Curator's Note--I've struggled for weeks with how to conclude the Bible and Race in the USA series. People's shock at the malleability of truth and the temptation of exceptionalism has challenged me to re-situate the discussion. So before you is a personal reflection to explore why so few of our current events are actually textbook. … Continue reading The Bible and Race in the USA: What Went Without Saying
Ekaputra Tupamahu discusses Marlee Schwalm’s foray into the history of religion in the American Pacific WWII theater. He surfaces resonances between Post-Pearl Harbor Japanophobia and Post-9/11 Islamophobia.
In the example below, parents at an American public high school balk at the secular study of Islamic calligraphy because the writing’s legacy is sacred for Muslims. Emily Egolf helps us think through the dispute.
If one’s working definition of “religion” is more capacious than “beliefs in supernatural powers,” if the purpose of the course is to view American history and culture through the lens of “religion” – as a category of analysis, rather than a found thing – then new possibilities emerge.
