academia

Losing Our Selves, But Never Getting Lost
An excerpt from KtB e-book Grace Period: A Memoir In Pieces.

Singing to Jesus with Eyes Closed
You would think Berkeley had suddenly transformed into an Evangelical school.

Heart and Head
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself sitting at a conference table in a Chicago convention center, along with a couple dozen strangers, tears streaming down my face. How…

Oprah-atic Citizenship
I’m really excited to announce that my interview with Kathryn Lofton, one of the most creative and brilliant young scholars of religion around right now, is now up at The…

King’s Students Respond
We’ve already been receiving a flurry of letters responding to Jonathan D. Fitzgerald’s essay about The King’s College in the Empire State Building, “Whose College?” Reid Rogers, in Auburn, Alabama,…

No Country for Bold Men
In the face of capricious violence, what kinds of heroes should we seek? This is the rich question being debated over the internet by two unlikely interlocutors: Stanley Fish, a…

Hear Robby George Call Cornel West “My Brother”
On a new Bloggingheads.tv diavlog, Princeton professors Robert P. George (leading Catholic conservative and sex advisor) and Cornel West (supreme lover and taxicab philosopher) find amazing amounts of agreement on…

Can Religion Save You from Marketing?
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. – Ephesians 6:16 The upcoming issue of Marketing Science…

Studying Religion Is Revolutionary in China
Like pretty much everything else over there right now, religion is a growth industry in China. After decades of official repression a whole bunch of new religious movements—and, even more,…

Meaning of Life 101, with a Minor in Cheese
Four years ago, when I told my parents that I was planning on majoring in religion, I didn’t know that I was just being trendy. A friend just sent me…

Theologians ♥ Zizek
Buddha-killer Becky and I have been in a bit of a back-and-forth lately about a peculiar phenomenon we’ve been observing: the preponderance lately of hip young Christians (and even Quakers)…

Religion Returns to Montreal
“Bonjour, hello,” I’m told, finally reaching the front of the long line at the convention center cafe. It’s Montreal. I can say “bonjour,” at least. Wouldn’t that be polite? But…

Studying Mormons at Harvard
I would personally like to offer a prize* to the first scholar to complete a thorough dissertation on the young Saint and true heroine, Miss Elizabeth Smart @ *The prize…