Religion and Culture

The faculty in the Department of History who work in some way with religion reflect in their interests the diversity and complexity of the study of religion itself. They embrace all of the major geographical areas of the globe and their chronological focuses range from the late Roman Empire to the present. Their interests embrace all of the world's main religious traditions.

Some consider religious affiliation or identity as one category of analysis among others. They study the intersection of religion and other aspects of human experience: science, law, psychology and social reform, visual and material culture, and politics and national or local identity.

Others study specific religious beliefs systems in their institutional frameworks and the ways in which they reflect and inform significant social and cultural developments.

Some focus on the close analysis of texts while others look specifically at new religions or at the intersection of gender and religion.

Two professors bring a trans-Atlantic and comparative perspective to the study of religion in the early modern Atlantic world.

The study of religion in the History Department is enriched by the growing interdisciplinary Religious Studies Department at the university and by the wealth of interaction within the department and the university across fields and disciplines. Students also have access in Austin to the libraries and collections of the Roman Catholic Chancery, the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, which currently houses the national archives of the Episcopal Church.

Religion and Culture faculty list