Today, at 11am! Come join us to hear from McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences alum, Gurratan Singh (former MPP of Brampton East), who will speak about the value of social sciences and the humanities for a life of public service and leadership.

McMaster University's Graduate Program in Religious Studies will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Saturday, May 23, 2026. All former and current graduate students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend, so please mark your calendars for this special occasion.

Recently, Dr. Hanna Tervanotko co-edited with Dr. Elisa Uusimäki a special issue of Dead Sea Discoveries entitled *Intersectional Investigations into the Complexity of Social Life in Early Judaism*. Check it out here: brill.com/view/journal...

Congratulations to Dr. Shayne Clarke on the recent publication of *Minding the Buddha’s Business: Essays in Honor of Gregory Schopen*, coedited with Daniel Boucher (Wisdom Publications, 2025)! wisdomexperience.org/product/mind...

Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Amster, whose book, Medicine and the Saints: Science, Islam, and the Colonial Encounter in Morocco 1877-1956, was recently translated and published in Arabic! utpress.utexas.edu/9780292762114/

Congratulations to Dr. James Benn (@jamesabenn.bsky.social) on the recent publication of *Inner Worlds: Individuals and Interiority in Chinese Religious Life* (Brill, 2025), co-edited with Benjamin Brose. @degruyterbrill.bsky.social brill.com/edcollbook/t...

Save the date! Next Monday, the Department of Religious Studies will host former MPP of Brampton East, Gurratan Singh, for a discussion of the value of the social sciences and the humanities for a life of public service. @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social

Save the Date: Tuesday, January 27th, 2pm EST Prof. Adele Reinhartz (McMaster PhD, 1983), "Chanele's Diary: Tracing the Lives of Two Teenagers in - and after - the Lodz Ghetto." @uottawa.ca @britedivinity.bsky.social

Dr. Travis Kroeker retired in 2025. In his almost 40 years in the Department, he supervised over 20 MA theses and 20 PhD dissertations. Recently, his former students edited a volume in his honour: *Messianic Imagination: Politics, Theology, and Literature.* wipfandstock.com/978166676132...

Dr. Liyakat Takim recently published an essay entitled “An Analysis and Comparison of Shi’i Akhbari Exegesis in the Medieval Period,” in *I of the Heart: Texts and Studies in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr.* @degruyterbrill.bsky.social