Monthly Archives: April 2012

Denomination Blues: World Religions and the “Educated Fool”

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Kenny Paul Smith

By Justin Stein It seems that, no matter how insistently I stress to my students in my “Introduction to the World Religions” course that each religious tradition that we cover exhibits tremendous diversity both synchronically and diachronically, I am always … Continue reading →

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Advice to New Faculty

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Craig Martin

In brief, here is perhaps the most important advice I can give to new faculty members: keep a stick of deodorant in your office desk.

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Why Would They Do It If They Don’t Believe?

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Craig Martin

The idea that “belief” is at the center of those institutions and cultural practices we typically identify as “religious” is highly problematic. It’s an ongoing struggle to disrupt this common (Protestant) assumption in the classroom. To illustrate the gap between … Continue reading →

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SORAAAD BookNotes with the Bulletin: Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Kenny Paul Smith

By Matt Sheedy Jonathan Haidt’s, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, (2012) offers is a wide-ranging study that blends elements of philosophy and politics, with arguments from his own field of moral, cultural, and … Continue reading →

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The Burden of Performance

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Kenny Paul Smith

By Deeksha Sivakumar How do I connect with the ancient world by performing in a modern world a play written many centuries ago? This past Friday, I performed the ancient playwright Bhāsa’s Karnabhāram, or ”Karna’s Burden.”  Written well before the 5th Century, … Continue reading →

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Religious Violence: Myth or Reality

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Craig Martin

There is an upcoming conference on “religious violence” at Dartmouth College that might be of interest to Bulletin readers and which will be open to the public. (I will be one of the speakers!) Click on the image for details:

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What’s in a Name?

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Kenny Paul Smith

By Steven Ramey Discussing the enforcement of shariah in Aceh, Indonesia, a student (at my home institution, the University of Alabama) asked how police would know if the rule-breaker was Muslim, since some claimed the law only applied to Muslims. … Continue reading →

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