The BCSR invites proposals for graduate student working groups focusing on a specific topic in the study of religion—such as ethnographic approaches to religion, African religion, poetry and religion, and so forth. The purpose of the working groups is to offer graduate students of religion a supportive interdisciplinary community with which to share work, discuss readings, and meet religion scholars. …

Writing about books on the rise of Christian nationalism in the February 9 issue of The New York Review, Linda Greenhouse featured recently-released works by David Sehat, Phil Gorksi and David Hollinger, the latter two of whom will be in conversation as part of a BCSR event happening this month. On March 23, Phil Gorski, Frederick and Laura Goff Professor …

Valentina Napolitano joins BCSR as a Visiting Scholar this semester. Valentina Napolitano is Professor of Anthropology, a Connaught Scholar and a former Director of the Latin American Studies program at the University of Toronto. She works on Critical Catholic Studies as well as on anthropology of affects, borderlands and migration, and has a particular interest in political theology, affective histories, anthropology …

The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) is the largest and longest running interdisciplinary conference series in the United States addressing issues of religion and race in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Since 1999, APARRI gatherings have provided opportunities for scholars and community leaders involved in work on Asian American and Pacific Islander religion to share research, exchange …

Berkeley News is examining threats to American democracy in a new series drawing on the expertise of UC Berkeley scholars. One article from the series, Crisis of faith: Christian nationalism and the threat to U.S. democracy, features several professors involved with BCSR alongside colleagues specializing in law, political science, and sociology. Read contributions from BCSR Co-Director Carolyn Chen (Ethnic Studies), …

The American Academy of Religion Western Region (AAR/WR) is the largest and most diverse region of the American Academy of Religion. Its annual conference will be held in person at UC Davis, March 24-26, 2023. This is a wonderful opportunity for all scholars to network and present their research on the religion, especially for those in Northern California. 

For the Spring 2023 semester, BCSR is offering eight fellowships of $3,750 each for graduate students to explore the relationship between democracy and theology through a focus on religion and health. Led by two BCSR faculty members (Ronit Y. Stahl and Munir Jiwa), students will meet bi-weekly to read key texts in the history of religion, explore research topics, and …

The BCSR invites proposals for graduate student working groups focusing on a specific topic in the study of religion, such as ethnographic approaches to religion, African religion, or poetry and religion, etc. The purpose of the working groups is to offer graduate students of religion a supportive interdisciplinary community to share work, discuss readings, and meet religion scholars.

The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) will be supporting the growth and development of scholarship and public knowledge on Asian Pacific American religions. These initiatives serve three primary interrelated functions: building and diversifying scholarship, strengthening the academic pipeline, and promoting public engagement. Research Grants Overview The Asia Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) Research Grant supports scholarship that …

Wednesday, September 21, 2022, 5-6:30 pm
554 Social Sciences Building, Barbara Christian Conference Room
RSVP at info.bcsr@berkeley.edu (subject: Open House)

Please join us for the BCSR’s Graduate Student Open House! Come meet fellow graduate students studying religion, co-directors David Marno and Carolyn Chen, and learn about opportunities to create BCSR-funded working groups. Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Dear Friends of BCSR, This past year brought us back together for lectures, conversations and working groups, and we want to recognize the faculty, students, visitors and audiences whose dedication enriches our intellectual community. The study of religion, at its best, brings together scholars and publics in dialogue, and the work of our colleagues and affiliates with BCSR has made …

The Graduate Group in the Study of Religion is thrilled to welcome the latest cohort of the DE in the Study of Religion. The new cohort includes graduate students from Berkeley departments in the humanities. Please join us in welcoming our two new DESR students! Hu Hsu is a third-year PhD student in the Department of History at the University …

Ethan Katz was educated at Amherst College (B.A., History & French, 2002) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.A., History, 2005; PhD, History, 2009). He is currently Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also is the co-founder and co-director of the Antisemitism Education Initiative. Before coming to Berkeley, he taught for eight years at the University of Cincinnati, and for one year as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

BCSR was delighted to speak recently with Professor Debarati Sanyal, the new Faculty Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry (CICI), which supports BCSR. She is Professor of French and affiliated with Critical Theory, The Center for Race and Gender, and European Studies. Her research and teaching interests include critical refugee studies; aesthetics and biopolitics; human rights and humanitarianism; postwar French and Francophone culture; transcultural memory studies; Holocaust studies; critical theory; and 19th-century French literature.

The Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion (BCSR) is pleased to announce a $1,000,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation in support of a 4-year project with the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI). This grant will support APARRI in its mission to advance the interdisciplinary study of Asian Pacific American religions and to ensure the legacy of …

Applications for the Designated Emphasis in the Study of Religion are now accepted on a rolling basis. Program Description: The Designated Emphasis in the Study of Religion (DESR) supports graduate training in Religious Studies and in the Theory of the Study of Religion, promotes graduate research on topics related to religion, and brings together a cross-disciplinary faculty Group in the Study …

The Designated Emphasis in the Study of Religion (DESR) is pleased to announce our spring 2022 courses that count towards the core and elective requirements for the DE. These courses reflect the interdisciplinary breadth of the DESR, with core and elective options in Buddhist Studies/South & Southeast Asian Studies/East Asian Languages and Cultures, English, Ethnic Studies, History/History of Art/Middle Eastern …

Joshua Benjamins is a PhD candidate in the Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies. Before coming to Berkeley, he earned a BA in Latin and History at Hillsdale College and an MA in Early Christian Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He specializes in the intellectual and cultural history of the later Roman Empire, with a special focus …

BCSR faculty and affiliates are offering a wide variety of undergraduate courses related to religion in spring 2022, spanning the humanities and social sciences. …

The Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion has launched a Graduate Working Group on Religion for 2021–2022, coordinated by Mohamad Jarada (PhD candidate, Anthropology) for graduate students interested in the study of religion, broadly construed. Working group funds are available to organize a symposium, invite scholars to visit and give public lectures, and create other possible forums to share …

BCSR was thrilled to recently sit down with our new Co-Director Carolyn Chen for a spotlight feature. Carolyn Chen is an Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, whose research interests include ethnicity, immigration, race, religion, and work. Carolyn Chen has taught courses on comparative analysis of religion, race and ethnicity, social science methods in ethnic studies, religions of Asian Americans (including Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity), and contemporary issues in Asian American communities. She is author of Getting Saved in America: Taiwanese Immigration and Religious Experience (Princeton 2008). Her new book, Work Pray Code: When Work Replaces Religion in Silicon Valley about the transformation in work, religion, and community in late capitalist America, will be published this spring by Princeton University Press. …

BCSR is proud to share a sample of recent accomplishments, publications, awards, and news from affiliated faculty. Please join us in congratulating our affiliated faculty members Diliana Angelova, Robert Braun, Ethan Katz, Henrike Lange, Robert Sharf, and Ronit Stahl on these accomplishments! …