The Culture of Award Talk

Photo of President's Hall

One of the things I love about the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama is our culture of student research. I have the pleasure of advising Sierra Ruden in our Religion in Culture MA program. Sierra has been using discourse analysis to examine the social function of award shows. Sierra's been experimenting … Continue reading The Culture of Award Talk

Curiosity Meets the Past Podcast

Curiosity Meets the Past with Dr. Smiti Nathan. There's an image of a woman looking through a magnifying glass at substrata.

it was a real treat to be on Dr. Smiti Nathan's amazing anthropology YouTube show, Curiosity Meets the Past. This is a go-to spot to learn about currents in anthropology and archaeology. Dr. Nathan interviewed me about my work and my latest project, Decoding Diaspora: Signifying J. A. Rogers' Mythic Africa.

Friday Coffee Reading

Going into the new month with some not-so-light reading. One of my students asked me how I read, and this picture encapsulates my process pretty well. I scan a work, its arguments and its structure. Then I write in the margins questions of clarification and questions of substance (shoutout Dr. Charles Wood). Then I use … Continue reading Friday Coffee Reading

Remember the Time: On “Michael” and Horror

Michael Jackson in his military-style regal outfit receiving a grammy.

I haven't seen Michael yet, but I have spent some time thinking with James Howard Hill Jr. insightful words on the film. It sounds like this film is most eventful when it asks much of the audience. As Hill said, how exactly does one watch horror?