Features
SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship
The Department of Religious Studies congratulates Thomas Seibel, who was awarded a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. The research focuses on the interplay between gender, poverty, and ritual change in North India during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. This proposed research builds upon Thomas's MA work with Dr. Patricia Dold. For his master’s thesis, he analysed online media presentations of and discourses surrounding emergent goddesses associated with Coronavirus, including their connections with pre-existing traditions of goddesses associated with disease, such as Māriyammaṉ and Śītalā Mātā. Expanding and continuing this research, he intends to explore how the pandemic has shaped ritual change and adaptation in North India, particularly in relation to gender and class dynamics. He has accepted an offer from Concordia University, where he will begin a PhD in Religion in September.
Congratulations, Thomas!
2022
May
Celebrating Dr. Lee Dian Rainey
The Department of Religious Studies would like to invite you to a celebration of the life of our friend and colleague Dr. Lee Dian Rainey, to be held on Sunday June 5th 2022 from 5-7 pm in the Display Room at the MUN Botanical Gardens. As many of you know, Lee was an avid gardener, and her family have donated a bench to the gardens in her honour. Please join us to remember Lee, and to celebrate her wonderful life.
2020
August
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter in the Department of Religious Studies Faculty and graduate students in the Department of Religious Studies strongly affirm that Black Lives Matter. We condemn all forms of state sanctioned violence and police brutality against Black people across the North American continent and globally, which have caused immense pain and systemic disadvantages. We stand, unconditionally, with those seeking justice and changes to systems rooted in anti-Black racism, racism and discrimination. We stand in solidarity with protesters who are marching and rallying in response to widespread systemic anti-Black racism and structural white supremacy that manifests in police use of fatal violence against Black people including George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, Stephon Clarke, Philandro Castille, Alton Sterling, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, (and, in Canada) Andrew Loku, Pierre Coriolan, Jermaine Carby, Ian Price, and Alexander Wettlaufer.
2019
February
Painting professor
Dr. Michelle Rebidoux, a visiting assistant professor in our department, has a not-so-secret life as a painter. She recently completed a major project in collaboration with St. Mark's Anglican Church. Read more about it in the Gazette and discover how she got the nickname "Michelle-angelo."
2018
December
Meet religious studies grad Jared Thompson
Jared Thompson of Memorial University grad (in religious studies) and an entrepreneur who runs a startup marketing agency in China called Dragonwell Creative. This is what he says to those who question the value of an arts degree:
"I’d ask them, what would you pay for the ability to see the world through the eyes of another? What value does knowing how others arrive at their decisions bring to an international business or diplomatic office? How can we learn to work together globally, if we can’t understand that cultures, like the people who make them up, all have different goals and values and different ways of measuring success? How can you say you are a good person, if you haven’t even thought about what it means to be good? How are you sure what you are doing isn’t evil if you have never bothered to try and see what evil looks like?"
Read more about Jared here.
2017
November
Just be Gemma
Gemma Hickey is a proud alumnus of the Department of Religious Studies and recently was the subject of Just Be Gemma, a documentary exploring their transition. Read a Q&A with them here.
May
'A Saint in the Sun: Praising Saint Bernard in the France of Louis XIV'
A new book by David N. Bell, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies, examines the most important panegyrics in praise of Saint Bernard that were preached during the reign of Louis XIV.
April
Do you want to learn Chinese?
Do you want to learn Chinese? R.S.1040 - Introduction to Chinese, begins September 2017. The course is designed for beginners and is the requirement for the China Scholarship, a year of paid study in China.
February
Text and Context Symposium - Call for Papers
Consider submiting an abstract for our fifth annual "Text and Context Symposium" April 19-20, 2017.
2016
November
Dean's List Recipients
Dean's List recipients.
September
Courses, Fall 2106
For a list of current course offerings, click here.
August
Course Posters, Fall 2016
Check out the posters for courses offered this fall. Feel free to contact the course professor for further information.
2015
August
Faculty Publications
Recent books by Religious Studies faculty.
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
The journal has a new editor, our own Dr. Jennifer Porter.
Summer Field School in Bordeaux, France
The Department of Religious Studies is pleased to offer two undergraduate courses as part of an intensive summer field school in Bordeaux, France in July 2016.
Try our quiz (PDF) to see how much you know about Paris and Bordeaux, France!
Curious to know more?