a book review in the Journal of American Asadi and Hilary Hauber Lazebnik. He delivered an invited History and evaluated multiple textbook manuscripts for scholarly lecture at the University of Oregon in memory introductory-level courses on Christianity submitted to of a recently deceased scholar, entitled, “The Intentional Oxford University Press. His current research examines Communities of Oregon and the Legacy of Jim Kopp.” expressions of popular Catholicism in northeast New He delivered papers at the conferences of the International Mexico. The primary focus of the project is El Santuario Communal Studies Association, the Utopian Studies de Chimayo--the shrine, famed for its holy healing dirt, Society (Europe), and the Communal Studies Association which attracts approximately 300,000 pilgrims per year. (U.S.), and also gave panel presentations at two of those conferences. He served as a resource person and session Bill Lindsey (Associate Professor, Japanese religions) presider at a conference at Baylor University, “Reflecting participated in two conferences this past year, serving as on an American Tragedy: The Branch Davidians 20 Years a discussant at the “Color in Ancient and Medieval East Later.” He also gave talks to three community groups in Asia” at KU in March and giving a paper at the “Children Lawrence and Topeka. He is now working of his third and Childhoods Conference” in July at Suffolk University volume on the history of American intentional communities in Ipswich, England. The latter paper, which traced the in the twentieth century. historical and ritual development of a regional and noted Buddhist childrearing confraternity in Japan, has been Paul Mirecki (Associate Professor, ancient Near revised, reviewed, and accepted for journal publication. Eastern studies) completed a textbook manuscript, entitled, He is currently working on completing a textbook to serve “The Bible in Context,” which is under contract with introductory survey courses in Asian religion. Cognella Academic Publishers (San Diego, CA) to appear in Joshua Lollar (Lecturer; Ph.D. from Notre Dame 2014. He also published the article, “Manichaeism, Scribal University, Department of Theology and Religion) has Magic and Papyrus Kellis 35,” in the volume Gnostica recently published a monograph with the Brepols series et Manichaica (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz). In October Monothéismes et Philosophie, entitled To See into the he read the paper, “The Early Modern Book: A Hand- Life of Things: The Contemplation of Nature in Maximus crafted Illustrated Gospel Harmony from Little Gidding, the Confessor and his Predecessors (Turnhout: Brepols, England ca. 1630 (Harvard University, Houghton Library A 2013). The work is a study of the religious philosophy of 1275.5),” at the 38th Annual European Studies Conference, Maximus the Confessor (580-662), who is one of the most University of Nebraska-Omaha. Apart from his regular important figures in the formation of Byzantine religious undergraduate Understanding the Bible course, in the fall and philosophical culture. Maximus’ Ambigua to John, he taught a digitally oriented graduate seminar focusing on the archaeology of the Greek “mystery religion” site on Hamsa Stainton (Assistant Professor, religions of India Samothrace Island, which featured study of 800 photos he and South Asia), assumed the role of the Department’s took at the site in 2006 with travel support from FODORS. Director of Undergraduate Studies in Fall of 2013, an experience that he finds to be rewarding for the close Paul Nahme (Assistant Professor, Judaism and interaction that it allows with our active, creative students. modernity, contemporary Jewish thought, medieval Jewish He also served on the College committee for Foreign and Islamic philosophy, religion and law) has been happily Languages and Area Studies Fellowships, and continues to transitioning into his new home in the Department of take a leadership role in the development of South Asian Religious Studies. This fall, he has been developing new Studies at KU. This fall he launched two new courses: courses in Modern Judaism, Religion in Modern Israel, a seminar on the history, theory, and practice of Yoga, and Religious Issues and the Supreme Court. His article, and a special first-year seminar on religious responses to entitled, “Law, Principle, and the Theologico-Political death and dying. In November, he is scheduled to present History of Sovereignty,” was published in the journal two papers at the American Academy of Religion Annual Political Theology. A second article, “The Normative Conference in Baltimore. Both papers are part of his Dimensions of Creation and Prophecy in Maimonides’ developing book manuscript on historically influential Guide,” was submitted for publication. He has also been North Indian developments in genres of Sanskrit poetry and preparing a grant application for a major project on devotional prayer. In 2013, Hamsa also published several Halakhah (Jewish law), hermeneutics, and normative short articles and reviews, and continued his work on an philosophy. In November of 2013, he will give a paper at edited volume on Hindu Tantra. On a personal note, his the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion wife, Danika Swanson, and he were overjoyed to welcome on the place of Jewish Law in a post-secular context . The their daughter Ellora into the world in March of 2013! paper will be revised for inclusion in an edited volume for which he is also co-editor. He is scheduled to present Dan Stevenson (Professor and Chair, Chinese religions, a second paper, concerning the parallels between rabbinic Buddhism), continued his service as Department Chair. and philosophical ethics in 19th century German-Jewish He completed revisions on his solicited article, “Buddhist thought, at the AJS conference in December. Ritual in Song Dynasty China,” for the volume on Modern Chinese Religion: Value Systems in Transition - Song-Liao- Robert Shelton (Associate Professor, religious ethics, Jin-Yuan, edited by John Lagerwey and Pierre Marsone, peace and conflict studies), now in his fourth (out of due to be published by Brill in 2013. In September he five) year of Phased Retirement, continues to serve .75 delivered a gallery talk for the Spencer Museum of Art on time in the department. A member of the university-wide “Lives of Buddhist Artifacts,” and in early November he “Faculty of the Late 60’s” group, he gave a presentation delivered one of two keynote speeches for the Texas Asia to that group in October on the transition from the Kansas Conference (University of Texas, Austin), entitled, “The School of Religion to the Department of Religious Studies, Japanese Monk Gyōnen’s (1240-1321) Essentials of the drawing on his many years of experience since his arrival Eight Sects (Hasshū kōyō八宗綱要 and Modernist Chinese at K.U. in 1967. His recent research travel has focused on Remappings of Buddhism as a ‘World Religion.’” He the resources of Chautauqua Institution in upstate New continues to serve as co-editor of the Chung-hwa Journal York, where he spent two weeks attending lectures and of Buddhist Studies (Taipei, Taiwan). He continues to make discussions on a range of topics in ethics, international progress on his book manuscript, “Doing the Work of the concerns, interfaith activities and explorations. He Buddhas in Song Dynasty China (960-1279),” which he continues to teach departmental courses and supervise hopes to submit for publication review in late spring of graduate students in religious ethics, as well as teach core 2014. courses and guide graduate student research in K.U.’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program. Bob continues work in the Molly Zahn (Assistant Professor, Hebrew Bible and Lawrence community, as the academic ethics member on early Judaism). 2013 has been a busy year for Molly Zahn. the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Ethics Committee. and In February she was named a Kingdon Fellow for Academic as Facilitator with the Community Advisory Panel for a Year 2013-2014 at the University of Wisconsin’s Institute chemical product company, Israel Chemical Laboratories, for Research in the Humanities. Since arriving in Madison in Lawrence, as well as several local church educational in August, Molly has been working on a new book project activities. examining interpretive modifications of existing scripture and the production of new scriptural texts in early Judaism. Over the summer, she traveled to Jerusalem, Scotland, and Dare, for the Mid-Atlantic AAR, and Emily Stratton, Germany to present papers at international conferences. for the Pacific Northwest AAR; and Jamie Gundersen, Further travels in the fall included a trip to McMaster for the Central States AAR. Jamie Gundersen’s paper University in Ontario as a presenter in the Department of on “The Jewish Epigraphic Record at Pompeii” won Religious Studies colloquium series, and to the Annual the award for “best graduate student paper” at the Central Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Baltimore. States AAR Conference (Denver). Well done, Jaimie! Before the conference madness began, Molly was able to Three students delivered papers at national conferences prepare two articles for publication. One, on the use of and symposia organized by other universities: Stephanie scripture in pseudepigraphic prophetic texts in the Dead Petersen (University of Iowa); Emily Stratton (Indiana Sea Scrolls corpus, has been accepted by the Journal of University); and Torang Asadi (Columbia University). Ancient Judaism. The other, on modes of constructing Jamie Gundersen and Emily Stratton also both read textual authority in certain biblical and Dead Sea Scrolls papers at the 2013 Mid-America Humanities Conference, texts, will appear in the journal Dead Sea Discoveries at an event organized annually by the University of Kansas. the end of 2013. Graduate Student Papers Published or Accepted for Michael J. Zogry (Associate Professor, American Publication: religion and Native American religions) received a sabbatical during the Spring 2013 term to work on his Torang Asadi had two papers accepted for publication second book, tentatively entitled, Religion and Basketball: in 2013, “Perfect Embodiments: Corporeal, Communal, Naismith’s Game. The book considers how James Naismith’s and Collective Bodies of the Twelve Tribes,” in Communal religious beliefs influenced his invention of basketball and Societies (Vol. 31, no. 3, 2013), and “The Innovation the commemoration of his legacy. Zogry continued his of Tradition and a Tradition of Innovation: the Cultural term as Director of the Indigenous Studies Program at KU Developments of the Twelve Tribes Community,” in Out in 2013. In addition, he continued to serve as a co-chair of to Save the World: Spiritual and Visionary Communities the national Steering Committee, Native Traditions in the in Modern Society, edited by our colleague, Tim Miller, Americas program unit, American Academy of Religion, (INFORM/Ashgate, 2013). as well as on several university committees. In December Student Distinctions, Awards, and Grants: 2012 the Journal of Cherokee Studies 30 was published, a special issue comprised of selected transcripts from the Rachel Myslivy won the annual KU Sustainability “Enduring Voices” oral history documentary project. This Award, and was awarded a Rupert Zadigan Environmental project, for which Zogry was the principal investigator, Studies Scholarship, for her work with the Kansas Green grant writer, and lead interviewer, consisted of a series of Sisters and various environmental initiatives. Jen Welch interviews conducted with members of the Eastern Band of was awarded a 2013 Summer Internship with the Muslim Cherokee Indians in 1997-98. Funded by a North Carolina Public Affairs Council in Washington, DC. Tashia Dare Arts Council grant administered through the Museum and Emily Stratton were both awarded much-coveted of the Cherokee Indian, the project produced interview KU Foreign Language Area Studies Scholarships for the materials that are held by both the Museum’s archives full 2012-2013 academic year: Tashia for study of Arabic; and the Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Emily for study of Kiswahili. Congratulations to you all! Carolina at Chapel Hill. Three of our graduating Masters students have applied Graduate Student Activities and been accepted into PhD programs for Fall of 2013, each of them with a much-coveted, full five-year scholarship. Once again, the past calendar year has proved to be They include Jamie Gundersen, Department of Religious a very active one for our graduate students. Two students Studies at Syracuse University, Emily Stratton, Department had papers accepted for presentation at national meetings of Religious Studies at Indiana University, and Torang of major professional societies: Rachel Myslivy, for the Asadi, Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. American Academy of Religion (Balitmore) and American Stephanie Petersen has been awarded a Clinical Pastoral Society on Literature and the Environment; Torang Education Residency with the HCA Midwest Health Asadi, for the Association for the Sociology of Religion System, Kansas City. Andy Blakemore is pursuing a and the Communal Studies Association. Three additional Masters in Education at Emporia State, with plans to teach students presented refereed papers at annual meetings for at the high school level. Rachel Myslivy has obtained her regional divisions of major professional societies: Tashia “dream job” as a Program Director at the Climate + Energy Project, a regional non-profit that seeks to dramatically that will be administered by the Moore Religious Studies reduce greenhouse gas emissions in America’s Heartland. Reading Room in Smith Hall, with digital access through Major Seth George, Army Chaplain, is finishing up the Religious Studies website (above). We invite our friends preparatory coursework at the United States Command & and supporters to join us in the project. We depend heavily General Staff College (CGSC), Fort Leavenworth, and will on public collaboration. Our documentation of Kansas begin his appointment as an instructor of religious studies at religious history is only as rich as the knowledge and insight the College in Spring of 2014. Clint Shriner successfully that persons who are heirs to this living history are willing defended his masters thesis in Fall of 2013, and will receive to provide us. If you know of materials that should be his degree in December. Congratulations and best wishes preserved for posterity, or of persons with long involvement to you all! in one or more of the many religious organizations in the state who would be willing to be interviewed, please get in News from Our Alumnae/Alumni: touch with Tim Miller at [email protected] or 785-864-7263. In 2013, Joshua Steineger (B.A., KU Religious All suggestions are welcome, and we will follow up to the Studies), successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at extent that our limited resources permit. the University of Chicago Divinity School, and has accepted Thanks to the generous support from the Friends of the appointment as an Assistant Professor of philosophy and Department of Religious Studies, the Religion in Kansas religion at Lindenwood University. His dissertation concerns Project was able to hire two fieldwork interns this summer the role of an Eastern Patristic authority within 13th Century to continue our work of exploring and documenting trends Latin Scholastic debates about Anselm’s famous argument in the Kansas religious experience. Emily Stratton, a Spring for the existence of God. Shane Thompson (MA) has been 2013 graduate of the KU Religious Studies MA program, accepted into the graduate program at Brandeis, where he took as her focus the phenomenon of “church planting”—a will pursue a degree in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near major trend in contemporary American evangelicism—in East languages. In Spring of 2013, Brenton Sullivan Kansas. For this project, Emily recorded oral histories (MA) completed his Ph.D. in Sino-Tibetan Buddhism at the with over a dozen church planters and created an online University of Virginia, and was awarded a three-year post- subject guide on the topic (http://ksreligion.wordpress. doctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. com/) that includes transcripts of the oral histories as well Jimmy Yu (MA from KU Religious Studies; Ph.D. in as an overview and critical analysis of the church planting Religion and Chinese Buddhist history, Princeton) is up movement and a bibliography of resources that are popular for tenure at Florida State University this year. with church planters. Kaitlin Manley, an incoming graduate student in KU’s Museum Studies MA program, concentrated Religion in Kansas: An ongoing student and her efforts on creating an index of the archival collections, faculty research project held by repositories across the state, that are related to Professor Tim Miller continues to offer regularly his religion in Kansas. Kaitlin also worked with several local course on Religion in Kansas as the first step in a long-term historical societies to digitize their holdings related to project to preserve and study all manner of documents, religion in Kansas. The resources Kaitlin collected can be memorabilia, oral lore and information concerning the found on the Religion in Kansas Project’s new online home, wide spectrum of religious traditions and communities that http://ksreligion.omeka.net/. This new online platform for have been active in the state, past and present. The course the project, also made possible by FODORS funding, allows has a sizeable fieldwork component which is designed to us to create a searchable database of resources held locally train students in oral historiography and archival research and across the state. Work on migrating oral histories from by sending them out into the state to gather documents the existing database (http://ksreligion.ku.edu/) to the new and conduct interviews with persons who have had long- Omeka database is in progress and expected to be completed term involvement with religious communities in Kansas. by the end of 2013. Materials gathered and processed by participants in the course are made available to the public in digital form Additions to the Moore Reading Room Collection on the KU website, www.religiousstudies.ku.edu or web. ku.edu/~ksreligion. In addition to our regular purchase of books and materials through funds from the Friends of the Department Our long-range objective is to create a comprehensive of Religious Studies, the collection housed in our Moore information center on religion in Kansas, past and present, Religious Studies Reading Room benefits regularly from public donations of books. It contains a truly remarkable Recipient of the Lynn Taylor Award, 2012-2013: spectrum of materials, which range in date from the Mike Marcus nineteenth century to the present and make available, under one roof, virtually all of the major works that have been Let’s Keep in Touch formative to the field of Religious Studies. The collection It is always a pleasure to have our friends and former is open to the public, and we welcome your visit! students of the Department stop by Smith Hall for a Our Award-Winning Students visit when they are on campus. Should you be further afield, please don’t hesitate to drop us a letter or email Department Graduate Teaching Assistants for 2013- with your latest news. We will gladly pass it along. We 2014: are also pleased to include you on our mailing list for Nathan Bowman (REL 107) Brian Miller (REL 124) lectures and special programs. Just let us know how to Peter Rea (REL 104) Jenifer Welch (REL 171) reach you. Thanks for the many things you do to advance Serena Smith (REL 106) the cause of the academic study of religion. We look forward to hearing from you. For regular updates on Graduate Student serving as Graduate Teaching Religious Studies courses and activities at KU, please Assistants in KU’s Western Civilization program: see our website, www.religiousstudies.ku.edu. Emily Stratton (Spring 2013) Our popular canvas tote bags, which display the name Recipients of Friends of the Department of Religious of the department and a wonderful reproduction of the Studies, Zelma McIlvain, Starrett-Clark, and St. stained glass window in Smith Hall, make great gifts John’s Episcopal Scholarships 2013-2014: and are a perfect way to make a small contribution to the Returning graduate student Rachel Myslivy; among our department. They may be purchased from the Department incoming graduate students, Diana Brown and Katie Hobson. for $10, plus postage and handling.

Mabel Jensen Memorial Fund to Support Student “Have Interest, Will Travel”: Faculty Lecture/ Research and Professional Activity (2013): Workshop Opportunities Torang Asadi, Tashia Dare, Jaimie Gunderson, Rachel Our faculty members like to share their research Myslivy, and Stephanie Petersen and interests with groups in Kansas and nearby areas. Lewis Ethics Essay Awards, 2012-2013: In most cases, a speaker will give a single, illustrated Rachel Myslivy, “The Ecological Activism of the lecture, although other arrangements can easily be Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the accommodated. Department faculty members already Resulting Efforts of the Communities in Kansas” carry full-time loads of teaching, research, and service Andy Blakemore, “Consolation of the Sprit: The Tahirih at KU, so we cannot promise to fill all requests. In some Justice Center and Its Many Roots” cases well-qualified graduate students are also available Stephanie Petersen, “Zakat Foundation of America” for presentations. Travel expenses are subsidized, where Tashia Dare, “The Placement of Agency and the Hijab.” necessary, by the Friends of the Department of Religious Studies. For contact information and details regarding Department of Religious Studies Prizes for Student faculty expertise, please consult our website (www. Research, 2012-2013: religiousstudies.ku.edu) or the department office: Graduate: Department of Religious Studies Emily Stratton, “Making it Big on All Fronts’: The 1300 Oread Avenue, Smith Hall Opportunism Underlying the Pentecostalization of Accra.” Lawrence, Kansas 66045 Jaimie Gunderson, “Hair, Homosexuality, and Paul.” 785/864-4663 [email protected] Undergraduate: Ann Erickson, “Traditional Views Regarding the Roles In the effort to develop more environmentally sustainable and Physiology of Women and their Impact on Women’s practices, we hope eventually to circulate our annual Practice of Buddhism in China.” newsletter in electronic format. If you would like to Jenna Mittelmeier, “The Regulation of Buddhism in receive our newsletter by email, please send your address China: Recent and Historical Trends of Government to Amanda Enneking at [email protected]. And send us Interference.” some news when you do!