The Department of Religious Studies examines religious beliefs, institutions and practices using approaches from the humanities, arts, social sciences and sciences. The academic study of religion, combined with appropriate courses in other fields, provides an excellent background for any professional career—including law, engineering, medicine and health care professions, journalism, social work and others—and for graduate studies in a number of fields.
A major in religious studies provides a well-rounded liberal arts education or can be combined conveniently with a second major. Minors or sequences in religious studies complement and broaden any field chosen as a major.
“A Day in the Life of Al Green’s Internet, A Career of Studying It: Black Language, Culture and Technology – on Campus and in Community” a lecture by Adam Banks
Adam J. Banks will be giving a talk on Thursday, March 20th at 2pm titled, “A Day in the Life of Al Green’s Internet, A Career of Studying It: Black Language, Culture and Technology – on Campus and in Community;” register below.
From texts to techne, from technological artifacts to discourses on science and technology, from participation and innovation to critique and resistance, from FUNK to the sermon and the need for a Black digital hermeneutic, we’ll explore how Black people in this society have engaged with the mutually constitutive relationships that endure between humans and their technologies.
Why can a rhetorical approach be an interdisciplinary hub for humanistic inquiry into technology and tech issues? Exactly what is a “Black digital rhetoric”? How do Black engagements with digital technologies illuminate—and trouble—tensions between liberatory possibilities and ongoing oppressions?
In his talk, Adam Banks, Bass Fellow in Undergraduate Education, and Professor of Education and African and African American Studies (by courtesy) at Stanford University, will use these questions, explorations, and provocations to share reflections on scholarship, teaching and pedagogy and his efforts to take intellectual work off campus and into local communities.
Thursday, March 20th at 2pm
Clark Hall Room 206
“Decolonizing Transgender History: Eunuchs, Renyao, and Adju” a lecture by Dr. Howard Chiang
Dr. Howard Chiang of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Lai Ho & Wu Cho-Liu Endowed Chair in Tawan Studies and Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, will deliver his talk on Thursday, March 6th at CWRU. This talk uses the concept of “transtopia” in order to develop a new model of transness. Through three historical examples from the Sinophone Pacific—eunuchs, renyao, and adju — it challenges the assumption that gender nonconforming figures did not exist historically and the idea that the Western category of transgender delivers the best framework for understanding their experience.
Co-sponsored by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and the Departments of History and Religious Studies.
Thursday, March 6th
12pm – 1:30pm
Mather 100
Light lunch will be served
“Beyond a Eurocentric Catholic Church: Insights and Reflections from Asian Catholicism,” a lecture by Dr. Jonathan Tan
Dr. Jonathan Tan presents his talk, “Beyond a Eurocentric Catholic Church: Insights and Reflections from Asian Catholicism,” Wednesday, February 5th at 8pm EST.
The presentation with a following discussion will be hosted via Zoom.
Scan the QR code in the flyer to participate.
Highlights
Reisacher Summer Fellowship
Up to $3,000 in Summer Funding for Students in Religious Studies
Applications for the annual Reisacher Summer Fellowship are due Tuesday, April 1st 2025. To apply, complete the application cover sheet and additional requirements, then send to jesse.friedman@case.edu
Winners will be announced Thursday, May 1st 2025. Good Luck!
CAS Summer Spotlight – Jue Liang
Religious Studies newest faculty member, Dr. Jue Liang, was featured in the College of Arts and Sciences summer spotlight, focusing on her recent world travels. Click here to read more and get a taste of her journey.
Alumni Spotlight – Liz Hanna
Introducing the Religious Studies Alumni Spotlight, where we celebrate the diverse successes and outstanding talent that define our alumni community.
This edition focuses on Liz Hanna, a 2020 CWRU alumna and Religious Studies minor, who has navigated her post-graduate journey with exceptional accomplishments.