Religion &

Religion & Revolution

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, questions about revolution—past and present—take on renewed significance. This special episode of Religion & explores the many ways revolutionary movements have been shaped by religion, and in turn how revolution reshape religion. From the spiritual rhetoric of the American Revolution to the role of vodou in Haiti to the anti-clericalism in France, religion has often served as a catalyst for radical change. Join us for a preview of the 9th Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/biennial-conference-on-religion-and-american-culture/9th-biennial-conference/], where "Religion & Revolution" will be central to exploring the intersections of faith and political upheaval. Host: Philip Goff Philip Goff, Chancellor's Professor of American Studies, has been the executive director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture since 2000. His research specialization is American religious history, with eight books and over 200 articles, reviews and scholarly papers in that area. His recent books include: Civil Religion in America: Religion and the American Nation in the Twenty-First Century (with Rhys Williams and Raymond Haberski), The Bible in American Life (with Arthur Farnsley II and Peter Thuesen), and Religion and the Marketplace in the United States (with Jan Stievermann and Detlef Junker). Dedicated to public teaching, he has been a scriptwriter, consultant, and interviewee for documentaries related to religion in American life for PBS, BBC, and HBO. He is Lead Co-Editor of Religion & American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation. Panelist: Katherine Carté Katherine Carté is Professor of History and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Southern Methodist University. She specializes in religion in the eighteenth-century British Atlantic. She is the author of Religion and the American Revolution: An Imperial History (University of North Carolina Press, 2021) and editor of the forthcoming volume, Revolutionary Turns: Religion & America's Founding Era, which will appear from University of Virginia Press in Fall 2026. She is currently studying the role of religion and partisanship in Revolutionary Savannah, Georgia. Panelist: Daniella Kostroun Daniella Kostroun is Chair of the Department of History and Associate Professor in History at Indiana University Indianapolis. She specializes in the history of women and religion in Early Modern France and the Atlantic World. She is a former President of the Society for French Historical Studies and is a corresponding member of the Nantes Institutes for Advanced Studies in Nantes, France. She is the recipient of several grants and awards, and has served on the governing board of the Western Society for French History and on the Editorial Board of French Historical Studies. Panelist: Jesús G. Ruiz Jesús G. Ruiz is Assistant Professor of the Practice in Caribbean Studies at Vanderbilt University, where he directs the Caribbean Studies Minor and coordinates FLAS Fellowships and the Simon Collier Summer Awards. A historian of Latin America and the Caribbean, his research centers on slavery, freedom, and Black political thought in the Atlantic World. His book, The Black Royalists (Harvard University Press, forthcoming), reinterprets royalism in the Haitian Revolution as a transcultural politics of freedom. His scholarship appears in Slavery & Abolition, where his 2025 article on the Boca Nigua revolt won the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Haiti/Dominican Republic Section Best Article Award. A first-generation college graduate, Ruiz has held fellowships from ACLS, NEH, and Fulbright, and teaches courses on Afro-Latin America, migration, and the Caribbean. Check out additional resources for learning, teaching and watching. Show Notes: https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-revolution-show-notes/ [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-revolution-show-notes/] Teaching and Learning Resources: https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-revolution-resources-from-panelists/ [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-revolution-resources-from-panelists/] Learn more about this episode on the Religion & Website: https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/religion-and/revolution/ [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/religion-and/revolution/]

Religion & Demographics

How does quality data shape our interpretation of the religious landscape in the United States? Religion data is increasingly used beyond the work of researchers and academics in the media, classrooms, congregations, and beyond to describe patterns and make strategic decisions. Understanding religion as a demographic category—and how this demographic is changing—can be integral for our institutions' products, priorities, and the ways that they interact with religious communities. In this episode of Religion &, our panel of scholars will explore the importance of collecting and interpreting reputable religion data and offer data-driven insights and practical implications for understanding the evolving religious landscape. Join us for a conversation that considers the challenges and benefits of religion data collection and how this work can shape public discourse around religion. Host: Erica Dollhopf Erica Dollhopf is the Associate Director of Research for Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University Indianapolis. Dr. Dollhopf received a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in American Studies from Lehigh University. She has authored numerous publications on congregations, congregational vitality, and faith-based nonprofits and she was awarded the Religious Research Association's 2024 Outstanding Applied Research Award for her article on congregation vitality in the United Church of Christ. Dr. Dollhopf is the co-chair of the 2030 US Religion Census and the current president of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Panelist: Besheer Mohamed Besheer Mohamed is a Senior Researcher at Pew Research Center with extensive experience studying Muslim American communities. More broadly, his research examines religious identities, beliefs and practices in the United States, with a particular focus on the intersection of religion and race. He has led public opinion studies on the experiences and attitudes of Muslim Americans, a religious profile of Asian Americans, the religious composition of Hispanic Americans, and faith among Black Americans, among others. He also publishes regularly in scholarly journals and has authored book chapters for Oxford University Press and NYU Press. His insights have been featured in prominent media outlets such as CNN, NPR, Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Besheer holds a doctorate in sociology and a master's degree in Middle East studies from the University of Chicago. Panelist: Allison Norton Allison L. Norton is the Associate Professor of Migration Studies and Congregational Life at Hartford International University, where she is co-directs the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and directs the Pastoral Innovation Network of New England. She is most interested in applied research that makes a tangible difference for religious communities and congregations. She is currently co-authoring a book titled Migrant God, Migrant Faith (IVP Academic) and serving as Co-Investigator on the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations study. Panelist: Gina Zurlo Gina A. Zurlo (Ph.D., Boston University) is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer in World Christianity at Harvard Divinity School (Cambridge, MA). Her research interests include World Christianity, sociology of religion, quantitative studies, and gender studies. She is editor of the World Christian Database (Brill) and World Religion Database (Brill), and her latest books are Women in World Christianity: Building and Sustaining a Global Movement (Wiley-Blackwell) and the Compact Atlas of Global Christianity (University of Edinburgh Press, with Kenneth R. Ross and Todd M. Johnson). Dr. Zurlo was named one of the BBC's 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 for her work quantifying religion and non-religion worldwide. Check out additional resources for learning, teaching and watching. Show Notes: https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-demographics-show-notes/ Teaching and Learning Resources: https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-demographics-teaching-resources/ [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-demographics-teaching-resources/] Learn more about this episode on the Religion & Website: https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/religion-and/demographics/

Religion & the Promise of Career Readiness

As universities face growing pressure to demonstrate the market value of a liberal arts education, Religious Studies and related departments are exploring new pathways to prepare graduates for the job market. This episode of Religion & examines emerging models for career-focused bachelor's and graduate tracks and partnerships designed to connect students with professional opportunities. While these initiatives aim to respond to increasing demands for career readiness, they also raise important questions as to how departments balance the promise of employability with the value of critical, humanistic inquiry. Join us for a conversation about the opportunities, challenges, and debates surrounding this shift—and what it means for the future of Religious Studies in higher education. Host: Rachel Wheeler Rachel Wheeler is Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis. She is a leading scholar on missions and Native American Christianity in early America. Her current project is developing an app for faculty that helps to make the invisible work of academic service and domestic labor visible on academic CVs in hopes of creating a more just climate for women faculty and faculty of color. She has published essays in The Washington Post, Women in Higher Education, Religion and Politics, and other venues, in addition to scholarly articles in leading journals. Panelist: Julie Byrne Julie Byrne holds the Monsignor Thomas J. Hartman Chair in Catholic Studies and serves as Professor in the Department of Religion at Hofstra University. She is the author of The Other Catholics: Remaking America's Largest Religion (Columbia, 2016) and O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs (Columbia, 2003). In addition to Catholic Studies, she writes and teaches about topics in comparative religions of the Americas, focusing on contemporary communities and connectivity to current events. Panelist: Amy DeRogatis Amy DeRogatis is Chair and Professor of Religion and American Culture in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Dr. DeRogatis' research focuses on the multiple ways that religious groups, people, and communities in North America express religious ideas, commitments, beliefs, and knowledge through embodied practices. For ten years Dr. DeRogatis co-directed with Dr. Isaac Weiner the American Religious Sounds Project, a collaborative digital sonic initiative. She has recently begun a research project on Edith Cold, a twentieth-century American missionary who witnessed the atrocities in Hadjin, Turkey in spring 1920. Panelist: Russell McCutcheon Russell T. McCutcheon was, for 18 years, the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, responsible for reviving a unit that was once scheduled for closure. He publishes and teaches broadly in the field, on its history, theories of religion, myth, and ritual, and has produced a number of resources for instructors as well as those leading Departments. He is also the current chair of the American Academy of Religion's Academic Relations Committee. Check out additional resources for learning, teaching and watching. Teaching and Learning Resources [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-the-promise-of-career-readiness-teaching-and-learning-resources/] Show Notes & Major Questions [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-the-promise-of-career-readiness-show-notes/] Learn more about this episode on the Religion & Website [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/religion-and/career-readiness/].

Religion & Podcasts As Public Engagement

Podcasts have become a tool for scholars to share ideas beyond academic publishing and the classroom. In an era when the traditional methods (books, articles) of engaging the wider public in scholarship and research about religion are fading, podcasts offer an accessible space for broader audiences to engage with the field. This episode of Religion & explores the growth of podcasts designed and led by scholars of religion and considers how these platforms function as public scholarship in a moment of fractured attention and limited opportunities to share knowledge otherwise. What are their promises? Are there downsides and should we be concerned? Join us for a conversation that highlights creativity, accessibility, challenges, and the evolving role of scholars in shaping public discourse about religion. Host: Andrea Jain Andrea R. Jain, Ph.D. is Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis and research affiliate at Indiana University's Environmental Resilience Institute, editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and author of Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture (Oxford 2014) and Peace Love Yoga: The Politics of Global Spirituality (Oxford, 2020). She received her doctorate degree in religious studies from Rice University in 2010. Her areas of research include religion and capitalism; global spirituality and modern yoga; gender, sexuality, and religion; and theories of religion. Panelist: Megan Goodwin Megan Goodwin is Senior Editor at Religion Dispatches and Nerd-in-Chief at Feral Nerd Consulting. With Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, she cohosted and coproduced the award-winning podcast "Keeping It 101: A Killjoy's Introduction to Religion." Their most recent book, Religion Is Not Done With You, is now available through Beacon Press. Panelist: Brad Onishi Brad Onishi is a social commentator, scholar, and co-host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast. He founded Axis Mundi Media in 2023 in order to provide a platform for research-based podcasts focused on safeguarding democracy from the threats of extremism and authoritarianism. Onishi is a frequent guest on national radio, podcast, and television outlets, including "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross and MSNBC. His podcast ranks in the top 50 of Politics shows on Apple's podcast charts. His book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism – And What Comes Next, is available now. Panelist: Chris Stevenson Chris Stevenson is the co-founder and president of the private, digital-first National Museum of American History. He is also the founder of America's Quilt of Faith, a civic nonprofit that champions the indispensability of religion to the American experiment in self-government. Chris has a Bachelor of Science in applied physics, Masters of Arts in teaching physics, and a Masters of Science in agricultural engineering. He is the host of the museum's podcast Religion in the American Experience. Mr. Stevenson is the author of Letters from an American Husband and Father. He lives with his wife and family in Purcellville, Virginia. Check out additional resources for learning, teaching and watching. Teaching and Learning Resources [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-podcasts-as-public-engagement-teaching-resources/] Show Notes & Major Questions [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-podcasts-as-public-engagement-show-notes/] Learn more about this episode on the Religion & Website [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/religion-and/podcasts/].

Religion & Teaching in Times of Tension

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 might help our students, readers, and the broader public respond to our current moment through our teaching and scholarship. Host: Robert Orsi Robert Orsi is Grace Craddock Nagle Chair of Catholic Studies at Northwestern University, where he is also Professor of Religious Studies, History, and American Studies. He studies modern and contemporary religion, with a special focus on Catholic practices and ideas, from both historical and ethnographic perspectives. He also researches and writes on theory and method in the study of religion. His most recent book is History and Presence. He is currently at work on a book called Give Us Boys about the formation of young men at a Jesuit high school in the Bronx in 1967-1971. A native New Yorker, Orsi is married to the theologian and Luther scholar Christine Helmer and has two sons (Clarence and Anthony) and two dogs (Rocco and Gemma). Panelist: Matthew J. Cressler Matthew J. Cressler is a writer, independent scholar, and chief of staff of the Corporation for Public Interest Technology. He's the author of Authentically Black and Truly Catholic: The Rise of Black Catholicism in the Great Migrations and creator of Bad Catholics, Good Trouble, an educational webcomic series. He's published numerous articles in public-facing magazines and academic journals. His co-reported Religion News Service series "Beyond the Most Segregated Hour" won a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. He has two forthcoming books: the co-authored Body & Blood: Catholic Horror in America (NYU Press, 2026) and Catholics and the Making of MAGA (HarperCollins, 2027). Panelist: Atalia Omer Atalia Omer earned her PhD at Harvard University in 2008. She is a Professor at the University of Notre Dame. Until recently, she served as a senior fellow at Harvard University's Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative. Omer authored Decolonizing Religion and Peacebuilding (Oxford University Press, 2023), When Peace is Not Enough: How the Israeli Peace Camp Thinks about Religion, Nationalism, and Justice (University of Chicago Press, 2015), and Days of Awe: Reimagining Jewishness in Solidarity with Palestinians (University of Chicago Press, 2019). Omer is a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Palestine/Israel Review, centering analysis of power. Panelist: Thelathia "Nikki" Young Thelathia "Nikki" Young is Vice President for Institutional Equity and Access, Professor of Religion, and Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Haverford College. She received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University, M.Div. and Th.M. from Candler School of Theology at Emory, and B.A. in biology from UNC-Asheville. Her research focuses on the intersection of ethics, race, gender, and sexuality, and she is interested in the impact of black queerness on moral reasoning. Nikki has published three books: Black Queer Ethics, 2016; (with Barreto and Myers) In Tongues of Mortals and Angels, 2018; and (with Schneider) Queer Soul and Queer Theology, 2021. She is currently working on a book about freedom. Check out additional resources for learning, teaching and watching. Resources from Panelists [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-teaching-in-times-of-tension-teaching-resources-from-panelists/] Show Notes & Major Questions [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/teaching_resources/religion-teaching-in-times-of-tension-show-notes/] Learn more about this episode on the Religion & Website [https://raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/programs/religion-and/religion-teaching-in-tense-times-featuring-bob-orsi/].