Come join us tomorrow for this exciting event!

I'm looking foward to talking about my work at Penn later this week.

Happening this week in the Department of Religious Studies! ------------------------------ Black Freedom and the Racialization of Religious Excitement RELS Colloquium Judith Weisenfeld @judithweisenfeld.com (Princeton) Sep 25, 2025 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204

Happening today!

Prof. Schaefer, along with RELS alums Justin Seward and Olivia Haynie, has a new book project in the works!

Our Religious Studies colloquium this week! Islamic Law, History, and Class in Early Nineteenth Century India Muhammad Qasim Zaman (Princeton) Sep 18, 2025 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204 Cosponsored by the Department of South Asia Studies

RELS alumna Olivia Haynie has written this column for The Forward about her time working with Prof. Schaefer's False Image of History Project.

Happening tomorrow! Our first RELS 2025–2026 colloquium featuring Elizabeth Ault @lizault.bsky.social (Senior Editor, Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social)! How (and Why) to Write an Academic Book in Impossible Times Thurs., Sept. 11, 3:30–5:00 pm Cohen 392

The Data Driven Discovery Initiative has a new Undergraduate Data Science Fellows Grant Program, which provides financial support, mentorship, & access to resources for students pursuing ambitious, data-driven research. Apply here by Oct 3: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... @upenndddi.bsky.social

The first RELS 2025–2026 colloquium is a special event with Elizabeth Ault @lizault.bsky.social (Senior Editor, Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social)! How (and Why) to Write an Academic Book in Impossible Times Thurs., Sept. 11, 3:30–5:00 pm Cohen 392 rels.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/...

Congratulations to recent Religious Studies BA graduate Gabriella Raffetto, who debuted her new play "Skeletons" at the New York Theater Festival this summer! Read more about the play here: newyorktheaterfestival.com/skeletons/

Here's Prof. Anthea Butler's latest for @msnbc.com, a commentary on the passing of James Dobson.

My latest on the death of James Dobson-

Take a look at what Prof. Schaefer has been up to with former RELS students Olivia Haynie and Justin Seward!

Calling Penn alums! Prof. Robb is teaching a Lifelong Learning Seminar on "Can Sports Be a Religion?" featuring a series of prerecorded lectures and live online discussions! Details and registration at this link.

Congratulations to doctoral candidate Claire Elliot, whose research on dreaming practices in Thailand will be supported by a Fulbright grant next year! penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-af...

the latest from RD: @feelingtheory.bsky.social reflects on the Scopes Trial centennial -- and what we still need to learn about "Science v. Religion" religiondispatches.org/of-monkeys-a...

Prof. Schaefer has a new article out today in @religiondispatches.org discussing the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Scopes Trial on July 10, 1925. Check it out here! religiondispatches.org/of-monkeys-a... @sas.upenn.edu

Did you miss our 2025 Boardman Symposium "The Scopes Trial at 100: Secularism, Race, and Education" in spring? The @sas.upenn.edu alumni magazine has published a detailed review here! thepenngazette.com/the-scopes-t... CW: This article contains a cartoon image depicting racist violence.

The Graduate Group in Religious Studies is delighted to announce two successful doctoral defenses over the past week! Congratulations, Dr. Abdul Manan Bhat and Dr. Hallie Nell Swanson! Read more about their projects here: rels.sas.upenn.edu/news/2025/06...

Prof. McDaniel's class on "Existential Despair" is the subject of a cover story in the newest issue of the Penn Gazette! thepenngazette.com/welcome-to-d...

Congratulations to Dr. Jeremy Steinberg, who successfully defended his dissertation "How the Bible Became Literature: Jewish Assumptions about the Nature of Text in the Hellenistic Period" this week! rels.sas.upenn.edu/news/2025/04...

REMINDER: Happening tomorrow!

Our final colloquium event of the year takes place this Thursday! ---------------------------------- An Ethics of Completion: Russian Coloniality and Islamic Tradition in Kyrgyzstan RELS Colloquium Usmon Boron (@wolfhumanities.bsky.social) Apr 24, 2025 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204

Happening tomorrow!

Coincidence, Contradiction, Affect: On Spirited Knowing RELS Colloquium Emily Ng (Penn Anthropology) Apr 17, 2025 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204 A Zoom attendance option is available for this event. Please email Prof. Donovan Schaefer for the link.

Happening tomorrow!

"Toward the Human, After Man": A Sylvia Wynter Schematic RELS Colloquium Nathan Snaza (Richmond) Apr 10, 2025 at 3:30pm–5:00pm | Cohen 204 There is a Zoom attendance option for this event. Please email Prof. Donovan Schaefer at [email protected] for the link.

Congratulations to PhD candidate Sam Herrmann, who has just been announced as the recipient of a 2025 Dissertation Research Award from the Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences! rels.sas.upenn.edu/news/2025/04...

The Religious Studies Graduate Group is delighted to announce that Sana Rizvi, Kirby Sokolow, and Jeremy Steinberg are the winners of our graduate student research prizes! Read more about the winning papers here: rels.sas.upenn.edu/news/2025/04...

There is NO Religious Studies colloquium this week! Our next colloquium will take place on Thursday, April 10, from 3:30–5:00 pm in Cohen 204. "Toward the Human, After Man: A Sylvia Wynter Schematic" RELS Colloquium Nathan Snaza (Richmond) Apr 10, 2025 at 3:30pm–5:00pm | Cohen 204

Congratulations to alumnus Aditya Bhattacharjee (PhD 2023), who will be taking up a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University's Society for the Humanities next year! rels.sas.upenn.edu/news/2025/03...

Happening tomorrow!

RELS Colloquium This Week! Reconfiguration and Revival: Newar Buddhist Traditions in the Kathmandu Valley (and Beyond) Todd Lewis (Harvard/Holy Cross) Mar 27, 2025 at 3:30pm-5:00pm | Cohen 204 rels.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/...

Can't wait. Spoiler: Yes, the Scopes Trial led to a segregationist, racist, creationist institution held together by the charismatic rule of an authoritarian strongman. Come to the symposium to hear the whole thing.....

The 2025 Boardman Symposium THE SCOPES TRIAL AT 100: SECULARISM, RACE, AND EDUCATION is happening this week! This 1.5-day workshop will begin at 4pm on Thursday, March 20 and continue through Friday with a series of roundtable conversations. Registration: www.library.upenn.edu/america-250-...

In 1924, a 361-foot obelisk was raised in honor Jefferson Davis. Read about how Black journalist and activist Roscoe Simmons criticized the monument in "THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN JUDGMENT": THE JEFFERSON DAVIS MONUMENT IN KENTUCKY, available here: falseimage.pennds.org/essay/fairvi...

There is no RELS colloquium this week, but our colleagues in the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins are hosting this talk with Pamela Klasova (Chicago) on Zoom tomorrow, March 6, at 6:30 pm! No registration necessary. Use this link to join: upenn.zoom.us/j/94938924535

Congratulations, Reyhan! Our department is incredibly lucky to have you!

Congratulations!

The Department of Religious Studies is thrilled to announce that Prof. Reyhan Durmaz has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure! Congratulations, Prof. Durmaz!

There is no RELS colloquium this week or next week! Our next event will be our annual Boardman Symposium on March 20–21. We’ll begin at 4pm on Thursday, March 20, with some welcoming remarks and then a film screening and discussion of Inherit the Wind.

Happening tomorrow!

An exciting event this week! Our first RELS Emerging Scholar Colloquium! INTELLIGENT ARTIFICE: SEDUCTION ALGORITHMS, MAGIC, AND COMPUTATIONAL MODERNITY Suzanne van Geuns (Princeton) Feb 27, 2025 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204 Email [email protected] for Zoom link.

Thanks to @upennrels.bsky.social and @feelingtheory.bsky.social for putting this together. Today's chaos is the fruition of a hundred-years'-war over race, religion, science, and the "Real" America. Please join us!

Ben Talks NYC, which took place this year at the Times Center in front of a crowd of 270 people, featured Jeffrey Green and Michele Margolis of Political Science, Donovan Schaefer of Religious Studies, and Sophia Rosenfeld of History.

We're extremely excited to formally announce our 2025 Boardman Symposium! The Scopes Trial at 100: Secularism, Race, and Education March 20–21, 2025 University of Pennsylvania, Van Pelt Library Both in-person and online attendance options are available. www.library.upenn.edu/events/ameri...

We're honored to be hosting this @aarweb.bsky.social American Lectures in the History of Religion event this week! Emilie Townes (Boston University School of Theology) Wed., Feb. 19 3:30-5:00 with a reception to follow Kislak Center, 6th Floor of Van Pelt Library

This event at @upennrels.bsky.social on March 20-21 on the Scopes trial at 100 looks fantastic and there's a virtual option for March 21. www.library.upenn.edu/events/ameri...

My latest for @msnbc.com …Trump and Pope Francis tussle again and this time around the stakes are much higher, especially for immigrants