faculty news

Making the Invisible Real: Practices of Seeing in Tibetan Pilgrimage April 10th

Elizabeth Williams — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:35:40 +0000

Making the Invisible Real: Practices of Seeing in Tibetan Pilgrimage April 10th Elizabeth Williams Wed, 03/18/2026 - 12:35

Join us for a lecture by Catherine Hartmann, University of Wyoming on the topic of her new book:

Making the Invisible Real: Practices of Seeing in Tibetan Buddhism

Friday, April 10th
4pm in the CASE Building, CU ��ý��

How can a person learn to see a mountain as a divine mandala, especially when, to the ordinary eye, the mountain looks like a pile of rocks and snow? This is the central challenge of Tibetan pilgrimage — and a window into one of the most pressing questions in the study of religion: how do religious traditions create and sustain belief in ordinarily invisible beings and landscapes? Drawing on Tibetan pilgrimage literature spanning the 13th to 20th centuries, including foundational narratives of holy places, polemical debates about the value of pilgrimage, written guides to holy sites, advice texts, and personal diaries, this talk explores how the Tibetan pilgrimage tradition challenges pilgrims to see beyond ordinary perception. It argues that the pilgrimage tradition does not simply assume that pilgrims experience this sacred landscape as real, but instead leads pilgrims to adopt deliberate practices of seeing: ways of looking at and interacting with the world that shape their experience of the holy mountain.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies with support from the Tibet Himalaya Initiative.

Catherine Hartmann is an assistant professor of Religious Studies and a scholar of the history of Buddhism at the University of Wyoming. Her research engages how religion shapes our experience of the world, and in the practices religions develop to transform that experience. Dr. Hartmann's primary research project is about intellectual history of pilgrimage in Tibet, but she is also interested in Buddhist ethics, as well as Buddhist approaches to addiction and recovery.

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Samuel Boyd Publishes Special Issue of English Language Notes

Elizabeth Williams — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:15:30 +0000

Samuel Boyd Publishes Special Issue of English Language Notes Elizabeth Williams Wed, 03/18/2026 - 12:15

Associate Professor Samuel Boyd recently edited a special issue of English Language Notes, which also includes his article "Where History Lies: Putting the Past Before Us".

History is both everywhere and nowhere. It is omnipresent in the sense that time creates a past, a reality (often in the form of decay) for all things as the earth rotates around the sun. This ever-present reality of history cultivates a sense of its enduring relevance and thus encourages the observation of patterns, even if the nature of those patterns is difficult to discern. In this fashion, Mark Twain once pithily opined that “history never repeats itself, but the kaleidoscopic combinations of the pictured present often seem to be constructed out of the broken fragments of antique legend.”¹ That sense of familiar circumstances and responses in different places and eras to history invites the idea of comparison: How do societies and cultures reflect on the notion of the past? Such reconstruction of the “broken fragments of antique legend” involves not only perceptions of how history functions but also...read more.

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Shafiu Alidu in the Journal for the Institute of Sufi Studies

Elizabeth Williams — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:26:08 +0000

Shafiu Alidu in the Journal for the Institute of Sufi Studies Elizabeth Williams Wed, 02/18/2026 - 14:26

Shafiu Alidu, a second year MA student in Religious Studies, has recently published an article in the Journal for the Institute of Sufi Studies entitled "Divine Whispers: Unraveling the Enigma of the Sufi “Yan Hakika” Movement in West Africa." Shafiu is working under the supervision of Prof. Aun Hasan Ali. This article aligns with his research, which focuses on a Nigerian Sufi community. In this research, he digs into the commonalities between African indigenous religions and Abrahamic traditions, while also venturing into the captivating realm of Islamic mysticism (Sufism). He plans to pursue doctoral study upon earning his MA.

The JISS article can be found here.

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Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West

Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 23:12:49 +0000

Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West Elizabeth Williams Thu, 01/22/2026 - 16:12

Wednesday, February 4 at 5pm
ENVD 134

In an upcoming event, Prof. Max Perry Mueller (University of Nebraska Lincoln) and Forrest Cuch (Northern Ute) will discuss Prof. Mueller's recent book Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West.

From the book: The Native American leader Wakara (ca. 1815-1855) was among the most influential and feared men in the 19th century American West. In Wakara’s America, historian Max Perry Mueller illuminates Wakara’s complex and sometimes paradoxical story, revealing a man who both helped build the settler American West and defended Native sovereignty. Wakara was baptized a Mormon and allied with Mormon settlers against other tribal nations to seize large parts of modern-day Utah; yet a pan-tribal uprising against the Mormons that now bears Wakara’s name stalled and even temporarily reversed colonial expansion. Drawing together deep archival research with Native oral histories, archaeology, geology, and ecology, Wakara’s America offers an innovative new vision of the history of the American West with Native people at its center. It serves as a powerful testament to Wakara’s legacy, which endures in his story, in his tribal descendants, and in their stewardship of their ancestral lands today.

This event is being cosponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Center for the American West, the Department of History, the Department of Ethnic Studies, and the Office of Native American Affairs.

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The Urdu Shiʿi Practice of Khiṭābat (oratory)

Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:32:38 +0000

The Urdu Shiʿi Practice of Khiṭābat (oratory) Elizabeth Williams Thu, 01/22/2026 - 09:32

Join the Department of Religious Studies on February 24th for The Urdu Shiʿi Practice of Khiṭābat (oratory)

January 24th, 5-6pm
Eaton Humanities 135

On any given day in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, tens and hundreds of Urdu-speaking Shiʿa khāṭibs (orators) address audiences that have gathered to listen to them. In this talk, I draw upon twenty months of ethnographic and archival fieldwork in Karachi to argue that khiṭābat (oratory) is best conceptualized as "intellectual practice." By intellectual, I refer to aspects of oratory such as designating topics of oration, presenting clear arguments, and providing citations as evidence for claims. By practice, I refer to aspects of oratory such as the materiality of the ritual space, the technologies that mediate between orators and their audiences, and the relationship between what is said in an oration with where and when the oration is taking place. In attending to khiṭābat as intellectual practice, I push back against dominant scholarly tendencies that divide “popular” practice from “elite” texts, often relegating practice as secondary to doctrine or belief. Attending to khiṭābat as intellectual practice is helpful because it shifts the methodological emphasis from an abstract or a solely discursive domain of ideas to the world in which such ideas are articulated, debated, and circulated. Additionally, rethinking khiṭābat as intellectual practice is also productive because it moves the conversation on Muslim ritual practice beyond mere functionalism (intended towards specific ends, like ideological dissemination or the reification of tradition) or mere phenomenology (reducing khiṭābat to bodily techniques or individual reception).

Mohammad Nabeel Jafri holds a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies, University of Göttingen. He is a scholar of Islam in modern South Asia, with a focus on Twelver Shiʿi practice in Pakistan. He received his PhD from the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto in 2024. His dissertation, Orating Knowledge: Urdu Shiʿi Khiṭābat in Contemporary Karachi, received the 2024 S. S. Pirzada Dissertation Prize in Pakistan Studies, awarded by the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include ritual practice, semiotics, authority, and language use.

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November: Living in Beauty through Difficult Times: A Talk by Diné Elder Lupita McClanahan

Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:57:08 +0000

November: Living in Beauty through Difficult Times: A Talk by Diné Elder Lupita McClanahan Elizabeth Williams Thu, 11/13/2025 - 14:57

“Living in Beauty through Difficult Times: A Talk by Diné Elder Lupita McClanahan”

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, 5-6pm, Eaton Humanities 250

“Hozho,” or “The Beauty Way,” is a core practice of the Diné people. Raised in secrecy by traditional elders in Canyon de Chelly, Lupita was hidden to preserve her family’s lineage from the boarding school system. Though eventually taken, she drew on her cultural strength to endure and overcome unimaginable challenges. Join us to hear her powerful stories of resilience and discover how we, too, can walk in Hozho. Please see attached and below for details. This event is sponsored by Religious Studies, Ethnic Studies, and the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies.

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October: Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness

Elizabeth Williams — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:50:31 +0000

October: Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness Elizabeth Williams Mon, 10/27/2025 - 14:50

Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness

Gary Laderman, Goodrich C. White Professor of American History and Cultures, Department of Religion, Emory University

Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 5pm

HUM 250

In this conversation, Gary Laderman will explore what drugged life has do with

religious life. The discussion will be tied into his recent book, Sacred Drugs: How

Psychoactive Substances Mix with Religious Life, which argues that altering consciousness

is not only a natural phenomenon in human and other species, but also an integral

element in religious cultures throughout time and around the globe. The conversation

will be framed by religious studies concerns and conceptualizations. We will likely

touch on coffee and cannabis, alcohol and amphetamine, psychedelics and

pharmaceuticals, and other drugging agents that are ubiquitous in American society,

as well as their dangers and the discourse around addiction which are also infused

with religious sentiments and sensibilities.

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Remembering Frederick Denny

Alex Hartburg — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:19:48 +0000

Remembering Frederick Denny Alex Hartburg Tue, 07/08/2025 - 08:19

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Frederick Denny, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at CU ��ý��, in March 2025.

Fred Denny was a giant in the field of Islamic studies. He marked the field in Qur’an and ritual studies and authored the foundational and widely used textbook, An Introduction to Islam (4th edition Prentice-Hall, 2010), as well as numerous articles on Islamic and Religious Studies topics. His projects over the last few years focused principally on Islam and human rights, religion and ecology, religion-focused cartography, and Unitarian Universalist history and thought.

He is remembered as a dedicated and gifted scholar and teacher. His passion for teaching was apparent to all who knew him. The faculty remember him as an unfailingly kind and generous colleague, mentor, and friend. Colleagues across the field of Religious Studies share that his warm presence and down-to-earth nature will be sorely missed.

His contributions to the discipline, to the American Academy of Religion, and to the Department of Religious Studies are immense and lasting, and we will remember him with deep gratitude.

Obituary for Frederick Denny

Frederick Denny's Faculty Page

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Graduation Reflections

Alex Hartburg — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 22:02:40 +0000

Graduation Reflections Alex Hartburg Mon, 06/02/2025 - 16:02

This academic year, two graduating majors, Olivia McCaa (Fall 2024) and Sam Johnson (Spring 2025), shared their thoughts on what their BA in Religious Studies meant to them and how it will continue to influence their goals and future work. Read more below!

Olivia McCaa

Olivia focused her studies on the intersections of women, gender, and religion, while taking coursework in Jewish studies. Though she originally majored in linguistics and neuroscience, the compelling questions raised in religious studies classes inspired her to shift focus.

“I was fascinated by how the world worked according to religion,” Olivia reflects. “My senior capstone project explored religiosity as a result of conflict rather than a cause. That project—and courses like Holly Gayley’s Women in Hagiography—sparked the idea for a science fiction novel I’m now writing about the necessity of women and religion in breaking cycles of violence.”

After graduation, Olivia will continue working in the emergency room at UC Health Aurora while pursuing a paramedic career in fire services. She hopes to study religious studies again in the future.

Sam Johnson

Sam is currently applying to medical schools across the U.S. He credits the Department of Religious Studies with not only expanding his knowledge but also honing critical academic and life skills.

“My religious studies degree not only exposed me to so much knowledge, but taught me how to read, write, and think,” Sam says. “The faculty are not only remarkable in their intellect, but always kind and professional. They continually showed dedication to my education.”

Through his studies, Sam was able to successfully prepare for the MCAT, defend an Honors Thesis, and form meaningful relationships across campus. He feels confident in his readiness for the rigors of medical school and looks forward to contributing to the medical and religious studies fields.

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NEXT Volume 8: Reimagining the Sacred

Alex Hartburg — Mon, 19 May 2025 20:18:51 +0000

NEXT Volume 8: Reimagining the Sacred Alex Hartburg Mon, 05/19/2025 - 14:18

The latest edition of NEXT (Vol. 8) is here, showcasing the innovative research of emerging scholars in the field of religious studies. This volume highlights seven thought-provoking papers that tackle a range of contemporary and historical issues. The papers explore the intersection of religion with literature, music, art, globalization, and colonialism, offering new perspectives on the sacred and the secular. These works demonstrate the curiosity and creativity of the next generation of scholars in their contribution to the discipline. We hope you enjoy these exciting contributions in the latest volume of NEXT.

Vol. 8 (2025): Reimagining the Sacred

Special thanks to the student editors whose hard work made this volume possible:

Editors: Emma Wood and Jamie Mullennix
Associate Editors: Genevieve Hauer, Shafiu Alidu, and Lucienne Brown

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