NEWS
(Updated 1/22/07)
Department Receives $75,000 Grant from the Teagle Foundation
The Department of Religious Studies at Georgia State will partner with the American Academy of Religion in an eighteen-month-long national study of the religion major and its role in liberal education. Dr. Timothy Renick, Chair of the Department, was author of the successful proposal and will serve as principal investigator for the study which will bring dozens of scholars to Atlanta to meet with professionals in law, journalism, non-profit organizations, and government. The Teagle Foundation is a sixty-year-old organization headquartered in New York which supports projects to promote the quality undergraduate education. (1/22/07)
Former Major Writes, Directs
and Produces PBS Documentary
Matt Hinton, a former major and Honors student in the Department, and his wife Erica have written, produced and directed a documentary, “Awake, My Soul,” on sacred harp singing, a form of religious music popular in the rural South. The documentary was aired on PBS stations in November and again in January. Matt will be on campus to show clips from his film and to discuss the process on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 @ 3:00 PM in the Religious Studies Conference Room, 34 Peachtree Street, 11th floor. All are welcome. (1/22/07)
Kevin Keller Receives
“Building Bridges” Award
Kevin Keller, who graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies this past May, has received the Building Bridges Award from the Islamic Speakers Bureau for spots that he produced on the Atlanta Islamic community for WABE radio. The spots were part of his department Honors thesis project which Kevin completed under the direction of Dr. Kathryn McClymond. Kevin now works fulltime for WABE. (1/22/07)
2007 Religious Studies Student
Symposium
This is an open invitation for students to consider submitting one of your better papers to the 8th Annual Religious Studies Student Symposium, which will be held on Monday, April 16th in the Troy Moore Library, 949 General Classroom. Submissions are encouraged on any topic in the Study of Religion; length should be about 5-6 pages. Proposals are due March 19. There is no restriction on what type of paper may be submitted. The paper may be from a recent semester, or it may be one that you are currently working on this semester. For graduate students or honors students working on a thesis, this is an excellent opportunity to present your work. The Symposium has been a huge success over the last couple of years, with excellent papers, an enthusiastic audience, and wonderful discussion after the papers. What's more, the presenters were all struck by how much fun the whole event turned out to be. (1/22/07)
Departmental Graduates Continue
to Make their Mark in Graduate School
Religious Studies is a new department, but its graduates are seasoned pros when it comes to graduate school admissions. Former majors and graduate students are currently enrolled in Ph.D. programs at Princeton, Brown, the University of Chicago, Harvard Divinity School, Berkeley, Columbia, Emory, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. If you have questions about graduate school in religion, please see one of your professors or Dr. Renick, and be sure to attend our annual Fall workshop on applying to graduate school. (1/22/07)
Drs. McClymond and White Have
First Books Accepted for Publication
Two Religious studies faculty member have just had their first books accepted for publication. Dr. Kathryn McClymond will publish Beyond Sacred Violence: A Comparative Study of Sacrifice with Johns Hopkins University Press. Dr. Christopher White will publish Measured Faith: Psychology and the American Pursuit of Spiritual Assurance with the University of California Press. Congratulations to both authors! (1/22/07)
Georgia State
Creates Department of Religious Studies
The
College of Arts and Sciences announced the creation of its first new department
in over a decade in April: the Department of Religious Studies. With a faculty that has doubled in size in
the past four years, a new endowed chair, a new M.A. degree, a partnership in
Harvard University’s Pluralism Project, and over 70 undergraduate majors,
Religious Studies has proven to be one of the most dynamic areas in the
university. The department occupies new
space on the 11th floor of the 34 Peachtree building. [April 2005]
Religious Studies M.A. degree approved by Board of
Regents
The
February 2005 meeting of the Board of Regents saw the approval of Georgia
State’s proposal to institute and Masters degree in Religious Studies. The program will focus on comparative
religions and will enroll its first students in August 2005. This is only the M.A. in Religious Studies
to be offered in the state of Georgia. [April 2005]
Religious Studies welcomes
Dr. Louis A. Ruprecht to the
William M. Suttles Chair of Religious Studies
The Department of Religious Studies is very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Louis A. Ruprecht, currently of Claremont Graduate University, to the Willam M. Suttles Chair of Religious Studies. Dr. Ruprecht, an expert in religions of the ancient Mediterranean as well as ethics, is the author of four books, including Tragic Posture and Tragic Vision, Afterwords: Hellenism, Modernism, and the Myth of Decadence, Symposia: Plato, The Erotic and Moral Value, and Was Greek Thought Religious? He holds his B.A. and M.A. from Duke University and his Ph.D. from Emory. [April 2005]
Anthony Petro admitted to Princeton Ph.D. Program
in Religion
Tony Petro, recipient of the 2003 Award for Best Undergraduate major in Religious Studies at Georgia State, has been admitted to the Ph.D. Program in Religion at Princeton University with a full, 5-year scholarship. [April 2005]
Religious Studies Faculty win N.E.H.
support
In the aftermath of Dr. John Iskander’s 2004 year-long NEH fellowship to conduct research in Egypt, Dr. Christopher White has been awarded a 2005 NEH summer grant. Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities are among the most prestigious—and competitive—fellowships in the field. [March 2005]
Generous Gift from Katherine
B. Moore establishes
new Religious Studies Endowment
Katherine B. Moore, who completed her B.A. in Religious Studies (graduating with Honors in the Spring of 2003), has made a generous pledge to establish the Katherine B. Moore Religious Studies Endowment. At her request, the gift will establish the Robert Arrington Undergraduate Award in Religious Studies, the Timothy Renick Award in Religious Studies, as well as support the study of “religion and democracy” within the Program. Many thanks to Katherine for her generosity! [April 2004]
Welcome new faculty member Dr. Christopher White
Dr. Christopher White holds an A.B. from U.C. Davis and three degrees, including his Ph.D., from Harvard University. A specialist in American religions with published articles on topics ranging from prayer in Baha’i to Wicca in contemporary Salem, he will be teaching “American Religions” and a special topics course on “Psychology and Religion” for us this fall. Dr. White is the recipient of five consecutive “Distinction in Teaching” awards from Harvard University. [May 2004]
Holocaust
survivor Henry Friedman addresses students
Holocaust survivor Henry Friedman spoke to a group of over 40 students on April 21 as part of a series of campus events commemorating Yom HaShoah (April 18th). Co-sponsored by the Religious Studies Student Forum, the Honors Program, the Jewish Studies Program, the Middle East Center, and Hillel. [Spring 2004]
Keep an eye out for these upcoming Religious Studies events. Specific dates, times and room locations will be announced via the Religious Studies listserv.
Religious Studies Student Forum: The first meeting of the student organization for the field of religious studies. New officers will be elected and plans for the school year will be discussed. (To be held late August/early September)
Pot-Luck Dinner, Come welcome new faculty and students to the department Food and fun for everyone! (To be held in September)
Philosophy and Religious Studies on Friday, pizza, soft drinks and cookies, the last Friday of each month @ 12:00pm (September through April), Departments of Philosophy and Religious Studies, 11th floor of the 34 Peachtree Building.
Pluralism Project Workshop (To be held in September)
Workshop: Applying to Graduate School (To be held in October)
2005 Troy Moore Undergraduate Ethics Essay Contest (Submissions due in November)
Workshop: Finding a Job with a Religious Studies Degree, Spring Semester (details to be announced).
2005 Religious Studies Undergraduate & Graduate Symposium, April. The annual rite of spring, our own Philosophy and Religious Studies Student Symposium returns to the Troy Moore Library. Come hear your fellow majors as they present academic papers to faculty and students.
Faculty Grants & Awards:
- Dr. Timothy Renick, 2004 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in
Teaching. This award is given annually by the premiere professional
organization in religious studies. Dr. Renick is only the 5th person ever to
receive this award.
- Dr. Jonathan Herman, 2003-04 American Academy of Religion Collaborative
Research Grant for his research, “From Tao to Dialogue: Martin Buber’s
Encounter with Laozi.”
- Dr. Kathryn McClymond, 2003-04 American Academy of Religion Individual
Research Grant, “Ritual Gone Wrong.”
- Dr. John Iskander, 2003 National Endowment for the Humanities Research Grant
for field work in Egypt.
- Dr. Timothy Renick, 2002 Board of Regents Award in Teaching Excellence for the
State of Georgia.
- Dr. Kathryn McClymond, 2002 Distinguished Honors Professor Award.
Students
--Matthew Ryan McWhorter is the
recipient of the 2005 Timothy Renick Graduate Award in Religious Studies.
--John Rivenbark has been awarded
the 2005 Robert Arrington Undergraduate Award in Religious Studies.
--Anthony Petro
has been accepted, with full scholarship support, into the Ph.D. program in
Religion at Princeton University.-Michael Ryan Slater is completing his Ph.D.
in Religion at Brown University.
-- Celia Arch was admitted to the Comparative Religion program at the
University of Washington [spring 2004]
-- Sara Singha was admitted to the M.T.S. program at Emory University [spring
2004]-- David Crawford was admitted to the M.T. S. Program at Harvard University
[spring 2004]-- James Russell Cambron was admitted to the M.A./Ph.D. program in
Religious Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara
Congratulations to all our graduates! If you want to share your recent accomplishments, please e-mail Dr. Renick at trenick@gsu.edu.
Dr. Renick named Director of GSU’s Honors Program
On January 1, 2004, Dr. Renick became the Director of Georgia State University’s Honors Program, which serves almost 500 GSU students. Fear not! While he will spend time in the Honors Program offices, 428 University Center, he will keep his office in Art and Humanities and will continue to serve as Director of the Religious studies Program.
Program in Religious Studies Named Pluralism Project Affiliate
The Program in Religious Studies at Georgia State has been named as an affiliate of the “Pluralism Project”—a decade-long effort spearheaded by Harvard University to catalog and study the religious diversity of the United States at the turn of the millennium. If you are a student and would like to participate in these research efforts, contact Dr. Kathryn McClymond.