Religion in Theory and Practice - Demystifying the Field for Burgeoning Scholars - Russell T. McCutcheon

Religion in Theory and Practice - Demystifying the Field for Burgeoning Scholars - Russell T. McCutcheon

Response to Thesis 18

Religion in Theory and Practice - Demystifying the Field for Burgeoning Scholars - Russell T. McCutcheon

Thomas J. Whitley [+-]
Thomas Whitely, after earned his Ph.D. at Florida State University, worked in university administration before transitioning to politics and local government; from 2018-2022 he served as the Chief of Staff for John Dailey, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, and he is currently the Director of Strategic Innovation for the City of Tallahassee.

Description

“Religion” in Theory and Practice follows on from Russell T. McCutcheon’s book Entanglements: Marking Place in the Field of Religion (Equinox Publishing, 2014) by offering an overview of the current state of theory in the academic study of religion, and examining a variety of practical sites where critical scholarship is implemented but also challenged. Although addressed to early career scholars, this volume will also be of interest to anyone curious about why so many in the study of religion continue to assume that their object of study needs special attention. The first section outlines McCutcheon’s broader and more recent thoughts on the current state of the field (such as the claim, by some, that it is now “post-theory”) while the second section applies the first at a variety of discrete sites within the profession, from how we approach teaching the introductory course and the ongoing problem of contingent labor to the varied readers that we can now reach with our work. The volume concludes with a third section in which twenty-one different scholars, each at an early point in their career, take the stage, offering their own views on the challenges of professionalization, job market, gaining teaching experience, and work–life balance. The volume therefore invites readers to step back from their own individual, specialized work and to consider some of the structures in which the wider field exists—and some of the things that we all might do, regardless our career stage, in response to them.

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Citation

Whitley, Thomas. Response to Thesis 18. Religion in Theory and Practice - Demystifying the Field for Burgeoning Scholars. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 220-221 Sep 2018. ISBN 9781781796832. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=36596. Date accessed: 28 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.36596. Sep 2018

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