Introduction to the Program
News
Religion for Lunch: “A New Perspective on the ‘Old Religion’: the Welsh Ritual Year”
For several centuries now, scholars and practitioners alike have been looking to medieval Celtic literature and Celtic folklore for evidence of the pre-Christian past. Using a new approach based on metaphorical mapping of the supernatural in ritual and narrative, this paper suggests that, while not pagan strictu sensu, there is a distinctive cultural read on the metaphysical world that complements local religious practice, whatever the religion.
For several centuries now, scholars and practitioners alike have been looking to medieval Celtic literature and Celtic folklore for evidence of the pre-Christian past. Using a new approach based on metaphorical mapping of the supernatural in ritual and narrative, this paper suggests that, while not pagan strictu sensu, there is a distinctive cultural read on the metaphysical world that complements local religious practice, whatever the religion.
RGST Honours Presentations
Come hear our first graduating Honours students, Kristina Shishkova and Ellie Sherman, present on their research at our last Religion for Lunch of the term!
Come hear our first graduating Honours students, Kristina Shishkova and Ellie Sherman, present on their research at our last Religion for Lunch of the term!
Voices of Madness, Voices of Spirit
They seem like strange experiences—a voice whispered on the wind, a god who speaks from on high—but voices are far more common than we think. In this talk, I argue that voices—the sense of being called by another--are at the heart of the human experience of mind. Our minds are deeply social—less interior inner universes, more like dinner parties with noisy guests. Religion is a way of using that social dimension to your advantage—crafting an inner coach who is not the self and who, by being other, manages the inner cacophony. Sometimes of course this process goes terribly wrong. I hope we open a discussion about how people use social practice to shape inner worlds and moral purpose, and about the complex relationship of spiritual experience and psychosis.
They seem like strange experiences—a voice whispered on the wind, a god who speaks from on high—but voices are far more common than we think. In this talk, I argue that voices—the sense of being called by another--are at the heart of the human experience of mind. Our minds are deeply social—less interior inner universes, more like dinner parties with noisy guests. Religion is a way of using that social dimension to your advantage—crafting an inner coach who is not the self and who, by being other, manages the inner cacophony. Sometimes of course this process goes terribly wrong. I hope we open a discussion about how people use social practice to shape inner worlds and moral purpose, and about the complex relationship of spiritual experience and psychosis.
“Isaacing” Around
In the Book of Genesis, Abraham’s wife Sarah sees Ishmael “laughing” and expels him and his mother Hagar from the house. Ishmael’s action is then interpreted as idolatrous or sexually promiscuous by the Rabbis and as persecution by Paul. In this talk, I will explore the complex trajectory of this single verse–and its contemporary ramifications. […]
In the Book of Genesis, Abraham’s wife Sarah sees Ishmael “laughing” and expels him and his mother Hagar from the house. Ishmael’s action is then interpreted as idolatrous or sexually promiscuous by the Rabbis and as persecution by Paul. In this talk, I will explore the complex trajectory of this single verse–and its contemporary ramifications. […]
Religion for Lunch: “The Database of Religious History: A New Digital Resource for Religious Studies”
This talk will explain the rationale for the project, explore the Database of Religious History (DRH) features, and demonstrate how it can be a valuable resource for students, teachers and researchers.
This talk will explain the rationale for the project, explore the Database of Religious History (DRH) features, and demonstrate how it can be a valuable resource for students, teachers and researchers.
Religion for Lunch: The Many Faces of Jesus in Korea
In contemporary South Korea, “Jesus” is as much a cultural figure as he is a moral and religious one. Images of “Korean Jesus” surfaced when photographs of an extremely muscular Jesus statue in South Korea went viral in 2016. This so-called “Korean Jesus” also often appears to be a European white man, very much in the likes of Warner Sallman’s 1940 “Head of Christ” portrait. What do these imaginations of “Korean Jesus” reveal about the position of Jesus (and Christianity) in Korean popular culture?
In contemporary South Korea, “Jesus” is as much a cultural figure as he is a moral and religious one. Images of “Korean Jesus” surfaced when photographs of an extremely muscular Jesus statue in South Korea went viral in 2016. This so-called “Korean Jesus” also often appears to be a European white man, very much in the likes of Warner Sallman’s 1940 “Head of Christ” portrait. What do these imaginations of “Korean Jesus” reveal about the position of Jesus (and Christianity) in Korean popular culture?
